White Christmas!

Quick Update: We got our wish for a white Christmas, even if it happened in the evening. Once the triptofan took over, I took a nap and woke up an hour and a half later to snow falling outside. We got a couple of inches, but it fell after the skies had turned dark so couldn't get a decent photo. Yay for White Christmas!

Christmas Day

Dahin woke up before the crack of dawn and waited patiently until my standard 6 am pee break to make me get up. She promptly got her brothers up and they waited for me to drag my tired self to the living room for the present opening session. Jack was way more difficult to get up, but we eventually got him up with the lure of some Peet's holiday blend coffee (courtesy of a friend who brought us some for the holidays). The kids were so sweet about their presents. Dahin did not get the Nintendo DS she has been wanting for two years now. Probably because it is expensive, and also probably because Santa could not envision Dahin with her head in a computer game non-stop. She was such a good sport about it all and showed excitement at even the smallest gift: "Ooooh, a pencil case--I need one of those;" "Wow--a calculator--awesome!" One can call these lame, but knowing how well Dahin received these gifts despite her desire for a computerized toy really shows how sweet a kid she is. She did get a rubik's cube, jenga, and a toy puppy--two things she had been really wanting, so not all the gifts were 'practical.' The boys loved their gifts, too. One of the big hits was the battery-operated bullet train made to look like the KTX that runs from Seoul to Pusan. The set is actually huge, with bridges and tunnels, but we set up a miniture version so the boys could run the train.

After a pancake breakfast and SKYPE sessions, Jack went to pick up the turkey dinner we had ordered from Dragon Hill Lodge on the US military base. We cannot enter the base since we are not military, but during the holidays the deli at the Lodge makes a holiday feast available to the general public. It felt like a secret mission: 'At noon, meet us at gate 17 near Ichon subway station go pick up your meal.' There were absolutely no problems with picking up the meal and Jack made it home in record time since there was not a lot of traffic out yet. It included a turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veggies, stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce (really good), and a pumpkin pie (delish!). So glad my mom had mentioned to check it for a thorough cooking. Sure enough, it was a bit pink. So, Jack, his friend Juseok, and I cut the bird up and cooked it in bits in the convection oven while we waited for the other two guests to arrive (see the slice and roast operation below). About 40 minutes extra cooking did the trick. The rest of the food was very good. Well...except the gravy, which was very bland (next time, I'll just make milk gravy). It all stayed very hot, but I removed portions of the sides from the aluminum pans in order to heat them up in the microwave at regular intervals. The pans were too big to keep on the table anyway, so one I put the sides in smaller dishes there was more room on the table. The day before, we had checked with some of Jack's friends to see if they would like to come over for a holiday lunch. They said yes, and glad they did since this was a lot of food. The deli rep said it would feed about 10 people, but I think it could feed more. I have days of leftovers ahead, but happy about it. I tell you what, it was so, so good to have this food. Felt like a taste of home, so am very grateful we can purchase the holiday feast at Christmas time. Having a gathering at our home with this amazing feast really helped it feel like Christmas.

I must say that the pumpkin pie was the most anticipated part of the meal for me. I love pumpkin pie, but am very picky about texture and taste. While not as good as my pies, it was still pretty dang good. I heated it up in our convection oven and topped it with vanilla ice cream. We had this for dessert with some coffee. So, so good.

Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. We really, really miss you all. Have a fabulous holiday!

Christmas AM

So, because we got home so late, a certain someone was up into the wee hours getting ready for Santa's visit. Got some early morning shots of the treasures Santa left for the kids.

Christmas Eve

We went ice skating on Christmas Eve. It was Dahin's idea and we all thought it would be a great family outing. An ice skating rink has been created for holiday fun at Kwanghwamun in downtown Seoul. We reserved tickets online and it only cost about $1 (1,000 won) per person to skate--including skate rental. The reservation was just for an hour, though, so after one hour you had to leave the rink to make room for more people--and there were lots, and lots, of people. We had invited our nieces Haenee and Jeongeun to go with us, but they arrived late via subway so Ronan, Dahin, and I went ahead while Oliver and Jack waited for the girls to arrive.

Jack, Oliver, and the girls decided they didn't want to skate since time was short (and the three cousins were a bit skiddish about skating), so they stayed outside the rink and snapped photos. Wish we could have all skated together, but think everyone had a good time regardless.

The skate session began with Dahin and Ronan hanging on me. Because I am not so steady in my skates, either, I told Dahin she had to just use the wall and try to skate on her own. The ice was a bit bumpy, so skating was not as easy for her as she remembered it, but she did really well after the first few minutes. Ronan held tight to my hand the whole time and fell about every two seconds. You can tell from the photos below that, despite the falls, he had a really good time. He got tired toward the end of the hour, so Jack took him out of the rink so that Dahin and I could skate the last few rounds together.

Oliver looks like a little Eskimo in his fur-trimmed coat. Jack and the gang took a lot of great photos of each other and the festivities.

After ice skating, we headed to a Chinese restaurant across the street from the rink. It was so good! The tea hit the spot after skating. We had a great view of the Christmas celebrations on Kwanghwamun from the second floor window. The Christmas music blasting through the air really helped create a Christmas feel.

Leaving the restaurant, we were reminded to be 'head careful.' Hmmm, could be taken so many ways....I know, but sometimes you just have to grant me that fun 'make fun of Konglish time' that I so dearly crave at times. Always makes me smile!

We headed to Myeongdong for an after-dinner ice cream cone at our favorite ice cream dive.

Haenee took this great photo of us in Myeongeong. This neighborhood, like Kwanghwamun, was incredibly packed with people. We got stuck in traffic on the way home so arrived home too late to bake the cookies for Santa, although I had pre-made the dough. The kids were good sports though and wrote their letters to Santa and went to bed (although they had threatened to stay up and wait for Santa).

Getting Ready for Christmas

Trips to Namsan Tower for views of the city at night and a chance to see Christmas decorations is one way the kids are getting ready for Christmas.

We had dinner with my graduate student assistant, Heejin, and she brought the kids some Santa hats and stockings, which they promptly wore.

Itaewon is showing some American-Korean-Chinese spirit just in time for the holidays.

A view of our finished tree. Now, have to get those finishing touches ready since Santa is coming tomorrow night! The boys got a visit from Santa at school today and he gave them new toothbrushes and toothpaste as gifts.

Christmas movies also help to spread the cheer. 'Polar Express' is one of the only Christmas movies for kids we could find. Christmas here is a dating holiday and not very kid-focused. I think for next year I am going to buy some dvds--Rudolf, Christmas Story, Wonderful Life, etc.

Snow helps add to the festivities. The kids made a snow fort with the little bit that fell this weekend. They are totally ready for snow play and can handle way more snow that we've had so far. Forecast is calling for a white Christmas!