I Kidnapped Santa

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Dear Children on the other side of the world,

I'll make this short and sweet. Santa came to Korea to drop off presents to all of these good little boys and girls on this side of the world first.. and.. I.. kidnapped him before he made it over to the Western Hemisphere.. I wanted to learn all of his secrets!

So I'm sorry to say,

that Santa won't be coming your way!

Sincerely yours,

Paula

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JUST KIDDING! I refuse to be the Grinch that stole Christmas! And luckily, I turned my frown upside down! I was getting really sad as Christmas was approaching, because I knew that all of my close friends here in Korea were going to be going home to Canada/US/vacationing in paradise.. and I was going to feel SO lonely on Christmas without my family and friends! BUT the closer it got.. I fully got into the spirit!

On Saturday (Christmas Eve), I went to two orphanages with a group of people in Jeonju to help pass out presents and sing Christmas carols. It was a nice time, they were both quite rushed visits but I think the kids had fun! In between visits, I went with Eva and the owner of the Jeonju Diner to grab lunch.. a yummy breakfast burrito (complete with eggs, bacon AND SALSA... holla!)

Then I went to my coworker's house (Kay). We watched The Holiday and snacked on some munchies. Had a great time as we ooh'ed and ahh'ed at how romantic the movie is! A favorite!!

Then we each got our pasta/risotto ready, dressed up in green and red and hit the road to go to Dawn's Christmas Eve Hootenany party!! I only new 3 out of the 20 people there.. but it was super fun.. and the food that everyone brought was AMAZING!! Literally, it was SO positively delicious!! I take SO much American food for granted.. there was REAL macaroni & cheese there (no nacho cheese here, real macaroni noodles, REAL CHEESE), delicious mashed potatoes (I think with feta cheese!), VEGETABLE LASAGNA (which you just never ever ever get on this side of the world), a cheese assortment, brownies, homemade eggnog (which sadly I couldn't partake in.. because of my LASIK), and many other amazing things! We did a gift exchange as well! Definitely put me in the holiday spirit!

On Christmas day, I woke up around 9AM and Skyped my parents so that we could open gifts together. NOW, I must tell you that when I asked my parents whether we were going to open gifts during their Christmas morning or my Christmas morning.. their mouths dropped a little and said "Oh! We hadn't thought of that, I guess we just assumed it would be our Christmas morning. HaHa." And THAT is one of the tricky parts about living abroad.. 2 Christmas mornings, on 2 different days.. literally! It was really funny, they said that I could choose.. and I totally chose my Christmas morning.. I couldn't imagine just looking at the unwrapped gifts under my tree ALL.. DAY.. LONG for another day!! I'm a curious person about gifts.. secrets aren't my thing.. so I always like to know.. but I was a good girl and didn't peek at all!

We had a great time, laughing and carrying on. I got some awesome stuff!! My parents are so thoughtful and care so much, it's soo great! A few weeks back, they had sent the box that was filled with gifts and my stocking.. and the only thing I was allowed to open were the home baked (6-days earlier) Christmas cookies that my MaMa always makes.. and they tasted SOO fresh, it was amazing! I munched on them for a few days, and it made my heart smile! I hung my stocking and put the presents under my mini-Christmas tree.

(My amazing friends and family ended up sending me lots of Christmas cards.. made me SO thrilled!! 11 and counting! And I put them up on my little table (that is actually a suitcase flipped on its side!))

They also sent me some Kraft Mac & Cheese dinners, fruit roll-ups, skittles, the 2nd book of the Hunger Games, guitar pick earrings (awesome!), AMAZINGLY THOUGHTFUL cards that have pictures from my travels on them.. pretty much the coolest thing ever, a sweet watch and PEZ candy! :)

I'll be calling them during their Christmas morning as well, along with all of my other family and friends!! I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

Later, I went to Kay's for a delicious brunch and we spent some time with Kevin.. watching Home Alone!! The day isn't over, so it's time to start writing my New Years Resolutions!! haha

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Update:

Christmas night I went to dinner with a few people, then to a DVD Bang to watch Love Actually... followed by buying a pint of Baskin Robbins to eat whilst Skyping my family!!! A few phone calls and a stomachache later... I fell fast asleep!