Canadian Chuseok.

turkey lurkey. arrived on my desk via air mail, courtesy of the most thoughtful person i know.

I have now missed my first official 'holiday' at home.... not counting Labour Day, of course.
Obviously I have been away for a few Thanksgivings before, so this one should not be a BD (big deal), but there is something different about being in a different country for the holiday.
On one hand, you could easily forget that there even is a holiday, because no one here is talking about turkey..... but on the other hand, facebook has a way of not letting you miss anything that is happening. Anywhere.


My indirect point to this is that I can't help but wonder: if this is Thanksgiving, how is Christmas going to feel? I have never spent a December 24th, 25th or 26th with anyone that is not my family!!


For those of you who I spoke to before even deciding to come to Korea, one of my reasons for NOT coming was because I couldn't fathom missing a Christmas at home.  It made me want to throw up.  Somehow I let go of this and realised that, maybe I needed to grow up ( but I can still sleep with my blankie).


When December rolls around, I have a feeling that we won't have the luxury of being able to ignore the holiday all together.  I have heard that there are many Christmas decorations, and of course, lots of Christmas activities at school.  


This combined with ' Decorating the tree with the fam!' facebook statuses, and the like... means it is going to be a very challenging season.


To anyone who has known me since highschool, you may/probably know of my 'Santa Claus' status in my family - ie. I AM HIM.  Since I was 15, I have had the (awesome) task of doing all of the Christmas shopping for the family, and loved every minute of it. 


Dear family: I guess you are all getting coal this year. Maybe some gum and/or tape.
Love, Santa.


This is kind of a tangent-y post, I admit, but I'm a tangential girl.


I guess I have been thinking of going home a lot lately, not leaving early, but as in 'when' I go home. I got kind of caught up in things I miss from home, so I made myself try to think of things I love about here, in a 'be here now' kind of way. Or, to be very New Brunswickan: ' BE.... in this place'.


Here is my list (in progress) of things I'm sure I will miss about Korea:


- running to the ocean, daily.
-2 summers, one REALLY hot, and one medium
- no tipping and no tax, makes paying for things SO easy
- everything is always open ( except the gym during Chuseok)
- race kits are mailed to you before the race
- jimjjilbangs
- cheap ice cream
- 5 $ meals
-Kyungsung arcade karaoke

race kit for gyeongju (this weekend): program, asics gift certificate, duffel bag, chip, bib