Korean Christmas

"Are you coming home for Christmas?"

This was the top question Ian and I were asked before starting this Korean adventure. The answer of course, as many of you know, was that no, sadly we are not able to make it home for Christmas. Today is boxing day and we both were back at work. This Christmas was our first Christmas away from home and it felt very different celebrating the holidays in Korea. The predominant religion in Korea is Christianity (~30%), meaning many Koreans celebrate Christmas, but it's just done differently. It seemed like a much more laid back, relaxed holiday. It is treated as a day to spend time with your boyfriend/girlfriend or friends. There is absolutely no emphasis on spending time with family. In fact, many of my students said they were planning on spending time at the pishibang - internet cafe. One of Ian's students even told him he would have a "solo Christmas" playing computer games.  We only had one day off for Christmas, and surprisingly, everything remained open on the day.

Ian and I were both missing home a lot during the last few days, but we knew coming into this that we simply had to accept that Christmas 2012 would be different. Here is how we celebrated.

The festivities started this past weekend when we went to an "Ugly Christmas Sweater Party." Two of our friends organized this event and it was awesome! There was a group of around 30 people (all English teachers) and we rented a cabin in the country. It was quite a trek to get there, over 2.5 hours! We had to subway across Seoul and then catch a bus to the remote cabin in the woods. It was a potluck feast, with tons of delicious food, including brie, chicken soup, pasta, veggies that we brought, mashed potatoes, and mince pies. We all sat at a long, traditional Korean table, meaning it's 1 foot off the floor and you need to sit on the floor. After the feast, we played yankee swap, which is a game where everyone brings a gift and we take turns choosing or stealing gifts. Ian ended up with a nice warm, knit scarf and fuzzy bumble bee socks, and I received these yummy caramel wafer treats from cosco. That night, there were awards given to the ugliest sweater, and lots of noribong. Noribong is the Korean word for karaoke. Karaoke is very popular in Korea, and I can see why! Singing at the Christmas party was actually a ton of fun!

On Christmas Eve, Ian and I treated ourselves to some Western food in Bupyeong (downtown Incheon). We wanted Italian food, and stumbled upon a great little restaurant called Buono Pasta. I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but Koreans eat their meals very quickly. At lunch time, although I am always rushing, I am still usually the last to finish my plate. These fast meals turned out to be advantageous on Christmas Eve, as there was a line up of couples in front of us, possibly 4 or 5, and it only took 15 minutes to be seated in this tiny restaurant. Later that night, we skyped my parents and watched one of my favourite Christmas movies "Elf".

On Christmas morning we skyped Ian's family, made a big pot of coffee and opened gifts. It was harder buying gifts for each other in Korea, but I think we both did really well. It was actually more of a challenge wrapping the gifts since we live in such a small apartment. We had to take turns turning around and letting the other person wrap gifts behind.

In the afternoon, we walked around, got hot chocolate, read our kindles, and then headed to meet up with some friends for a Christmas dinner. Our friends, Emily and Ryan hosted a group of 8 of us. We each brought a dish and it was so nice spending time with what we call our Incheon family. I am so thankful to have met such a great group of friends in Korea!

In the end, it was a very merry Korean Christmas! We weren't able to make it home for the holidays and we definitely missed our friends and family, but we still made Christmas special in our own way.

Merry Christmas everyone and enjoy those boxing day sales!
Sending love from Korea :)

Our cabin in the middle of nowhere Korea.

Group shot - "do something Korean!"

Boys starting the festivities by playing some poker

Korean Christmas cake

Relaxing after the long journey there.

Playing yankee swap

Noribong / Karaoke

Group shot of the girls

Merry Christmas everyone!