Easter Weekend in Korea

Happy Easter everyone!

 This Easter was a very special one for us since it was our first holiday in Korea away from our families. We wanted to make it a special one so we tried to do all the normal things we would do if we were at home. However, in Korea and especially in our town, it is very difficult to do things the way we would at home.. So instead, our Easter weekend took a different turn.

Fendi bags at Costco

It started with a trip to Costco because apparently on Good Friday we decided to buy in bulk and enjoy free samples (meat free, of course!). We went there with a purpose. We were on a mission to find two things: ham for our Easter dinner and cheese. The cheese wasn't really for our  Easter dinner, but it's just so expensive in normal grocery stores that we have to take advantage of the large sizes. Maybe this will help put it into perspective for you: A package of 24 processed cheese slices in Home Plus cost us about $7 Canadian. In Costco, a 1 kg block of marble cheese costs about $14 Canadian. With prices like that, how could we not?! After about an hour of roaming around the store, we climbed aboard a train headed back to Nonsan with 3 pairs of jeans for Mike, a 1 kg block of marble cheese, a 2 pack of feta cheese, 2 hams (one for Easter dinner and another to keep for later), 2 giant bottles of salsa and half of a large pizza. And when I say a large pizza, I don't mean a large frozen pizza to cook for dinner one night. I mean a LARGE pizza, with slices bigger than the biggest slices I've found in North America, fresh from the oven. We only brought half home because the other half we ate as our dinner. Looking back, we must have looked so Western on that train.. the only white people on the train and we are carrying a large pizza box.

Saturday we continued our Easter festivities by visiting a greenhouse near our building. Inside were the most beautiful orchid displays we've ever seen. Each stem had at least a dozen orchids and each arrangement had about 6-10 stems sitting in beautiful clay pots. The inside of the greenhouse radiated hues of purple, pink and yellow surrounded by lush green plants. Of course, no Easter weekend is complete without adding some new life to your home. So, we bought two potted plants: a gerbera daisy plant with at least 12 buds ready to bloom in a few days and

white and purple anenomes, which just happen to be my favourite flower. During the day, the blooms open to reveal the dark center and delicate purple and white stripes. As the day comes to a close, the buds slowly retract to get some sleep. Our little apartment is starting to feel more like home each day and these plants help to bring a little life back into it. After our trip to the greenhouse, it was arts and crafts time for me and iPad game time for Mike. The result of my arts and crafts were displayed around our house Sunday letting everyone know Spring is here!

Finally, Sunday was probably our first day since we have been in Korea where we didn't do anything. We each only left our apartment once: I left to get breakfast for Mike and myself and Mike left to get potatoes. When he returned, he found that the Easter bunny had come to visit and left him a trail of candy. Chocolates were tucked away in obscure locations such as inside my tea mug, my winter boot, on top of our air conditioner and even inside our paper towel roll. Luckily he found them all and was very impressed with the Easter bunny's hiding spots. Our day continued with some games of scrabble and taboo, hanging our laundry out to dry and listening to some Motown. Maybe the highlight of our Sunday was discovering that the pepper seeds we planted a few weeks ago had sprouted into a small green leaf! The finale of the evening was our lovely Easter dinner of glazed ham, mashed potatoes and salad, topped off with some sparkling rose wine. All in all, I would say our first holiday spent in Korea was a success and even though we were missing our families and the delicious food they usually make, it was a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. I guess it's time to continue our family traditions from home and start some new ones.

Our beautiful dinner and our hideous table cloth