Christmas Eve

For the first time since I moved to Seoul, I decided to buy a turkey and cook it. Shortly after I got home from the store, I realized that my turkey was twice as big as my oven. Hmm.

I told my good friend about my dilemma and she said I could use her oven to cook our turkey (she lives on the U.S. Army Base and has a bigger oven) and spend Christmas Eve with their family.

On Christmas Eve while our turkey cooked, we ate American fast food at the food court, went bowling, and to a movie (Tron). It was fun to see all of the hustle and bustle on base. The stores where crammed with last minute shoppers. It reminded me of Christmas Eve in America. I couldn't help but smile. Who knew an army base could be so much fun?

While the kids and Jim were at the movie, I enjoyed cooking with my friend. Later that evening, we all enjoyed dinner and games and a children's nativity for entertainment.

We drove home through the heart of Seoul at about 10:00 p.m. The math and English academy buses were running as usual. The dry cleaner across the street was working at his usual fast and furious pace ironing shirts for local customers. It was a sharp contrast to the festive atmostphere we had witnessed on the U.S. Army Base.

*My friend's husband had spent a day earlier in the week at the Army Base Woodshop making the wooden top game in the above picture. He got the instructions online. The game was really fun, kind of like pinball and bowling rolled into one.