this is the first christmas in my life that i have been away from those whom i have known more than two and a half months. i was not homesick. i was not lonely. and most importantly, i was not stressed. the most stressful thing of my holiday season was sending home christmas cards and buying a few christmas pressies. it was relaxed and lovely.
i worked 12 hours on christmas eve. the last thing i needed was to have a stressful christmas.
i took my night class out with carla for christmas eve. everything on piano street was packed, so we opted to forgo our initial plan of cocktails for dunkin donuts christmas cake. the cake may have been ordinary and mediocre, but, but, but, one receives a free pair of fuzzy pink earmuffs that have headphones built right in. yes, folks, you can plug your earmuffs into your ipod, making you look and feel stylish all at once. only the koreans would develop a freebie product that combines cuteness with technology.
we had a good amount of cake left, so i forced two of my students to finish it off. i played the airplane game with one of my students, accidentally spilling cake on him one of the many airplane rides to his mouth. here is a video of me taunting one of my poor level ones...
i saw this sign as i was walking from the subway last night. it made me smile, partly because of what it said, partly because there was nothing konglish about it.
i met up with one of my favorite students from last month, rachel, who has become a good friend. we ate in hansungdae, at the place that i go nearly everyday for kimbap. i dont know what rachel ordered, but it was not what i normally get (since i only know how to order two things) and it was a delicious change. it was lovely to see rachel, as it has been about a month since we played. we came back to my place for christmas cake, tea, and a little sex and the city. my apartment was cozy and neither of us wanted to leave, but alas, i needed to see my carrah, so we bundled up and made our way through the frigid korean air to jongno sam-ga. rachel had to leave abruptly, but carla and i trudged on to see the christmas lights.
we were not disappointed. the lights around the chongeechong stream (i know that is not spelled correctly) were lovely. there were so many teeny little korean people admiring the lights, taking picture after countless picture. i really enjoy being taller than most everyone in this country, as i rarely have to wait for a place to open to take a picture. i can just stand and get a clear shot of everything.
after a couple hours outside, carla and i decided that we were frozen and hopped on a bus to insadong. green onion and seafood pancake was our mission for christmas dinner. and we succeeded. it was a lovely christmas dinner, very simple, very calm, just two good friends chattering away about everything.
a lot of my students asked me if i was sad that i was not in america for christmas. i'm really not sad. sure, i would love to see my family, but this is the first christmas that i havent wanted to cry, as strange as that sounds. christmas always makes me very emotional when i am at home. and for some reason, i just don't feel sad here. i do not feel lonely or emo, i feel happy to be alive. i am thankful that i am in korea, thankful for the friends i have made here, thankful that i made this decision to come here. it was not easy, but it was worth it.
one thing that has changed about me is that i feel very positive here. i used to dislike my life and i frequently complained about things. i feel truly happy in korea and i have surrounded myself with positivity. it is infectious and it makes my days so much brighter. smile. if you smile, someone else probably will, too...
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