I have to say, I’ve found Christmas here to be quite pleasant. Spending time away from the US during Christmas made me realize how much the commercial industry is important for the holiday. Christmas decorations did start here around the end of November, but they weren’t nearly as overwhelming. Most shops featured a small Christmas tree display of some kind. While all the trees were plastic, they ranged from white and modern to green and traditional. Many shops hung little ornament displays in their windows as well. And as Christmas got closer, most coffee shops and stores began playing Christmas music. For the most part they played the traditional pop songs like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas” and “Santa Baby.” It was just the right amount of Christmas hype for me!
Among the many exciting things that happened in December, one of the top five was definitely my discovery of our local Daiso, or Dollar Store. I know this sounds incredibly anticlimactic but it’s really helped me settle into my new apartment! I was able to find lots of great things like cheap paper towels, a paper towel holder, a new trashcan, little storage bins, some wall hooks, scented candles, a mini Christmas tree and some mini Christmas stockings. However, the Daiso is a dangerous place… because I could probably buy everything in the whole store if I’m not careful.
Two of my coworkers had their birthdays on the 23rd and the 25th and they both happened to be turning 25, so they decided to host a “Made in the 80s/Quarter of a Century” party on Christmas Eve. One of the birthday girls had us over to her apartment and the other girl made a great 80s trivia quiz, which led to a very heated competition. Despite being born in 1989, I have to say I rocked the 80s trivia for my team, especially with my knowledge of 80s tennis stars (thanks to Mom!). All and all, we had a really great Christmas Eve;)
Christmas Day I spent in bed, mostly chatting with my lovely family. Then I cooked up some broccoli stir fry and we all headed over to another Westerner’s apartment for our Christmas dinner. I really couldn’t have asked for a better Daegu Christmas. We had drawn names for a small secret santa and Ashley’s apartment had a Christmas tree and lots of lovely twinkle lights. We sat around and exchanged gifts and then had lovely Christmas feast with turkey and lots of sides. We spent several hours sitting around and chatting afterwards. It was a really warm and relaxed Christmas celebration; everything it should be.
I hope everyone had a great holiday too! I was thinking of all my friends and family a lot in the days before and following Christmas. Love to you all!
No comments:
Post a Comment