Here's another familiar holiday sight: Salvation Army bell-ringers. The differnece: in Korea they bow to you when you make a donation!
I went to a small party/gift exchange at a friend's place on Christmas Eve. There were about ten of us - the perfect number for a game of mafia. That's not very Christmas-y, I suppose, but we had fun with a few rounds of that.
Christmas afternoon there was a huge joint service at my church with people from a number of English ministries here in Seoul participating. Parts of the service ranged from a rap/breakdance version of "Silent Night" (!) to familiar carols sung by an excellent choir from Indonesia. Their final number was "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful;" first their very talented director sang it in Latin - phenomenal. Then the congregation joined in, singing it first in Korean and then in English. The service ended with a sing-a-long Hallelujah Chorus. When they invite people up on stage for that, I'm always torn. I love to sing it, but it's been so long since I actually practiced it in a choir that I really have to focus on the notes; it's hard to fully appreciate the sound of the music when you're doing that. I did join the choir, and even though I had to carefully eye both the score and the conductor, it sounded beautiful!
After the service a few friends came over to my place for dinner. I only have a very small oven, so I cheated and ordered rotisserie chickens for the main course - but I did make mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn, cranberry-apple chutney, and an apple pie for dessert. Since my place is so small I don't entertain much here, but it was fun to cook and have guests over for the holiday! Marc brought a Korean friend who had spent a couple of years studying in the States, and he was profusely thankful for the invitation, saying again and again how suprised and happy he was to have an American Christmas in Korea. My friend Seung Hee was also really excited; this was her first "American" Christmas, and several times she commented on how much she enjoyed trying our traditional food and watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special with us.
Their appreciation helped to assuage a mild sense of holiday guilt; I'd been feeling a little selfish after talking to my family during their celebration last week. This was my fifth Christmas overseas, so I'm used to it - but Mom cried a little on the phone, Grandpa said something about hoping I'll settle closer to home one of these days, and talking to Sean and Heather made me a little sorry that I was missing my nephew's first Christmas. I'm in the process of renewing my contract, which means I'll probably be in Seoul for at least another year. Next year, though, I think I'll opt out of teaching winter term courses so that I can be home on December 25th!
