When I asked my students what they did for Christmas, responses varied, but not one said Santa Claus came, not one had dinner with extended family or received a gift, not one proved Christmas is more than a day off school and work, in Korea.
Chung wanted to make it special for me anyway, so he suggested a trip to Everland. He also gave me a letter and a pair of leather gloves (in the above photo). I asked him how he chose the perfect gift and he admitted he originally bought a singing Santa Claus and when his Mom saw it, she said, "Eva doesn't need THAT!" She suggested gloves. Smart woman.
I could barely hold my head up when I got home last night. At noon, Chung and I took BUS
6000: a direct bus to the amusement park, and we didn't get back to Suwon until 10:20 PM. It was a long day on our feet!
I've been to Euro Disney in France, Canada's Wonderland, Disneyland etc. but this park was more like a (beautiful) travelling fair, surrounded by mountains. I thought it was slightly overpriced, but the perfet place to go on a date. See ticket & rate info
here. You get a $2.00 discount for what? ... Being a foreigner! Print out your coupon
here!
The highlight, in my opinion, was the SAFARI ride:

We took the safari bus at
night, which added to the excitement. For the first time ever, I saw
elephants, giraffes, lions and tigers (oh my!) The animals were in a natural habitat, apart from glaring spotlights and tour buses driving through every 2 minutes. Our driver tossed the bears treats so they'd stand on their hind legs.
I also liked what Chung called, "Korean Skiing"- tubes flying down an icy mountain slope. Our feet got wet but it was worth it. The rides were fun, and I braved the loop-
de-loop
roller coasters, but none of them gave me a stomach in throat sensation. Fireworks? beautiful.
North American parades conclude with a Santa Claus float. Not this one! Santa came half way through, and wasn't much of a crowd-
pleaser. All of the elves were young Russian men and women with imitation Goldilocks hair. The Korean's camera phones were aimed at the foreign elves, not the floats!