Christmas in Korea

For the first time in a long time, I’m a little sad that Christmas is over.  In America, Christmas is commercialized to the extreme.  It’s to the point where stores will start putting out Christmas displays before Halloween and we are bombarded with Christmas ads and music before Thanksgiving.  My last few years in America ended up with me being sick of Christmas by the first week of December.  I don’t mean to sound like the Grinch, but as a result, I would usually be glad when the calendar showed December 26.  

Here in Korea, Christmas is not this overwhelming, in-your-face holiday that it has become in the United States.  In fact, if my students are to be believed, Christmas is treated just like any other holiday here.  Yes, there is some commercialism and celebration of Christmas here, but it’s on a very small scale so that a choice exists for everyone to either notice it or ignore it as each person desires.  When I leave my apartment and go out in public, I’m not completely engulfed by Christmas décor nor are my ears assaulted by the same 7 Christmas songs played over and over again.  Because of the more subtle nature of the holiday here, I was able to enjoy the season much more than I have in recent memory.

While I did not partake in any large parties or anything, I did celebrate the holidays with a small group of friends here in Korea.  Several of us got together on a couple of occasions to watch Christmas movies, such as Die Hard (a must-see every Christmas), Christmas Vacation, and A Christmas Carol. 

There were also a couple of small parties to celebrate the season.  The members of my language exchange group celebrated one night by doing a pot-luck dinner followed by a grab bag gift exchange.  Of course, no night out that includes Koreans would be complete without a visit to a noraebang (karaoke room).

 Language Exchange Group

Grab Bag!

On Christmas, a small group of us spent most of the day together.  Weeks prior, we planned a Secret Santa exchange so we kicked off the festivities by exchanging gifts.  I got what looks to be a delicious gift box of beer.  This led into an afternoon of drinking and playing charades.  In the evening, we had a dinner reservation at Dino Gogi, an all-you-can-eat meat restaurant.  After dinner, with our bellies stuffed full of meat, we took a quick walk to the lantern display before we called it a night.

 BEER!!!

Charades!

 Lantern Display

The ONLY Christmas decoration put up by the 

City of Changwon, that I know of.

I’ve said it before, but now that I have a comparison, I can confidently say that commercialization ruins Christmas, at least for me.  However, I think it’s safe to say it’s not going away in America anytime soon.  Even if I don’t ever see another Christmas outside of America, I can always look back at this year and say that at least once in my life, was I able to truly appreciate what the Christmas season is all about.    

An Example of Korean Generosity

Many people will say that in general, Koreans are friendly people.  I would say that has been my overall experience during my stay.  However, as I became more immersed into my life here, I tend to forget about that quality.  It’s always nice when you meet someone who reminds you of this endearing trait. 

Yesterday, I went to the Junam Reservior, which is large wetland area that also serves as a winter home to over 20 different species of birds.  The warm weekend weather, coupled with the desire to play around with my new camera, prompted me to make the journey to the outskirts of Changwon.

I walked around the reservoir for over 3 hours enjoying the weather, taking in the scenery, and trying out my camera. I was on my way to the bus stop to head back into Changwon when an elderly man caught my attention and waved for me to come over to him.

After introducing himself and his wife, both of whom spoke decent English, especially for someone their age, he started asking me the usual questions such as, “Where are you from?  What do you do in Korea?  Where do you live here?” and so on.  They then asked me if I would like to join them for some coffee or tea.  I had no specific plans for the day so I agreed.

We headed to the visitors center and ordered our beverages.  They insisted upon paying for my tea.  We sat down and just chatted for over a half-hour.  Just some of the things we talked about were their travels in America, our respective families, our jobs (they are both retired), what I like about Korea, what they liked about America, and current events. 

When we finished, they offered to give me a ride back to Changwon.  I later learned that they live outside of Masan, which means they were going out of their way for me.  Upon dropping me off, I try to thank them for their generosity, but they said they should be thanking me because they don’t often get the opportunity to converse in English.

