Merry Christmas from Korea

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, with every Christmas card I write."
"Oh there's no place like home for the holidays."
"O come, Thou Day-Spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death's dark shadows put to flight."
"I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams."

Rather sentimental holiday, Christmas. Usually there's much rejoicing or holiday cheer, but in a country that only recently started celebrating Christmas, it just doesn't quite have the same feeling in the air. English-speaking expats all over Korea (and I'm sure in all other foreign-to-them communities worldwide) seem to have picked up on it and instinctively draw closer to each other to lean on when away from family, friends, food, and fireside comforts of being home for the holidays.



This holiday is probably the most tradition-filled of all of them for my family. From pulling out the Christmas Nutshell Library stories, to setting out the ceramic nativity, to decorating the artificial tree while Christmas music plays, to reading and singing after dinner with the advent wreath candles lit, to changing the advent calendars, to baking and sharing cookies with neighbors, to printing and folding Christmas newsletters, to creeping out early and diving for the stockings while waiting in suspense for the rest of the family to awake before giving gifts (even with we "children" as adults from different homes the rules still held), to driving to SC to the extended family's home, to sharing a host of traditional food, to wearing silly/festive Christmas socks, to reading the Christmas stories ("Twas the night before Christmas" and Luke 2), to making (or eating) strouffli cookies, to dining on lasagna in fine Italian style, my family has rather numerous traditions. And there are far more than that of course.

Sojourners don't really have the luxury of observing all of our home traditions in a foreign land, and it wouldn't really be wise to attempt to recreate all of those traditions anyway, due to cost, time, and space limitations, but we can manage a few of the meaningful customs anyway. Sadly, I still have to go to work the day after Christmas, but at least I was able to make the most of the weekend.

During the couple of weeks leading up to Christmas, I gradually realized that in Korea this holiday is for 3 groups: children, Christians, and couples. Not families or random singles. I would ask my students if they were excited about Christmas, and they would say, "No teacher! I am sad! Solo, solo!" Recently a friend used a comical picture as her profile on Facebook: Put the Han back in Hanukkah. Hearing "Solo! Solo!" sort of made me think of that again, heh.



Anyway, Korea has been even more filled with snuggling couples in malls, at bus stops, and on the subway. It was going to take an effort to have a warm and happy holiday, but that's okay. One teacher at school (also "solo") made little cards for all the teachers around her desk, including a bilingual one for me. So thoughtful! :) One fun holiday thing I got to do that I've never done before was attend a concert performance of Handel's Messiah, sung by a choir in Seoul. Several diplomats and dignitaries from other countries were in attendance that night. I enjoyed it! The musicians were very badly out of tune, but the singers (apart from the tenor soloist) were all wonderful!



I got an unexpected day off on Wednesday, so I spent the entire day baking Christmas cookies--5 different kinds! One friend had mixed up some sugar cookie batter that she shared with me, but I mixed and made the rest. Ended up making peanut butter thumbprint cookies, cinnamon snicker doodles, walnut shortbread bites, chocolate oatmeal no-bake cookies, and I baked and frosted the sugar cookies.





Bringing them in to share with teachers was such fun! They're starting to get accustomed to the idea that I spend free time baking sometimes, but it's still a lovely surprise for them anyway. :) I had some good conversations with teachers as a result of the cookies, so that's always nice! I was able to share some cookies with neighbors, my apartment manager, and a nice lady who runs a restaurant in town that we expat teachers like to go to. It's wonderful to be able to bring a smile to someone's face! Carrying on my grandmother's and mother's tradition of sharing a little holiday sweetness with friends nearby!



We had an unexpected snowfall in town the day before Christmas eve, so I ran outside with a couple of friends for the first real snow of the season. It got nearly 2 inches of accumulation, and there was even some left on the sidewalks and bushes two days later as I walked home from the bus stop after church! We got to toss some snowballs, make snow angels, catch snowflakes to eat, and take some pretty snow pictures.






Christmas eve involved some additional cookie deliveries (some of those listed above) and a long trip into Seoul. I had arranged to stay with my friend (also named Sarah) so we wouldn't have to wake up Christmas morning to an empty house. She asked for my input on the Christmas eve dinner, and I requested lasagna, thinking it probably wouldn't be possible though. Well, she made it from scratch (went all over the city to who knows how many foreign food stores scouring them for rare imported ingredients) and the result was a made-from-scratch delight. Yum! So I got to have lasagna for Christmas after all, and even got to take some leftovers (also in keeping with family tradition, hehe).



She also made spiced apple cider, a red velvet cake for one of her office mates whose birthday was coming soon, some mulled wine, Parmesan-roasted asparagus, Swedish meatballs in bbq sauce, home-baked bread with whole garlic cloves baked in, and an amazing tree constructed from 6 sizes of cut-out star cookies that stacked into a 3D Christmas cookie tree.

We stayed up a little while after the other guests left and enjoyed some hot tea, the Christmas tree, and the cheerful lights hung up around her home. Went to sleep (she has a 2-bedroom house with a full kitchen!), and woke up warm and toasty. We were both able to Skype with our families, and I even got to open my gifts that my mom had sent in a package while they were watching. My family and I showed off Christmas sweaters and Christmas socks, and had a great time getting caught up. I miss them so much, but it really helped getting to see their smiling faces all together in one place!



Sarah had purchased and prepared an especially special gift for me: Pillsbury Cinnabon cinnamon rolls!! I don't even know how much they cost, but it was probably astronomical. All I know is, she could tell how much I wanted to keep this particular part of the family tradition this year, and somehow she managed to pull it off. So I got to have hot cinnamon rolls for Christmas breakfast! She added her own cream cheese frosting that was left over from the red velvet cake and it was sort of amazing.

Since I had agreed to help out with singing at church this Sunday (especially since it was Christmas songs, yay!!), I needed to arrive a little early to rehearse with the rest of the worship team. Getting around with a heavy carry-on bag and bundled up in a tight winter coat today wasn't easy, so I had a bit of a frustrating commute from Itaewon area of Seoul all the way over to Jamsil area of Seoul, but I made it eventually. It was a good time of worship with brothers and sisters in Christ, and good to be able to share the day with others who were a little homesick too, to bring one another some cheer and encouragement. It was great seeing so much Christmas attire in one place too. ^_^ What a special opportunity to celebrate the Savior's birth with people from so many countries gathered in one place--Korea, Canada, USA, South Africa, and maybe even more!

There are a few more surprises on their way to Korea I think, but that'll just help extend the cheer a little. I'm so very blessed with so much more than I deserve! I was glad that my orders in America arrived safely at my family's house. Thank goodness for Amazon. I'm hoping to Skype one more time with the extended family, and that'll about wrap up the holiday for this year. As a bit of an early Christmas surprise, I found out a few days ago that my school got funding for a native teacher position again next year even though so many high schools are losing funding for us. That was such an answer to prayer and a bit of a surprise. It's not official, but it looks like I'll have a job here again next year too! Certainly a Christmas I'll never forget, this first one away from my family and first one in Korea.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6 (ESV)

Especially praying for peace in the year ahead. Merry Christmas, everyone!