IT'S THE MOST
WONDERFUL TIME
OF THE YEAR!

 

"Maybe Christmas doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a

little bit more."

 

-The Grinch

 

 

Christmas has come and gone and what a Christmas it was! It was very different than any Christmas I've ever had before because of two things: I was away from home for the first time during Christmas and, the most obvious, I was in Korea. The festivities started right around my birthday (a week before Christmas). We were preparing for our Christmas party at school, which meant lots of Christmas music with some dances to go along :) My class was practicing Jingle Bell Rock and (yes, I know it's not a Christmas song) Dancing Queen. We ended up having a little dancing/singing contest between the different classes. I only caught a little of the performance with my phone, but here are the bits I got (be prepared for cuteness overload). This first video is from our Infinity class (one of our two 7-year-old classes) and they are doing a rendition of Jingle Bells.

 



 

The next video is of the same class, but this time they are dancing to Jingle Bell Rock.

 







 

 And now we move on to Universe class (our second 7-year-old class, which is also my class!!!). This first one is Dancing Queen.

 



 

And I saved my favorite for last. This is Universe class again, but this time doing Jingle Bell Rock. Eeeeek, so adorable!!!!!! On a side note, if you notice the boy in the green sweater with tan pants, that's Daniel and he wants to be a kpop star when he grows up. He might have a chance with how well he performs. Just watch him :)

 



 

Following the dance competition, I needed some pictures with my cute kids.

 

These three cuties are from my afternoon elementary class. They're
all very silly and VERY active. They keep me on my toes.

Cute little Anna with a huge personality that somehow fits
into that tiny body of hers.

Ever the princess, Betty.

Daniel, the class clown.

Logan, the quiet, camera shy one. He's super adorable though
and though he pretends to hate it, he loves to be tickled :)

Paul, the do-gooder of the class.

And last, Tristan, the trouble-maker. He can still be quite cute though.



 

After our Christmas party, I went to the Nutcracker ballet with some friends of mine. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the actual performance, so I only have a few pictures from before and after, The theater was absolutely beautiful though.

 

A view from the outside of the theater.

They had some gorgeous chandeliers.

We were in the very back row, but the theater was fairly small,
so it was okay.



Group picture with some old and new friends.

And of course, we had to get a group picture by the
Christmas tree :)

We got to enjoy a Christmas party at our branch president's house and we were also invited over for Christmas dinner. At the Christmas party we decorated some gingerbread houses.

 

Confession: this was the first time I ever attempted making
a gingerbread house. And I forgot to get the pictures of me
with the gingerbread house from my friend, so you'll just have
to deal with my friend frosting the Christmas tree.

Some more of our gingerbread-house-making crew.

They even let us help decorate the Christmas tree!

Christmas dinner was absolutely delicious (so much home cooking!!!!!), and we all had a great time talking and laughing up a storm. And thank you to Yong for some of the amazing pictures (his are the higher quality ones, some of which I might have snuck off his facebook...).

 

Enjoying the food :)

Picture in front of the Christmas tree. We had a few people
comment that three of us look like sisters :)

A sampling of some of the desserts.

We kind of filled the room. But oh it was wonderful!!!

After Christmas dinner, I ended up going home so I could Skype the family while they opened presents. While I missed spending Christmas (in person, anyway) with my family, I have to say the experience of Christmas in Korea was a great one. It brought me closer with friends, old(ish) and new, and reminded me of what is truly important during the Christmas season.

 

I hope everyone else has had a wonderful Christmas season and a happy New Year!!!