Christmas time reflections.......

I bought a Christmas tree. It was my first one ever! The lovely little fake fir is only two feet high and I bought it for twelve thousand won (the equivalent of 12 U.S. dollars). I think I am officially a grownup.

Christmas shows itself in tiny bits around Korea. It's not a huge holiday to be celebrated. One Korean friend told it was more like a "date" day, or a day to spend with one's sweetheart. The Koreans like to celebrate Chusok and Lunar New Year a bit more than Christmas. I am going to spend Christmas with my extended family in Seoul for four days. I greatly anticipate getting to spend time with my second cousins I haven't seen much in the last ten years. I have vague memories of seeing my cousins during the summers in high school for random visits to SSP basketball camps and dentists checkups. I am excited to actually share a meal with them all at once. On December 28th, I head down to Bali with three of my co-workers for two weeks. I"m still not sure what possessed me to go, or what monetary funds truly exist to fund this trip; nonetheless, I am going. I am excited for sun, relaxation, Bali dances, and the monkey forest. Don't worry, I intend to take PLENTY of pictures while I am down there! (Or steal plenty from Meredith!)

Christmas and New Year's causes one to stop and pause where life has taken them. Since ruminating is one of my favorite pastimes, I think about the past year quite a bit. So much has happened since last December. I got my first teaching job, traveled to the equator and the Galapagos Islands, made a french silk pie for the first time, rode on a Segway with my dad, traveld to Europe, got my ears pierced, and moved to South Korea. Not too shabby for a year, eh? I am now five months into my overseas journey. When I first moved to South Korea, it didn't feel real. I felt like I was on a travel abroad program for college. Over the last few weeks, my life doesn't feel like a vacation anymore. I have a life overseas now. I don't know how long this season of my life will last, but my address doesn't just include the United States anymore. I share an address with one hundred other teachers.

This past year has taught me to be thankful and quiet. I learned to be thankful for what is right in front of my eyes and not to CONSTANTLY be looking elsewhere for contentment. I learned to be quiet in the sense I actually stop once in awhile to be still and reflective. Both lessons have proven themselves over and over, even thought I continually fail to master them :)
I eagerly await the challenges 2008 will bring. I anticipate seeing family and friends in the States. I look forward to writing another entry next year around Christmas time.
Maybe next year I will actually like kimchi.


MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HE LIVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

a dash of birthday cake and kickboxing

The legs of an octopus and a dog's hip

I joined a gym. It's full of Korean men that don't speak any English. But they claim I could be the next kickboxing champion in 2008. Apparently I am so tall and big and blond I would knock over any Korean woman that came in my way. Thank goodness that I am "beefed up" enough to receive this honor.

Over the past two weeks I have gotten to know many Koreans outside of my school bubble. It's common for foreigners to stick together when moving abroad, and often miss out interacting with actual people of the culture. I don't want that to be my experience in Korea. To prove I wasn't a typical foreigner, I got invited to a party two weeks at the kickboxing gym to celebrate someone being discharged from the army. A little party of cake and pop was spread out on the mat when I walked in the door and everyone was laughing heartily. I sat down, introduced myself, and allowed my friend Lloyd to translate for me. Over the next two hours, smiles and laughter erupted over the comical dialogue of broken English and ridiculous hand gestures. I grow to love the Koreans more and more.

As I was leaving that night, I honestly didn't think I would interact with these people much more. I was completely wrong! The next night my friend Meredith and I went back to the gym to try kickboxing. We ended up taking a jiu-jitsu class. It's a martial arts class that involves different wrestling moves and chokeholds. To quote Meredith, she can "choke me three different ways, wrap her legs around my head like an octopus and slam me to the ground". I opted for the kickboxing class after the night.

Was I finished with my social interaction? Noooooooooooo. I ended up going to a kickboxing tournament last Saturday. I saw more people getting kicked, punched, and flipped then I have in my entire life. I even saw the champions of Japan and Korea duel one another. I don't think these type of cultural experiences are advertised in Lonely Planet. I finished up the night with a lovely dinner filled with broken English and ridiculous hand gestures.

I decided two days later to join the gym. I am learning to kick and punch with intensity and form. I got the nickname "doghip" because my butt alledgedly sticks out like a dog's hip after I deliver a low kick. That is something I definitely need to work on, even if my sole motivation is to receive a better nickname than "doghip". I continue to share meals, smiles, and kickboxing instruction with my new friends. They even came out to celebrate my 27th birthday on Saturday! We all went for cake at a local coffee shop and had three worlds merge together. I looked across the table to see my new social network. It felt completely surreal for a moment, but I couldn't help but smile to myself what has transpired over the last four months in Korea.