Tis the Season to ~ Sparkle~

The whole of the Christmas season has been surreal. There has been an underwhelming lack of Christmas spirit and cheer, which is to be expected when living in a foreign country whose population mostly does not celebrate the holiday. I tried my best to keep my spirits up by listening to Christmas music and watching Christmas classics, but I knew it would never be the same as actually being home with my family. Again, not to overwhelm you all with the depressing musings of my life, I will delve into the happier side of my holiday weekend.

Christmas Eve started bright and early with an over 2 hour long call with my family (a feat my brother simply cannot comprehend. I can't help it that everyone just loves to hear me talk). We talked about a myriad of topics from winter camp lesson planning to dirty jokes to future travel plans. We always have much to discuss from the previous week, not to mention I have to say "hi" to my fat, chunky fur babies.

The rest of Sunday was spent prepping for the evening's festivities. I was, once again, hosting a potluck holiday party for the English teacher crowd. Before any of you ask, no, there was not another food shopping/ cooking debacle. I was smart and did my shopping beforehand, thanks to Coupang (basically the Korean version of Amazon). I was successful this time around in my quest for sour cream, although I still chose to forego the gravy. The mashed potatoes were just as good as last time if not better. As an aside, the sour cream had a far richer taste to it, but it was still good all the same.

The little party was quite fun. I had connected my laptop to the TV in order to play Christmas music. I also had a picture of a Christmas tree being displayed, seeing as how I did not have an actual tree in my apartment. Furthermore, the majority of party goers chose to bring drinks, so there was quite the variety of Pepsi, Chilsung cider (knockoff Sprite), and Soju. Fret not, there were still a few dishes to offset the alcohol being consumed, like the giant ice cream Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree in question

Games commenced after food. We played a couple of rounds of drunk Jenga where each tile had a silly activity for someone to complete. These ranged from having to finish your drink within the round (a monumental feat when you have a completely full cup. Can you tell this was my SUPER fun activity?), a would you rather question, Kiss, Marry, or Avoid, and others. After that amusing affair, we moved on to Werewolf. This was a game the majority of us had played at Thanksgiving, however, there were a few newcomers this time around. I was not innocently murdered as often this go around, so that was a definite plus. The party finally wound down at around 2:30 in the morning; not as late as last time.

Let the game night commence

Christmas, in turn, was a quiet affair this year. Well, quiet in the sense that my boisterous voice was being heard via Facetime on the family TV compared to in-person on the family room couch. My family cannot get rid of me that easily (though Christopher might beg to differ). Gift unwrapping commenced promptly at 7:30 in the morning for the family while I curled up in bed at a lovely 10:30 in the evening. In case you could not tell, this time difference is a real kicker! My mom had to take over the reins of playing Christmas music on her phone (after a swift reminder from yours truly), and dad was still the gift-hander-outer, like always. Special shout out to my mom for wrapping the gifts for dad and Christopher, and shout out to Amazon for wrapping the gifts for mom. It was certainly tough trying to be present and in the moment when I was 7,000 miles away, but I got through it. I am a big girl after all.

In case you all were wondering, my one physical Christmas present was delivered on December 26th. It is probably my most favorite Christmas gift that I have ever received, second to the miniature bottles of Martinelli's Sparking Apple Cider I received a couple of years ago. The gift in question was 2 packets of pork gravy my parents shipped to me from the US. One packet will definitely be in use on New Year's Eve.

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday spent doing things you enjoyed. If nothing else, hopefully you all ate some yummy Christmas cookies (boy, did I really miss those!).

Next up on the radar is travel, so stay tuned for the exciting adventures to come in the VERY near future.