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Funeral Foods

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    • February 19, 2010 at 11:20 pm #49323
      meowrrr
      Member

      What types of Korean foods are served around the times of funerals and such? I know Koreans wear white instead of the black that Americans wear. I was just curious as one of my friends from high school just died yesterday in a hit-and-run accident. It made me think of his family and the preparations they are making. He is Japanese. If anyone in my family were to pass on, like, say my mom, who is Korean, what types of foods should I serve? Any special ones? Or just her favorites?

      Any information would be greatly appreciated! I don’t expect my mom to die anytime soon but it would be nice to know beforehand what to plan for.

      Thanks everyone!!

    • February 20, 2010 at 3:33 am #53305
      kumaxx
      Member

      there is no special food as such.

      you as the family in mourning wouldn’t have to worry about anything. if you live in a tight korean community and have a korean wake, all kinds of people would gather at your house and take care of food themselves, no special food is being prepared, just normal korean food.

      you would prepare some sort of shrine with a photography of the deceased and all kinds of people would come by for several days and pay their respect. korean wakes can be very crowded.

      most times, women will gather in the kitchen and take care of feeding all the people, while the men will be sitting in the living room, eating and drinking booze. this will go on for several days with breaks every couple of hours for paying respect for the deceased.

      depending on how many siblings you have and in what position you are (youngest son, oldest son, daughter, middle child…) you have your own duties at the funeral. but preparing food is not something you would have to worry about. believe me, you will have food for several weeks. just take care of booze.

      i know, it sounds kinda irish, but koreans and irish people are somewhat similar.

      there are foods which represent several things, oranges represent luck, booze represents happiness, ddeog represents partaking in life (as far as i remember). so if you later go visit the graves of your parents, those would be things you would offer to them.

      and dont eat things offered to your ancestors…

    • February 20, 2010 at 8:14 am #53306
      meowrrr
      Member

      Wow! Thanks for that information! I am an only child. We live in the United States and we have no real Korean friends except for a few we have met over the years traveling the world as my dad was in the military. My mom wants to be cremated and have her ashes spread out over the Pacific Ocean as it connects the United States and Korea. My mom has 2 sisters and a brother in Korea. We won’t be having a big Korean gathering as you spoke of, more than likely, but it is nice to know what I should do in case there is one.

      Thanks again for that helpful bit of information!

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