It's coming on Christmas, they're cutting down trees. They're putting up reindeer and singing songs of joy and peace... not in Korea! If you're overwhelmed with the month-long pagentry of Christmas in the U.S.A. then you should experience the underwhelming event that is Korean Christmas.
The odd thing here is that unless I were talking to people back home, or watching Good Morning America in the morning, I wouldn't even remember that it's Christmas time. The entire month of December has been free from images of Santa Claus (except for the store called "Santa Claus" which is much like Claire's in the U.S.), reindeer, Christmas trees, turkeys, holly, wreaths, Christmas lights, mistletoe, Christmas carols, nativity scenes, and any and everything related to Christmas. There are no ostentatious toy displays in stores, no crowds of people in a buying frenzy, no department store Santas, no egg nog, no cocoa, no candy canes. You get the picture.
Now, the week before Christmas, you start to see tiny signs of the upcoming holiday. My landlady put a little Christmas tree in the "lobby" of my building (which is little more than a landing really). The Catholic church which is my neighbor had some Christmas lights up, as well as a banner with a nativity scene. Walking through town you could see maybe one out of every ten stores had a little tree or other Christmas thing in the window.
The weekend of Christmas you could walk through town and hear strangely familiar Christmas carols. Techno remixes of Jingle Bells or Let It Snow sung in Korean. Oddly familiar yet completely foreign. Is this Christmas in Korea? How strange.
As for the day itself, it is nothing here. Despite the number of Christian churches and the insane amount of zealous "born again" type Christians in Korea (you meet them everywhere, and they're very devout) Christmas day is like any other. The stores are open. Some Koreans may go to church, but that is the only bit of extra activity for the day. There are no gifts given. It is just a day to be with your family. My students said that they just watched tv and played computer games (which is what they do everyday).
As for my Christmas, I have a cold. I spent the day in my apartment, napping, chatting with family and friends. Nothing special to report. So, from a very underwhelmed place in life, let me wish you all a Merry Christmas. Now, go eat some kim-chi.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment