Christmas Countdown

The countdown to me coming home for Christmas in on! I can't wait. I currently have 17 days until I come home. I have a list of things that I want to do when I get home, and can't wait.

Christmas isn't as big here as it is back at home, but every once in a while I come across signs of it and I get excited. The other day I stopped at a supermarket on my way home from work, and there were Christmas carols playing in the store. I ended up wandering around the aisles for a ridiculously long time just so I could listen to them. The local mall is also all decked out. This tree is about 30 feet tall, and the center of it rotates. There are also lights out on bushes around apartment complexes and even some stores. Overall though, there is a disappointing amount of decorations around. I have done my best to make up for it in my classroom. I'll have to get a picture of my room this week to show you.

It snowed for about an hour yesterday. It wont ever really stick, but it was absolutely beautiful falling. I was walking 2 miles to the subway station while it was falling. It was blowing all over the place and was really in your face, but I had a permagrin on. I probably looked like an idiot. Everyone else was cowering under umbrellas, and I was almost skipping.....An obvious foreigner.

I got paid on Friday, so I went out Christmas shopping yesterday. I got about half of it done! There are definitely some people that are hard to shop for. There is nothing very masculine in Korea. Even the stuff made for guys is very feminine, which leaves me with a conundrum for finding gifts for all you guys in my life.

Insadong is the best place in Seoul to shop for Christmas Presents, because that is where all of the shops are that have traditional stuff. It is a completely modern area, so my friends and I were shocked when a group of traditionally dressed....warrior people?! They were kind enough to let us take pictures with them.

We also went to this tea place that was the cutest thing in the world. The whole thing looked like a train. The aisles actually had rock and teasels and everything. The seats were train seats, and there were luggage racks about the table. They also had amazing tea. I shared a pumpkin spice tea with a friend because it was super expensive, but it was delicious, or as they say here 맛있어요. (Machissiyo)