I hope everyone had a GREAT Merry Christmas!!! I would like to thank everyone who sent Christmas gifts and cards. They were great and definitely made the other employees a little jealous, haha. I love hearing how everyone is back home and what's going on on your side of the world!
Christmas just isn't the same here in Korea as it is back home. Besides the obvious reasons (friends, family, etc.), Christmas has a different feeling here. Mainly because it's a holiday basically for children and for couples. Apparently, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is a big day for couples to go out...almost like a Valentine's Day... And there's no snow... In fact, it rained the other night! I thought I would never say this but...I miss snow! I actually miss the 6 feet of snow we have back home! But I definitely don't miss the cold weather...haha! The coldest it's been so far is around the low 20's. Can't complain!
To celebrate Christmas, a few co-workers and I went to Sanjung Lake in Pochun. After a two hour trip on the subway and bus to the "country side", we arrived at our awesome accommodations. Luc and Yoomi had stayed at the same resort before and new the owners and the grounds. It was sooo nice! There were about seven of us staying: Me, Priscilla, Mark, Yoomi, Luc, Cassie, and Joe. We had our own little loft that was the perfect size for all of us. There was a big kitchen, a bedroom upstairs, two bathrooms, a nice entertainment system...and a CHRISTMAS TREE! It was absolutely perfect! Unfortunately though, I just caught the flu and spent most of the time sleeping on the floor (it was warmer since there's floor heating). But never fear! I woke up just in time for dinner and the Secret Santa exchange and getting a stuffed stocking! My Secret Santa was Luc and he bought be some beautiful earrings and a bottle of vodka, haha. I had Mark and I bought him a great hat and a 20,000 won gift certificate to use at the bookstore, music store, and cinema in LaFesta shopping center in Ilsan. He seemed to really like them both...SCORE! haha However, I was still feeling pretty sick the next day so I decided to go home with Joe instead of staying an additional night with the rest of the crew. She took me to a pharmacy and told the pharmacist my symptons and he gave some pretty hard core medicine. He gave me packets of little black beads and two red pills to take twice a day for three days. Whatever they were, they worked like a charm! I felt better the next day! I swear, they need to bring this medicine to the States...it's like miracle drugs they have here! haha
Christmas Eve was nothing special really. I went out to dinner with my friend, James. (When in Rome...right?? haha) Afterwards, we went to Torro's for a couple drinks and met up with Luc, Yoomi, Mark, Priscilla, Brian, Kil, Fritz, and a few other friends. Needless to say, we celebrated Christmas like rock stars and had one helluva night! Priscilla, Brian, Kil and I out partied everyone else by going to a noraebang at around 5:30 am. I think we say Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" about 2 or 3 times in addition to other classic Christmas carols. And we kept "winning" at noraebang. (When you sing the words, you get a score at the end depending on how well you sing...) So, the machine kept adding time to our session. We didn't go home until abou 7-7:30!!! Kil went home right away while Brian, Priscilla, and I kept on going! We took a cab to Hwajeong and were hungry. The only place open was McDonalds. Sad to say, my Christmas breakfast was a sausage McMuffin....ohhhhhh, what a sad Christmas! hahaha
Christmas was just like any other day... For our Christmas dinner, Priscilla, Mark, Kil, Chuls and I went out for dinner. What's more of a classic dinner than Vietnamese curry and wine??? haha As Christmas gifts, I gave everyone a cell phone charm and a DVD of all our pictures put together with music and videos.
For our "Office" Holiday dinner, Mr. Kim took all of us out for galbi where we had wayyyyy too much to eat and exchanged gifts for our work Secret Santa. I had Joe and I gave her a make-up set from Etude House. Gavin had my name and he bought me some squishy pens and...BIG BANGS MINI ALBUM 2 that has my favorite song 마 치 막 인 사. Oh my gosh...it was the PERFECT gift!!! For someone whom I barely know, even though I work with him, I was rather impressed...he did a darn good job! I kept asking him, "How did you know?!?! HOW?!" haha So, I've been playing this CD non stop. Love it!
So after the gift exchange, multiple beers, and multiple glasses of some type of Korean wine (hey, when Mr. Kim poors you a drink, you CAN'T not drink it!), the party is only just beginning! Soooo, we all head to noraebang! Of course! haha There were about 13-14 of us crammed into a noraebang room and we were all singing, some were dancing...including Mr. Kim and shaking the light-up tambourines. Oh my gosh...SO MUCH FUN! It was great to hang out with my co-workers in a non-office setting and to let loose with them! Yes, I sang a few songs...my co-worker, Cassie, made me sing Britney Spears with her, I sang Weezer with Mark, Priscilla and I sang Madonna...and Mr. Kim asked me to sing Dancing Queen...oh Mr. Kim...I couldn't say no!!! Oh, I felt so bad for everyone who had to listen, haha.
Not only did the "grown-ups" have a great Christmas party, but so did the kindergarteners. The Friday before our break, we had a Christmas/birthday party for them. Santa even came! And despite "rumors" that Luc teacher was Santa, the kids were still a little wary of Santa...but not too scared to come up and claim their presents! haha The cutest thing I heard from my student Jeonghwan, "I know Santa is Luc teacher. But I know Santa is very busy and asked Luc to be Santa today". Doesn't that just melt your heart?! Sooo cute. I got a Christmas present from my student Jun. She gave me a mask and some home-made soap that smelled of pine. It was sooo sweet...but I wonder if she's trying to tell me something...like, why I should hide my face and use soap...??? haha, jk. And Eric gave me a little Christmas card written to "Elllin". It played music and apparently he played it several times during lunch for the other students before giving it to me. I believe it b/c there were mysterious little kimchi fingerprints on the music button...haha
Well, that was my first Christmas in Korea! Despite being sick and having no snow or the classic Christmas dinner, I had a great time surrounded by friends and fun! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
After our New Year break, it's back to the grind...and Winter Intensives...greeeeeeeat! haha
