Now it's finally January and normal life after the holidays has resumed.  It wasn't easy being away from home during the holidays, but I sure had a lovely time here in Gwangju.  One of the best things, in my opinion, about being overseas is the sense of community among the foreigner community.  We're all in this together, we're all experiencing the same types of ups and downs, and at times, we're all the comfort we have in this strange place.  The Gwangju community is especially lovely...being the smallest of the big cities in Korea, there is a wonderful variety of people, but it's a small enough group that everyone kind of starts to get to know each other.  You start seeing the same people over and over and already having a great deal in common, it usually goes unspoken that you're assumed to be friends.

So I spent these holidays with my Gwangju family.  For Thanksgiving and Christmas eve, one of the local bar owners, Song, allowed us to use his bar to have a potluck style dinner.  Everyone made glorious dishes that are hard to come by in Korea...macaroni and cheese!  and chili! and stuffing!  It was superb!  I spent Christmas playing cards in the comfort of my little apartment and playing games at one of the board games cafe downtown (board game cafes make my top 10 list of favorite things in Korea.  They're businesses with just about any game you could possibly think of.  you sit down with your friends, order a beer or a coffee, and play your little hearts out.  We've developed quite a rapport with one of the cafe owners and he gives us discounts on all of our drinks now.  The perks of loyalty in this country are immeasurable.)

New Years was spent doing what I like best, again, playing games with friends, ending at a norebong
 at the wee hours of the morning (norebongs make my top 3 favorite things in Korea!  They're private kareoke rooms.  You pay some money and get all of your friends in a room and sing all the songs you want and dance and play the tambourine and have the best time of your life.)

So although I wasn't able to be with my family this year, our Gwangju family here certainly made the best of the time we have here together. 

I have 6 weeks left in Korea....

I've begun my mental checklist of things I need to tie up and put a bow on before I leave this place.  And now, I'm just trying to do what I need to do, spend time with people I need to spend time with, see what I need to see.  I can hardly believe that it's almost been a year already.  But, it always seems like that, anyways.

I leave you with a 2 week documentation of my student's awesome socks.  (another topper in my favorite things about Korea---socks!)

11/11/11 MILLENIUM PEPERO DAY!

November 11th, 2011.

It's a very lucky day for most people around the world, rightly so.  But I'm willing to bet that Korea is set apart from most of the world for their unique celebration of this special day.

11/11 is celebrated by consuming large amounts of Pepero.  Waaaay toooo much pepero.  What is pepero?  Pepero is a Korean candy that takes a long stick of breadish deliciousness and dips it in chocolate.  And they resemble "1"'s, hence the big hoop-lah about it.


You may be familiar with Pocky sticks, the wonderful Japanese snack you come across once in a while and feel culturally invigorated for a second as you indulge.  Pepero is the Korean version of Pocky sticks.

This year was an especially big deal, it being 2011 and all; The "Millenium Pepero Day".  All retail stores had a field day with it.

Pepero archways at Lotte-Mart!

Banner advertisements at bus stops!

 And ohh so elaborate displays at every single grocery store you passed.  Hearts constructed using boxes and boxes of pepero and pepero being stacked miles high and wide.


     

 

So...many.....pepero....
Needless to say, my students went NUTS over it and they were jumping off the walls, totally high on pepero, boxes and boxes and boxes of pepero being passed around to their classmates, trading different flavors, shoving as many of those damn sticks as they possibly could into their pie holes, chocolate smeared all over their faces and clothes.  "Teacha, Teacha!  Here!"  (Hands me 3 boxes of pepero)   and then immediately turns around.." Teacha, Teacha!  Give me pepero!"  After about 70 students, I had more pepero than I could ever imagine eating on my own. 

 

Several hours into the day, I experienced one of the most massive sugar crashes of my entire life and I dragged my exhausted bones to the end of the day, with an aching headache, swearing off pepero for the rest of my life...just in time to meet my boyfriend, who had a huge packaged plastic rose with several huge pepero sticks with disgustingly cute Korean English love phrases plastered all over it (one of Korea's many specialties).  I gritted my teeth and took it, knowing it was the thought that counted.

 

One of my student's English diary entry about Pepero Day:

PEPERO SONG!