More of our Korea Christmas

It's the day after Christmas here in Korea, but its been more like Christmas part two! That's because most of the day here was actually December 25th where our children and grandchildren live. Sometimes the time difference makes things weird. It's a mind game! 

Christmas away from home has been interesting. We certainly had a few moments of homesickness. We have appreciated modern technology like never before. We loved  our phone calls, Skype chats, Facebook posts, Christmas cards, American TV specials... everything that delivered some traditional Christmas to our little apartment. Our access to the PX and the commissary proved to be an extra  special blessing during the holidays. It allowed us to create a few holiday miracles and joyful memories here because they carry the ingredients/products we use to produce goodies.

Even with all things American, this was a Christmas we will never forget. Korea is not a primarily Christian country. Most people did not grow up with Christmas celebrations. Those we have talked to said they did receive Santa visits and goodies in a stocking. Otherwise Christmas is mostly a romantic celebration for couples. They are the ones that exchange gifts. We did see decorations at businesses around town, but none in windows of apartments- except ours. Stores do sell Christmas decorations and cards. Still- Lunar New Year or Cheosok are much bigger holidays here. It was both a challenge and a privilege to help provide some traditional Christmas experiences for a few Americans away from home. The most satisfying part of Christmas was seeing our guests enjoy each other. Such a strong sense of friendship and fellowship accompanied the treats and activities. The Spirit of Christmas truly became the Spirit of Christ. We are so blessed to serve here in this beautiful country and to enjoy such wonderful people.
 Here is a glimpse of our Korea Christmas:

Our District Relief Society leadership planned a wonderful activity. Sisters from all over South Korea came, many driving for hours just to participate. We enjoyed a progressive dinner. The music and activities were increasingly reverent as we moved from place to place. Fred and I were the closing speakers sharing a message about the temple and keeping Christ in Christmas. It was wonderful to gather with these fine sisters, most of them so far from home.


 Our mission party was held in Busan. We took a taxi,  a train and subways to get there. It was a wonderful day filled with music, Christmas messages, good food, and lots of young missionaries enjoying one another. We met in one of our church buildings with a  Korean touch- kimchee pots outside the front door and rows of shoes left in  the front entrance.



Our little military branch party was delightful. The food was great, but the real treat was the live nativity presented by our primary children. The six young missionaries serving the branch sang as the children posed in their roles. It was cute and very touching. Santa also sent one of his helpers, a handsome young soldier who did a great job of representing the man himself.

Christmas caroling to our Korean neighbors was one of my very favorite activities. The young missionaries helped us. Elder Jeong wrote a note in Korean for each plate of cookies we had prepared. It explained that we are the Americans in building 108  and we don't speak Korean, but are happy to be their  neighbors. It also included the phone number of the young missionaries (who all do speak Korean) and told them they could get a message to us through them. Then we took the plates and started knocking on doors- which is not common here. Elder Jeong would greet them then we would sing a song and give them the cookies. Most people were hesitant at first, but quickly warmed up to us. It was wonderful.

Christmas day 18 people joined us for dinner, a gift exchange and games. We enjoyed our time with these wonderful people. Our desire was to provide a little Christmas joy but we received much more than we gave.

It was a Merry Christmas for us.

One we will always remember.

Home and Holidays

With Thanksgiving behind us and Christmas a few days away, I have been thinking a lot about celebrations and traditions. I grew up in a family that enjoyed celebrating holidays. We have carried on the love of holidays with our own children and grandchildren. We had lots of traditions when I was a child; we still have lots of traditions. My mind fills with warm memories of  family and friends gathered for Thanksgiving feasts. I can clearly picture the beautiful bright decorations of Christmas reflecting off the glistening white snow. I love the scents of the holidays- The savory smell of the dressing, the sweet spicy smell of baking pumpkin pies or cooling Christmas cookies. I also love the sounds- Family members sharing stories and memories, children playing and giggling, Christmas music, and the sound of our favorite classic Christmas movies playing in the background. Holidays can strengthen family bonds. They can bring some color into our lives. They change the pace and focus for a short period of time. I associate holiday celebrations with home. Though we have traveled a great deal, we have spent nearly every Christmas in one of the two places I feel at home. Either Great Falls or Colorado Springs. I only recall  two Christmas's that I was in any other place. Once when I was a child we spent Christmas in Oklahoma with my grandparents. It was a wonderful trip and a memory I cherish. The other was in Provo Utah, in a motel. We were there to attend our youngest son's wedding in the Salt Lake Temple, the day after Christmas. I remember purchasing a dollar store Christmas tree and a few window clings for the mirror to decorate our motel room. The realization that our son and his beautiful fiancé were being married in the temple of God clarified the purpose for our celebrations. It was a wonderful holiday, one of my favorites.

