mahalath’s Blog

Christmas in Cheongju, Korea

Well, I now live in Daejeon, but I went back to Cheongju (which I like to think of as my home town :D) for Christmas.

The festivities kicked off with me going shopping on Friday night (at 9pm) for the last little bits for the Christmas dinner I was helping to cook the next day. I was joining with my church to cook the dinner and we were expecting about 100 people (although I didn't believe we'd get anywhere near that number). We bought all we could for our budget and then I went back to the apartment I was staying at to get some sleep before I woke up the next day to cook. The supermarket opening hours tend to be 10am-midnight, and we didn't leave much before closing, so I wasn't really back early. Plus, there was a lot of chatting to be caught up on with the girl who was hosting me. I didn't exactly get back early.

Skip to the next morning, when I realise that I've overslept. I turned off my alarm and went back to sleep :S My host comes in at 8:50 and wakes me up with "It's 10 to 9, and it's snowed!" Up until this point there hasn't been any more snow than a couple of flakes that melted as soon as they hit the ground. I look out of the window and it is a certified white Christmas Eve! I was so excited! Then I realised that I had 10 minutes to get to a house about a mile away and taxis weren't going to be in abundance because of the snow, and I was still in my PJs.

I arrive at the house around 10, after a long walk in the snow. I have a great day of watching Prime Evil, peeling a million potatoes, making stuffing, making bacon rolls (does anyone else do these for Christmas dinner? It's just bacon rolled into a roll shape), mashing potatoes at top speed as people start to come downstairs from the carol service to the church cafeteria. Anyways, it all comes off pretty well and a staggering 80+ people are fed from the days cooking efforts. I even had enough time to make Yorkshire puddings (although not enough). It was a wonderful turkey dinner and I am pretty sure a good time was had by all. I certainly enjoyed it. If anyone is in Korea next Christmas if you are in need of a nice carol service and a Christmas dinner, it's worth checking out your local English Worship Service. A lot of them do it, and guests are welcome regardless of religious persuasion.

Next day is Christmas day, and I start with a church service, where I get to sing the carols that I was cooking through the night before. I'm helping with the tech team, but the pastor has decided to give us a break and do the majority of the power point himself.

After church there is a Secret Santa and Christmas party that's hosted by the girl I'm staying with. I make mulled wine!!! We all open presents and play some games. A wonderful time is had by all (and it is still snowy outside).

After this we go to visit a friend in the hospital and sing some carols to her (a bit of an emotional moment during Silent Night, but by all staring very intently at the paper in front of us, we all manage to avoid breaking down in tears (friend is fine btw).

Next we decide that the cinema might be fun. In Korea Christmas is a couple’s holiday, so the films are pretty booked up but we manage to get to the 7:40 showing of Sherlock Holmes, which was an incredibly fun (if not overly Christmassy) film. I'm a bit of a fan of the Sherlock books, and the film doesn't even bear a passing resemblance to them, but that said it is pretty witty and quite exciting. We left the film at 9:44, meaning that I've missed my last bus, so I walk back to my wonderful host's house through the snow. I love walking in the snow! Was supposed to open my gifts on Skype so I call my parents and explain why I'm not and manage to talk to all the family at Christmas dinner.

I get back to Daejeon (where I now live) today and get a text from my manager telling me that I have a parcel at school (I'm on holiday at the moment), so I go in and collect it.

All in all a wonderful Christmas time! And today I'll be able to talk to my family and open all my presents. I hope everyone is having a great time and not missing family/friends/trees/food/etc too much.

Merry Christmas!!