In this increasingly impersonal and detached world in which we live, it is refreshing to meet people who are willing to show such generosity to a stranger, especially a foreign stranger.  Seemingly insignificant experiences like this, which will not soon be forgotten, will go a long way in my creating and maintaining a positive view of Korea.   

Random Pictures From Junam Reservior

 Note:  The above picture was not taken yesterday, 

but rather a month ago.  I included it because it is 

one of my favorites.

Year 2 Wish List

Last Friday was the 1-year anniversary of when I first arrived in Korea.  I came in only committed to stay one year.  I told myself that after the first year, I would re-evaluate and decide whether to stay longer or to leave.  Last week, I officially extended my visa and current contract by 2 months, and am currently in the process of applying for public school positions starting next March for another year. 

Wanting to stay longer means I obviously like it here.  Are there things that I don’t like about Korea?  Sure.  But they are small things that are inconsequential in the long run.  There has been nothing so far that has made me want to pack up and leave.

I've written about this before, so I won’t spend much time restating it, but the job is the best thing about being here.  The only reason I want to switch to public schools is because I would receive a significant increase in pay and vacation time.  If my current job was able to match the pay and vacation, I would not hesitate to sign away another year of my life with my director. 

The other reason I want to stay is that I do not feel that I am done experiencing Korea.  Looking back, I did not do as much during my first year as I had hoped to do.  I will place part of the blame on my limited vacation time among other reasons.  Up until this point, I only received a three-day vacation in August which fell on a Tuesday-Thursday.  Also, it seemed that all of the national holidays this year fell on a Wednesday.  Another 15 months with increased vacation time should allow me to cross off more of my “Korea To-Do List.” 

My Year 2 Wish List (in order of desire)

1. Visit Seoul 

2.  Hike Jirisan and Seoraksan (mountains)

3.  Take the DMZ tour

4.  Visit Jeju Island

5.  Attend at least 3 cultural festivals (including Cherry Blossom festival and Lantern festival)

6.  Visit a traditional folk village

7.  Do a Temple Stay

8.  Eat bosintang

Hiking, Turkey, Bacon, Karaoke, and Temples!

In Korea, November is a rather uninteresting month.  Like Chicago, the weather starts to become colder and the days shorter.  Unlike back home, however, there are no holidays to look forward to here.  Every year, I would look forward to Thanksgiving because of the long weekend, extra football, and most importantly, Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s house.  As I would not be partaking in the turkey consumption this year, nor enjoying Grandma’s extraordinarily scrumptious homemade mashed potatoes (seriously, those potatoes deserve many more adjectives!), I had no choice but to look for alternatives.  Fortunately, with the help of some friends, I was able to make a memorable Thanksgiving weekend!

For some time now, a small group of us try to go hiking at least a couple days a week.  Usually, these hikes occur in the early morning during the week as a means for some fresh air and to escape the urban scenery we are subjected to on a daily basis for a couple hours.  From time to time, we would toss around the idea of doing longer hikes on the weekends and in different locations as well.  One friend, let’s call him Johann, kept telling us about an island just off the southern coast of Korea with some great hiking that his director showed him once.  We decided to celebrate Thanksgiving by finally visiting this island.

After spending much of Friday night prepping for our trip, Ricky, Lisa, Johann, and myself leave Saturday morning to head towards Johann’s school.  There we meet his director, Dan, and some of his friends who are going to drive us out to the island and be our “guides.”  A little over an hour later, we arrive at our pension where we were going to stay for the night.  A pension is a Korean style “motel” usually located in a scenic place.  Our pension was beautiful, located on the slope overlooking the water.  It would be selfish of me to forget to mention that Johann’s director paid for the pension and his generosity during the weekend would not end there. 

 Our Pension

 Sunset From Our Window

Don't Ask...

