Christmas in Korea

I wanted to wait until all the Christmas festivities were finished before I posted. Also, I was trying to wait until I got a new external hard drive for my computer. Seems my laptop is completely full, so I can't post any more photos or videos at the moment. I tried to wait, but it might be the end of January when I get the drive, so I thought I'd post the writing now, and the pictures and videos later.

Our little Christmas tree

One of the light displays downtown

First a few words about what Christmas is like in Korea generally. It's a couples holiday. It's worse to be single on Christmas than it is to be single on Valentine's Day. They only ever have fake Christmas trees. They only know that Santa brings presents to children, but they know very little about the background story of the myth. I had to educate my kids about it during class. They don't know Santa brings coal to bad children. They don't know he lives in the North Pole or that Elves help him make toys. They also don't know about Frosty the Snowman. They know a bit about Rudolph because they have the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" that is the same tune and lyrics but in Korean. There are a few other songs that are the same tune with Korean lyrics as well. They have Christmas light displays and a few lights on trees downtown, but more displays to take pictures with than anything else. They only get Christmas day off from school and work, and all the shops and movie theaters and restaurants are still open. The movie Home Alone is always played on TV on Christmas, so all my kids associate that movie with Christmas. I showed them Jingle All the Way during class as a Christmas present to them, and they seemed to really enjoy it though.


As for our Christmas celebrations: we were having coffee on the weekend before Christmas with one of my coteacher when I noticed a poster for Nanta. I see the posters everywhere, and I wasn't totally sure what it was. Turns out, it's basically like Stomp or Blue Man Group but with a plot that centers around cooking. I said I'd like to go, and it was playing in Daegu. My coteacher knows someone who works at the venue, so she got us tickets to see it on Christmas Eve. So after school on Christmas Eve, Gianni walked over to my school to meet us. One of the other teachers at school drove me, Gianni, and Hyun Joo to Suseong Artpia where Nanta was playing. It's a small but nice venue in an apparently quite wealthy area of Daegu. We picked up the tickets and then went out to dinner before the show. We ended up at a really fancy Italian restaurant where the entire staff like to remind you that "there is no MSG in the food!" It is a really common thing for people to put in food here, and good luck asking for food with no MSG. We got 4 cheese pizza and a pasta dish. I think the chef might have studied in Italy or something. I've heard of a few restaurants in Daegu where that is the case, and it shows because it actually tasted like real Italian food. It was very delicious. After dinner, we headed back and took our seats for the show. We were sitting on the lower level because we were told that area was more interactive. Although this was the case, it was more the area in front of us that was interactive, so I don't really think we needed to pay the extra money for the lower level tickets. I would have liked to sit up towards the front instead of at the back. Still, we were right in the center, so we could see everything. The show is basically a comedy show with cool drumming and chopping and that kind of thing, but the plot is about a group of 4 chefs who are trying to quickly prepare food for a giant wedding that is taking place. It was pretty funny and really awesome, visually. It's really a great family show. There isn't much talking, so it was not a problem to understand what was going on. When they did talk, the few phrases were in English also, which I thought was kind of funny. It felt really nice to be at a play on Christmas Eve.


On Christmas, we woke up pretty early to talk to our parents. My mom and dad were at Gianni's parent's house, so we got to talk to them all together on their Christmas Eve and our Christmas morning. They watched us open our presents from them and for each other, and Gianni's parents opened their gifts from him. It was a nice long chat. The weekend before Christmas, Gianni and I decided to just give each other $100, go to the underground mall at Banwoldang, and go to town. It was kind of funny actually. I like speed shopping. Maybe it's a tradition we'll have to partially keep, even when we go home. I ended up buying him 2 Simpsons stationary sets and a fantastic Simpsons sweater that even fits him! I was totally proud of my purchases, and I think he likes them. I also got Gianni a winter hat and a ton of other random things. Gianni gave me an infinity scarf like I wanted, a scarf and bracelet I picked out at a store, socks, and lots of other nice things. We let them get on with their Christmas Eve dinner, and we made pancakes, eggs, and bacon for breakfast. Yum! After we ate, we headed to Daegu Station to get the train to Busan. We hadn't been to Busan yet, and our friends, Maria and Matthew, heard about a special Christmas thing that was going on there, so we decided to tag along with them for Christmas Day. Busan is a city on the southern coast of Korea. It's the second largest city in the country. I'm fairly certain everyone had the same idea to go there on Christmas Day because Busan was sooooo crowded! It was the most crowded it has felt in Korea so far! It was nuts. We didn't sit down once on the trains when we were in the city, and it felt like we were on the trains most of the day. First, we went to the largest department store in the world (actually-it has the Guinness world record), Shinsegae Department Store. There is a movie theatre, a skating rink, a grocery store, and so much more actually inside the department store. There was even a dinosaur, pirates, and africa themed children's play area on top of the store. Insane! Department stores are too expensive, so after looking around there, we decided we'd rather just buy cupcakes at their bakery. We got some delicious treats to enjoy on the train back home. They were so cute decorated with snowmen and Christmas trees, and they tasted great too: black tea, strawberry, and caramel. After the department store, we went down to where the Christmas thing was supposed to be. I guess it was just that there are light displays set up all over the downtown shopping area and at different times there are musical performances. The light displays were kind of cool, but good luck trying to get a nice picture. We could barely even move because of how many people there were, so I'm guessing we walked into a ton of people's photos, and I was afraid of being trampled. It was insane! We stopped for dinner at a pub. It was kind of a bust, but at least we tried to do something cool on Christmas, and we spent it with our good friends. We ate our cupcakes and chatted all the way back to Daegu, which is about a 2 hour train ride. It didn't feel the same as Christmas normally does, but it wasn't bad either. We got presents, saw our families, and spent some time with good friends. What more could I ask for? I talked to my parents again on our Christmas night and their Christmas morning to watch them open their gifts from me. I think they liked everything. I tried to choose things that fit personalities. I got Dad a Seoul Starbucks mug, and I got Mom an amethyst necklace. I got them a few other things too. I tried to get Ben to wake up to see him open his gifts, but he wouldn't budge.





