Academy Christmas "Party"

So, this last Saturday the 19th, we were all invited to our business-wide academy Christmas celebration. Actually, I think it may have even been called "Year End" or "Holiday" party, but you get the idea. We work until 8pm on Saturdays at my branch, and the party started at 10pm in Seoul. This was no party, folks. Here's what happened.

We walked in a bit late, since our trek was about an hour and a half, and we didn't get away from Suwon until nearly 9pm. I had heard a rumor in the office that maybe they would be serving steak for dinner. I delayed dinner in anticipation, as many others did, only to find a white paper bag thrust into my hands as we arrived at the movie theater which had been rented out for our "celebration". Once we got our shivering bodies inside (it's deathly cold here right now) and situated in the front row preserved for the tardy folks, we realized the audience was in the midst of watching a movie called, "Black", which is basically "The Miracle Worker" but set in India. As I opened my white paper bag and began discovering the contents - a strange and unappetizing sandwich, a can of Coke, and a package of little bean paste cookies - I realized that our movie was only about 15% English, and the subtitles were in Korean, and I was definitely not getting steak for dinner.

Once the movie was over at around midnight, that's when the performance part of the evening began. (2 minute video of the "highlights" included below.) At this point I was already exhausted and ready for bed. There were some English skits by foreign teachers, as well as Korean skits by native teachers, and some seriously good break dancing by a professional group. That all lasted about 90 minutes. Then at around 1:30am Mr. Song, the DYB founder, took the stage and began to speak about many things, and hand out many awards, all in Korean, and it was about this time that I began to wonder, "Will this ever end?" I am very grateful that it did finally end at 3am. At this point all I could think about was never sitting in a movie theater seat again, and getting home to my bed asap. To my surprise, there were huge DYB buses stationed outside the theater to swoop everyone to the party. At 3am. Everyone was going to be shuttled off to drink soju at some place the company had rented, and most of my co-workers were suddenly full of vim and vigor, ready to party. I couldn't believe it. I was so totally spent, fried, and my much more hardy Korean friends looked and acted fresh and rosy-cheeked and excited. Luckily, I found two teachers who were more interested in going home, and I was able to get a ride back to Suwon. I think I finally fell asleep around six.

I have had three nights out with Korean co-workers since I've been here that lasted until around 7am, but all of those times we were having fun. In fact, every night of my life that I've managed to stay up until the sun rose have been so delightful that sleep would be anticlimactic. This is the first time that I've been forced to stay up so late and got absolutely no enjoyment out of it. It was a little depressing.

In fact, it was the beginning of another little downward spiral for me. It was a yucky way to start the holiday week. Talk about anticlimactic... We have a meeting the morning of Christmas Eve, then work that night, then work Christmas morning and the morning the following day. I realize that I'm not in a Western country, and I need to respect the way things work here, and I don't mean Korea any disrespect, but I wish I could join my friends here for Christmas. If you could indulge my self-pity here for a moment, I am the only foreigner I know who is working on that day. In fact, there are very few Koreans I know - outside of my company - who are working on that day.

But, alas... C'est la vie. I will survive. And, hey, at least I now have an interesting story about a work meeting that lasted until 3am.