"Merry Christmas 2010"

I held my 2nd Annual Christmas Potluck this year, and it turned out great. Last year we had about 10-15 people, almost all of whom were other foreign teachers I had met within the past 3 months and didn't know that well. This year, I had about 18-20, about two-thirds were foreign teachers, and the others were mostly Korean boyfriends/girlfriends of friends of  mine.

We enjoyed plenty of food - including homemade hummus, clam chowder, homemade stuffing, chicken, pulled pork, pizza, and plenty of wine and beer.

Here are some photos from the evening 

(taken by my friend Melissa)

 We even made s'mores over the gas stove...

 Many of the Koreans had never had it before - but loved it!

 Wine, beer, Amaretto, rice cake and Christmas cake -- what a combination!

 About half of us crammed into my apartment

 Steve, Me, and Sean

 Hwayoung's brother Jae-hoon, and his wife

 Danelle and Heecheol

 Jordan and Aeyong

 Melissa, Angela, and Danelle

 Chang and the ladies...

And for your further enjoyment: 

A video of Sean showing off his dancing skills to Aqua's - Cartoon Heroes.

"All I want for Christmas is...Nanta!"

Merry Christmas everyone!

On Christmas Eve, I met up with my girlfriend who took me to Myeongdong for my Christmas gift. She brought me to a very famous show called "Nanta"

Basically, Nanta is the Broadway show "Stomp!" but set in a kitchen.

The show was combines percussion precision, hilarity, and audience engagement in an intriguing and fascinating way, leaving you smiling, laughing, and clapping along until the very end.

Nanta - which means "crazy beat", is a small ensemble cast consisting of a Restaurant Owner, his Nephew, a Head Chef, Female Chef, and Sexy Male Chef - all very talented and funny.

 

The story is simple: The chef's have until 6pm to complete the menu - including dishes of bulgogi and mandu (2 of my favorites).

Hwayoung and I were chosen to participate in the show, we went on stage and donned our blue chef hats. While she made mandu with the Female Chef, I worked with the Sexy Chef to keep the beat and stack the steamed mandu in a race against the red team. We won, and they gave us coupons to pick up a Christmas card and a Polaroid of us on stage...it's a very bad picture so I won't post it.


But here is a YouTube video of basically the exact same thing I did -- but with less finesse.

It was such a great show that I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seoul - and would love to go again. Perhaps it could come to a city near you - check out their webpage here:

If you want a better idea of what they do, take a look at the videos below!

Some more photos:

 

"SantaCon Seoul 2010"

This weekend I attended a large event in Seoul called "SantaCon" otherwise known as "Santarchy". This event is held in major cities worldwide and incorporates many people dressing up like Santa and creating chaos while spreading holiday cheer. You can check out the facebook page here where over 560 Santa's had signed up to attend.

We gathered in Sinchon at a popular bar and headed out on a half-mile parade through the city to Hongdae (a popular area known for its young university students, clubs, restaurants and bars)

Along the route we sang Christmas songs (some dirty), danced in the streets, and gave candy to strangers wishing them a Merry Christmas. The looks on peoples faces was priceless as they stared at the 300+ foreigners dressed as Santa parading through the street.

Most people get a little drunk and meet up at one of the many HO bars in Hongdae (Ho bar is a franchise that is appropriately named for this event!).

It was a fun (albeit it COLD) time, and I look forward to doing it again!

Photos: