Year of the Rabbit and Christmas Celebrations

Happy New Year!



2011 is the Year of the Rabbit. This is a Baskin Robbins ice cream cake!
No better way to ring in the new year than eating ice cream in the shape of a rabbit.



"According to Chinese tradition, the Rabbit brings a year in which you can catch your breath and calm your nerves.  It is a time for negotiation.  Don't try to force issues, because if you do you will ultimately fail.  To gain the greatest benefits from this time, focus on home, family, security, diplomacy, and your relationships with women and children. Make it a goal to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle, so you will be able to calmly deal with any problem that may arise."

I rang in the New Year with Jennifer and Lawrence, an amazing Canadian Couple (eh?) that I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the past few months. I just realized we didn't take a single picture of ourselves during the festivities, only about 500 of the rabbit cake. We gorged on pretzels, bread, kimbap, and tofu rolls. I also had the pleasure of eating the rabbit's face for dessert.



Surprising, the difference between
frozen solid and sitting out for a few minutes.

While waiting for the New Year to roll around, we watched Uncle Buck. It is a great 80s movie featuring John Candy, one of my favorite actors ever. When it neared midnight, Jen became frantic because we could not find the Seoul Bell Ringing (which is South Korea's equivalent of the Ball Dropping in America) on television. Luckily, 30 seconds to Midnight a channel switched from an orchestra performance to the telecast of the Bell, and we counted down from 30 to the New Year.

As for Christmas 2010, it was a delightful and low key affair. Erin and I made a delicious breakfast, opened presents and watched Harry Potter.

My wonderful Mum knitted us some AMAZING scarves and they arrived just in time for the holiday!

I also received some awesome presents from Erin, including a book and Christmas lights to decorate with.

It took me a few minutes to comprehend that the box titled
"Christmas Twinkle" meant a strand of Christmas lights.
This process was also prolonged because I thought the box
read "Christmas Winkle"...

We ate dinner at a restaurant called Dos Tacos. Korean's take on Mexican food is very interesting, to say the least, but it definitely satisfied any cravings I had.

I also received some amazing presents from home. Elaine and Carl sent Christmas decorations that I had to color and put together myself, which was awesome!

From my BFFFE Kelly, I received personalized artwork from her collection. It is now the lone item that graces these South Korean studio apartment walls. Kelly's pieces normally sell for $250 to $300, so I am a very lucky girl. I also now own my first home decor items from IKEA. She knows me so well.

In conclusion, the holidays were amazing and I had so much fun. Thanks to everyone who has been sending positive thoughts my way, I love and miss everyone. Here is to an amazing Year of the Rabbit, and happiness and health for all!