Winter Vacation

Just a quick note- We're off of work for a few days (Friday thru Tuesday), so us roommates (and Tracy's bro) are headed south to see another part of Korea. It's a city called Gyeong-ju, and is supposed to be a really historical area. My hope is to make it to the East coast for one day so I can look at the sea again :)

Thus, there won't be any updates for about a week. Then you'll have to read some long ones again as I catch up :) We haven't made any reservations or set plans, so there are bound to be some adventures. I'm just looking forward to a few days out of the normal schedule!

Christmas Celebrations

Plans to go to Seoul were scrapped in favor of a quiet Christmas here in Dangjin.  On Saturday (Christmas Eve), Abra and I went to English Bible Study as usual.  I enjoyed giving out some gifts to friends there (although I had to keep assuring them that I didn't expect anything in return).  After that Benjamin treated everyone to lunch- Abra's first taste of Bulgogi- mmmmm!  Then I convinced the whole group to join us for Noraebang- "Jane," "Juliet" and family, "Mr. Lee #2", and Mr. Moon  (his first time to Noraebang in 8 years!).  The Noraebang that I knew had Christmas songs turned out to be full (an hour wait!), so we went to another one.  At first I was really scared because it didn't look like they had many Christmas songs.  But, when we went through the Korean sections of the selection book we found lots :)  Still no "Let It Snow," though.  I had a lot of fun.  It was especially great to speed up the songs and do them really fast (you can tell you've lived in Korea for a long time when you know how to change the tempo and the key at a Noraebang!).  Jingle Bells had to have been the best.  Although, the dance remix of White Christmas was also quite amusing.  After that we (Abra, Jane and I) returned to the apartment for the evening.  I spent quite some time working on the Christmas jigsaw puzzle we had going.  Later, I roasted mini marshmallows over a candle, in memory of roommate celebrations last year (I even had our "fireplace" going, LB and NS! :) ).  Eventually, Tracy returned with her brother, Todd, in tow.  He flew in that night and she had been gone on buses and in the airport for most of the day.  He might as well have been named Santa Claus, though, because he came with a suitcase entirely filled with things for Tracy and treats for our apartment- including homemade bread, an assortment of homemade cookies, enough hot cocoa and oatmeal to feed an army, mac and cheese, mint m&m's, bagels, and candy canes!  Wow.  Before long some other people showed up to hang out for awhile and I retreated to the living room to call Jason so we could open gifts together.  The day went by REALLY FAST.  I had hoped for more quiet, relaxing time than I actually had.

 

(Sidenote- you know how we've had so much snow ALL DECEMBER?  Well, for some reason we had a freak warm spell Sunday morning and afternoon, and it even rained!  So much for a white Christmas!)

On Christmas morning I woke up early and opened the rest of the presents that I had been sent.  Just me, with darkness still lingering outside, in the glow of the Christmas tree.  I felt so... um... hard to explain.... loved, looked after, thought of opening presents from friends and family from "home."  :)  After that and getting dressed up Christmasy I had a really nice quiet time with some chai and Christmas music reflecting on some Christmasy scriptures.  It felt like how Christmas morning should be or something.  I was reluctant to leave my warm, comfy atmosphere, but eventually I ventured out to church.  It was weird to see how business just goes on as usual here on Christmas.  It was just a normal Sunday- most of the stores open, lots of traffic, and lots of people shopping.  Rather than going to the adult service, I went to the kids service.  For Christmas they had prepared a sort of talent show, and a group of adults put on a Christmas skit for them.  It was great to be around all the kids.  There were quite a few of my students from Mirae who would run up and hug me or at least say "Merry Christmas."  For other kids, they hadn't ever seen me before, so I got the usual stares :).  One student of mine, in particular, had been telling me about her part in the "hip-hop dance" all week and was SUPER EXCITED to see me there.  It was so great to make her day!  The talent show was just like something you'd expect to see in the States, except all in Korean.  They even sang a few recognizable Christmas Carols with Korean words.  Kids are kids wherever you go.  And the talent show was no different.  In the choir, the kid who sang loudly and off-key was of course by the microphone, and Kids in the dances would need to be cued, or the wrong song would be turned on and they'd all tell the sound manager to change it, you know-- the basic children's Christmas program mistakes.  It made it endearing, though :)  Their theme was a birthday party for Jesus, so at the end we broke up into little groups, sang "Happy Birthday" and ate cake.  That's the tradition here, it seems, eating cake for Christmas.  All the bakeries have been busy making cakes the past couple weeks.

