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.

At special points during the year, I've provided my students with prizes for winning a class contest or volunteering for a difficult task. The week of Christmas, I held team trivia competitions in each of my classes; winning teams received candy canes, a rare item in South Korea.

After one slightly rambunctious class on Christmas eve, I gave the winning team their candy and said goodbye to everyone. But the students did not leave. Instead about half of the 36 member class descended upon my desk, arms outstretched begging for "CANDY!"

At first I tried to laugh along with them, "What? Candy? You brought me some candy?" I kidded.

But they weren't laughing. They just kept crowding in grasping at my blue tote bag filled with sweets.

I was starting to feel a little uneasy and, in my sternest voice, proclaimed "No. Out of my classroom, NOW!"

Zero effect. The kids just kept coming. One started pounding his fists on the white board making the horrible sound of a battle drum.

It was then I realized for the first time why zombies are scary. In the past I'd thought zombies were a silly horror; why not just push them down or walk around them? But these students were just like the living dead, only their thirst was for sugar, not brains. With their arms out and their cries for "CANDY!" like moans, there was a fear that I could be eaten alive by mistake.

The only reason I'm here today to write this tale is that I relented and gave up candy to the masses. While they were distracted by their sugar injections I slipped out of the classroom and up to the teachers lounge before they could regroup and besiege me for seconds.