From the pension, we drove to our starting point for our hike.  It was a steep hike, but not that difficult.  As we ascended up the mountains, we were treated to stunning views of the island, the ocean, and the Korean coastline.  Near the top of the mountain, we found a picnic table and set up our Thanksgiving “feast.” 

 At The Beginning

First Incline

 Early View

Call Me Caboose! 

Say Kimchi! 

Our Fearless Leaders

The menu consisted of turkey sandwiches (which would have been better if Lisa didn’t forget the lettuce!), boiled russet and sweet potatoes, fruit salad, and beer, along with the 라면(ramyeon), 김밥(gimbab), and coffee provided by our Korean hosts.  Like I said, they were very generous to us white people, not unlike the Native Americans hundreds of years prior.  Only, this time around, we won’t show our appreciation by taking their lands (HA HA)!!! 

 Cooking the Ramyeon

Delicious Fruit Salad 

Time to Eat 

What's with the diagonal pictures, Lisa? 

TURKEY!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving (Korean-American Style)

After our lunch, we hike the remaining 80 meters or so to the peak of the mountain.  The surrounding views were amazing!  It didn’t hurt that it was a nice cool day without a cloud in the sky.  Unfortunately, at this point, Dan had to leave us temporarily, but his friend, Joe, was with us for the remainder of the hike.  We stayed at the peak for a while taking pictures, relaxing, and enjoying the scenery before heading down the other side of the mountain and back to the pension.

 At the Peak

 At the Peak

 At the Peak

 At the Peak

 At the Peak

 At the Peak

 See Dangerous Ledge?  Must Explore!

 I like the coloration of this picture.

 This one too!

 Relaxing at the Peak

Joe is one funny guy!

When we got back to the pension, we went up to our room to relax a bit.  We weren’t even back for twenty minutes when the wife of the couple who owned the pension brought some 파전 (pajeon) up to us.  파전 is a “pancake” made of eggs, flour, green onions, and other ingredients depending on the type.  After eating, we went for a walk along the pier and through the village to pass time until dinner.

 Ricky Loves 파전

Lisa too!

 Me Three!!!

 Pier in the Village

 Pier in the Village

 You know a door is small if Johann can't fit through it!

 Village Near Our Pension

On the Pier

Dan returned later that evening.  The generosity of our guides continued as we were treated to 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal) for dinner.  삼겹살 is a popular dish in Korea of pork which resembles bacon.  Obviously we couldn’t leave out the 김치 (kimchi)!!!  Mixing the 삼겹살 with the kimchi and other sides, such as hot peppers, garlic, and some dipping sauces, was very delicious.

 Joe is an expert at cooking 삼겹살.

 Me, not so much!

KIMCHI!!!!!!! 

Too Much Food!!!

After dinner, the 6 of us piled into the car (sucks to be Lisa, Johann, Ricky, and Dan squeezed into the back seat!), and went to a 노래방 (noraebang).  A 노래방, which is a popular form of entertainment here, is a Korean style karaoke room.  We made fools of ourselves (except for Joe who had a great singing voice) for a couple hours.  Again, our Korean hosts refused to let us contribute to the cost.

 We Cool!

I was rockin!

Joe had a great singing voice. 

 Beer in one hand, mic in the other.  The proper way 

to 노래방!!!

DVDs of the performance are available for $19.95 + S/H.

Back at the pension, after a long day, we went to sleep.  Breakfast consisted of leftover turkey sandwiches, fruit salad, 김밥, 삼겹살, and potatoes.  After checking out of the pension, we spent most of Sunday visiting a couple temples in Busan. 

 Beer in Bed.....Korean Style!

 Chef Johann

Breakfast

옥불사 

옥불사 

옥불사

 버머사

Rebuilding after a fire.

버머사

It was an exhausting, but fun weekend.  We got home around 6:00 in the evening on Sunday and I was in asleep by 8.  Again, much appreciation goes out to Dan and Joe for showing us a great time. 

Dan and Joe