Thanksgiving in Korea

The holidays can make it particularly hard to be away from your home, family, and friends while you're in Korea. However, Korea's expat community has gathered together to help foreigners and Koreans alike observe and enjoy foreign holidays as traditionally as possible. More and more, restaurants, hotels, and caterers offer home delivery, specially prepared traditional meals, and holiday promotions to celebrate certain holidays.

This year, American Thanksgiving was no exception. Hotels such as the COEX Intercontinental and the Grand Hilton in Seoul offered Thanksgiving meal buffets which included turkey and all the fixin's and then some. The only downside to these festive options is the price. The cost for one person ranged from 50,000 KRW to almost 90,000 KRW!

Several restaurants offered a special T-day food fare as well as more affordable options. American-style and ethnic restaurants alike offered Thanksgiving buffets and set menus for approximately 40,000 KRW per person.

Finally, there's the DIY option. Many restaurants and the USO offered catering and delivery for a small fee. HSK and friends opted for this one and ordered 3 meals (2 turkey and 1 ham) with all the sides for a grand total of about $200 USD. Divided by 15 people attending the celebration, the total cost per person only came to about $15 USD. This was by far the most economic and seemingly traditional choice!After the dinner, we enjoyed cards, lively and animated discussion and drinks. Not quite the same as home, but a very nice second.