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Finding Christmas cheer in South Korea

By Cassandra Robertson | 기사입력 2024/12/06 [04:09]

Finding Christmas cheer in South Korea

By Cassandra Robertson | 입력 : 2024/12/06 [04:09]

 

Cassandra Robertson has a B.A. in English from the University of Texas at Arlington and a M.Ed. in TESOL from Sam Houston State University in Texas. She has been an elementary school English teacher in Korea for five years through the EPIK program, and has recently become a Regional Training Supervisor for native English teachers in Chungbuk Province. Additionally, she is a lecturer for EPIK where she teaches and advises new native English teachers on teaching and life in Korea. - Ed.

 

When I arrived in South Korea in 2019, I was already aware that Christmas is celebrated differently than in the United States, and holds a meaning more similar to Valentine’s Day. At first, as a young twenty-something year old woman with a burning sense to experience something new and different, I did not mind missing out on the Christmas traditions I had participated in my whole life. However, as I am swiftly approaching thirty-one (international age), I am beginning to feel a deep sense of longing for Christmas traditions and the magic that I used to feel surrounding the holiday.

 

In Korea where the holiday is very couple-centered, it can feel a bit lonely for those without a significant other. This sense of loneliness is heightened for foreigners who may be single, but also missing their families. In the United States, Christmas is a family-centered holiday, where families often participate in their own unique family traditions each year. For my family in particular, every Christmas Eve my mom would make my younger brother and me travel cups of hot chocolate topped with marshmallows and paired with a candy cane. She would then drive us around the nearby neighborhoods to look at all of the houses covered in twinkling lights and festive holiday decorations. We would listen to Christmas music and sip on our cups of sweet hot chocolate while being mesmerized by the almost magical landscapes surrounding us. After growing tired of driving around, we would return home to dress in matching Christmas pajamas and cozy up together on the sofa to watch Christmas movies until bedtime.

 

 


I always look back on these memories with deep love and appreciation for the effort of my mom, who still sends me Christmas pajamas every year despite me living so far from home. However, I am now beginning to feel my memories are framed with a tinge ever-present nostalgia. I miss home. I miss my mom so much that it sometimes hurts. I miss the twinkling lights and Christmas music playing almost everywhere, but now I am surrounded by what feels like cold emptiness in comparison. I must admit that I began to feel a little bitter around the holidays in Korea. That was until I decided to become an embodiment of the festive cheer I had been missing.

 

It started out simple by purchasing a small Christmas tree from Coupang, which I tell my parents is like Korean Amazon, and a few sparkling ornaments. As I assembled my Christmas tree, I listened to Christmas music and wore a festive Christmas tree headband that I had found one day at a shop in a nearby city. It was a small gesture of holiday spirit, but it elevated my mood. Additionally, what made it even better was being able to decorate the tree with my boyfriend with whom I am discussing marriage. It was a special moment to decorate the tree with someone I hope to start my own family with someday, and in a way, it felt like the beginning of a new set of traditions. As I have mentioned, I know that Christmas in Korea is very couple-centered, but this felt different to me since my boyfriend will hopefully become my husband someday. It felt like I was finally home again with my family and participating in the holiday traditions that I cherish.

 

 

 

As of now, I am planning ways that I can create more traditions in my home and with my boyfriend, but at first I noticed that he was hesitant. For him, a native Korean, Christmas has never meant anything special. Christmas was just another chilly day in December, but after our first Christmas celebration together last year when he opened his gifts from my mom, I saw the same childlike excitement in him that I used to feel, too. This year, he is almost impatient for Christmas day to come when he can finally unwrap all of the thoughtful gifts waiting for him under the tree. Of course everyone loves a gift, but I think what makes Christmas so special is knowing that someone cared enough to prepare a gift and, in a way, show that they care for the person they give that gift to. I think for my boyfriend, it was surprising for him to receive a Christmas present from my mom, but I also think it touched his heart in a profound way to be thought of and cared for enough by someone so much for them to send a gift across the world.

 

Although homesickness almost consumed me, changing my perspective around the Christmas holiday to become the festive cheer I had missed, has brought me a sense of joy and excitement. I am now looking for ways to bring Christmas cheer to my elementary school students, and thinking of ways to get them excited for the holiday, too. I know Christmas is not a traditional Korean holiday, and I respect the cultural differences between our countries, but I also believe that it is never a bad thing to share traditions with each other or to show people that we care about them with a thoughtful gift. Again, it is not about the gift itself, but the thought put into preparing something for someone. As I continue my journey in Korea, and hopefully begin to make my own family and Christmas traditions, I hope that more and more people can begin to feel the joy, love, and heartwarming family connections that I feel around this time of year.

 

Merry Christmas, everyone. May your days be merry and bright.

 

 
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