On the Friday after Christmas, we went to our taekwondo Christmas party. Master Hwang had some random taekwondo videos, seemingly from youtube, playing on the screen while we all ate and talked. Everyone brought in food, pot luck style. I brought in ginger snaps made from Mom's recipe. I didn't hate them, but they were different than hers. I had to use dark molasses, for one, so they had a really strong flavor. Apparently, cherry tomatoes are dessert in Korea because someone put them on the dessert table. We had a ton of Korean food, and we learned that our friends in class are actually really great cooks. One of our friends brought his adorable little son who is almost 2 years old. I taught him to say "hi" in English, and I chased him all around and played with him. He even gave me kisses on the cheek. He was the cutest thing ever. After dinner and dessert, we all went out bowling together! It was awesome. I'm fairly sure it was my first time bowling the traditional way. I didn't know that candlepin bowling was a regional thing, but none of the Koreans or even our American friends know what candlepin bowling is, but that's all we did growing up. It was an interesting realization. Even the lighter balls are really hard to hold when your arm is extended backwards in regular bowling. Koreans are really in to bowling. Master Hwang kept asking what our averages were beforehand, even though we didn't know. Also, a few of the people at the bowling alley were wearing things around their wrists to help them bowl better. No one on either team sat down the whole time. Everyone was up and cheering for each other. Yes, it was competitive, but not aggressively so, and everyone was trying to be really encouraging, even of the other teams. I found it really challenging, but it was really fun. One time, I dropped the ball accidentally and threw it backwards! It was hilarious. The first game, a practice game, I did a really good job for a newbie. I bowled a 117! Gianni didn't do that well. The next game, we switched around the teams and played to see which team would pay for bowling. Unfortunately, I only got a 65 that time, but Gianni's score improved. Our team ended up losing, and we had to pay for everyone's bowling, but it was still a really fun time. Master Hwang was nice enough to give us a ride home.
The next day, Gianni and I spent cleaning the apartment thoroughly. We were having our Christmas party that night, so I wanted it to look nice for the first event we've ever hosted together let alone the first event in our Korean apartment. It's small, but we have the couch and enough seating for over 10 people. It was a joint party of Koreans and our EPIK teacher friends. Everyone except Da Eun brought a dessert food, which was fine. She brought really delicious fried rice. On Christmas, I used a recipe I found online to make Italian anise cookies, and I served them at the party. I had to bring at least some of my traditions from home to Korea. They tasted delicious and were pretty moist for those cookies, and Matthew, another Italian, really liked them, so I was thrilled. Lysa brought some amazing apple pie and Matthew and Maria brought buckeyes, which are a no-bake cookie of peanut butter surrounded by chocolate that were really yummy and melted in your mouth. Everything was so tasty! We also did a yankee swap, and I think everyone really got in to it, including the Koreans. Everyone brought 2 presents $5 or under each, so that we could go around twice and make the game a little longer. I explained the rules to our 5 Korean friends who showed up earlier than everyone else. I'm really glad we've been making friends with Koreans in school and in taekwondo. It's really nice to know people who are from this country. It was Master Hwang, Da Eun, Gee Eun, Ju He, and Ju He's boyfriend, Jeffery (English name), that came. Like I said, everyone seemed to have a great time with it. I ended up with a beautiful Korean coin purse and some random daiso things, including a pencil case that reads "I Love Pussy. I havea very good time." It was hilarious! I think Gianni was the ultimate loser. Somehow, he ended up with sexy, purple bunny ears and a thing you put on baby's heads to keep the water out of their eyes when you bathe them. HAHAHAHA! Good try Gianni, maybe next year. Someone bought jenga as a gift, so we played it afterwards. All the teachers had to leave around 10pm to catch buses and trains home, and the Koreans hung around for a bit. I then suggested we go bowling again mostly as a joke, but they said "yeah, let's go!" So we went bowling at a place around the corner from our house with Master Hwang, Da Eun, and Gee Eun. It was pretty fun, but I didn't bowl very well. My arm was kind of sore from the bowling the day before. It was a really nice party and evening.



So our Christmas was a combination of Korean and our own traditions, but we got to see family and spend time with friends. I'd definitely call it a success.