Celebrating Christmas in Korea will be a unique experience. We sent all of our Christmas gifts home a couple of weeks ago, most have already arrived. We have decorated our cute apartment with traditional Christmas decorations given to us as gifts. I am truly enjoying those decorations. I love serving here, but truth be told... I really do not feel at home here. I feel more like I am on an extended visit. I guess that's true. A subtle longing for home lingers. It doesn't keep me from enjoying the people I meet, the places we go, or the work we do. I will have a wonderful Christmas here. I will not let the shadow of homesickness ruin all I have to celebrate here. This is the time we celebrate the birth of our Savior. He is the redeemer of all of the children of God. As I focus on this miracle of miracles, I realize I have great cause to celebrate. I am grateful for the traditions of my childhood that bring to me such warm and sweet memories. I am grateful for the teachings of my childhood which have built in me a firm belief in the miracle of Christmas.  I wish for each of you a Christmas filled with celebrations, traditions and most of all with the Spirit of our Lord and Redeemer, whose birth we honor.

The Christmas season begins....


We enjoyed the Christmas Devotional for Monday's FHE. The lights you see are in one of our outside windows. Our lights are the only ones in the windows of any of the apartments in our complex. A few of the bushes near our complex entrance have some white lights. There are also some beautiful lights downtown and many out at Camp Walker.


Every six weeks we fix breakfast for all the missionaries in our zone the week after transfers. They are always so appreciative and express their gratitude as they devour stacks of Fred's delicious hot pancakes. The most common response goes something like this, "Whoa!!! It's been __ (fill in the blank) months since I've had pancakes. This is awesome!" For December's transfer breakfast we added a little Christmas flair. We love those missionaries!

More to come!

Fun Fun Korea Adventure

Life in a foreign country is definitely an adventure. Every once in a while something happens that strikes us funny and one of us will say "Yep, we're living in Korea." Not everything is funny when it happens, but with time and perspective we can see the humor in our day to day challenges. The biggest challenge continues to be the language. We are learning and love to try to test out our skills. We know we will never really speak Korean, but we are having fun learning a few phrases and words. We have found a few good tutorials on YouTube. One of our favorites is "Christina's Fun Fun Korean Lessons".  She has several short lessons which are easy to follow and actually quite fun. Christina also introduces random cultural facts as she teaches the lessons. I decided to borrow from Christina and make this post just a few random experiences/facts that demonstrate our fun fun Korean adventure.


Our church held Thanksgiving the Saturday before the holiday. A family made up of soldiers (a few families), college professors, American teachers, federal employees, missionaries and Koreans.  We also held Thanksgiving in our apartment for those who do not have families here. I believe this may be the main reason Heavenly Father sent us here.... to provide a home away from home for some of his children.

The blue trees are vinyl from my daughter.
There are others placed around the apartment.
 Love them!

I received several Christmas decorations as birthday gifts. Thanks to my family, who know me so well. And also to some sweet missionaries who wanted to wish me a happy birthday. I loved decorating our cute little Korean apartment .  This is the darling little tree which is pre-lit and decorated.

Seoman  market- This is one of one of many  displays. Some things at the markets we may never get used to (blood & noodle stuffed intestines). "Yep, we are living in Korea"





Each Monday we have Family Home Evening  We share a spiritual thought, refreshments and games. This week Sup taught us a traditional Korean game called Yut-noli. Its a game played with sticks. We see older people playing it in the parks often. Sup says its a traditional family game played at Chuseok and Chinese New Year. It was lots of fun.



I don't have a picture for this, but want to share a frequent subway experience. Respect for Elders is an important component of Korean culture. I am always impressed when a young Korean jumps up to offer their seat to someone older. It's also quite entertaining to see the "older" people trying to give their seats to each other. They are often quite insistent. In many cases they look like they are the same age, but obviously they don't want to believe it.

Okay, I just want to throw in one more random observation. Here in Daegu nearly all cars are black or shades of grey/silver or white. You see a few colorful cars, but very few. I have no idea why. Maybe I should ask Sup**. The one exception is the blue trucks you see everywhere. They are all blue. Here's a picture.  Oh, one more thing.... everyone parks on the sidewalks. Fred always teases that you better get off the sidewalk or you will get hit.

That's it for this edition of our fun fun Korea adventure.

So much more to come.

 

**I asked Sup and one of the Korean missionaries. They responded it relates to being in harmony and not wanting to stand out. Interesting, and not at all American!