A Korean Christmas

The Christmas music was playing and the Christmas spirit was aplenty as Seoulites and foreigners alike were all getting ready for the most important holiday of the year: Christmas.

Actually, that's not really how it goes down here. Christmas in Korea is quite different than Christmas in many historically Christian nations, such as Canada, the U.S., South America and the majority of Europe, among others. Christmas on this side of the world is two things: commercialized, and "romantic."

Allow me to explain. Seoul did not slack off when it came to Christmas decorations. Though I didn't actually see too many of them due to the fact that the two weeks prior to Christmas were incredibly busy at work, I saw several pictures and was told by enough people that the decorations are insane. They had huge Christmas trees in the plazas and Christmas music was being heard from all around the city. People were even wearing Santa hats everywhere!

Despite all of this, I felt that there was an incredible lack of Christmas spirit. Nobody seemed cheery and excited, as we do in Canada, and no one was even wishing others a Merry Christmas. Despite all the decorations, Christmas felt like... just another upcoming holiday. It wasn't special at all. It felt as if the Christmas decorations and "spirit" were being bandwagoned from Western countries and people weren't really getting into it, they were just going through the motions.

The true evidence of this could be seen at my hagwon. The kids didn't seem excited. The parents didn't seem excited; nor did the Korean staff. There was no Christmas cheer in the air, in fact, you could almost feel a general discontent.

Which brings me to my second point: the "Romance of Christmas."

A couple of weeks prior to Christmas, one of my older students (about 16 years old) came to me during our lesson and told me he was so sad. I asked him why, and he told me that he was sad to see it snowing outside and not having a girlfriend to share the experience with. He told me that in Korea, when it snows, people immediately associate that with the desire to be with a significant other. This student went on to tell me that this feeling of loneliness was only going to be amplified going forward, because Christmas was coming up and he still didn't have a girlfriend. "I'm going to be so alone for Christmas, again," he told me. "I'm just so, so sad."

Christmas in Korea is considered to be a couple's holiday. It's a day, much like Valentine's Day is for us in the West, to spend with your significant other, and not with your family. For those who are single, well, they feel lonelier, and they usually go out with their friends. In fact, when I was wandering around downtown on Christmas Day, it was so packed that you could barely even move. When I later asked my students what they did on Christmas, many of them told me they went out with their friends. Some of the students who did spend time with their family said they went to restaurants, as Christmas here is definitely not a time to eat in.

Another factor, in my opinion, that deters from the Christmas spirit, is the Korean study/work culture. Christmastime in Korea is not a holiday. I only really get Christmas and New Years Day off, and was back at work on the 26th. Korean students do get time off during Christmas from their public Korean schools, but their parents send them to hagwons for even more studying throughout the holidays, so they never really get a break.

All of this is quite interesting, and was truly fascinating to me, especially given that approximately 30% of the Korean population is Christian. Even the more religious families don't celebrate Christmas as we do in the West. Some may go to mass, and giving gifts to children is quite commonplace, but it certainly does not seem to carry the same weight as Christmas does for religious Christians in some other coutries.

Interestingly, once you're no longer a child here, you probably won't be receiving any presents. I bought each of my wonderful adult students some face-masks, and they were in utter shock when I gave it to them. They said that they only occasionally get Christmas gifts from their husbands, and that they're usually the ones buying gifts for the children, so I was quite happy to see them appreciate it.

So, as a Westerner who does consider Christmas quite important, how was the whole experience for me?

Well, first off, Christmas alone was very difficult, and probably the first time since moving abroad that I've ever really longed for home. Even when I was in Spain I had never felt this way. In fact, when living in Spain, I was able to go spend Christmas with my family in Italy, which was very nice, and it meant that I was still with family.

I was bogged down by the amount of work I had for the couple of weeks prior to Christmas, but I was quite happy when Christmas weekend finally arrived. Christmas fell perfectly on a Monday, meaning that we had a nice three-day weekend. In an attempt to recreate Christmas at home, I attended Christmas Mass with my friend Kristin on Christmas Eve. We then went back to her place with a couple of other people from church to watch some movies and eat (I made some mushroom risotto!).

On Christmas Day, I Facetimed all my family back at home and I got the chance to speak to my mom and sister, all my aunts and uncles and cousins, and even my Nonna! I then went out for dinner with a few friends. It was actually weird to see all the shops open and the restaurants just teeming with people, but that's just how things go. Overall, I really did miss my family, but it wasn't so bad, and I truly am thankful for the company I did receive. This said, I really missed my family and the company from back home, and I certainly hope that in the future, irregardless of where I'll be in the world, I'll have the opportunity to come home for Christmas.

On another note, I'm headed off to Taipei, Taiwan for the New Years long weekend, so I'm quite excited about that!