I'm looking forward to Christmas break for several reasons, most important being: I will finally get one week off after three and a half months of working straight through since September 1st. Most Korean holidays fall on the weekend this year, so I don't have half the amount of vacation time as teachers from previous years. I intend to go to India for my break, while the other teachers are going to Thailand. We were chatting about it before class started today, and someone wondered aloud if we have off for Christmas Eve. "Of course we do," I say. "It's on the school calendar." Then Tara, one of the other teachers spoke up, "Actually, that was changed a few days ago." Dead silence. Then, "When the hell were they going to tell us this?!"
It's a complicated ordeal which I hope is sorted out soon. What if I had wanted to go home for Christmas? I simply wouldn't be able to. In a school with Western teachers, a school run on a Canadian program, in a country where Christianity is a rapidly growing religion that at least 30% of the population practices, the teachers at my school have to work on Christmas Eve, a day on which we were initially told we didn't have to work.
Just for the record: it's not a Korean school system thing. Kristen's sister is at a Western-based private school in Korea as well and they have off for Christmas Eve. Several other people we know working in Korean schools have off for Christmas Eve.
I did a little research after hearing this news to see just how prevalent Christianity is in Korea. There are tons of churches everywhere in Suwon. If you spin around 360 degrees, you're guaranteed to see at least two big neon crosses hovering over the city. I had no idea that Christianity was introduced to Korea by the Japanese. I figured the Korean War would have had something to do with Christianity's rapid growth in the country, but apparently it was around long before that.
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