Would it Change Your Plans?

Let's see if I can get the hang of this vlogging thing for the new year.

Wordless Wednesday

Because I feel random and because I can!
Blogger Fuel!

(at least for me but I'd love to know what your octane is!)

BTW that's coffee with cream and 1 sugar in case anyone wants to send some Dunkin' Donuts.

I'm not against accepting some blueberry cake donuts either.

Want to check out some more Wordless Wednesday?

Hit up the gang at MomDot! We have plenty to see!

Join us in Korea!

You all remember my friend Nut, right? Well guess what she's back! This time to share Christmas in Korea. She and her family just recently got home (as in this past year) from a 4 year (sorry Nut it felt a lot longer but it was only 4, right?) term as missionaries on the Korean island of Jeju. I know she gets "homesick" fo rthe island often but being the trooper she is she put together a little peek at Christmas in Korea for us!

South Korea is a Buddhist and Shamanist country. Because of this, Christmas, in the past has held no great meaning for them. It was and in many cases, still is, just another day in the lives of most Koreans. In the past 100 years Christianity has spread throughout South Korea which brought with it, a small Christmas celebration. There is no large present exchange or tons of parties. You won't see Santa on every street corner or nativities placed throughout the town. However, on Christmas Day you will see that all the Christian Churches are open for a special worship services. They usually meet for an early morning prayer time (at about 5 am). Then they come back together for a worship service at 10. They break for lunch and fellowship and continue with a second worship service around 2 pm.

Every year that we were there, we did see more and more in the lines of Christmas decorations. Stores might have a small Christmas Tree or Snowman in the window. The International Wal-mart actually had fake Christmas Trees for sale. The town center will often decorate the trees with lights now. However, they still don't pause to celebrate on Christmas day.

If you wait a month or so, Koreans celebrate one of their two largest holidays of the year. Seol-ral or the Korean Lunar New Year (more commonly known as Chinese New Year) is a 3 day celebration. Koreans will travel to their home town where the entire family will meet for a celebration!

On the first day of celebration the Koreans will all dress in their tradition hanboks. They then perform a ceremony honoring their ancestors. After the ceremony at home, the entire family will drive to the grave site of their ancestors and perform a public ceremony honoring them. They then have a picnic at the grave. The traditional food eaten is dok-guk. It is a rice-cake soup that is absolutely delicious. They will leave soup, rice, and wine at the grave for the ancestors as they leave.

Children will bow to their elders as a sign of respect and in return they are given white envelopes filled with money. The adults often exchange gifts of well-being. The gifts they exchange are much more practical than the ones we exchange. They will give gift baskets of fruits and vegetables. It is common to see gifts boxes of spam, dove bar soap, socks, handkerchiefs, tissue, juice boxes, and other items used on a daily basis. Families will often spend the days playing tradition games such as yut and nol-twigi or go flying kites.

Seol-ral actually begins on Jan. 29 and continues through the first day of the new month. It is a time of the year that families look forward to all year long, much like we do for Christmas

Peanut!

And now I have a craving to go fly a kite myself! Especially with Mary Poppins playing in the background! Thank you again Nut for rescuing me from bloggy boredom.

For those of you playing along, I do believe our next stop is Japan (possibly this evening) and then to Australia tomorrow.

Well you saw it in Summer...

That is if you watched the Olympics you did. So let's go visit China for Christmas shall we?

Because Chrisitanity is not a wide spread faith, Christmas is not a very large celebration. Christians decorate their homes with trees and decorate with a lot of paper decorations such as paper chains, lanterns, and paper flowers. I've seen some complex origami from a co worker once upon a time and if it is any indication I think I know how I would love to decorate our tree next year!

In some of the metro areas of China Christmas is developing a larger presence but only from a marketing and retail perspective.

The more prominent winter celebration is New Years which falls at the end of January and into early February. This celebration is dedicated to the memory and honoring of the ancestors. It is also called the Spring Festival.

Maybe we'll come back and visit again a little closer to New Year's this year! Until then...Pass the fortune cookies!

'S Rozhdestvom!'

Do you have a fur hat? Are you bundled up? It's time to head off to Russia for Christmas! But guess what? We are early! But I'm getting ahead of myself!

The key religion in Russia (now that it is allowed again) is Eastern Orthodox. Because the Orthodox church still follows a Julian calendar Christmas is not celebrated until January 7th. And for the 6 weeks leading up to Christmas the faithful participate in a fast. The Russian fast however is not like the fast we found during Eid. Fasting involves avoiding meat and declining to participate in gatherings and parties.

The largest part of the celebration is on Christmas Eve. Folks gather at the cathedrals for mass involving incense and carols. At one point in the service there is a preocession around the church led by the clergy.

After the service families go home for a feast (still meatless). This little bit from travelcentre.com was too good not to pass on!

