State of the Christmas 2006
Well, there's not much going on in terms of Christmas here in Lee's world at the moment. I think a lot of this hinges on the timing of my arrival here in Korea. If I arrived earlier, with the time to meet and make some friends, I'm sure I could be involved in some Christmas activities and feel a little more "holiday oriented". But because I really don't know anybody yet, I'm sitting in my undecorated little box of an apartment with the day off and not too much to do with it. I'll be calling some of my family and Jen in a little while, which will be very nice, but the only thing that reminds me of Christmas in my physical space right now are the bad Tim Allen Santa Claus movies (with Korean subtitles) on television and that's not really how I want to experience Christmas.
The quality of one's holiday season being dependent upon the ability to spend it with people you care about is something I've noticed before. Before, I just had vague thoughts and emotions on the topic but as this is my third year (not in a row) that I've been away from my family at Christmas, my thoughts are definitely starting to coalesce into some more solid opinions on the subject. I'm not going to assume that this applies to everyone, but I suspect that it is at least common to other Americans who are brought up with traditions of spending time with loved ones during this time of year.
So yeah, I'm a little lonely. It's not awful to be lonely; I can handle it. For one thing: You get to remember how special the special people in your life are, and how you should tell them this more often. It's always good to not take people for granted. I am also taking the opportunity to examine who I am and what is important to me, which is something you don't often get an opportunity to do in the crush of everyday life (especially this time of year). It's not Christmas like I would prefer, or am accustomed to, but I am making the most of it.
Koreans celebrate Christmas a little differently than we do in America. I don't know (yet) at what point it became an official holiday, but it's a relatively new one. My guess is that since there haven't been hundreds of years of established tradition in this country to determine how the holiday is celebrated, Koreans have developed a specific Korean way of celebrating Christmas. And in contrast to the west, where we stay in with our families and closest friends, many people here use the day to go out and celebrate. (I've been warned not to try to take a taxi or the bus today because "Everyone will be out" and traffic will be gridlocked).
This "tradition" really doesn't hold too much appeal for me personally (dislike of crowds and all that), but I haven't come halfway around the world just so I could sit in my room. So later tonight I will meet up with a Korean teacher from my school (who was nice enough to ask if I had anything to do on Christmas) who will take me out and show me more of the city I live in. I'm not sure of the specifics of what we'll be doing but any chance to see the culture and lifestyle of a foreign country in action is too interesting to pass up, even if I am used to staying in on Christmas.
So there you have it: Christmas 2006 in Busan, South Korea.
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends whom I am far away from this year. May your holidays be filled with as much happiness and peace and love as can be contained in one place. Hopefully I'll be around to spend time with you this time next year. You are all in my heart, regardless.
Love,
The quality of one's holiday season being dependent upon the ability to spend it with people you care about is something I've noticed before. Before, I just had vague thoughts and emotions on the topic but as this is my third year (not in a row) that I've been away from my family at Christmas, my thoughts are definitely starting to coalesce into some more solid opinions on the subject. I'm not going to assume that this applies to everyone, but I suspect that it is at least common to other Americans who are brought up with traditions of spending time with loved ones during this time of year.
So yeah, I'm a little lonely. It's not awful to be lonely; I can handle it. For one thing: You get to remember how special the special people in your life are, and how you should tell them this more often. It's always good to not take people for granted. I am also taking the opportunity to examine who I am and what is important to me, which is something you don't often get an opportunity to do in the crush of everyday life (especially this time of year). It's not Christmas like I would prefer, or am accustomed to, but I am making the most of it.
Koreans celebrate Christmas a little differently than we do in America. I don't know (yet) at what point it became an official holiday, but it's a relatively new one. My guess is that since there haven't been hundreds of years of established tradition in this country to determine how the holiday is celebrated, Koreans have developed a specific Korean way of celebrating Christmas. And in contrast to the west, where we stay in with our families and closest friends, many people here use the day to go out and celebrate. (I've been warned not to try to take a taxi or the bus today because "Everyone will be out" and traffic will be gridlocked).
This "tradition" really doesn't hold too much appeal for me personally (dislike of crowds and all that), but I haven't come halfway around the world just so I could sit in my room. So later tonight I will meet up with a Korean teacher from my school (who was nice enough to ask if I had anything to do on Christmas) who will take me out and show me more of the city I live in. I'm not sure of the specifics of what we'll be doing but any chance to see the culture and lifestyle of a foreign country in action is too interesting to pass up, even if I am used to staying in on Christmas.
So there you have it: Christmas 2006 in Busan, South Korea.
Merry Christmas to all my family and friends whom I am far away from this year. May your holidays be filled with as much happiness and peace and love as can be contained in one place. Hopefully I'll be around to spend time with you this time next year. You are all in my heart, regardless.
Love,