Christmas in Korea and Lots of Things Beforehand

Well it's been a while since I've posted, so lots to catch up on (briefly)! On the weekend of the 15th, I headed to Seomun Market to do a little Christmas shopping for the friends and family. I found some good treasures, but I am really hoping to also get some good, traditional Korean artwork. Though I am still not entirely sure what that entails or where to find any. So the search remains. And I honestly can't remember what I did for the rest of the weekend, so moving on to Wednesday the 19th. We had the day off, because if was the presidential election. So I headed downtown with Elizabeth and bought a sweet sweater at a thrift store for Christmas festivities. I got a decent deal, but was hoping to find a much better deal. We then watched the Hobbit and after headed to Pan Asia for dinner. We both got Indonesian style rice that was quite tasty.

Last weekend I joined a delightful group to sing some Christmas carols. It was an absolute delight! We sang all the classics and did it to raise money for a charity. So it was a really feel good experience, and helped me get even more in the Christmas mood. Later that night I headed to Babalu for what turned out to be a tremendous night of salsa dancing, and then stayed out with friends until the wee hours of the morning to catch the first subway home.

Sunday I headed to Gyeongju with my friend Jae Won. We saw a few different sites that the area is famous for, and then headed to a 3D art museum. They are pretty popular in Korea and I have been wanting to check one out, so I was excited that we did it. Then we went to an awesome light festival and finally had a delicious dinner. It was a really great weekend!

    

And today is Christmas! Though I was sad that I wasn't with my family, I still had a great day. Elizabeth came over and we made sugar cookies, a "gingerbread" house and ate a delicious Christmas dinner. It was a really delightful day and felt like a really nice Christmas. I am so happy that things worked out so well. Things in Korea are really great. I feel so lucky to be here and have all these wonderful experiences.

A Bundle of Joy

Last weekend I headed to Seoul for some shopping, a Christmas dinner and to catch up with some Korean friends. It was a great, but cold weekend! I took an early KTX (Korea's rapid train) in to the city and headed to Myeong-dong, the district for shopping. I was really excited to shop at Forever 21, because it is one of my favorite stores at home. But I wasn't all that successful and only found a sweater and two pairs of earrings. But then I headed to H&M, which is probably my favorite store in the world. I hit the jackpot and got lots of warm clothes, many of which were on sale! And I finally bought an infinity knitted scarf from one of the street vendors. It is so warm and exactly what I was looking for.

After all my shopping, I headed to Itaewon-dong for the Christmas dinner. The meal was pretty good, but nothing like the delicious Thanksgiving dinner I got from one of the army wives in Daegu. But the group was large and festive, and I enjoyed the general merriment of sharing a Christmas meal with others, though I definitely still plan to do something for Christmas day! I then headed to Hongdae to check in to my hostel and put on some warmer clothes for the evening, which turned out to be my absolute favorite part of the weekend... the evening that is; not checking in to my hostel.

 

 

We met in Switzerland...

 

 

...and caught up in Korea!

That evening I met up with three Korean friends I made in Switzerland (we stayed in the same room at Heidi's Hostel). Such a coincidence, but one I am very thankful for. When I met them, I told them of my plans to teach in Korea and that we should meet up when I got to the country... and we did it! We headed to Jihoon's family's restaurant and had some delicious pork and pork sausages. Then we chatted and caught up on life over makgeolli. We tried some tasty kinds, including chestnut, which was my favorite, and citron, which has a flowery taste. These guys are so nice and a really good time! I wish they lived in Daegu so we could hang out more often. I definitely plan to stay in touch with them during my stay in Korea and visit with them again.

 

 

Sunday I went to Taco Bell, because it isn't a readily available fast food place here. I was so excited to eat some delicious TBell, that I overdid it and ordered a lot of food. But of course I ate it all. And it was good! But I think my favorite part of the meal was that the sauces had quirky sayings in Korean on them! It was a fun twist to my Taco Bel experience. But luckily the food tasted just like home. I was so nice to have a comfort meal! Then I headed back to Daegu on a four hour bus ride. The bus was excessively hot. I literally took my jeans off for the ride... granted I had leggings on underneath, so I wasn't revealing myself to the other patrons traveling to Daegu! Once I got home I had a nice evening of relaxing, laundry and TV watching.

 

Skiing

This weekend was a lot of fun! I started with grabbing dinner with some girl friends Friday night. But it wasn't just your average dinner; it was potentially fatal! We had blow fish. We went with the set course meal. It included a bunch of side dishes, blow fish with sprouts and hot sauce, a similar dish that was cold, fried blow fish and some blow fish soup. It was a tasty meal, but my favorite part of the evening was chatting with the ladies. It was nice to catch up and hang out.
Saturday I headed with a huge group to High1 Ski Resort for a weekend of skiing. It was so much fun! Of all the places I have skied so far, Korea is my favorite! The lifts were efficient, the staff was very friendly, they played excellent English and Korean tunes on the whole mountain, and they do night skiing! It was my first time doing night skiing, so I was really excited. It was a lot of fun. The only catch, the snow is fake. But you can't even tell, so it really isn't a catch at all! I really loved the music, because it helped to keep me from over thinking as I skied. I wasn't able to freak myself out, because I was to busy jamming and singing along! The resort we stayed at was right at the bottom of the slopes, so it was really convenient to just walk outside of the building, grab my skis and head up the lift! And there were three large hot tubs outside. I lounged around in them last night. It was such a pleasant experience. I enjoyed the sensation of the warm water on my body and the cool air on my head. Sadly, I fell as I transitioned from one tub to the other (my feet just totally came out from under me), and I scratched up my legs pretty well. But I was able to relax in the tub after and enjoy the moon, so it really wasn't so bad! I really enjoyed the entire trip. I ended up staying in a room with a really great group of girls, so I was happy that worked out well. And I got a lot of runs in yesterday afternoon, night and this afternoon.
Today I got home and decorated my Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music. It was a great way to start December! I am happy to have some holiday cheer in my home to help it feel like Christmas. It will be hard to have my first Christmas away from home and family, especially considering last year was the first year in a while that we had the whole family together for Christmas, but having some Christmas joy in my home will definitely ease the pain! Now I need to either get my hands on some egg nog, or just make some of my own!