Christmas Eve dinner is meatless but festive. The most important dish is a special porridge called kutya. It is made of berries, wheat or other grains that symbolize hope and immortality, and honey and poppy seeds that ensure happiness, success, and untroubled rest. A ceremony involving the blessing of the home is frequently observed. The kutya is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity. Some families used to throw a spoonful of kutya up to the ceiling. According to the tradition, if kutya sticks there will be a great honey harvest.

I will not be sharing the food flinging tradition with my children!

On Christmas Day the fast is broken with a 12 course meal to honor each of the 12 Apostles. The meal includes (but I'm sure is not limited to) fish, Borsch (a beet soup), cabbage stuffed with millet, cooked dried fruit, goose, suckling pig and many more dishes.

There are two figures commonly associated with Christmas. Babushka (Grandmother) is the bearer of the gifts. The legend tells that she was invited to go find the Chist Child with the Wise Men but declined due to the weather. She regretted her decision almost immediately and packed a basket with her own gifts and went in search of the Child. Along her way she distributed her gifts to good children.

There is also a figure (Grandfather Christmas) Dedushka Moroz but he is simply a figure head and not held as much more.

And that my friends is our little visit to Russia. perhaps this evening we can all have some Chinese together? See you there!

No More Appropriate Place to Visit

For those of us who are Christian, there is no more appropriate place to visit for Christmas than Israel. And there is no more appropriate person to guide us on our tour than a child. Please welcome my beloved Melisa (aka Misa Bug!), a nine year old brilliant writer and joy of my heart!

Mo'adim Lesimkha!

That is Merry Christmas in Hebrew. In Israel at Christmas time Christians go to church at the exact place Jesus was born. The Church is called the Church of the Nativity. Flags and other decorations fill the church. If you go down the deep winding stairs, you'll find baby Jesus' manger site. There is a big silver star around it that has 14 points with 15 silver lamps. Around the star it says, "Here of the Virgin Mary Jesus Christ was born."

Every year they have a parade with galloping horsmen and policemen that ride Arabian horses. Then one horseman on a solid black steed carrying a cross rides by. All of the churchmen and goverment officials walk at the end.

(Note added from Melisa's Mom: This procession leads the people to the Church of the Nativity where they have the worship service. Only a few hundred people can fit into the church, so they now place large screens and do a video cast of the worship service for the thousands of people gathered outside to worship at the place of Jesus' birth. After this service, many people then head out to the fields where the shepherds saw the angels to continue the worship service).

In the cities a Christian home has a red cross on the door. Plus they decorate their homes with a homemade nativity set. In the middle of every village is a pole with a star on the top.

And so that's how they celebrate Christmas in Israel.

Melisa

Isn't she AWESOME!! And Nut, you're welcome for the easy writing and literature homework! Merry Christmas to my Bug and my Boo and to Nut and Clark too! I love you guys!!

One More Day in the South!

I know you have missed me and you thought the trip ended abruptly with no warning, right? Not a chance! I got tied up in a lot of last minute Christmas preparation and parties but I'm back. So we are going to take this week between Christmas and New Years and visit a few more countries before we call it a day.

My beloved college roommate Peanut, who you will hear from again, spent a summer in Africa on a mission trip and came home with an incredible love of all things international! She has (in her gracious and loving way) agreed to share with us the traditions of South Africa.

December 25th is right in the middle of the summer for those in South Africa. Needless to say the beach, rivers and shady moutain tops often entice many on Christmas Day! :-) Schools are out and many people love to spend the Holiday camping. They may not have a "white Christmas" but they will have a Christmas filled with beautiful wile flowers in all their glory!

It is very common to see people out Caroling on Christmas Eve. In some of the larger cities the Christmas Carolers will be done by candle light with a screen and floor show. They wake up to head to church on Christmas morning for special services.

Their decorations are more natural than ours are. They will decorate their home with pine branches and a Christmas Fir tree decorated in the corner. They will surround the tree with presents for children just like we do. On Christmas Eve the children will take out their stockings to leave them for Father Christmas to fill with goodies.

Christmas dinner is usually one of two things. Many will go out to the open-air for lunch. Others will have the traditional turkey, roast-beef, minced pie, or even suckling pig. They have yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, crackers, paper hats, and all to go along with it. After Christmas dinner, many families spend their Christmas in the country side playing games and soaking up the sunshine. They then spend the cool evening at home with their family.

They aren't done yet. Boxing Day (December 26) is a National Holiday as well. They spend the day outside resting in the beautiful weather. It must be nice to get a vacation from all the hustle and bustle of Christmas Day! :-)

And that my friends is with love from my roommate and "sister." You can find more of her adventures at Peanut's Place. If you enjoyed her take on things make sure you come back later this afternoon for Christmas in Isreal. Oh, no! It's not Nut writing again- it's my wonderful 9 year old "niece" Misa's turn!