Dear Family and Friends,

Well, I am a week past my blog return date of December 16^th. Happily, I did finish that darn manuscript for teacher training but that rush of words completely gutted my writing voice. It has begun to return in incoherent bits and drabs but…

Of course, now Christmas has arrived and tonight, through the doors of Daegu International Airport walked my sister Emilie. She is here to celebrate Christmas with me and to visit during her week’s vacation. I was so happy to see her that (despite my best intentions), I cried. You’ll forgive me, I hope, if I plead Christmas celebrations and time with a beloved sister while I continue to neglect this blog?

And yes, Koreans celebrate Christmas – in both strange and readily recognizable ways; I cannot wait to tell you about this and more.

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Laura

PS: This unusual Santa can be found at my newest, bestest Daegu discovery - a bakery called Choi's Patisserie in downtown Daegu. Although, sadly, when I last caught sight of Santa, he was a bit worse for the wear: his eyebrows had deflated and his boots had been flattened (he must've gained weight while munching on yummy Choi's cakes).