George and I went to Songjeong beach on Christmas Eve, and sat and enjoyed the view and the nice weather. After a Blowfish burger and a coffee date at Starbucks, we decided to hit the movies and see Avatar. Not very Christmas-y, I know, but an incredible movie anyways!
On Christmas Day we were awake by 8am (the latest I've ever woken up on Christmas), and opened presents and had a nice breakfast.
After a relaxing day we met up with our friends Cliff and Laura and went to a Christmas buffet dinner at the Grand Hotel in Haeundae. For 50, 000 won we had a choice of Western dishes like turkey and stuffing, seafood, all kinds of Asian fusion food, desserts, and best of all - wine! It was nice to dress up and enjoy a fancy dinner, and do something big and festive.
After dinner we met more friends at Blowfish for some Christmas drinks. It was an early night, but a surprisingly good Christmas away from home.
Some things that were very different from Christmas in Canada:
* It's more of a couples holiday here ... a big date night.
* All the kids at my school had to come in for a half day on CHRISTMAS EVE!! Madness! I let them listen to carols and make Christmas cards.
* Although Christmas is recognized, it's not celebrated in the same way that we're used to at home. Kids might get 1 small present, adults don't really exchange gifts, my principal was shocked that I gave her a Christmas card.
* While at home, everything is closed on Christmas, and people have big dinners with family, here it is a holiday to eat out with family, your significant other, or friends. It's also a big drinking holiday for expats and Koreans alike.
I had a nice Christmas here, thanks to gifts and decorations sent from home, skype calls to family, and my wonderful boyfriend and friends here in Korea. As good as it was, I never want to spend a Christmas away from home again!!!
Woah sounds like you have done way more than we did over xmas; i spend all day waiting for my wife to meet up with me half way across the atlantic at the airport - lost in translation all the time. NYE was fun and we manage to catch a glimse of some celebration at the City hall and saw Nanta, Miso, the two loving musicals in two nights from New Year and the day after, plus the korean coooooking class - get in!
ReplyDeleteI can imagine life would be very difficult in korea without a good company (thankgod you have George, im sure!); how long have you got left?