So on our last day of camp we went to the fancy Sushi restaurant. It was amazing and we all were able to drink soju and beer and teach the principal the game Jenga while we waited for our food.
After lunch, I snuck in a lonnng nap and got ready for a crazy night. We were everywhere! We first went to Kyla and Mike's (2 floors up) to finish off those cocktails from our x-mas cocktail party while playing jenga. ( I guess it's the new crave for school lesson activities and drinking games??) Then we headed to Baghdad's, to meet up with about 20 people. We had some delicious Indian food/ chicken curry with garlic naan bread and a few drinks, then headed to a few bars...but first we made a quick run into that fun photo shop...where you choose a fun hat or costume/props and hop into the photo booth with friends for pictures. We had about 15 people cram into a photo booth and let's just say we had a hard time fitting..it was a pretty funny site and I have a few pictures that I snuck with my camera:)
The bars we went to, Island Stone and another new one that I can't remember the name, were fun and full of foreigners...probably about 50 or more foreigners all in a few small areas. We did the countdown at midnight and it was great to hear from drunk friends how much we all mean to each other and knowing the impacts we're already making on people here and vice-versa. Later that night/ morning a few of us went to the casino in Tapdong for a while. My friend Magda and I just watched and had fun seeing Nate and Keith win at Roulette.
After heading back to our place around 3am, we contemplated whether we wanted to stay up for another hour to hike Mt. Sarabong so that we could try and see the eclipse at 4am. Because it was foggy and because we were extremely tired, plus Keith had a 6:30 am flight he had to catch to visit a few friends in Seoul, we made it a night. However, I did hike Mt. Sarabong the next morning...well, technically it was 2pm since I slept in most the day, but it was beautiful and many Koreans climb this on the 1st, to go to the top, see all the mountains/ orums, including Mt. Halla, and ocean in the distance. They believe climbing to the top of a mountain on the 1st will bring good health and many years to come. Koreans also believe that you must not spend money on the Jan. 1st, because then it will show that you will spend lots of money throughout the year. I guess this means that Koreans must do outdoor activities and stay away from restaurants and cabs on this day.
If you did not know this already, Koreans celebrate their new years according to the lunar calendar, which is near the beginning of February. It is their biggest holiday that they celebrate and kids will receive a lot of money from their parents and grandparents, which they then put in the bank and save.
However, on January 1st, Koreans still stay up until midnight and have a little celebration, but they aren't very happy because they all turn a year older on this day. I don't really understand how that works, but apparently all Koreans are one year older. And they don't like getting older, which also doesn't make sense to me, since the elders are treated with such high respect, so you would think they would like to be older. ?? Anyways, Korean age is different than age in the US. I would be 25 in Korean age, because they start counting age once you are born in your mother's stomach, instead of when the mother gives birth.
Another interesting thing that I realized by celebrating New Year's in a different country, is how strange it is to think that we are living in the future. When we were celebrating the new year of 2010 here in Korea at midnight, it was still 2009 in Chicago. How cool would it be to travel around the world on new years eve night and try to go to as many new years celebrations in different countries as you could?! I think Keith and I might have to try this sometime... anyone with us?
Well, today I finally have my first day to relax and do nothing! Looking back on this past week though, I can't believe how much we did, how many celebrations there were, and how much fun it all was! It was nice to have so many close friends to celebrate with and experience x-mas, my b-day and ny's in Korea!
*Above you will also see all the x-mas and b-day cards that were given to us by family and friends. We hung them all up above our bed. Thanks!
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