Thanksgiving 2013

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  You may be wondering, what exactly happens on Thanksgiving in Korea?  Well, unless you are American, or hang out with Americans, pretty much business as usual.  International schools have two days off to celebrate the holiday because we acknowledge both American and Korean holidays--thus the reason I had a week off in September for Chuseok!  Regardless, I am still quite thankful for this time of year and for this holiday in particular as December follows closely on the heels of Thanksgiving and with it brings a season and celebration of giving and celebrating the birth of Christ.  This is also a particularly meaningful time at my place of work, as we are a school centered in Christ.  

Anyhow, getting back to the celebration of Thanksgiving.  I am quite happy to have a four day weekend because my tired body just feels like it can't keep going.  In fact, I have been looking forward to this long weekend for quite some time.  In years' passed, my celebrations have ranged from chill time (years 1 and 3) to travel (year 2 in Hong Kong).  This year, however, I attended a proper American Thanksgiving celebration at my neighbor's apartment to kick off the long weekend.  I've been invited during those other years, but just wasn't feeling in the mood to celebrate…or I was too exhausted!  This year, I decided it was time to buck up and become part of another family!  So, off I went to join several groups of people to eat, drink, and be merry!  We ate turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin-y goodness until we were stuffed.  And then we ate some more!  Did you know that you can get a fully cooked turkey delivered to your door in Seoul?!  Neither did I:).  We had two!  The best part about this celebration was the true multi-cultural nature.  I think Americans were the most under-represented group!  We had a few token Americans, Aussies, New Zealanders, South Africans, and British.  It was absolutely fantastic and I laughed harder than I have in a long time when the storytelling started!  I have now heard "Little Red Riding Hood" told in Afrikaans.  Fascinating…and hilarious!  It is amazing what you can learn about the world when you get the opportunity to sit down with people who have quite literally taught in all corners.  What fun it is to start imagining the possibilities I might seek when I hit the job market again next year.

The dinner invitation said we'd be eating around 3pm, so I arrived a little early to see if I could help out.  We didn't eat until several hours later, but I so cherished the time in the kitchen with my colleagues/SFS family helping finish up side dishes or sitting down and really catching up since we truly never see each other (I know, hard to believe at a small school, but it's true!).  Come to think of it, I may have been the only person from the high school there!  I think the moral of this post is that although I sometimes feel a bit disconnected from my family and friends, I needn't look far to find a wonderful support system.  In fact, they are quite literally living right beside me.  As an introvert, get togethers like this really do push me outside of my comfort zone, but in the end I am truly blessed by getting to know my colleagues outside of work.

As for "Black Friday", I did the same thing here that I would have done in the States…stayed home!!  I hate fighting the crowds just to shop!  So, this morning I got up a little early to make sweet potato waffles and had a friend over for breakfast.  Yep, more of that catching up I was talking about!  With my Thanksgiving Break halfway over, I haven't accomplished nearly as much as I'd hoped, but relationships have been the focus and that is much more important than checking things off the To Do list.  And so as I reflect on this season of thankfulness, I certainly have much to be thankful for.  Wishing you all many blessings and much love from Korea!