Here in Korea, Christmas is a different animal than the consumer-oriented gift-fest that America has.
First, the advertising. For stores that had Christmas decorations, foods, or gift ideas, didn’t begin until December. Back in America it begins on Halloween day, before the first piece of candy is passed out and the first costume makeup is applied. Stores rip out the Halloween candy and costume aisle before nightfall and replace it with Christmas paraphernalia nearly two months before the actual holiday. I think I noticed the first decorations here in Korea in early December. I saw the first tree in mid-December. On the 19th, when Koreans had the day off to vote, I noticed the first batch of shoppers buying what looked to be gifts (i.e middle-aged men buying babydolls and toy trucks.)
They decorated the city public places sometime within the first week of December. I found it refreshing that their governmental offices had no problem spending taxpayer money on prettying things up for a specific religion, despite the fact that only half the citizens are members of that religion. Of course, turn-about is fair play, and in May, they’ll beautify the place for Buddha’s birthday. Americans seem to have no problem having their city put up Christmas decorations, but I bet they’d pitch a fit if someone put up a Muslim decoration. To wit, Green Bay, WI recently put up a Wiccan decoration but since halted ALL decorations after vandals knocked it down. So much for religious tolerance in the land founded by those seeking religious freedoms. Here, they don’t care what religion you are. None are officially supported or denied.
On Christmas day, it was sort of lonely. Since I don’t have family here, I had no big gathering to attend. I hung around all day at the apartment and watched a movie, took a nap, read a book and waited for MyeongHee. She went to work as she normally does and was actually quite busy giving hair cuts, perms and colorings. Nearly all the stores were open. Only a few mom-and-pop shops were closed for the holiday. At 7:30pm, I picked her and we went out for dinner. We ate a huge bowl of Hae-Jeon-Guk (a spicy pork and cabbage soup.) Afterward, we went to small nightclub and watched some live music. Not quite danceable tunes, but it got us in the mood for dancing. So we decided to go to one of the new nightclubs and kick our heels up a little. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowds and the dance floor was thick with Koreans gyrating to 120 beats per minute music (Yes, I counted – they like it fast here.)
Since the day after Christmas is a work day, we, along with many others there, filed out before midnight. We’d both had several drinks, so MyeongHee took a taxi home. I had a proxy-driver come and drive me and my car home. For just slightly more money than a taxi, I let someone sober drive and I don’t have to look for my car the next morning. Good thing, too, because the police were out in force with their cell-phone size Breathalyzers. At almost every red light, they’d come out into the streets and have the drivers blow into it. That sure keeps the drunk drivers in check, and I wonder why America doesn’t adopt similar measures.
After a quiet day, the evening was a lot of fun. Not at all like Christmas at home. But, I guess if I wanted Christmas to be like it is at home, I’d have stayed there. We didn’t even exchange gifts. She didn’t need or want anything, and neither did I. We said Merry Christmas to each other, we had some good food, drinks, dancing and a good time.