I ate lunch at church as usual, and then found out that English service was cancelled.  My Korean friends were surprised that all I wanted to do was go back to the apartment, but I tried to explain to them that we always just stay inside the house for Christmas.  So I went back to the apartment and spent the day watching tv, working on a crossword puzzle, listening to music, and eating sweets.  We tried to find Christmas movies on tv, but we got bored of Disney Christmas and the other Christmasish things were very strange and few and far between.  Instead, we popped in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," 'cause I was in a musical mood (plus, part of it takes place in winter.... that's kind of like Christmas, right?).  When that was over we went to America with a few other friends.  No, not the country, the restaurant! :)  There I ate what was called "spaghetti marinara" but turned out to be seafood spaghetti.  It was still tasty, though.  I finished off the day on the phone again :)  Thus passed Christmas Day.

 

It was so hard to believe that I had to go to work today!  It really felt like we should've had at least one more day to relax!  This morning I called my family, because it was still Christmas there.  I had the chance to talk to ALL of my mom's side of the family.  It turned out to be a 2 hour conversation, but that's not bad for talking to 14 people! :)  It was strange to hear them all together doing the traditional things and not to be there.  Still, I'm glad I got to talk to them all.  It was a great excuse not to go to the gym today :)

I keep telling myself that my Christmas vacation is just a little delayed.  We have our winter vacation starting on Friday.  We have off Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  Tracy, Todd and I are accompanying Abra down to an area further south in Korea called Gyeong-ju.  It's a very historical area with lots of monuments and temples and museums and things.  I have no idea what we'll be doing, but it will just be nice to have a few extra days off of work and see someplace new.  My only pre-conceived plan is to make it to the East Sea.  Yes, it's cold, but I just want to look at it and smell it and take its picture (can you tell that I grew up far away from the sea? ;) ).  Oh, and if we can't see Narnia Thursday night we'll be seeking it out there.  It's just coming out in Korea. 

 

One more thing...  today is the 26th of December- 6 months ago today I arrived in Korea, and in 6 months from today my contract will be up at Mirae and I'll be on my way home!  Today was the "hump day" of my year, so to speak.

 

Ok, I'll finish off this novel now.  Just think of it as making up for all those days when I haven't written ;)

Christmas Letter

I'm trying to send this out to my whole "update list", but I'm a bit behind. So I'll post it here, too :) And be sure to see my latest December pics! MERRY CHRISTMAS! The end of December marks the celebration of the Birth of our Savior, the beginning of a new year, and the half-way point of my time here in Korea. That's right- I've been here 6 months. It's kinda hard to believe, isn't it? I'm thankful to have reached this point, though. I'll be more than ready to come home when June gets here. Not a whole lot has changed since I last wrote. We've begun a new term at school which means new books and a few new students. The balance between discipline and friendship with the kids is still a tough one to attain. I always feel like I'm leaning too far in one direction or the other. We also gained a class of high school students that I teach twice a week. They're more like the adults because they've chosen to come and learn. One of them has decided that I look like Casper the Friendly Ghost.... :) Probably the biggest change has been a new roommate and co-worker. Abra arrived in the last month of November to take Cori's place. She's an American from California (most recently- she's a military kid so has moved around a lot). It's funny to see her experiencing so many things that have just become "normal" to me. It reminds me of how long I've actually been here and how much I've actually learned. It's cool to have a new person with new experiences to share, and someone new to tell our experiences to :). And, she's a Christian so I have someone to accompany me to church. It continues to be interesting to have a group of non-believing friends, as well. Some are interested in discussing the Bible- well, more like attack the Bible, really- but most just want to leave it unmentioned. Please pray that God will grant me the wisdom to make my conversations always "seasoned with salt" as discussions come up. But more importantly, pray that His Spirit would be at work in the hearts of those around me- specifically Tracy and Ben. The holidays, as you might imagine, have been no help in keeping me from being homesick. But, we're trying to make the most of them since my roommates and I are in the same boat. For Thanksgiving we put on a big dinner for our eclectic group of friends, involving lots of cooking and clean-up. We had a small Christmas party here for the high school and adult classes this week. I even used a friend's oven to bake some cookies and pies. Christmas itself will be pretty quiet. I'll go to church as usual and I think we'll just open presents together in the apartment that afternoon before going out for a nice dinner. We've been enjoying listening to Christmas music (although we're always sure to skip "I'll Be Home For Christmas"!), watching Christmas movies, drinking hot cocoa or tea, decorating, and doing Christmas puzzles. And there is PLENTY of snow! Last year they didn't get much at all, so this year has been quite a surprise. All the Koreans say it's an unusual amount of snow. Having grown up in Wisconsin, and now living in Chardon, it doesn't faze me a bit :) All things considered, it's been a nice Christmas season. And as always, God is faithful. He's been faithful to give me the strength to make it this far, and I know He'll be with me the rest of the way through. I trust that He's working in me and refining my character in ways that I can't see now. He knows what's best. Enjoy your holidays with your relatives or whatever "family" you find yourselves with, and thank God for the blessings He's granted you this year!

"It's beginning to look (and sound) a lot like Christmas!"

