Christmas in Korea (& giveaway!)

Congrats to Sherry Lauser and Kellie Watson for winning this giveaway!

Sung Tan Chuk Ha! Which is to say Happy/Merry Christmas!

Christmas Around the World with CurrClick has partnered with myself and nine other homeschool bloggers this week. Goodies will be given away during our bloggy event, so be sure to check the schedule and stop by each site to learn about Christmas in other countries, and maybe even make some new friends! You'll find the TWO Korea giveaways at the end of this post.

My early childhood was spent in South Korea living on a military base with my American father and Korean mother. I remember the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in the living room of our apartment. It was gigantic, all the way to the ceiling...

Okay, so it's not quite as big as I remember.

{I know y'all are diggin' the patchwork pj's, cool curtains and my awesome bike. Don't be jealous!}

SOUTH KOREA

The Republic of Korea (South Korea) has roots in Buddhism, so you will not find a Christmas celebration or tree in every house. But Christianity is growing and you will find many Christians (and non-Christians) celebrating Christmas in ways similar to Europe and the United States.

South Korea is the only East Asian country to recognize Christmas (Sung Tan Jul) as a national holiday.

Kids in Korea LOVE Santa Claus, whom they call Santa Harabuji 산타 할아버지 (Grandfather Santa) or Santa Claus (said with a Korean accent). Unlike the American Santa Claus, Santa Harabuji can be seen in the traditional red suit, as well as a different color-- blue!

photo credit: mo, adoptionblogs

When friends and family exchange gifts, the most popular gift is MONEY. (Insert cheers from my boys!). For a close friend or relative, it would be more traditional to give a single gift with much thought behind it than to give many gifts.

A formal dinner is a favorite way to celebrate the holiday with family members. The menu might include popular Korean dishes such as sweet potato noodles (japchae), rice cake soup (dukguk), barbecued beef (bulgogi), and a variety of kimchi.

Caroling parties are a fun activity for young Christians on Christmas Eve. It is traditional to invite carolers in for hot drinks and treats. Here's a cute starts-out-normal version of Jingle Bells that y'all might like. Would you like to invite this group in for a visit?

(That guy in the reindeer antlers makes me laugh.)

NORTH KOREA

Life in North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), however, is dramatically different.

Christians there are imprisoned and even killed for having a Bible or simply being a Christian. They must meet and celebrate in secret. You can read more about the sacrifice and persecution of Christians in North Korea HERE.

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HERE ARE THE GOODIES FOR MY GIVEAWAY!

{GIVEAWAY 1}

Christmas Copywork by Lilliput Station
Let your child learn the true story of Christmas as they practice their writing skills. This file contains fourteen different copywork pages with verses from the KJV Bible and one with a verse from a hymn. Each page is illustrated with black and white drawings and comes with both primary and straight lines.

Our Global Village - Korea by Milliken
Bring the world a little closer with these multicultural books. An excellent way for students to appreciate and learn cultural diversity in an exciting hands-on format. Each book explores the history, language, holidays, festivals, customs, legends, foods, creative arts, lifestyles, and games of the title country. A creative alternative to student research reports and a time-saver for teachers since the activities and resource material are contained in one book.

The Christmas Story as Told in The Bible by St Aiden's Homeschool
This 105 Page educational eBook focuses on the Story of the Birth of Christ as told in the KJV Bible. Included are fun exercises to take away any monotony that may arise (and often does) with copywork. Standard fonts have been used for general copywork, and Tracing Fonts have been used for the younger learner. Training lines and standard lines will be found throughout the book, which focuses on the entire passages of the Bible, but reinforces certain aspects of the birth which will already be familiar to your child when hearing the Sotry of the Birth of Christ. A Nativity Lapbook Craft is included in the book.

{GIVEAWAY 2}

Around-the-World Series, South Korea by Evan-Moor Educational Publishers
Learn about the people of Korea through their literature, music, food, art, games, and language. The folktale recounted in this unit, The Bird with the Broken Leg, brings Korean clothing and food, as well as Korean vocabulary, to the forefront and help students produce their own picture book of the story. Cut-out characters and a story mat are included. This unit also helps children learn by making Traditional Knotted Pendants called maedups, Trigrams (symbols formed by a group of three lines), and a Yut game board. There's also a recipe for Cooking San Jok, words and music to a traditional song about the Korean national flower, called Mugunghwa, and a rules for playing Yut, and much more!

Korea by Oakes Homeschool Consulting
A month-long unit study resource list on the country of Korea.

Globetrotting with Cinderella by Intellego Unit Studies
In this comprehensive and multisensory 174 page unit study, your children will explore much more than Cinderella stories! This unit study takes your children on a tour of 6 distinct global cultures, looking at history, music, art, food, and scientific contributions. Children will explore the literary genre of fairy tales while comparing the six Cinderella stories across the cultures. While on their journey, children will also explore chromatics and the use of color by the French Impressionists, the use of natural resources across cultures, the active volcano region of Russia, the history of kites in China, the fermentation process in the popular Korean dish kimchi, Egyptian math and pyramid building, culinary arts, literary devices, public speaking, listening skills, and so much more! Nations studied: France, Micmac Nation, Russia, China, Egypt and Korea.

TO ENTER:

Leave a comment telling me the most memorable Christmas present you have ever given or received, whether it was disappointing or spectacular.

The TWO giveaway winners will be randomly chosen when I wake up on Tuesday morning. (ha! It sounds like I plan on sleeping from now until then, doesn't it?)

Don't forget to INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS. You can even leave it as "yourname [at] whatever [dot] com" to foil the spammers!

I'll never forget the Christmas where my two other sisters, my brother and I put a cricket in a little box with a clear window. We wrapped it, wrote my sister Lele's name on it and placed it under the tree.

We tried to suppress our laughter when Lele began to unwrap her special present. As soon as she spied the cricket, still alive and safely contained behind the clear window, she jumped up screaming and hollering and being a spaz. That was the ill-fated year that we "took a break from Christmas" as my parents sent us to our rooms!

Although we were all mad at her for freaking out so much at the time, we laugh about it now. (Not sure Lele would categorize herself in the "we" yet!)

Sung Tan Chuk Ha!