Holidaze....

Halloween was over and it was time for the 'real' Holidays to commence, or at least the more family/friends oriented ones.  I wasn't quite sure how they would pan out in Korea and how I would handle them, but here it goes.

Thanksgiving in Korea

I really enjoyed Thanksgiving in Korea, because a big group of expats all got together and celebrated which felt really awesome!  We were able to order giant Turkey/Ham dinners from the army base that included all the traditional fixins'. 

One of the big tables of happy expats with turkey in their bellies.

Brian decided to be antisocial and be one with his plate of Thanksgiving deliciousness.

Friends and more friends!

More friends!  Nikki is the girl in the middle and it was because of her and her husband Luke who is in the army that we were able to get the Thanksgiving meals.

Dan and Niki two of my co-workers at Worwick.

More friends!

We had two big tables full of the turkeys, hams, side dishes, and dessert!!  With some football on in the background.  Totally American Thanksgiving!

Not a great picture, but just wanted to show you the aftermath of 40 expats attacking the food.  It was like we were starving and hadn't eaten in weeks.

Me and Mikey!

Courtney, Jin, Me, and Tammy.  The Ladies!

Me and Jin!  The Koreans don't celebrate Thanksgiving, obviously, but there were a few Koreans that joined in our festivities. 

Tammy and I after we devoured our food.

Kelly and Nikki.

Me and Joe.

Overall Thanksgiving was a success and I had a great time!
Christmas in Korea

Christmas in Korea has been a bit of a different story.  Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from my school's Christmas Play or any from Christmas, so I will just write about everything.

Christmas at Worwick - We put on a big Christmas production with all the kiddos for their parents.  It was quite the undertaking.  We started preparing about 2 months before the show date and it was one of the most stressful things I've ever been a part of.  It was definitely a huge relief when it was all over.  Basically every class had 10 minutes to either perform some Christmas songs or do a mini-Christmas play depending on how old the kids were.  My kids are 5 years old so we did Christmas songs.  Oh wow!!  Teaching English to 5 years old is a challenge, but trying to teacher them English songs with dance moves and making sure they stand in line correctly, etc is one of the hardest things I've ever done.  Luckily the Korean Teachers stepped in and helped out a lot and were able to talk to the kids in Korean for us so they understood better otherwise I'm not sure my kids could have got on stage.  Anyway after 2 painstaking months of practicing everyday until the kids were over it the show was finally here.

The show was put on at a nearby auditorium hall.  We are all pretty stressed out the day of because we hadn't been to the place before and we had to do a dress rehearsal with all the kids before the actual show which was a big cluster.  Also, I was asked two days prior to MC the event with my co-worker Zach, so on top of everything I was a bit nervous for that.  Zach and I wrote up a script that was pretty cheesy, but we figured it was good for parents.  Oh wait....more than half the audience can't speak English so then we realized it didn't matter what we said :)  Regardless, the show went off without a hitch and I had a great time MCing.  We were all so happy when it was finished that we went out and celebrated with a few beers after!! A job well done!

Now on to Christmas for me.  So most of you know but I've been struggling a lot with the Holidays here in Korea.  I didn't realize it would hit me so hard but it really has.  I miss all the great memories and traditions I've made over the past years with friends and family that it's been tough being here.  I've felt very lonely even though I have new friends, it's just not the same.  I cried myself to sleep a lot and am still struggling to make it through the New Year's as I write this blog now.  However, I realized how blessed I am because I do have amazing friends and family who sent me wonderful gifts to remind me of home and I know how much I'm missed and loved back home which has made this bearable.  Something I've realized while being here is sort of like that saying 'You don't know what you got till it's gone' or whatever that is.  I always loved everything about my home and my life back there, but didn't realize how lucky and spoiled I had been until I came to Korea.  I just pray these next 8 months go by quickly, don't worry I will enjoy them, but I'm ready to be back home!  Trust me, I know I'm going to look back on this and be so thankful I did this and I am because I've had some amazing experiences so far and not everyone can say they've done something like this in their lives, but I'm not gonna say it's been a cake walk.  I'm not as strong as I thought I was, but I guess that's part of this whole thing is learning about myself and what I want in my life.   Sorry if that was a lot of random thoughts, but I guess that's how I've been feeling is all jumbled up inside. 

For Christmas Eve I spent it with my friends in Korea and we went to a nice dinner and then to Traveler's Bar which was having a party for all the expats who didn't go anywhere for their vacation.  It was a fun night because there were so many expats that you didn't feel lonely or like you were the only one feeling this way. 

For New Year's a big group of us are planning to celebrate in Seoul which should be interesting.  Seoul is to Asia what New York is to America for New Years apparently, so we will see what unfolds from that.