Holidays Korean Style

Holiday season has come and gone with the New Year.  In Korea there is a big difference in the way both Christmas and the New Year is celebrated compared to United States.  In Korea these holidays aren’t as big and don’t have as big of a meaning as in Western culture.  Christmas in Korea is actually more of a holiday for people who are dating.  Simply it is used as a day to have a date and hang out together.  Then the very next day it is back to normal with nothing that special happening.  Since Christmas was Wednesday this past year, everyone worked on Tuesday, had Wednesday off and then right back to work on Thursday.  Plus there wasn’t that much commercialisation of the holiday around the small town I live.  I was up in Seoul in early December and there was a little bit more commercialisation at that time, but still nothing compared to back in the states.  They do have Christmas music that is both in English and in Korean.  The beat and sound of the music is pretty close to the same even if it is in Korean.  That music did start playing in a few of the cafes around Thanksgiving time, but it wasn’t just Christmas music the whole entire time.  The soundtrack playing did have both Christmas songs and then the typical Korean pop.  One of my co-workers on the day before Christmas talked about Christmas with me and he simply said: “It’s a Western holiday and not celebrated in Korea."  That quote does sum it up for how Christmas does ‘work’ in Korea. 

The January 1^st New Year in Korea isn’t as big either as the one back in the states.  I do clarify the January 1^st New Year because Korea traditionally did follow the lunar calendar.  The lunar new year is still yet to come but I imagine it will be bigger than the January 1^st New Year.  Here again it simply is a day off and right back to work on the 2^nd.  That night out on the town it was busier with the younger generation home enjoying the day off.  I have heard from some Koreans that for the New Year they will watch the sunset on the West coast the night of the 31^st and then drive to the East coast to watch the sunrise the 1^st of January.  Since I am on the West coast it was busier at the beach that day even with the temperature in freezing numbers.   Plus Korea is a smaller country so it is easily manageable to drive from one coast to the other before the sun rises again.

Currently it is ‘Winter Camp’ at school this week.  Essentially it is classes for the students during their winter vacation and not actual camping.  Since it is winter vacation they don’t want to be here and so very few students and motivation is pretty much nonexistent.  A couple of them are here because they are forced to be here by parents.  I have been busy planning the camp and finishing up the semester the last couple of weeks. School does resume back around February 3^rd but then it is only back for one week.  Graduation happens and then a few other little things but after that I am pretty sure a ‘spring break’ happens.  Kind of crazy to have a ‘break’ after only one week back but that is how the school system works here.  This weekend I am pretty sure I will be snowboarding which is about a three hour bus ride away.  I have been also gathering some more pictures of food for a later post.  The other day I did eat some "Sundae" (google 'sundae Korean food' if curious but fair warning. . .  not for queasy readers) with some Korean friends and it was good.  We were in a 'hole in the wall' sort of place in the middle of the open air market in town.  Will write later.