Christmas Eve in Korea

Things, as expected, are a little different here. In a country where 50% of the people claim religious affiliation, about 23% are Buddhist, 20% Protestant and 6%Catholic. But there is still Christmas - a national holiday, with the required shopping mall sponsored mechanical full-sized dancing Santa’s, holiday light displays (with everyone taking pictures of them on their cell phones) and endless Christmas songs in English so they are stuck in your head for the rest of the day. George Michael's "Last Christmas" appears to be one of the unfortunate favorites.

But the event itself is quite different. You buy cards, not gifts (except for little kids who happen to like Santa and gifts so they get both). And the day is not spent with your family, but rather with your friends or significant other, and you go out to lunch or dinner, then off to the bars. It's just a day off (except for restaurant and bar staff), which in this hard working culture is greatly appreciated. There is no Christmas trees, Christmas stress, last minute shopping, mall crowds - well, those always exist, worries if you got the right gift, or enough gifts, or you forgot something needed for dinner. All of the holiday stress just doesn't seem to exist. Instead, here on Christmas Eve, we work a normal night, fully prepared to give the students detention for a failing mark, which would require them to stay here at the school until almost midnight. It's mellow and peaceful and there is that one great anticipation hovering in the air. No, it's not about the day off, or the drink. It's the expectation that in one more day the Christmas music will finally stop and I'll actually get to know what Korean music sounds like.