Season's Greetings from South Korea!

Merry Christmas, one and all. Time for an appropriately festive post about the happiest and the saddest time of the year. It's been interesting for me getting to experience Christmas in the Far East. It's not as big a tradition here as it is in the west, and in fact for most Koreans it's a day for dating rather than for family. But there are still lots of decorations, carols and other festivities that I've been able to enjoy, even if it doesn't feel quite as Christmas-y as back home. So here are some photos that document my Christmas experiences over the last month.

Earlier in December some friends and I went to a Christmas market near Dongdaemun, Seoul. It wasn't as quaint and festive as some of the christmas markets back home, but... 

...it did have this cool dancer who did christmas variations of Gangnam Style.

I've seen some cool lights and decorations in the city. These were near Myeongdong.

Me posing under some lights at the COEX.

At our school on Christmas Eve the kids got to meet Santa Claus (who was actually a teacher from another ECC branch) 

They also took part in a Christmas dancing competition.

The winners (by vote) were Princeton Class.

Stanford Class singing Edelweiss.

A few of us foreign teachers did some performing of our own.

Jason-teacher with James.

Me with Toronto Class.

This morning when I left my apartment I found that it had snowed during the night. We don't have many white christmases back in London so it was cool to have one here.

I did Secret Santa with my co-teachers at Lizzy's apartment. 

Jason seemed pretty happy with the piggy bank he received. 

We also played Who Am I?

That's all for now. Merry Christmas to everyone back home and around the world, and here's hoping 2013 will be a fun year to remember!