Archives

Note #74: Merry Christmas! (2012.12.25)

I thought I would take a break from my recent Hobbit-mania to wish everyone a merry Christmas. Christmas is almost over here, but is still getting underway in the States—although I imagine most of my readers will be too busy to read this.

We had a white Christmas this year, which is not too much of a surprise considering how cold it has been and how much it has snowed already. Yesterday the first ice formed on the Han River—something that doesn’t usually happen until January—and tomorrow it’s supposed to get down to 14 degrees below zero (Celsius). On the news this morning I heard that this winter is supposed to be the coldest winter in ninety years. I’m not really looking forward to that.

We spent our Christmas in humble fashion. We went to church in the morning and then went to Hyunjin’s father’s house in the afternoon. There were only four of us for dinner (Hyujun’s sister came over as well), so a turkey would have been a bit much—instead we decided to roast some chickens. They were all out of the largest chickens (1.2 kg), though, so we got three of the next largest size (850 g). I made some stuffing and mashed some potatoes, Hyunjin steamed some vegetables, and we brought along a can of cranberry sauce we had gotten from the States (and, since we are in Korea, we also had kimchi). It wasn’t the fanciest Christmas dinner I’ve ever made, but it did the job—namely, it brought us together around the table.

I’ve written about Christmas here before—if you’re curious, just go back through the archives and look for late December entries. Rather than write at length today, I will just say this: the older I get, the simpler Christmas seems to become. It’s really only about one thing for me, and that one thing is spending time with family. So by that measure, today’s Christmas, however it may have lacked in pageantry and glitter, was a success.

Wherever you are, and whether you celebrate the holiday or not, I hope that today is a blessed day for you, and that you are able to spend it with those you love.