christmas in korea is strange. the stores are all decorated, carols are blaring all over the place, and I have tomorrow off. we took the kindergarten kids on a trip to see a korean christmas play this morning, and when we got back, santa and presents were waiting for them. it’s cold, there are lights up, pretty much everything’s there.
so why did i have to keep reminding myself that today was christmas eve?
while christmas is definitely observed here, it’s nowhere near as commercial. i don’t ever watch my tv, so i haven’t been innundated with holiday ads (provided that even happens here). also, this is a primarily buddhist country, so while people have tomorrow off it’s not that big of a deal. even i have to go back to work on the 26th.
the lack of christmasy spirit is probably due largely to my missing out on so much of what i do at home. the christmas shopping i did just felt like another afternoon browsing the streets and shops. i also did all of my shopping alone, without stupid greg, which made it all task oriented and no fun.
last christmas went like this: i woke up at my apartment. i went to my dad’s house, where my brother and grandparents were in from out of state. we did gifts, we ate, and then i drove over to jeremy’s aunts house. i accidentally got a little too drunk off of the wine (oops), we all sat around and talked, we ate, and gifts were exchanged. then, jeremy and i drove across town to my mom’s house, where my brother had relocated, we ate (again!), exchanged gifts, and hung out. at this point it was like 10 and i had been in nonstop family mode for 12 hours. to decompress, i met up with my friends at the bar and we got drunk.
this year? i’ll wake up tomorrow whenever i feel like it. i’ll stay in bed until i get the motivation to shower, and then i’ll start packing up my shit for my trip to thailand. i’ll eventually make it out to downtown to take pictures of the lights and buy any last minute things i need for my trip. it’s pretty much just going to be another day off, with the added travel preparations. i’ll go to bed, teach all day on friday, and then i’ll go to incheon and wait for my saturday morning flight outta here.
i’m not really sad about missing out on all of the christmas festivities, but earlier today, I couldn’t help but think about how my favorite time of the year has come and nearly gone with little recognition of it. knowing that i’m leaving for thailand this weekend definitely helps any strange feelings i may have, though. jeremy just left for the airport, and i just spent $130 on a backpack to drag everything around in.
for me, this isn’t a bad christmas, just a different and slightly delayed one. but for all of you at home, know that i’m thinking of every singe one of you and wishing i could be there. i may be a bit jealous of everything i’m missing out on today and tomorrow, but you can be jealous of me next week as i ring in the new year on a thai beach. 
if you sent me your address, you should have gotten your christmas card. if not, it got sent out so it’s either late or lost.
have a merry christmas and a happy new year!
B. Luis Grey said,
December 26, 2008 @ 2:54 am
Actually it isn’t a primary Buddhist Country. About 50% of the population in South Korea are confessed Christians. I know being a Christian is loaded in many ways but in either case. Christmas is a western holiday developed to coincide with other religious holidays. In the past the Holy Catholic Church did these sort of things i.e. Easter, All Saints day. Jesus might have actually been born in March according to the modern solar calender.
To put it in perspective. On the Korean Calender there is Buddha’s birthday. I don’t think we have that day off though. Not as a English teacher that is.
The two most important holidays in Korea is The Korean Lunar New Year (which is in January this year) & Chuseok which is equivelent to the Harvest months i.e. Thanksgiving day in America and Octoberfest in Germany and so on.
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas though. I’m heading to work in an hour to teach my final day before my vacation begins. Ten days of trying to find sanity.
whatamidoinginkorea said,
December 26, 2008 @ 4:21 am
I’d be interested to know where you got your statistics. Everything I have been able to find in the past varies, with most reports reporting around a 20% Christian population.
We do get Buddha’s Birthday off. It’s a red holiday. Meaning, it’s the law.
Point being, Christmas is a holiday based out of Christianity or, if you really want to split hairs, Paganism. Korea has a long standing history of Confucian and Buddhist beliefs. Different Christan cultures have different ways of celebrating. And with the spread of both Christianity and commercialism, Christmas has gone global, and the celebrations span religions or philosophies. Thus, Christmas in Korea was different than Christmas at home, with a much more laid back feel and people getting one day off and speding it with their friends rather than their families.