I cannot pretend I was looking forward to spending Christmas in Korea. Being away from your family at this time of year is rough. It doesn't matter that we spend the rest of the year apart, or that by Boxing Day you are all ready to kill each other. Christmas is a family holiday, and it is for spending with your nearest and dearest. Or it is in the West.
In Korea, Christmas is a romantic holiday. It's not a big deal, it is more like Valentines Day back home. There are some decorations in the shops, but you are not bombarded with it from September as you are back home. There are various renditions of Christmas Songs in the department stores (most of them Last Christmas) but they are interspersed with the highly amusing Korean power ballads that are very big here. Its just...well..different. The most popular decoration I have seen this year is a mannequin dressed up as Santa. They are really creepy. Those Brits reading this will remember the Dr Who Christmas special a couple of years ago with the mannequin Santas that killed everybody? Well thats what they look like. Some of them look really angry. Angry Santas are not festive.
Despite being 5000 miles away from home, we made the best of it. I woke up early, opened my stocking that my mum had sent me in the post (I love the fact that at 22 I still get a stocking) and then I Skyped my mum who had just got back from Midnight Communion. I then met up with the other teachers from my school and we all went to a Western restaurant downtown. The Christmas lunch was not quite what I was used to, as the restaurant is run by Canadians. It had turkey and ham and mash potatos, thats all you can ask for really. I did learn an interesting fact this Christmas though. The UK is the only country who eat Mince Pies and Christmas Pudding at Christmas. I just assumed that these things were universal, as they say "Christmas" to me. However, after a few blank looks from my American and Canadian co-workers I realised that we were alone in this tradition. Some people eat mexican food at Christmas, some have ham instead of Turkey, some people spend all day playing computer games in Pc Bangs (computer rooms) Thus prooving that by teaching in Korea I am become more aware of all world cultures not just Korean culture. Despite this, I did miss my mince pies and Christmas pudding, my mum has promised to mail some out for my birthday which is in January.
Today is New Years Eve, so we are going to go DownTown and bring in the Western New Year. It also seems odd to me that not everybody celebrates new year at the same time. One of my students said, only half jokingly "Teacher, its new year, Give us presents" which in Korea you would do. Whereas at home we get drunk and kiss people. I also have the problem that I am 9 hours ahead of my home time (GMT) so midnight for me is 3pm at home, and midnight for them is 9am January 1st here. I may celebrate twice.
Happy New Year!
