The Holidays

When I first arrived to an empty apartment with only a mini fridge and foam mat on the floor, I thought to myself "This sucks and is not what I expected..." Immediatly followed by telling myself, "don't rush it, buy a few things at a time and by Christmas time you will make this feel like your home." Well that time has arrived faster than I imagined and I do indeed feel at home. Christmas Eve I came back after a nice dinner with friends and snuggled up with my new pajamas from my Mom, my Christmas tree lights on, and a movie playing in my cozy bed just as snow began to fall at midnight. This is about as good as it gets when you can't be with your family. One glass of red wine, and a steak dinner prior to this made it all that much better. This is my second holiday season away from home and what I have learned about myself is I don't care about presents, just people. I was very lucky this year to have a turkey dinner but the tree and the food don't matter if you are lonely or don't have loved ones to be with or even miss. Christmas Day some of us met up to see the Tim Burton Exhibit which just opened at the Seoul Museum of Art. I had brought it up to my friends and coworkers Erin, Ian and Paige and we decided on it. We invited some of our other friends, Tiffany and Michael. Recently my friend Meryl who I met while traveling in Bangkok arrived in Korea so she came too and even brought along a few new faces which was nice. The museum was packed but the exhibit was awesome and we were there for hours. It is divided into three parts and very well curated in my opinion. After a short walk in the bitter cold we found a Vietnamese restaurant to warm up in. This is where I parted ways to catch a taxi and head to a dinner party (with an actual turkey!) hosted by our friend Na and her boyfriend Ahmed. More often than not when us foreigners try to get a cab if it's even the slightest inconvenience the driver waves us off and says "get out". I walked out of the restaurant and a cab driver stopped. I showed him the address in korean but it wasn't easy to read on my phone. He took the time to find his magnifying glass and enter it into his GPS. Normally I take the metro or bus or just walk, but in this bitter cold weather I splurged for the cab. I was so thankful that he helped me instead of kicking me back out into the cold. A small Christmas miracle perhaps? I made it just fine to the dinner party and was so delighted to be a part of it. Did I mention there was a turkey?! After two plates of mashed potatoes, corn, turkey and a few glasses of red wine I snuggled up on the couch to enjoy the wonderful company and conversation. Eventually Paige and I made our way home and I immediatly crawled in to bed wishing I didn't have to work the next morning but content on a very lovely Chirstmas full or fun, food, and great company. The rest of the week was a little tedious as most people have it off, but we do not. Mentally it was hard to get back into the swing of things, especially knowing that as soon as the weekend came again it was 4 days off and New Years. Most of the weekend I spent relaxing and grabbing a bite to eat with friends. Gearing up for the big day I suppose. New Years turned out to be a blast and exactly the opposite of last year where I was in the moutains in a tiny Burmese town drinking whisky and dancing my ass off to Shakira. This time it was the same thing in a club full of Koreans in one of the biggest cities in the world, complete with a headbutt to the face. Followed immediatly the next day by one of those hangovers where you swear you will never drink again. Now it's back to work and that feeling you get on January 2nd with the realization that the holidays are officially over. It's back to the grind. I am thankful to have my birthday in February to look forward to and a long weekend in Kyoto/ Osaka. I don't believe in New Years resolutions, so I will just leave you with this: 2012 was an amazing year, and all I can hope is that 2013 will be even better. To my friends all over the world I wish you only the best in the year to come! OH and in Korean years I am officially 29 years old now ;)