Day 281, December 22, 2020

Santa's Scotch 

Today's soundtrack: Joni Mitchell, A Day in the Garden, 1998

When I was young, we always set out cookies and a glass of scotch for Santa. Christmas Eve was spent at church, where after mass there was dinner, dancing, performances, and general revelry. We spent Christmas as a community with a Korean Santa Claus, and raffle prizes of big packages of seaweed or green tea. It was only late in the evening that my grandfather would slip out and call it a night before the rest of us. And by the time we returned home, Santa had already visited the house, left presents under the tree, and had eaten the cookies and drank the scotch.

Look at these wonderful cookies
a friend dropped off today!

I don't think I ever realized that people spent Christmas any different than the way we did. Those church parties were a fixture of my childhood, often lasting into the early hours of the morning. It is funny to think my parents were more active socially than I am. They had a vibrant community those years in Brookline, and then Lexington. 

After my kids were born, we relied on the traditions of our parents, spending alternate Christmases with each set of grandparents. It never really dawned on me that my own parents had to create their own traditions, that after coming to this country, they didn't have families to turn to that would host Christmas dinner and fawn over the grandchildren. I wonder what it must have been like in those early years, when they were a new couple with a young baby, still learning how to cook, still foraging a place in this country. I imagine it was a slow process of accumulation, picking and choosing things they appreciated, the parts they enjoyed. And at some point, these collections of traditions became their own, and started to grow. At its largest, I remember filling the great meeting hall at the church in Lexington, the teenagers having a dance in the basement where the Americans had AA meetings in metal folding chairs. The younger kids were in the classrooms where Sunday school was taught eating bowls of bibim bap and plates of duk. For the span of those hours, this space we rented from the Americans had become our own. Korean children ran through all the halls, uncles smoked cigarettes on the font step, the kitchen air was moist with the steam from a half dozen rice cookers and sharp with kimchee, and in the great hall beer bottles clinked and children sang traditional folk songs on the stage, or someone's red faced dad stood and called out raffle numbers in between jokes. 

In this pandemic era, we don't quite know what to do. What traditions do we emulate? What will pass muster and be something we incorporate into future holiday celebrations?

I hope we each find one or two.

Take care and be well,

Leo

From Our Friends:

From Teaching Tolerance:

A pandemic rages on, police violence continues to affect Black communities, and this school year is like no other. We know anxiety and burnout have been commonplace this year, and we hope you can find time to pause to practice self-care. These resources can help you reflect, rest and refresh so that you can be present for yourself and your students in 2021.

From the 5 College Center for East Asian Studies:

China, Japan and Korea virtual seminar

Our Ithaca, New York introductory seminar in going online for spring 2021. This seminar is for K-12 classroom teachers, specialists and administrators who have never participated in a multi-week introductory NCTA seminar. 90 minute sessions once a week plus additional synchronous and asynchronous webinars. Facilitated by Wendy Wright. Feb.-March 2021 Open to New York state teachers ONLY. Register here.

Human and Physical Geography of East Asia virtual seminar

Our traditional face-to-face introductory seminar is going online for spring 2021. This seminar is for K-12 classroom teachers, specialists and administrators who have never participated in a multi-week introductory seminar. 60-90 minute sessions plus recorded sessions on your own. Facilitated by Arlene Kowal. Feb-Apr. 2021. Open to New England teachers (ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI) ONLY. Register here.

Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim. Apr. 7-May 11, 2021. The term "comfort women" is widely used to refer to the victims of Japanese military sexual slavery. "Grass" is a powerful antiwar graphic novel, telling the life story of a Korean girl named Okseon Lee who was forced into sexual slavery for the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War ― a disputed chapter in twentieth-century Asian history. Beginning in Lee’s childhood, "Grass" shows the lead-up to the war from a child’s vulnerable perspective, detailing how one person experienced the Japanese occupation and the widespread suffering it entailed for ordinary Koreans. 4 Sessions; 8 PD Hours. Moderator: Karen Kane. Register Here.

Online Seminar: Korea (1945-Present): Division and Globalization. January 21 – April 7, 2021. Consider the impacts of the Korean War, Cold War ideologies, and globalization on the development of Korea, 1945 to the present. Flyer and application

From the Online Learning Consortium:

Reflect on 2020's Lasting Impact on Online Education with OLC Fellows Drs. Thomas Cavanaugh and Kelvin Thompson

TOPcast, the Teaching Online Podcast, is a monthly podcast wherein a cup of coffee is shared in conversation with guests representing leaders in online learning around the world. If you have the chance to curl up with some cocoa and have an hour or so of rest in the coming weeks, which we sincerely hope that you do, consider giving this a listen.
 

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