This
year marked my first Christmas celebrated without my family. A very merry skype
Christmas was had, but it just isn’t quite the same virtually. Now I am a
holiday person, I got it from my mom, and Christmas is the big one. Presents
are planned out months in advance, and when the first store decorations get put
on a spectacular commercial display my insides are warmed. Well, that was in
Canada. Things became a bit tougher in Korea this year because here it is a
COUPLES HOLIDAY. That’s right, like a second Valentines Day. Couples spend the
night together on some fancy date night and get a nice gift for each other.
Where’s the milk and cookies? The tree in all its lights and decorative glory?
The Santa’s, the reindeer, the gifts, the mistletoe??
As
an English Hagwon we made a decent attempt at getting some Christmas spirit
together. For my part, I dressed up in antlers, Christmas nails, festive socks,
and anything else I could find (for a good week). Lessons also became Christmas
themed by the beginning of December. On Tuesday the 24th we dressed
our co-teacher Kasey up in a Santa costume and helped him give out gifts to the
younger kids at our school (which the parents had generously provided for each
of their kids). There were Christmas carols sung, candy canes and Hershey kisses
galore (thanks to my mother’s box she sent me), and lots of merriment. And afterwards probably a lot of parents struggling to explain to those kids where their
Christmas tree and gifts are. I also bought a small card and made a little Christmas treat package for my gym. The manager (my bud) freaked out, showering me with hugs and thank you's and "whooaoooa"s - the sound that comes up when they show shock or awe but can't use words because they're outside my limited vocabulary. A very cheap gift for me, but very touching for them!
My
Christmas Eve was spent in metropolitan Seoul, raging on until 5am. Itaewon is
the Foreign Town of the country, and here was where I finally felt a bit more
in the spirit. There were lots of foreign restaurants with Christmas trees and
decorations in the windows, and little late night kebab shops I memorized for
later. The whole area was bustling with Santa and elf costume pieces, and a
whole lot of foreigners. We bounced from pub to pub in the beginning, trying to
find a place we could even sit down at. Eventually found some festive places to
begin the night at, and later made our way over to Hongdae: trendy bar/club
district, also hot foreigner spot. Spent my first Christmas Eve at a couple
clubs and bars, and had an all round great night before crashing. It was a strange feeling from the casual-calm Christmas Eve's I'm used to back home.
Christmas
Day we got off of work (though still have to work Thurs and Fri before we can
begin our week-long winter vacation). In my city of Cheonan we had a big
foreigner Christmas party at our highly frequented Banana Bar. The entire bar
stand was covered in delicious homemade
items and other favorites for our potluck dinner, and everybody was stuffed.
All dressed in our finest Christmas-themed clothes, we belted out Christmas
carols for awhile before doing our gift exchange. The rest of the night we
worked our way up from bailey coffee’s to mix drinks, and stayed out far too
late for a night of fun celebrating our friendships and new local friends. Not
bad for my first Christmas without family, just have to connect with the other
foreigners that are all feeling the same way!
Santa bar crawl: weekend before Christmas we dressed up and ran from bar to bar in Korea, taking pictures with Koreans in the streets and giving free Christmas hugs
