a Very Korean Christmas

Well folks, you might be wondering what does a foreigner do for Christmas in a country that doesn't really celebrate it. First off I guess I should explain what Christmas is in Korea. Christmas is a national holiday, but it is a national holiday in the sense that Memorial day is a national holiday. Korean's celebrate Christmas not by giving many gifts, but by simply giving one thoughtful gift to each other. Christmas is also not a time for family, but instead a time for friends to go out and drink. I think the best way I can explain Christmas is by saying that it is more like New Years. With that fun explanation aside let us begin this wonderful exploration of my Christmas.

For starters, even though Christmas is not that huge here, that does not stop the stores from doing all those wonderful things we do back home. Nor does it stop Christmas Carolers. I was walking home past the local movie theater on Christmas Eve and what did my eyes behold but fifteen high school girls Christmas Caroling. Sadly I did not have my camera on me at that moment, but luckily my friend Eli happened to go by at a later time and took a video of it. I feel that I cannot accurately explain this, so I will just show the video. All I can say is, enjoy.



Honestly, I think that if Christmas Caroling was like that back in the states it would be far more popular.

With Christmas Day upon us Brenden, Carissa, and i hopped the first bus to Boreyong to make Christmas dinner with our friend Drew. Honestly I was filled with a little apprehension about this trip, not because of the company, but I was afraid that somehow it wouldn't feel like Christmas. Luckily, I was dead wrong. Everything went awesome besides a little bit of an awkward situation on the bus to Boreyong. In short a girl who I have a little bit of a history with here in Korea was on the bus. What was the funniest thing was that we spent about half the bus ride texting each other. Nothing bad happened but still it was just kinda awkward.

Dinner, however was awesome. I was actually surprised by how well everything turned out. The chicken we roasted was delish, the sweet potatoes and orange juice didn't disappoint, neither did the mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, or the garlic bread. Carissa made dessert which consisted of Walnut pie and cookies. All told the meal was as epic as it could get.