After I had finished my tutoring session with Woo-Joo I was pleasantly surprised that they both invited me out to a Japanese restaurant. I had not had breakfast yet and jumped at this offer to have a wonderful meal and to enjoy good company. We arrived at the restaurant roughly 10 minutes after our tutoring session. I took this as an opportunity to learn a little bit more about Korean culture and segway into cuisine. We talked about how holidays work in Korea particularly Christmas. Woo-Joo claimed that the US and Korea celebrated Christmas almost identically while his mother, Mii, disagreed. She told me that instead of keeping it purely revolving around the family, it was common for people to spend the evening with friends, particularly younger generations. It is more common to go out than it is to make a meal at home, at least in Seoul which is from where she is from. I thought this to be kinda cool remembering the post Thanksgiving and Christmas messes that always await my labor. This tradition though reflects into prices, which are much higher on Christmas. I found this odd that prices at restaurants would go up at a particular time of the year. She also mentioned to me that restaurant tables in Korea have a little button to call your waiter and that it is very hard to get used not having this.
Our food came promptly and was good.
Upon leaving Woo-Joo and Mii thanked me for my tutoring time and gave me a Christmas present of a nice card and some great coffee. This really meant a lot to me considering it had been awhile since I have been recognized for something positive outside of school. That small gesture gave me pride.
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