Merry Christmas in Korea!

A lot of people have been asking about Christmas in Korea, so here's my experiences/observations. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner!

People do celebrate Christmas in Korea...but like a lot of things here, appearance is everything! So, there's the appearance that Christmas is a big deal while there may not be the long-standing traditional as in America. There were Christmas lights everywhere, especially at the large department stores.

All the bakeries had new Christmas cakes and it seemed every business had a Christmas tree out. One main thing I noticed: department stores had Christmas sections, but they were nowhere near as large as what Wal-Mart or Target usually offers. Also, while Korean cards are very adorable (as many of you know by now :), they do not come in boxes! So, I just kept my eyes pealed every time I passed a stationary store for good prices on Christmas cards.

Christianity is a fast-growing religion here and seems to be pretty readily accepted. So, obviously, if you go to church, you are probably celebrating Christmas and may go to a church service. And like in America, plenty of people who aren't religious also celebrate Christmas. However, it's only a "family" holiday if there are little kids. Otherwise, it's not really a day when families get together...it's a COUPLES day. That's right, even if you go to a church service, you are probably spending the day with your turtle-dove. This fact was well-illustrated when my friends and I went out to dinner -- the restuarant was full of couples! We had a hard time getting the waiters to even look at our table because we were 3 girls!

This Christmas, even thought I wasn't at home with my family, I felt really blessed. My church, Jubilee, had several activities going on that really celebrated the spirit of Christmas, and I'm just so lucky to go to a church that cares for its congregation so much. I mean, it was really a relief to not have to worry about what I was going to do, because I felt "Oh, Jubilee has it planned out already! Awesome!"

I had to work Christmas Eve, but headed straight to church afterwards for Christmas Eve service. We ended the service in candlelight singing Joy to the World. It was really beautiful and a great way to get focused on why we celebrate Christmas.

On Christmas Day, I met up with people from Jubilee to go to Geon Children's Home. In December, the congregation had the chance to buy a present for a "Christmas angel" -- a child at Geon. My small group went together and bought a present for a little girl -- she wanted new pajamas. On Christmas Day, a group of us met for lunch and then went to the Children's Home. We sang a few carols, there was a short message from Pastor Sangmin, and then it was PRESENT TIME. The people from the church went up on stage and could personally hand out gifts. The children were so excited and couldn't wait to see what they would get. It was really heartwarming to see these kids get so excited and be so thankful for their one gift.

Afterwards, a few new friends that I made that morning and I headed over to Young Nak Church for joint Christmas service put on by all the international churches in the city. I didn't realize how many "international" churches there, but there are tons. We came a little bit late to the service, but caught the message and a few carols performed by a famous saxophonist (I forget his name!). The church was gorgeous! I felt like I was at the symphony more than a church.

I met my friend Sarah (from my small group) after the service, and we headed to a neighborhood called Hyehwa to meet our friend Taryn (another small group sister). Hyehwa is this really young, vibrant neighborhood -- there's a university there and also a lot of theaters and such, so it's pretty artsy. For dinner, we settle on the traditional Christmas meal of ... Pho! :P Pho is a Vietnamese soup. It was pretty delicious, but as mentioned before, our service was a little bit poor as we were not in couples. Oh well. Afterwards, we got coffee and dessert. When Sarah and I left the coffee shop, it was snowing! Sarah is from California and was really happy to have a White Christmas! Me too! I felt like it was so magical.

Sarah and I wanted to take advantage of the night, so we headed to Central Seoul to take part in the city's festivities. We started out at Gwanghamun Square to see the Festival of Lights, the new exhibition about King Sejong, and the ice-skating rinks. Seoul has opened up 3 outdoor rinks, depending on your age group. Rule #1: No Drunken Skating. Also, only the Koreans would think to ice skate with helmets on. They are really concerned about brain cells, it seems.

We ended the night by strolling along the Cheonggyecheon Stream in the snow. I was so happy it snowed on Christmas! It really felt a like a special gift just for me! (And also for Sarah, who was really excited to have snow on Christmas!)