Christmas and New Year

The fall semester here is over which means it is now time for winter break. I decided to spend my holiday here instead of going back to Finland. Since I haven't had much time to go around yet I'll try to do it now that I have time. Winter break is really long here after all. The next semester will start in March. ;)

Christmas

Christmas is not as big of a deal here as it is in Finland. Mostly, people go for dates if they happen to have someone to go with. Otherwise, some seem to spend time with their friends but the celebrations are nothing compared to Finland.

     Usually, Christmas season seems to start right after Halloween. Right? So in November, all the stores are packed with Christmas products. However, in here it was never as extravagant. Coffee shops have their Christmas cups, make-up stores have seasonal lines and so on. But the selves are not pouring with Christmas delicacies and other Christmas related products like in Finland. Maybe that's why I didn't even realize how quickly the year has come to its end... Though I have to admit the Christmas lights could compare with the ones in Finland, though the style is a bit different. :)

    Of course, we did celebrate Christmas with my friends. On Christmas Eve we visited Myeongdong (명동) which is famous shopping place in Seoul and also popular couple spot during Christmas. It was so packed with people! I thought I would never be able to get out of there. On Christmas Day we went to see the Christmas lights at Cheonggyecheon  (청계천), Seoul. That is also very popular date spot during Christmas but we also saw many families.

A Twosome Place Christmas cup

Cheonggyecheon

Boxing Day - Trip to Jeonju (전주)

We had decided with my close Korean friend to travel to Jeonju which is famous for delicious bibimbap (비빔밥) and pretty hanboks (한복), traditional Korean costumes. We hoped for snow  on Boxing Day because we wanted to take pretty winter pictures wearing beautiful hanboks. However, it kept raining for the whole day.

     We arrived in Jeonju around noon after 2.5 hour bus trip. So naturally, we decided first to have lunch. After enjoying bibimbap we headed to hanok village (한옥 마을). To our surprise, we found out that the hanbok rent shops were renting their hanboks despite the rain, and so we decided to wear hanboks as we had originally planned.

     Luckily, we found a lovely shop that offered us 2.5 hour rent for hanboks for 25 000 won (~20-22 euros) per person including hair-do and a purse which both usually are something you have to pay extra for. Of course there are cheaper options but the shop we went to seemed very professional and their customer service was very welcoming. (Apparently, I got free hair-do and accessorizes simply because of the fact I am pretty and foreigner. ^^')

     Wearing hanboks we wandered around the hanok village, and we visited Gyeonggijeon Shrine (경기전). After 2 hours out in the cold winter rain we returned the hanboks, and decided to have dinner and stop in a tea shop we saw while strolling around to warm up ourselves. Although I enjoyed our day-trip to Jeonju I'm planning to visit there again. Hopefully, next time the weather will we on our side and we will get to do more sightseeing.

Dolsot Bibimbap

Gyeonggijeon

Gyeonggijeon

New Year
Unfortunately, I got a flu after our trip to Jeonju, and so I spent the New Year's Eve by myself watching TV on my laptop. But on the other hand, the New Year as well didn't seem that great of a deal as I'm used to in Finland. Many were out partying but that's it. One of the traditions though seems to be either stay awake till morning or wake up early enough to see the sunrise. I failed at this because I was feeling too poorly to get myself up early in the morning.
     Nevertheless, even though New Year didn't seem as important here doesn't mean that Koreans don't celebrate New Year at all. One must remember that in Korea there are holidays based on the lunar calendar, like Chuseok (추석) earlier in September. So Koreans have many traditions for Seollal (설날) which is the first day of the lunar calendar. Similar to Chuseok, Seollal is a national holiday of three days: the day before, the day of, and the day after. This year Seollal seems to be January 28th.

Although this year I didn't spent the Christmas with my family like I usually do (in fact it is my first time to not spend Christmas with my family), I'm happy to have made these memories here in Korea with my friends. After all, I'll be here for only two semesters, and I'll be back in Finland after next semester. For this reason I decided not to return home for the winter break, and so far I've been happy with my decision.

Till next time!

xxx