Merry Christmas.

Christmas decorations on display in front of Seoul City Hall, with Namdaemun in the background. Stolen from here.


Lights at Shinsegye Department Store, one block from Seoul City Hall. Stolen from here.

Christmas is a bizarre holiday in Korea, and I find it pretty depressing. It's a holiday for couples, apparently, a day when lovers go to the movies. Chain bakeries like Paris Baguette and Tous les Jours sell a lot of Christmas cakes, and Baskin Robbins sells Christmas ice cream cakes. A lot of stores will put up lights, decorations, and trees, but I know of at least a few cases where they just leave them up all year. Christmas music blares from speakers, and the most popular songs seem to be "Last Christmas" and "Feliz Navidad."

I have no idea how Christmas came to be what it is in Korea. It doesn't seem to be big with children, and Santa is more like a mascot. Korea already has Valentine's Day and White Day set up for lovers, and I guess you could throw Pepero Day and New Year's in there, too. Back home the holiday season between Halloween and Christmas has gotten way out of control, but at least it once had meaning and, if it makes you feel any better, is at least a perversion of tradition. It doesn't seem to be a celebration of anything here. To me, it's like Korean pizza, instant coffee, sugared garlic bread, and Konglish: it's something that's similar enough to appear familiar at a glance, but it's different enough to ultimately be repulsive. I'm sure there are books out there about such a cultural phenomenon, but the first thing that came to mind is the "Uncanny Valley," a hypothesis addressing human response to humanoids. Wikipedia says:

The phenomenon can be explained by the notion that, if an entity is sufficiently non-humanlike, then the humanlike characteristics will tend to stand out and be noticed easily, generating empathy. On the other hand, if the entity is "almost human", then the non-human characteristics will be the ones that stand out, leading to a feeling of "strangeness" in the human viewer.

Haha, no, I'm not suggesting Koreans are androids. I admit I'm grumpy lately, and am probably not in my right mind, but I'm getting tired of hearing 메리크리스마스 on commercials, on websites, from microphones, and from the goddamn Wondergirls, who believe the meaning of Christmas is found in ice cream cakes. I wonder how Koreans would feel if we started celebrating Chuseok in the States with ice cream shaped like burial mounds and colorful yangban hats. Oh well, every culture has its own Christmas celebrations, and most of them probably seem weird to outsiders.

Well, at least it's a day off work. And I did put up a cute little tree. There are some Christmas-y movies on, and in Korea the commercial breaks are way more sporadic.

People in and around Seoul ought to visit the area around Seoul City Hall to take in some light displays. Hell, it's a small enough country that just about anyone can get there easily. There are a lot of impressive lights in front of the nearby Lotte Department Store and Lotte Hotel, so use 을지로입구 station on the green line. From there, head west to Seoul City Hall to see the big tree, the skating rink, and the "Crown of Light," then head north (passing City Hall on your left) a few blocks to Cheonggyecheon, the stream with light displays running along both sides. It's 2 kilometers from that starting point to Dongdaemun, although lights only line a portion of it. But, when you get to Dongdaemun you'll find a pyramid, a couple of stages, a mall, and a market. And, if you're like me you'll also find a motel with Russian TV channels. The lights around Seoul City Hall will be up until January 6th.

I recommended that my friend go there yesterday, because she was bored, but she declined, saying that there'd be too many couples. She's single. If I become president of South Korea, I'm going to make a holiday that doesn't involve buying something for your partner, or having a partner, or eating black noodles because you don't have a partner, or spending three days preparing food, or making an 8-hour car trip, or voting.


Pyramid near Dongdaemun Market.


Singing and dancing to the Pussycat Dolls. Seriously.

* Edit: Here's a recent article from the Korea Times' Jeffery Miller, "Christmas in Korea."