Frank Kogan

Does anyone reading this know how Christmas plays in South Korea? I get the impression that it's very big, which means it must play big among non-Christians too.

Says Wikip: "Of the South Korean population in 2005, 46.5% were classified as Irreligious, 22.8% were Buddhist, 29.2% were Christians (18.3% are Protestants and 10.9% were Catholics), and the rest adhered to various minority religions including Jeung San Do, Daesun Jinrihoe, Cheondoism, Taoism, Confucianism and Won Buddhism. A smaller minority of Koreans also professed Islam. A 2010 survey yielded results saying Christian 31.6% (Protestant 24%, Roman Catholic 7.6%), Buddhist 24.2%, other or unknown 0.9%, none 43.3%." Article goes on to say that esp. with Buddhism and Confucianism, which aren't either/or in the way that Christianity is, numbers can be misleading. And that many religions work Confucian elements into their worship. Presumably the irreligious are not immune.

Btw, I grew up in a family of atheist Jews who celebrated Christmas rather than Hanukkah (but no tree).

This year, my gf (Christian heritage, now veers Buddhist) gave me an earring for Xmas, and a Yin-Yang card. I made her a mixtape of female-fronted glam and punk from the '70s.

There's a piece by Michael Hurt in the Huffington Post that argues that in South Korea Christmas is very much a romantic holiday à la Valentine's Day but much bigger and as such is all about presents and Christmas trappings and lights and Santas. Calls it the holiday that's most fun. (Too bad for Halloween.)