Review Detail

Mindy'a father gets a call from Korea that his own father has passed away. After a hasty consultation with his wife, Julie, they tell Mindy that the family will be traveling back to attend the grandfather's funeral and celebrate Chuseok with the extended family. Mindy has good memories of her Harabeogi, but is excited to go back to Korea, and to see her Halmeoni (grandmother). First, they have to drive from Orlando to Atlanta, and it's a long flight. The extended family welcomes them, and the preparations for the funeral and the Chuseok celebration begin. Mindy is able to talk to her cousins, who miss Harabeogi even more than she does, and gets a lot of insight into the traditional ways that lives are celebrated. She helps with the shopping and food preparation, and is interested in the way that the feast is presented to the deceased ancestors before the living are invited to partake. The Kim family has a burial plot in the mountains. There's a lot of traffic, since everyone is celebrating, but the family plot is deeply historical, and Mindy learns a little about the 25 generations of her family whose ashes are interred there. The family also goes to a historical village so that Mindy and her cousins, as well as some of the aunts and uncles, can play traditional autumn festival games. Mindy knows that her Harabeogi would want the family to enjoy themselves for the holiday, and is glad that he is first and foremost in everyone's mind as the celebrate both the festival and his life.