Christmas in Korea

Ah, Christmas, that time of year when even though your family is crazy, you still want to spend all the time you can with them. Alas, we are in Korea, with no family as far as the eye can see. And so, knowing that this time of year can be kind of lonely when you don't have those you really love nearby, Joe and I decided to make it as special as we could for the two of us.

Plan of action:
A. Get tree
B. Decorate the house
C. Make dozens of Christmas cookies
D. Buy each other too many presents
E. Throw a Christmas party on Christmas day with our new, wonderful friends
F. Buy that bottle of wine we've been eyeing for ages and never bought because it was way out of our price range
G. Make an amazing Christmas Eve dinner
H. Watch as many Christmas movies and cartoons as humanly possible
I. Listen to Christmas music non-stop
J. Revel in the love that we have for each other

So, how did it/is it all turn(ing) out? Let's see:
A. We got an adorable fake mini-tree before Thanksgiving. It resembles the Charlie Brown tree. We love it. It's decorated with some cheapo ornaments from E-Mart, some homemade stuff, and two lovely ornaments from Joe's mom.
Check!

B. We decorated the house like nuts. Joe made a construction paper garland and a fake fireplace that is so convincing, it actually emits heat. Joe is talented. We also got a bunch of lights and strung them all over.
Check!

C. The cookies. Well, the cookies did not quite come to pass as we had hoped. We planned to use the home ec room that we had used for the Thanksgiving turkey; however, when we went to check it out and make sure the ovens were working, we found that giant holes had been cut in the ceiling to make way for the new heaters coming in, and that a fierce and bitter wind was blowing through the room. To cook in there, we would have had to wear gloves, hats, coats, and scarves. We opted out of that. Optimistically, I thought--hey, we'll make microwave cookies. Why not? Why not, you ask? Because it doesn't work, no matter what the online cookbooks tell you! It doesn't work. We made two kinds of cookies--chocolate chip and sugar. Both tasted like poo. It wasn't just the microwave, but the flavor of both the butter and flour here. It's just not the same....the cookies had a decidedly pasty, dusty taste. So, the cookies were an epic failure. Ah well. We had a blast watching our malformed concoctions emerge from the microwave. We went out and bought Royal Dansk cookies in that classic blue tin the next day.
Sort of check!

D. Many presents have been purchased. Too many. Yay!
Check!!!

E. The Christmas party is tomorrow, and we can't wait! We are super thankful for our group of friends. They are smart, creative, super funny, and pretty hot too. :)
Check!

F. Turns out, we each bought a bottle of pricey wine for each other. I'm not complaining.
Super awesome check!

G. Joe made linguine with clams in a red sauce, plus some shrimp and cocktail sauce on the side. Heaven.
Delicious check!

H. We're working on this one. Movies downloaded; watching to commence shortly.
Almost check!

I. We've been doing this since before Thanksgiving. We have stewed ourselves deeply in the dulcet tones of Christmas music. Though I have to admit there were some inadvertent musical flops accidentally downloaded, like Christina Aguilera's take on some god awful tune that I can't remember, and the toothy Kylie Minogue wailing away on Jingle Bells. No matter. Bing Crosby and David Bowie crooning through Little Drummer Boy has erased the memory of both Xtina and Kylie.
Melodious check!

J. This is the best one. At the risk of sounding cheesy, sappy, or whatever, I want to just say that I love Joe more than words can express. He is the best partner in all of this that I could have ever asked for. He has made these recent holidays so special and so infused with joy because he is joyful, always. Special shout out to Joe--my best, most beautiful friend in all the galaxy. :)
Love check!

So, that's our Christmas in Korea. So far. Tomorrow is Christmas Day. Love to everyone!