We finished at 7:00 and were immediately picked up and taken back to DaeSan church for the Christmas program at 7:30pm. It was 2 hours long and we very much enjoyed it as we were able to recognize the songs and could “understand” what they were saying. Two girls played a traditional instrument. They are wearing traditional dress and sitting traditional fashion. Most of the few Christmas lights we see here are all on churches like this one.
We got back home around 10:00pm. We hadn’t had supper yet, so we made kimbap, and arranged the cake with some candles on the table for our Christmas “dinner.” We took some pictures first and were all ready to enjoy the meal when...
…the church called and asked if we’d like to come back for some Christmas soup and games before going caroling at midnight. Sure…! So, we took the kimbap over with us, had some wonderful soup that is considered a holiday soup and then played a few rounds of UNO until midnight when we split into groups to sing.
We practiced the three songs we were to sing…Silent Night, Joy to the World, and The First Noel. Then, we headed out! We were grouped with our driver, Hyeong Gyn, and 4 highschool girls. Our people got sung to in half English and half Korean! :) During the first few houses, a couple girls were poking their fingers in their ears in order to block us out and be able to sing correctly in Korean. I chuckled. How well I understood that feeling! But before long, we were all merrily singing together in our own language. We quickly discovered the fast-track caroling Korean-style. One to two songs, complete with "Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!" Then, on to the next stop.
Many were in 14-story apartment buildings, so we got our fill of elevators! Sometimes the elevator let us all on...other times, it beeped at us and some had to take the stairs. One apartment building had no elevator so we all trecked up 5 flights to sing Silent Night, then down again. Sometimes, people opened their doors and gave us a bag of goodies. Others there were notes out to sing quietly as a baby was sleeping. And then at some there was no response at all. W weren't sure if they just enjoyed us from the comfort of their bed/floor, or just slept through it completely... Here we are in an elevator:
By 1:30am, we were halfway through our list...11 down and 11 to go! We stopped at Hyeong Gyn's home where his wife served us some aloe juice (a normal juice here like orange or apple juice). We sang a song to her, too. Quietly so we wouldn't wake up the 4mo. baby. Yes, John found a good use for his hat he brought along from the U.S! - he wore it to school, too, with favorable results.
Then, on to the last 11 houses... The girls were starting to get tired, so at some places a couple of them stayed in the van and there were more English singers than Korean! Our kids were completely overtired yet would never admit it, stumbling and laughing and singing and having the time of their little lives - it will definitely be a Christmas they won't soon forget! After the last 11 houses, we ended at Hyeong Gyn's parent's home. She served us hot pomogranate tea and popcorn. We had the hardest time getting this picture since our batteries were running out. Hyeong Gyn jumped up, pulled his mom's clock off the wall, and borrowed the batteries for us to use. "Halimony" -or Grandmother, is sitting next to me.
Song Ja and Hyeong Gyn. A very friendly couple. Hyeong Gyn says his name sounds like "hungry." :) He is quite the guy!
Then, on to the last 11 houses... The girls were starting to get tired, so at some places a couple of them stayed in the van and there were more English singers than Korean! Our kids were completely overtired yet would never admit it, stumbling and laughing and singing and having the time of their little lives - it will definitely be a Christmas they won't soon forget! After the last 11 houses, we ended at Hyeong Gyn's parent's home. She served us hot pomogranate tea and popcorn. We had the hardest time getting this picture since our batteries were running out. Hyeong Gyn jumped up, pulled his mom's clock off the wall, and borrowed the batteries for us to use. "Halimony" -or Grandmother, is sitting next to me. Finally at 3am, Hyeong Gyn dropped the girls off, and then headed back to our house to take us home. But just as he rounded the corner to the school, he said, "Ah!", whipped back around, and stopped in front of a 24-hour convenience store which was still open. "Just, just, just!" he said, and hopped out. (that was his version for just a minute.) In a few minutes he was back, plopped a bag in the backseat with the kids and drove us on home. He gave us the bag, told us good-night and off he went. Once indoors, we opened the bag to discover...another cake! Now we had two to enjoy for Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment