Christmas and Ringing in the New Year in Hanguk

"Say-hay bok mahni badeu sayo!", which means "I hope you receive many new year blessings!" in Korean.

Erik and I have been busy celebrating here in Ganseong. Our Christmas was calm and quiet, but lovely. We basically chilled in our pj's in front of the TV watching Christmas movies. Christmas morning we slept in, made a big brunch, and opened up presents. I got Erik "Gumption" (comedian Nick Offerman's second book) and a Parks and Recreation themed mug. Erik got me an orchid and my first Korean children's book:바다에 가요 ["Trip to the Beach"]. We've been reading a little bit of the book together almost every day. I'm proud to say I'm on page 13 out of 28 - not too shabby!

Our Christmas tree(s) and presents!

Our Christmas tree topper!
(It's supposed to be Zack...)

Erik and I on Christmas Eve :)

Erik's Parks & Rec mug!

Erik delightfully opening up "Gumption"
(Insert Ron Swanson's giggle of glee here.)

Me and my new orchid
(which is still mostly alive!)

Me holding my first ever Korean book! Whoopee!

On Boxing Day Erik went on his first trip to Sokcho while I nursed a headache/sore stomach (the excitement of Christmas was clearly too much for my fragile disposition!). Sokcho is a city about 25 minutes away from Ganseong. Like every good boyfriend should, Erik ran some errands for me while he was there (including getting me fresh prawns to eat!). He also enjoyed lunch at an Italian restaurant owned by Woongsik's (spelled his name wrong in the last post, whoops!) friend. Then he came right home to check on me before heading up to Woongsik's for a fresh crab dinner, an invitation which I politely declined.

On Sunday I was feeling better so we went back to Sokcho, together. First we stopped by Sokcho's traditional fish market, which was teeming with people. The market includes both vendors and restaurants (often vendors sell goods and well as prepare their goods for people to eat on the spot). Being surrounded by fresh fish, we made the only wise decision there was - purchase everything deep-fried and crispy. So we ate a "twisted potato" and deep-fried prawns. Yummy at the time, but definitely came back to haunt me later on - especially the potato, which we discovered had been fried in duck fat.

Erik checking out the live seafood on offer.

One of the many crabs aggressively gesturing at us

Twisted potatoes!

Similar to the deep-fried prawns we ate
(yes, those bad boys are whole in there - shell and all!)

We also tried to go to e-Mart, which is a box store chain here that offers both Korean and western goods but just our luck - it was closed for a store holiday! So was Lotte Mart (the other box store in town) so we were SOL on that one. It's okay though, we ended up going back to Sokcho later that week to stock up on goods! After our failed trip to e-Mart we went for dinner at Yonamja, an "Italian" place (everything is relative here) where I was able to access a delicious smoked salmon salad and Erik got a steak burrito. We then headed to MEGABOX to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It was in English with Korean subtitles (phew!) and it was AWESOME. (Don't even care about the bad reviews it's getting online. If you can't fill in the plot holes using common sense or your imagination, maybe you shouldn't be watching Star Wars to begin with! End rant.)

The rest of the week was boring - so skip to New Year's Eve! We started our "eve" with a beautiful run into Gajin, the neighbouring town. We came upon a beach, local fish market, and pier (complete with lighthouse) that was incredibly beautiful. Back home, I worked a bit while Erik handy-manned and made some japchae for dinner (really yummy dish, you should try it!). That night we both dressed up a bit and headed out to the Orange Boy, a local bar, for some drinks. It ended up being really nice. We drank beer, soju cocktail (wayyyy too sweet!), and bekseiju while the women that owns the joint fed us free snacks including fresh fruit, fruit chips, and fried eggs (typical bar food here, I'm not even kidding). I think she was worried we were going to get annihilated on her watch. We played card games and watched the Korean TV and movie awards ceremony. At midnight we celebrated a bit with the other patrons - young adults, some home for the holidays from college. A table of young men offered Erik and I melon popsicles (they had dairy in them, so I just tried a bite of Erik's) and then asked Erik to rank them based on level of handsome-ness, which he proceeded to do. Not only that, he basically ranked them higher based on how American they looked. What a guy! In spite of ranking people based on their looks, Erik and I left the bar with warm wishes and a couple dudes interested in learning to play Catan. We had brought the game with us and surreptitiously left it in plain eyesight to catch others' attention. Our mission was a success!

Home. Post-japchae. Pre-drunk.

Orange Boy... Drunk.

We got home around 1:30 AM and then settled in for a solid four hours' sleep before our 5:30 AM wake up call. Why were we up at 5:30 in the morning on New Year's Day, you ask? Well, here in Korea they have a lunar new year tradition that has been transposed onto the western new year, called "greeting the new year sun". So, as newcomers, we had to try it out.

At 6 AM we drove with Woonsik and his wife, Jinyeong, to the beach. We made a fire and hunkered down with some tea and espresso. We were some of the first people to arrive. As time passed others arrived, including a group of men setting off fireworks and shooting sparkler arrows into the ocean. Also families with rice paper lanterns that were lit and floated off into the sky. The sky slowly came awash with deep blue, lighter blue, pinks, and oranges. Then, just after 7:30, the new year sun made its appearance - a glowing deep magenta orb that steadily rose up over the ocean and into the sky. It was absolutely beautiful.

Jinyeong, Woonsik, and Erik huddled around the fire.

Erik keeping me warm, as my Salomon headband glows in the firelight.

Local men shooting sparkler-tipped arrows into the ocean.

People greeting the new year's sun.

As the new year sun rises you're supposed to make a wish. I wished for a happy and healthy year with my chosen person, Erik. I wish all of you and your chosen people a happy and health new year, too! May each sun of this year bring you love, growth, and prosperity! :)