Part 1:

When I received the invitation to the party, I was immediately fascinated by the fact that there would be a Korean Santa Claus. What would a Korean Santa Claus look like? I was relieved when I wasn’t alone in my question. Everyone I mentioned asked me the same question.

So, when the announcement was made that Santa Claus was in the building, I made sure that I could see. I had dozens of expectations in my head and I’m afraid that I was a little disappointed. I was expecting something along the line of the traditional hanbok, but it turns out the Korean Santa Claus wears blue instead of red and has a top hat. Don’t get me wrong, it was still pretty interesting, but I realized that I should have done a little research before I made my assumptions.

Someone once suggested to me that Santa Claus should be Santa Claus. He should look the same no matter which country you were in. I responded that Santa Claus is magic and he will look just like the children think he should. I still believe that to this day.

Below are a few links that I enjoyed about Christmas in Korea. From what I can gather, Christmas in Korea is much like Christmas in most of the western nations – with room for cultural differences of course.

Link: Christmas in Chosan – An article about the similarities between Christmas in the U.S. and Christmas in Korea.

Link: Korean Santa Commercial – This is so like the commercials that I’m seeing here in the U.S. that I don’t have to know what they’re saying. I wonder if Santa Clause gets royalties?

Link: Korean Christmas Article – Here is a short, cute article about Santa Clause in Korea. My favorite part of the article is:

``Ho! Ho! Ho! I never tire of cookies and milk!’’ the giant said, who seems to be well over two meters tall, as he burst into jolly laughter when asked if it would be all right for Korean children to leave him Korean food instead of cookies and milk.

``But I’ll tell you a little secret, kid (Anyone younger than 100 years old is a child to him, he said.). I eat jjajangmyon (black bean sauce on rice noodles) every time I visit Korea. It’s one of my favorite dishes.’’

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