Christmas Photos

I'm sorry to have neglected this blog for so long; there's really no good excuse. But I'm on a holiday and have little to occupy my time for the next few weeks. If I manage to stave off insanity from lack of purpose, I should be writing with some regularity.

Rewinding back to Christmas, the holiday season here was largely enjoyable. While lonesome for family and tradition, friends here, both American and Korean, made this Christmas a happy memory.

We spent both Christmas Eve and evening of Christmas Day in Brandon's apartment. He lives in a wonderful three-room abode with a glorious view of the ocean. We performed many of the typical holiday rituals including exchanging gifts, eating Christmas cookies (my parents actually mailed a batch) and listening to Christmas carols. Here, our friend Mila is decorating a small artificial tree that Brandon's grandmother sent.



Here is our friend Rie from Japan with one of the gingerbread men my parents sent.









And here I am with my friends Danny and Brandon next to the finished tree.







On Christmas morning, a friend from my health club took me to his church. In this photo, Mr. Park and I are sitting in the church basement, enjoying some instant coffee after the service. Afterwords, about 50 people from the church went out together for a lunchtime feast of raw fish. Not your father's Christmas Day, perhaps, but festive nonetheless.





Finally, on the evening of the 25th, we all returned to Brandon's apartment where Danny and Brandon made vegetarian chili and we drank Champaign, again a gift from my parents.