Santa's Helper

December 24, 2015

Christmas is here!

Yea! Time for the ward Christmas party!! Decorations, musical numbers, food, treats, presents, and fun. Preparations must be made...

When the Oncheon Ward was looking around for a pretend "Santa's Helper" just to dress up like the real Santa for the ward Christmas party, they looked for someone big, with whitish skin, grayish hair, wire glasses, and a cheerful laugh: "Ho, Ho, Ho!" Look no further - Elder George fit the bill perfectly! 

It was a difficult choice for "Santa" to decide which suit to wear. Three suits came back from the dry cleaner: one had kind of a "shaggy dog-like" beard and

moustache; one had a curly wig and matching beard and moustache (good choice), and the other one had several hats but no wig. 

Everyone wanted to try out for the job, so many tried on the costumes.

 There were various hats to try on, and different beards, jackets with long sleeves, jackets with short sleeves.

Finally a decision was made - Elder George found the perfect outfit!

The elves were so happy!

We love the office elves.

 

Musical numbers made the party so fun.

Brenda led the singing with the help of Kelly, age 3, mission president's granddaughter.

  The Bishop's family is very musical

 Brother Shin, in his traditional Korean "hanbok" played the harmonica - a very "Christmas-y" Korean song, "Danny Boy".

The teenagers mostly wanted me to give them candy.

There was a game where the missionaries had flour poured all over their heads.

They were good sports about it, of course.

Time for Santa to hand out the toys.

Since there are only four children in the ward, plus two guests came (yea!), so the entire Santa ordeal was pretty quick...lucky for Elder George, since he was keeping a pillow around his waist with a belt, and hoping it wouldn't fall down. The beard was also getting kind of itchy. After the program, festivities, and Santa, the entire ward had dinner. The women in the ward made the dinner and I volunteered to bring dessert: fruit, the usual dessert, and brownies. It is always fun being in the kitchen with everyone, even though the communication is pretty limited. I especially like doing the dishes. The teenagers always do the dishes for every ward event or party, and it's fun to be with them.

At the end a full traditional Korean dinner was served. These are some of my "friends" - the two girls are in college (Sister Cho and Soomi), and the couple at the end were just married (Brother and Sister Park).

These are pretty much all the women in the ward. Now I get to wear the elf hat.

CHRISTMAS DAY

The traditional Christmas breakfast, usually a huge event, was pared down to two pieces of french toast. We had a great day skyping with all the kids and grandkids on Dec. 25 or 26. That was the best present of all!

CHRISTMAS 2015 and More

December 21, 2015

Christmas 2015 and More

This festive setting was just waiting outside the movie theatre for everyone to enjoy. The two chairs made it a perfect photo op. No Santa = no charge.

We took advantage of it for the cheesiest Christmas picture ever.

Now for another evidence of the cheerful Christmas season:

These scary looking snowmen are on a cake at Costco. I think the eyebrows make them look a little angry. The stick arms are also a little Halloweenish. 

NOT CHRISTMAS - Since Christmas is a regular work and school day in Korea,  I will post some non-Christmas pictures. These are pictures of:

BEAUTIFUL THINGS

We visited a nearby Botanical Garden. The autumn leaves are on the ground for the most part, but the wintry landscape was still and serene, cold and quiet.

Granite boulders made stepping stones and waterfalls.

The highlight of this garden seemed to be these perfectly trimmed trees. 

 As the afternoon gets darker, the trees start to look like goblins, elves, or creatures from another planet

The slabs of granite and the cleverly shaped trees combine to make nature's art all around us. We saw not one piece of trash, and not one other person (except one diligent tree-trimmer).

View from the Mission Home at night:

Unusual  Cloud Pattern - Stunning!

                                  View from the Mission Home in the daytime:

               Japanese Elm Tree in bright autumn colors

Back to: CHRISTMAS

I am so thankful for Charles Dickens. If I'm feeling greedy or grouchy, I don't want to be a "Scrooge". When I am happy, I think of Tiny Tim saying, "God bless us everyone!" I am also thankful for Charles Schultz and all the Peanuts characters. Linus tells everyone, "That's what Christmas is all about!" 

and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS from Busan, South Korea!!

"It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas"

December 13, 2015

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Sleigh bells? Carols being sung by the fire? Hot cider and Christmas cookies? Twinkle lights everywhere? The fragrance of pine boughs and cinnamon?

NO... think again. It's December 13 in South Korea, so the appropriate activities are:

1. start making the giant batch of kimchi to last the whole year (the fragrance of garlic and anchovy)

2. or go to a Buddhist Temple. 

We chose #2:

The Beomeosa Temple

just a quick subway trip and a short bus ride up the mountain

 Not exactly the most cheerful...

It was a beautiful day and I am about to enter Gate #1. There are three gates to get to the Buddha. On my right is our friend, Alma, from the English class.  On my left is our Tour Guide. His English name is "Wayne". He named himself after John Wayne.

This is Gate #2. The architecture and the attention to every detail is impeccable, displaying skill and craftsmanship. The brightly painted sections have been restored, but the building complex itself is 1,300 years old.

More Angry Gods

 The perfectly fitted stones have no mortar.

The final gate to Paradise

Behind us are tombs of the monks. The really exceptional monks have a turtle base. 

We were not allowed to take pictures of the rooms containing statues of the Buddhas. Those rooms are very quiet, shoes off, hands out of pockets, people prostrating themselves over and over, and lots of incense and candles.The paintings all over the walls are beautiful - no doubt to teach people who were illiterate about Buddha.