My Christmas in Korea

It has long been a family tradition that I go to my grandparents on Christmas Eve and since I have been able to drink, I don't think there has been a night that I have left their Christmas Party sober. So, in honor of my grandparents and their annual party, I headed to Ju-Rok, the local bar with my coworkers and Katrina. It was an eventful night to say the least and I believe we got home somewhere between 3 and 4 am. The bars here don't close at 2 am like in the States, which can be a blessing and a curse.

Also, at work, during the day, we did a secret Santa exchange. I had a Korean teacher from the Middle School that I had never talked to and ended up getting her some things from The Face Shop. I ended up getting lotion as well. Everybody in the office was in high spirits and it was a fantastic Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Day, Katrina and I exchanged the gifts we had by the tree, made some French Toast and fried potatoes, and then relaxed for a bit. After that we met up with all of my coworkers and headed to meet Jen, my other coworker in Seongtan where she regularly goes to a community house. The house is religious in nature and is there to serve the needs of the men and women on the Air Force Base and give them a place to call home. Also, it is open for anybody else who wishes to go. We had a fantastic meal (ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, pumpkin pie, as well as several other desserts). This may not sound that fantastic but any foreigner who is not on a base in Korea knows what an amazing meal this is.

The best part of the meal/event, there was a birthday cake for, guess who? No other than Jesus himself. And, we got to sing Happy Birthday to Jesus! It was a lot of fun!

Finally, we finished off the night in Seoul at Seoul Plaza going ice skating. Besides the fact that it was below freezing and the skates I had on had no edge and I could barely push off or stop, it was another amazing thing to do on Christmas! It was packed so I wouldn't have been able to go much faster even if I had wanted to. I guess it's like skating at Central Park or the like. It was fun to look around and see all the buildings while we skated. It was a lot of fun and I hope to get back up there before the rink closes.

(Tree at the office with Secret Santa gifts)


(Principal of my school handing out gifts)


(Me and my boy, Spenser - He is a good guy and without a doubt, one of my best friends. He got a neck pillow and me, some face lotion.)


(Some of the Korean teachers opening gifts. I got the one on the far left with the reddish hair.)


(This was my Christmas Tree or Christmas Bamboo with gifts)


(Friday night after work. As you can see, there are a few guys with their shirts off - yes, it did get a bit wild...)


(Early in the night when things were still calm. I got a crown for winning a game.)


(Spenser rockin' out at the community house)


(Jen, Erik, and Justin looking at something. Notice the large bottle of mustard and salt and pepper on the table by Jen's arm, both a rare sighting in Korea.)


(Right outside the rink you could get your picture in a snow globe)


(Katrina and Spenser getting ready to go skate in the sub freezing temperatures)


(Matching is the thing to do for couples in Korea so when I saw this couple and their pants, I just had to get a picture. PS - The guy was foreigner...)


(I believe this is a computer simulated overhead view of the rink but it gives you a good idea)


(So I have this exact same photo of me but for some reason it keeps getting flipped. Anyway, this is at the skating rink.)