To start, winter here is nothing like home, or any place I have ever lived before. Lets see, I grew up in Michigan, then I went to University in New York state, then I moved to Chicago. The common link here is? COLD, SNOWY winters. So, it's very pleasant to walk outside in the middle of December and hardly need a hat. The temperature is usually between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit and it does not snow. That is a very nice perk about living in the southern tip of the Korean peninsula.
Christmas time in Korea is not the crazy consumerist hub bub that I hate at home either. There are not enough Christians in Korea to make a huge deal about Christmas, so there are no Christmas sales, no crazy people in the shopping center, and no Christmas sensory overload starting after Halloween. There is a nice even spread of decorations and lights, with the ever so iconic Salvation army bell ringer who stands seemingly 24/7, in the mall ringing a single bell for a small donation. But, in Korea, when you make a donation to the person in the red coat, you get an individually wrapped apple. I like this idea. At home the people give out small candy canes, but I think a fruit makes a much bigger statement of saying "thank you for giving to charity". Plus it's better for you.
Due to Christmas not being a big deal here, everyone had to work up until the Wednesday the 24th. Thus, I decided that our apartment complex should have a "traditional" Christmas eve dinner. We all gathered at our friend Ellen's apartment, and each brought various dishes. I am the only one lucky enough to have an oven in the apartment, (because Koreans don't bake here, ever), so I brought an assortment of brownies, chocolate Chip cookies, and apple pie bars. Jared made some excellent garlic mashed potatoes, and other food consisted of chicken fajitas, curry soup, chicken curry, and garlic bread. All of the food combined with a tasty yet dangerous punch, created a beautiful evening.
We ended up staying up until all hours of the morning playing a very competitive game of pictionary - battle of the sexes style. This was a hilarious game of female intuition mixed with male competitiveness that created a very heated and amusing game. Lets just say the girls won, and some of the male players swore off pictionary for life. At the end of the night, finally acknowledging that we had been sitting on the floor for hours and hours, we went for a nice walk around the apartments. There were 12 of us, walking around like a flock of geese at 4am on Christmas morning, totally unaware of how late/early it was. As soon as someone mentioned the time, everyone seemed to crash and decided to part ways to their own beds. It was a great night.
Christmas morning was simple and peaceful. I called home on Skype to see everyone open the package I sent was a great experience! It was exciting to see the things that I had sent arrive across the world and opened. It made me really homesick to not be there with everyone, but happy I could share part of my journey with traditional or funny mementos from Busan.
After the phone call, Jared and I exchanged gifts and decided to go on a hike. It was a beautiful day and a sunny, crisp 45 degrees -perfect for a hike. We hiked for about 2 hours to Children's Grand Park.
Children's Grand park, is a crappy amusement park in the middle of a mountain. It's really funny to think of the logic behind putting something like this in the location that it is. But, as illogical as it is from a business standpoint, it's just as wonderful because of those things. Just think, a roller coaster in the middle of some mountains. In the middle of nature. Not in some gross congested tourist trap. The first thing we saw was a shooting game with the oldest, grossest, most decrepit looking action figures/ manikins you could ever imagine. It was a bar scene with manikins that looked like one-eyed prostitutes and stuffed animals with missing appendages. This game was SO gross I needed to take a picture of it. BUT! as soon as I did, the figures all moved and made a creepy sound. I didn't put the pieces together, so I took another photo of the other side of the panorama. Suddenly, a man who was working the booth across from this machine came over and by making a big "X" with his arms said "NO PHOTO". Then I realized that this was a game where you shoot the targets on the objects, and the light from my flash must have made all of the sensors go off at once, therefore, making all of the creepy dolls move at once....funny! So, we walked back as far as we could handle, and took a cab back to our apartment. I made up some home made pizza and we called it a night.
My birthday was about the same, relaxed and peaceful. I woke up to a famous Jared- egg and cheesy sandwich and relaxed until we decided to go on another hike. This time we didn't' really know how to get up the mountain to the path, so we just kept walking up until there seemed to be a place where we could just wing it. So, we grabbed on to trees and rocks while trying to avoid thorns. We scaled the mountain until we came to a path. This time we walked and walked and walked and just went up. We made it to the peak and found a splendid spot for a summer BBQ on a flat slab of slate that overlooked the whole city. We rested while taking in the sites and breathing some fresher air than we're used to, and began our decent. Tired, and hungry we went to a great Turkish place for a group birthday meal after. It's always nice to indulge in non-Korean food whenever possible!
The next week, everyone still had school, even up through new years eve. So, we were very excited when that day was over and we were able to gather for some Italian food and start celebrating the new year. We ended up at this club... yes club, with a lot of foreigners and spend most of the night talking, laughing and people watching. At the count down everyone was given a candle to hold, of which I am grateful that no drunk person started a fire with due to only one exit. The count down was as usual, and the night was young. As a wonderful surprise, my friend Paula, who teaches in Seoul, was in for the holiday and swung by for a bit. I had met Paula 2 years earlier while working in the Adirondacks in up-state NY. It's funny how life paths keep crossing when you least expect it! I found myself all tuckered out at about 3am and put myself to bed. Hello 2009- farewell 2008, it was a good year!
Now, I'm sitting here at 1am on a Thursday morning anticipating my next adventure. I leave for Thailand a week from Sunday. My first big trip! Happy new year to all!
I'll keep you posted!
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