Day 35 : Merry Christmas everyone! Yep its that time of year again, so grab your egg nog, hang out under the mistletoe and wear the best christmas sweater you can find! We're excited to be celebrating our first Christmas together as a married couple and we everyone has a very memorable Christmas filled with family and friends. We've been getting the kids at our school excited all week as we got ready for our big Christmas party we had on Friday.
We started the festivities with a little gingerbread cookie making that went about as smoothly as it could go with a room full of 70 kids. We managed to keep the gingerbread related injuries to a minimum, and even without any cookie cutters and a fully functioning oven (Korea doesn't believe in ovens) the whole thing turned out pretty darn well.
After we ate the cookies, Arthur teacher distracted the kids with a rousing game of pin the button on the gingerbread man. The kids loved it! Any excuse to put a silly hat on and spin around in circles I guess...
Next, we turned the lights down and put on the classic Frosty the Snowman cartoon. Its amazing how they can stretch that short Christmas song into a full fledged movie but the kids seemed to like it.
After that we cleaned up and got the kids ready for their real lunch. Then it was show time for Santa, so I ate quickly and prepared myself for my upcoming role. I had been elected Santa that morning and I was excited about the prospect of redeeming myself for the tired looking Santa photos I generated for my school last year. Another teacher Sherry got the kids riled up as she set the tone nicely for Santa's big entry. I did the best Kris Kringle I know how, and Arthur helped hand out the presents as the kids posed for a photo with Santa. I think it was a marked improvement on my part from last year, but I still suffered a few wardrobe malfunctions and heard " you're not the real Santa! " from some trouble makers in the audience. All in all, the kids had an awesome time and it will be a Christmas that they will never forget.
More photos of the kids, our school, and our apartment in the next post. Until then, enjoy the holidays and any time off you may have. We're working Monday and Tuesday but then we're off until January 4th which we're looking forward to.
****P.S. There has been a Christmakkah miracle! ****
This morning, I (Brandon) went to Lotte Mart (kinda like Wal-Mart) to buy our Christmas tree. As things in Korea are always a little strange, they told him that since Christmas was yesterday, I could no longer purchase any of their trees (that were still on display). Knowing that I couldn't come home empty handed I talked to several employees and supervisors about buying one of the sample trees. One after another they said " Sorry, not possible". As I was leaving feeling defeated, a sweet lady behind the cosmetic counter said, "Wait" and began opening a big box. Inside was a big tree, decorations, and even lights. She showed me the stuff and I asked " how much ? ". With a big smile she said something in Korean I didn't understand, then she said "Service" which is Korea's way of saying free. I walked out of there with a giant box of everything I needed which a day ago would have cost me $125, but today it was completely free. Thinking I was leaving with nothing, I couldn't help but feel like I'd just experienced a mini Christmakkah miracle and now our place really feels festive. God I love Korea!
With love from South Korea,
Brandon & Shayna xo
