The Holiday Season

Well, the holiday season is over here in Seoul, and things are starting to slow down. Bob and I are currently in our second week of unofficial holidays, and we both start our Winter English Camps next week, for 2 weeks, before having a final week of unofficial holidays.

Christmas was very different for both of us this year, being away from home, and celebrating in a foreign country. We bought a $10 fake Christmas tree from E-mart (similar to Walmart), and lots of cheap decorations and two stockings. We bought the coolest Christmas lights ever, that do their own little light show repeatedly when you turn them on. Bob and I watched many, MANY Christmas movies to put us in the holiday spirit. These days, in January, Bob still sings "Meet me in St. Louis", and its always stuck in my head because of him.

The most Christmasy thing I saw:



We went to see Christmas lights at City Hall in Seoul:




We hosted Christmas dinner, which really stressed me out, but kept my mind occupied on what was going on here in Seoul, rather than thinking of everything I was missing in Canada. We wanted to eat turkey, but we couldn't find a roasting pan large enough to cook one, since most Koreans don't have ovens, there isn't a high demand for roasting pans (or turkeys for that matter). We decided to go with BBQ chickens from Costco, and no one could tell the difference. I made stuffing, squash, baked potatoes, Caesar salad, and broccoli and cauliflower to go with it. My friend Jen's mom made vegetarian gravy as well. Bob and I had been busy the week before baking about 10 apple pies, for this dinner, as well as for gifts for the staff at our school. Bob is allergic to apples, and broke out in hives while peeling the apples. After giving him some Benedryl and putting him to bed, I finished the pies on my own.

Christmas Dinner (girls):


Christmas Dinner (food):


Christmas Dinner (boys):


Bob and I also continued with our yearly tradition of making a gingerbread house. The most expensive and difficult one yet. Molasses is impossible to find here, so I ended up ordering 1kg of it on the internet, only using about 2tbls worth. Needless to say, I'll be searching for molasses recipes to try and use it all up. Bulk candy isn't popular here at all either, which is good for my waistline, but bad for my wallet...I found some at Kyobo Bookstore, and the tiniest bag cost me around $15. Then after we made the dough, it was too sticky, and wouldn't firm up. When we finally baked the house, the icing took forever to dry, and we ended up sitting and holding the house together for hours, very frustrated. Santa and the chimney kept falling off, so we just pulled it off and propped it on the house later. Together, we made nanaimo bars as well, which were absolutely delicious, but didn't quite look the same as the expert ones made at home.

The Gingerbread House:


Bob's Nanaimo Bars:



Bob and I exchanged stockings and gifts on Christmas morning. I had mailed home a big box of presents to Cannington, which only cost me $50, and my family had mailed me a big box of presents here, which cost them an unbelievable $165. So, after everyone left after Christmas dinner, we Skyped Cannington, and opened our presents together. Bob and I got 2 large and awesome stockings from my family to open, which was really fun (and funny, considering Bob had drank about 2 bottles of wine by this point in the evening). My aunts as well as my grandparents also mailed me many presents - Thank you so much! Christmas was far from the same, but it wasn't lonely or as depressing as I thought it would be.

Christmas Morning:


On Boxing Day, I made some Chicken Soup with the dinner's leftovers, and then that night we went to the Korean National Ballet's production of the Nutcracker. It was fantastic, and Bob's first time watching it. The music was so great, and the costumes were fun to look at. We had a great time.

Making Dad's Famous Chicken Soup:


The Nutcracker:


For New Years, Bob and I went with friends to a wine bar called Berlin, in Itaewon. It was classy, but crowded, but we had a fun night. Later that week, we returned to Itaewon to go to "What the Book", a used English bookstore, which made Bobby really happy. We also bought backpacks - 2 for $100. They are the oldest and ugliest backpacks ever, but they are sturdy, and cheap enough, and I won't mind getting it dirty as we lug it around SE Asia.

We visited a travel agent, the cousin of my co-teacher, and we spent about 2 hours talking with her. We finally decided on our flights and our itinerary, and we're very excited. We fly from Incheon, to Ha Noi, to Saigon, to Phenom Penh, from Siem Reap to Ha Noi to Incheon - all for the low, low price of $1000. Hostels and food are dirt cheap when we arrive, so it should be a fun vacation. We've also booked a hut on an island off the south of Cambodia, for 3 nights for only $25/night. There are only 6 huts and a restaurant on this island, so it should be very relaxing.

So, as far as our current holidays go, Bob and I have been visiting places in Seoul that we're normally too busy to get to. We also took a 1 hour subway ride to the port-city of Incheon, on the West Coast of Korea, where our flight landed. It was horrible - it was cold, windy, and very industrial. I wanted to make it to the ocean, but it was impossible to get to.

Yesterday, we went to the Vietnam Embassy, if you can call it that, to get our VISAs for our vacation. It looked like a run down strip motel off the side of a highway on the I-75. It was crowded, smelly and very unorganized. I'll be thankful if I ever get my passport back from them. The guy is trying to charge us $78 for a VISA, which doesn't sound right, so we're going to have to harass him when we pick them up on Thursday.

We met friends for Indian food last Friday night - and it was delicious, but very, very spicy. Indian restaurants are plentiful around here, if you look hard enough. Naan bread is a secret addiction of mine. Speaking of addictions, I have decided I'm going to give up soft drinks for as long as I can hold out. Day 2 and I'm still successful.

Last night we went back shopping at Costco for groceries. Spam is very popular here, and Costco is capitalizing on it, with many gift sets available to buy. They didn't sell out at Christmas (hard to believe, I know), and are still on the shelves at Costco.

Bob with the Real Stuff:


Maureen with the Knock Off:


Today Bob has to finish planning his Winter Camp, and I'm going to make a lasagna, without cottage cheese which is impossible to buy here, which should be interesting. Tomorrow we're going to go to Sahruga, the local grocery store, and I may try to bake some bread. I think I'm also going to try to plan a group trip to the Horse Races here, for Bobby's birthday, which is coming up fast on the 19th.

It's bright and sunny today, and slightly warm. It's only snowed twice since we've arrived, and it never stays on the ground. We hear Canada has been pounded with snow, so I guess that's one good thing about being here.

Bobby in the Snow:


Here is a picture of my Extra Class I taught. They're a grade 5/6 class:


Bye for now!