잠시 경제 이야기에서 벗어나서 미국 추수 감사절을 맞아 일년에 글 하나씩 올라가는 케케묵은 영문 블로그에 잡문 하나 썼는데... 문제는 물론... 영어로 썼다능... ㅡㅠㅡ
When I was a graduate student in Chicago, late November to early January was my favorite season of the year. Once Thanksgiving weekend is around the corner, I just threw all my work ethics, which wasn't much to begin with, out the window and enjoyed the so-called holiday season full steam.
Well, who am I kidding. It's not that I threw my work ethics out the window around Thanksgiving. I never kept in inside, it always stayed outside the window. As a matter of fact, on a relative terms, my work ethics did improve for a day or two here and there during the holiday season as I mentioned in my previous post. It's just that I didn't have to feel as bad about being a slacker as the rest of the year. So it's not the physical relief from work that I enjoyed during the holiday, but the mental relief from the guilt of not working that I enjoyed. And that's the holiday spirit!
That's right, my friends, the holiday spirit. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day all jammed in the time span of roughly five weeks and how in the hell do you expect anyone to work? OK, except people in the public transportation business. Work, slaves, work so that the rest of the world, I mean the USA not the world, can have the perfect holiday with their family and friends.
Anyways, I'm agnostic but if there's any evidence out there that the God exists, I think that's gotta be it, three major holidays in a little over a month. I mean, think about it. He's the God. So he decides when crops are ready to be harvested, right? And then he drops his Son Jesus on to the earth about a month from it. Now New Year's Day is a bit tricky. It's just an arbitrary man-made starting date of the earth's periodic motion around the Sun. But guess who finalized the calender system we use today, the so-called Gregorian Calendar. It's the Pope, the Man of God (at least so he claims)!!! The Man of God set the New Year's Day for us. (OK, he just modified the existing Julian Calender and really didn't dramatically change anything. My point here is that he could have, but he didn't.) So, maybe the holiday spirit is bliss from the God.
Like I said, I'm agnostic, so I don't actually believe in any of that shit, but someone might. Well, I don't really care, as long as there's the holiday spirit to take, I'll just take it and schlack off. Except, I came back to South Korea last winter, just before Christmas. Last winter was a bit hectic for me, trying to settle back into the life in Korea and I think of this time around as my official first holiday season back in Korea. Except, there's no fuckin' holiday season in Korea. Korean Thanksgiving was back in September and we have no, I mean nil, off days in November other than the regular weekends.
And, of course, we used to be Jesus hating Korean. Well, technically, we didn't hate him, we just never knew the man existed until very recently. So I guess I should say we're, at least traditionally, Jesus ignorant Korean. So we don't give a damn about Christmas. Or we shouldn't, but then again, half the population actually loves Jesus these days. So Christmas is technically a holiday in Korea, but just a day-off kind of holiday, not the let's-all-get-together-and-celebrate-Christmas kind. (FYI, we get a day off on the Buddha's birthday also.)
Anyways, you get the gist. With no Thanksgiving nor big Christmas break, holiday season (or lack thereof) sucks in Korea. The spirit is dead in this country, and I hate this country and its people for it. There I said it, Korea sucks.
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When I was a graduate student in Chicago, late November to early January was my favorite season of the year. Once Thanksgiving weekend is around the corner, I just threw all my work ethics, which wasn't much to begin with, out the window and enjoyed the so-called holiday season full steam.
Well, who am I kidding. It's not that I threw my work ethics out the window around Thanksgiving. I never kept in inside, it always stayed outside the window. As a matter of fact, on a relative terms, my work ethics did improve for a day or two here and there during the holiday season as I mentioned in my previous post. It's just that I didn't have to feel as bad about being a slacker as the rest of the year. So it's not the physical relief from work that I enjoyed during the holiday, but the mental relief from the guilt of not working that I enjoyed. And that's the holiday spirit!
That's right, my friends, the holiday spirit. Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day all jammed in the time span of roughly five weeks and how in the hell do you expect anyone to work? OK, except people in the public transportation business. Work, slaves, work so that the rest of the world, I mean the USA not the world, can have the perfect holiday with their family and friends.
Anyways, I'm agnostic but if there's any evidence out there that the God exists, I think that's gotta be it, three major holidays in a little over a month. I mean, think about it. He's the God. So he decides when crops are ready to be harvested, right? And then he drops his Son Jesus on to the earth about a month from it. Now New Year's Day is a bit tricky. It's just an arbitrary man-made starting date of the earth's periodic motion around the Sun. But guess who finalized the calender system we use today, the so-called Gregorian Calendar. It's the Pope, the Man of God (at least so he claims)!!! The Man of God set the New Year's Day for us. (OK, he just modified the existing Julian Calender and really didn't dramatically change anything. My point here is that he could have, but he didn't.) So, maybe the holiday spirit is bliss from the God.
Like I said, I'm agnostic, so I don't actually believe in any of that shit, but someone might. Well, I don't really care, as long as there's the holiday spirit to take, I'll just take it and schlack off. Except, I came back to South Korea last winter, just before Christmas. Last winter was a bit hectic for me, trying to settle back into the life in Korea and I think of this time around as my official first holiday season back in Korea. Except, there's no fuckin' holiday season in Korea. Korean Thanksgiving was back in September and we have no, I mean nil, off days in November other than the regular weekends.
And, of course, we used to be Jesus hating Korean. Well, technically, we didn't hate him, we just never knew the man existed until very recently. So I guess I should say we're, at least traditionally, Jesus ignorant Korean. So we don't give a damn about Christmas. Or we shouldn't, but then again, half the population actually loves Jesus these days. So Christmas is technically a holiday in Korea, but just a day-off kind of holiday, not the let's-all-get-together-and-celebrate-Christmas kind. (FYI, we get a day off on the Buddha's birthday also.)
Anyways, you get the gist. With no Thanksgiving nor big Christmas break, holiday season (or lack thereof) sucks in Korea. The spirit is dead in this country, and I hate this country and its people for it. There I said it, Korea sucks.
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나는 곧 집 앞 mall 구경 갈 예정.. ㅋㅋㅋ
오늘은 black friday~
뭐, 좋은 것 좀 건졌나? 워낙 경기가 나빠서 좀 파격적인 세일이라도 하나 했는데, 뭐 그닥 파격적이진 않은 것 같더군.
Not sure if it's because I got older now or got poorer or got busier, whatever, but this year's holiday season just doesn't feel like it. Not quite festive as it used to be.
Well, you're married for one. :p
나도 집 앞 circuit city가 이번에 부도나면서 뭔가 좀 파격적인 것들이 나올 줄 알았으나 아니더군.. 내 것은 하나도 없고 양가 부모님 가져다 드릴 비타민제만 샀다.. 이건 뭐 세일도 안하더군..
아 그 멘탈 릴리프.. 직업윤리로 말하자면 자네 못지 않을 것이 분명한 본인의 경우, 정도의 차이야 있겠지만 사실 매 주말마다 느끼는 감정인데 말이지; -ㅂ-