Christmas and Coex

Merry Christmas! (Better late than never, right?) I spent my first Christmas away from home relaxing and Skyping with my family. Shout out to my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and sister for the awesome gifts! They really made it feel like Christmas :)

Although we had to work Christmas Eve, it was a fun day -- the school hired a Santa to deliver presents to each class, so the kids were all abuzz about that. And in the afternoon, we had a mini-celebration: we made Christmas cards, I taught some carols, the kids drank hot chocolate, and we made Christmas lists for Santa. Some things my kids asked for were Legos (duh), Ninjago, a reindeer, and of course, a smart phone. It was a nice way to leave for vacation.

Christmas is a fairly big deal here, even though a lot of people still work. Korea is mostly a non-religious nation, but it's about 30% Christian (and about 20% Buddhist). Still, the stores had huge Christmas displays, carols were playing in the taxis, and traffic was hectic as people rushed to visit their families for the holiday. It's a watered-down version of what you might have seen in the States.

Elementary classes start back up on January 2, but there's no kindergarten in session until the 10th. So, I'll just be teaching a mini-kindergarten class for kids whose parents signed them up in the mornings, then double elementary in the afternoon. It sounds easy, but honestly I'm a little stressed out about it because I'm responsible for more planning.

Anyway, my break has been great so far -- equal parts relaxation and adventure. My friend and I went to the Coex Mall, which is a HUGE underground mall in Seoul. Within the mall, there's also a movie theatre, Kimchi Museum and an aquarium. We got lost no less than seven times, but eventually found a restaurant we were looking for, then the aquarium. (It was really huge.)

The cool thing about the Coex Aquarium is that exhibits are based on themes. The first theme is Our Land, Our Fish and went through the different ecosystems of Korea and all the fish that thrive here. One of my favorite features was a sign that declared a near-extinct fish as "the most delicious fish among all the fish species." That's a pretty bold statement, and a little inappropriate for an aquarium(?).

The second theme was Fish's Wonderland and seemed like something that should be in an eccentric billionaire's house and featured on MTV Cribs. Here's a refrigerator that has been turned into an aquarium and a phone booth aquarium, with a bonus Christmas theme for extra strange points!

And I couldn't help but wonder if these fish knew how close they were to certain death... 

Some of the coolest things to see were the sharks, stingrays, jelly fish, and the vibrant tropical fish. I also got to touch a starfish! It was an interesting aquarium, and I really enjoyed the trip.

A few other things I've done over break:

• I got my nails done! This was my first manicure in Korea; it was a quick, streamlined process, well done, and inexpensive. Something I'll definitely have to do again :)
• I came to the theater. I saw Les Miserables. I cried like a baby.
• I've been doing some research on job possibilities for next year -- maybe staying here, maybe heading elsewhere.
• I've also been doing some in-depth research on Korean alcohol and subsequent hangover remedies. I'll let you know if I make any headway on that front.

Tomorrow, I''m headed to Gwangju for my first Korean wedding! My old friend Mr. Kim (from the 2009 summer camp) is getting married! I can't wait! Hope you all had a good holiday!