After teaching English in
Korea for an entire school year, my brain is set to generate
fun or clever ways to
teach and entertain, so I decided on a really fun way to distribute Korean
gifts to my friends back home.
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| Pencil Cases, Tea & Soap |
I wanted to bring a bunch
of fun writer/teacher gifts back, but I wasn’t exactly sure which gifts would
be received the best. In the end, I bought a bunch of things I thought were
cool, funny, or very Korean, but I didn’t want the responsibility of choosing
the perfect little gift for each person( approximately twenty). Gift giving and
receiving is much different in the US compared with Korea. In the US, people
are expected to be slightly emotional when they open gifts, which, to me, can
get kind of exhausting. In Korea, most people don’t show emotion even when they
are really excited about a gift. They also don’t open gifts in front of the
people who gifted them.
When I thought of a way
to encourage my friends to make these gifting decisions for me, instead of
feeling ashamed, I cackled to myself with glee. Call me lazy if you want, but I
turned gift choosing into a game. I wrapped up all the presents in Korean
wrapping paper and brought them to my get-together. Instead of handing out the
gifts, though, I had each person take a number from a bag, then I spread out
the gifts, wrapped in intriguing paper and shapes, for all to see.
Next, I explained the
rules: Each person could choose a gift in order of the number they drew from
the bag. Then, the person who drew number one would choose from all the gifts,
open one, show everyone, and then keep it. The person with the next number would
choose a gift and go through the same routine, only they could choose to either
keep their gift, or trade it with a previous person(s).
Let’s just say that
curiosity piqued from wrapped gifts isn’t exclusive to child’s play.
It turns out that most
people liked what they opened so only a couple people stole from each other. Because
I wrapped the gifts a couple days prior to the gathering, I couldn’t even remember
what I put in all the packages, so even I wanted to watch them being opened.
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| Juice Box Soju |
I thought it was
hilarious to watch people open things like Korean toothpaste( which I had gotten
3 tubes of as a gift from my school), juice box soju, and little calendars with
awkward English on them. Like the toothpaste, each gift had a short story
behind it, thus prolonging the entertainment and providing topics for
conversation.
Despite there being
about twenty gifts, only one person really despaired when they opened theirs.
It was a Korean origami-like project that was supposed to turn paper into
animals. I have to admit, that was just evil of me. Or, was it purposeful to
tickle another part of our brains? Naw,
it was just evil. I wouldn’t have wanted to open that one either. But, in the
end, my poor friend wouldn’t steal something from another person. I guess we’re
all adults, either that or she was afraid of facing the wrath of one who really
liked their gift. Since there were leftover gifts, though, I offered those who
were unsatisfied with their gift to choose another.
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| Andong Soju |
It was great fun! If you
ever have a chance to do this, I highly recommend it.
A list of what I brought back:
Korean toothpaste
2 cute calendars with
awkward English
2 Korean money erasers
Green Tea from Jeju
Island
Juice box soju
Andong distilled soju (
the real thing)
Children’s pencil cases
Adult/subdued pencil
cases
Korean origami-like
paper to make animals out of
Goofy socks both
“sleeping socks” and thin decorative socks
Innisfree Jeju Island
green tea soap
Innisfree hand cream
A big notebook (line
free) with cutesy characters on it
Ginseng candies
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| The Aftermath |
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