I'm Dreaming of a White ...

Christmas has come and gone.  Apart from our little Christmas party (complete with turkey, ham and mashed) it wasn't much of an event here.  And no, there was no snow on the ground, but we'd had some brief flurries earlier in the week.

Most Koreans get one day off (which meant that's all we got, too) and then come back to work without much fanfare.  It's not even really common to spend time with family on Christmas; rather, it's considered a 'couples holiday'.  

Most unusually, the streets are hopping on Christmas Eve, with every cafe in sight selling sweet potato cakes (they look like birthday cakes, but are less sweet) as fast as they can.  Paris Croissant, our favourite French-style cafe/pastry shop, ignored its usually cool image, and was selling stacks of boxed cakes outside the building, a sales gimmick that I'd consider a desperate measure if it wasn't for the big crowds pushing to buy as fast as possible.  Wild.

We had Keedo opening gifts from Canada (thank you!!!!) with us on the 25th, too!

He got booties to match a coat that had been sent to us earlier on.  This coat is miles more acceptable than the imitation brand goods sold on the street around our place: 'Ralph Lauren' doggy parkas, fuzzy pink cable knit doggy sweaters, 'Burberry' print doggy trench coats, or the worst of all: that I see dogs wearing this stuff.  I couldn't be happier that Keedo's coat is hunter green.  He, of course, is paralyzed whenever it's put on him, and can't walk on our slippery wooden floors with the booties on.  Which he's embarrassed about, of course.  The gear is great for the outdoors, though!

So, on the 25th, we just sat around all day and chatted, lamented that we had only one day off, took a few cheap shots at one another and had a few drinks.  And we killed seven hours doing it.

From left: Maria Kelley, me, Richard King and Jon in our living room.

David Hollinger, left, is from Boston; Richard is from England; Jon at centre, Patrick Kelley (married to Maria) is from Oregon, and Chris Burkhard, who recently left for more ESL training in London, England, grew up in Detroit.

Like good employees, we disbanded at about 9pm, hit they hay shortly thereafter and were at work early the next morning, our Christmas celebrations already behind us. New Years', however, was right around the corner.