The snow came. And came some more. Last weekend and most of this week it snowed. So pretty.... but so cold! Well, for some of the time, anyway. The daytime temps have been high enough that the snow hasn't really built up too much. It's still nice to look at, though- especially on the hills at the edge of town that I can see from the window of the gym. We bought a fake tree for our apartment (real trees aren't even an option unless we wanted to be involved in some sort of illegal activity :) ), put lights on it, and are in the process of decorating it with homemade ornaments. Thus far it consists of snowflakes, origami, and whatever other paper thingamabobs we come up with. I still want to string popcorn, but that hasn't happened yet. Christmas is not a very big deal in Korea. Kids might get Christmas Day off of school, but nothing like the week or two that kids in the States get. I've been told that basically the only people who celebrate Christmas are: Christians, lovers, and children. And even they don't celebrate to the extent that Americans are accustomed to. Although, businesses are very fond of Christmas-themed displays. Normally (well, at least for the past 9 years) I'm used to having tons of vacation time around Thanksgiving and Christmas, but this year I have no vacation in either November or December. Well, actually I have the 30th off as the beginning of winter break.... Still, not for Thanksgiving or Christmas :) It's just strange to be in a country that wasn't based on a Christian worldview. Most families here 1, 2 or 3 generations back were Buddhist. Nowadays there is a relatively large percentage of Christians, but it's more recent so Christian "stuff" isn't ingrained in the culture as it is (or was?) in Europe or the U.S. It's also strange to be away from home for the holidays. Honestly it's tough to hear about the festivities at home and know that I'm missing them. Still, I want to hear about them and see pictures and everything... Oh, and we've been playing Christmas music LOTS. We kinda rotate between all three of ours selection. I just got my "Happy Christmas" music from home for some less-than-traditional stuff (Mom, it's not nearly as bad as Tracy's Ren and Stimpy cd!!). Then, today in Seoul I bought a 6 cd set of 100 Christmas songs with everything from Bing Crosby to the Spice Girls to Twila Paris to the Beach Boys. It's fun. And I'm introducing Christmas songs during English service. It's yet to be seen if I'll actually be there on Christmas, though. We're talking about going to Seoul...

Korean Weddings

In a conversation with the adult class last night, we got talking about weddings.  While they've adopted many "western" things for weddings (including white dresses), there are still a lot of differences.  First off, they told me that the bride is always supposed to be very calm- no laughing and no smiling even!  I guess there's a superstition that if she smiles during the wedding their first child will be a girl.  And everyone here seems to want their first to be a boy for some reason.  Then, the reception.  Similarly to many US weddings, there's a big dinner after the wedding.  In Korea, however, EVERYBODY can come.  I've been to at least 5-6 wedding dinners, and never known the couple getting married!  They have a fancy cake, and make a point of having the couple cut it together, but they don't necessarily do that where many people can see, and they don't eat it and neither do the guests.  It's more just for decoration.  Usually the restaurant staff or the caterers eat the cake.

Anyway, just some interesting comparisons :)

The End of November

Wow.  I haven't updated in awhile.  Here's what the end of November looked like for me (to see what it actually LOOKED like, go to my photos page :) )...

 

Saturday the 26th was our big Thanksgiving dinner.  We spent several hours preparing huge quantities of potatoes, sweet potatoes and chicken.  We also had jello, stuffing, corn, broccoli, cranberry sauce, biscuits and pie.  Although no one was on time, 14 people made it to dinner.  Everyone enjoyed it, although the Koreans preferred to add kimchi to their plates and use chopsticks!  That was very amusing to me.  And we ate on the floor since we don't have enough space at our kitchen table.  All in all it was really nice.  It was fun to have so many friends come and to educate them on a piece of American culture. 

 

The next day, Sunday, there was a special service at church celebrating reaching 5000 members.  Of course, I didn't understand what was all going on....

That afternoon Tracy, Cori, Mr. Kim, Mrs. Baek and I headed to the airport.  Traffic in that direction is pretty bad on Sundays, so it took longer than usual to get there.  Still we were there in plenty of time to meet Abra when she arrived.  The ride back to Dangjin we spent talking and getting to know her and telling her about what to expect in Korea.  She's super sweet.  The rest of this week has been rather out of the ordinary with orienting Abra to life here, moving into Cori's old room and Cori getting all packed up. 

Last night we all went out with the adult class for dinner and Noraebang to wish Cori goodbye.  Tonight we'll go out again with other friends for the actual final goodbye.  She's off to another city for the weekend and will leave for Seoul from there.  Then she's going to Australia for a couple weeks and will stop by for just one more night before going to Canada.  It's strange to think she's already leaving.  She was just over half way done when I got here.  And things will be different not having her around and being the "experienced ones" (Tracy got here only a month before I did).  Still, having change makes things seem like time is going by quicker....

 

Happy December!