Christmas Eve

After the birthday celebration, we were all tired to say the least.  We slept in and eventually made our way down for breakfast.  Just as I was about to take a bite of yogurt, I looked up and who did I see?!?  None other than the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders walking into the buffet.  What the heck were they doing in Korea?  Apparently they were here on official Santa business - bringing Christmas cheer to all the troops who are stationed here.

After breakfast we had a little bit of downtime to just hang before we made our way back into Seoul.  We had lunch with the Stewart Family at the most amazing Nepalese restaurant called Everest.  The sweet potato curry is my new obsession . . . to die for!!  These are the remnants of our meal.

This restaurant is reason enough to come visit Korea (hint hint).

Even cute little Lia (Kim and Todd's adopted daughter from China) enjoyed her naan - she was thinking quite hard about where her next bite would be.

It was also Kim's birthday so it was great to be able to celebrate with her.

The subway ride home from lunch was interesting . . . I love it when Korean grandmas fall asleep on my shoulder.  People fall asleep all the time on the subways and buses.  It's amazing to me that they don't miss their stops.  Or maybe they do.  Who knows?  But as you can tell, "personal space" is a foreign concept here.

Mrs. Hogan gave us all light up Christmas necklaces to wear on our way to Christmas Eve dinner.  I bet you can guess which one is the America . . . 

Christmas Eve was spent amongst great friends.  It was such a comfort to me to be around
1. friends from Korea AND Colorado (Charissa on the right, Shannon in the middle),

2. about 20 people, which made me feel a little more at home since I'm used to spending Christmas Eve with about 40-50 people!  This picture doesn't do it justice, but we had quite the crowd gathered at the Husted's.

I was feeling a little homesick, but the food was delicious and the company even better.

It was hard saying goodbye to the Hogan's and I was extremely envious that they were going to escape the bitter cold of Korea for the warm sandy beaches and sunshine of Boracay.  But atleast I have Thailand to look forward to - just about a month away!