Happy Hanukkah and Merry Christmas

When I (Naomi) was little and people asked me what religion I was, I would tell them that I was "half-Jewish, half-Christmas."  That summed it up really well, because Christmas was the only Christian holiday that we celebrated.  Hence, this is a bit of a difficult time to be away from family and friends, as Hanukkah and Christmas are pretty much at the same time this year.   We've been lighting Hanukkah candles every night, which has been really nice.  Like my impromptu menorah?  It gets bigger every night.  Even though there are a lot of Christians in Korea, Christmas is really not at all the thing it is in the USA.  It's kind of nice not to be bombarded by cheesy Christmas music everywhere you go, but it is a little strange to really not feel like it's that time of year.  So what are we doing on Christmas eve?  We're firing a kiln!  This is a small wood kiln that has a few sculptures and probably about 20 smallish pots.  We got started a bit late today, and have been going somewhat slowly due to one thick pot, so it's probably going to be a pretty late night.

But everyone says that unloading a kiln is just like Christmas, and that's exactly what we'll be doing tomorrow!  We're excited because other than some very small tests, these will be the first finished pots that we've made so far.  Well, we really miss everyone a lot, and hope that you are having cozy and fun holidays!