Here I am, in Guro-dong, in Seoul, on Christmas Eve. I have never spent Christmas away from home before, and I feared that part of me would become really sentamental. And I guess part of me is. I've got so many loved ones and friends back in the States, and I miss them all. I want to open presents around a Christmas tree. I want to go to a Maple Glen or Grace Baptist Christmas Eve service. I want to do all of the things I've done every year. But I can't now, so what do I do?...
Here is Guro-dong, where I live, tonight on Christmas Eve:
As you can see, things are packed. There are traffic jams everywhere. Everyone is trying to get home for the holidays.
People have been shopping non-stop for the holidays, and I've definitely done my part in that shopping madness as well. One really cool area in City Hall is called Myung-dong. It's always so crowded and so hip:
To anyone reading this from Geneva, or anyone who's seen my film "Twin Dragons", you'll recognize my good friend Youn Chi Young ("Chi" for short) in this picture. We went to a restaurant in Myung-dong that is famous for a noodle soup called "kal-gook-soo." It's so famous that after we finished eating, there was already a line of over 40 people waiting to get some of this soup. It definitely reminded me so much of that Seinfeld episode.
Here's Chi:
and here's one more random picture of me at the Cheon-gye-cheong ^__^:
So yeah...what am I doing this Christmas? Well, I'm spending it with friends this year. It's kind of weird. Usually, when I think of Christmas, you just automatically think family. But in Korea, Christmas is very different. Most people spend it with someone they're very close with (like boyfriend/girlfriends). So a lot of people kind of hang out on Christmas day. I'll be spending my night at a Christmas party at my church. It should be fun.
Today at school (Christmas Eve) I dressed up like Santa Clause and got to give presents to every kid. It was a lot of fun, but so tiring. And even though most students knew who I was, it was still nice to have so many kids look so happy to see me.
I was afraid of feeling alone this Christmas, but I know I have so many people thinking of me back home, and I also have so many people that care about me here in Korea too now. God has truly blessed me so much with many great people here in Korea. Have a great Christmas everyone, with much love from Seoul,
Mark
