Cygan poses with her kindergarten class. The students are wearing traditional Korean clothing, called hanbok. They were celebrating their version of Thanksgiving, called Chuseok.

There's no place like home for the holidays, but one Slippery Rock High School graduate will be spending Christmas in what she calls her home away from home, Gwangju, South Korea.

Calen Cygan, the daughter of Cathy Acquaviva Cygan of Franklin Township and George Cygan of Butler Township, said she will be surrounded with the sights and sounds of the holiday in the city of 1.5 million in the southwest part of the country.

Cygan said, “Many Koreans have actually adopted Christianity in the past few decades with the country being split between being Christian and Buddhist.”

“However, Christmas in Korea is a much more commercialized holiday as opposed to a religious one,” she said.

“There is not a long holiday for Christmas like there is in the United States — schools and businesses only have the 25th off,” Cygan said. “All the stores are decorated and there are carols played through the streets of downtown.”

Cygan said the holiday is particularly important to her.

“I currently run an organization in Gwangju called Adopt-a-Child for Christmas,” she said. “It was founded in 2010 and I got involved with the organization when I arrived in 2012, and have been in charge since 2014.”

Adopt-a-Child for Christmas is an initiative to get Christmas presents to all the orphaned children in Gwangju.

“It started out small, just focusing on one orphanage, but it grew every year, and last year every child was able to receive one present,” she said.

There are nearly 650 orphans in the city, she said, and the group works to get them Christmas presents through donors “adopting” a child, receiving the child's wish list and then buying, wrapping and delivering the gift to a drop-off spot.

The group also does fundraisers throughout the year.

Cygan's arrival in South Korea was the result of answering a post on an online job board.Cygan graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in December 2011 as an anthropology major with a certificate in global studies and minors in linguistics and Italian language and literature.“I originally had no interest in traveling in Asia at all, but after graduating I found a post on Pitt's online job board to travel and teach English in South Korea,” she said.“The contract was only for one year, and it sounded like it was possible to do a lot of traveling, so I thought I'd go to Asia for a year and travel as much as possible and then come back home. That was in July 2012,” she said.“I am an English teacher here; I teach school children. I speak some Korean, but it is very different from English in terms of grammatical structure, so it's a bit difficult. I do know enough Korean to communicate and get by though,” she said.“Through the week, I teach every day from about 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., teaching elementary and middle school students.“However, each evening and weekend are different. Gwangju is home to a beautiful and vibrant expat community, with foreign restaurants and bars, and the largest international center in the country,” she said.“There are always activities going on, from theatrical productions (I was a dancer in the musical “The Last Five Years” performed this past summer, and I've performed in two different performances of the 'Vagina Monologues' during my time here) to cooking classes, a giant birthday party, camping trips to St. Patrick's Day and Halloween parties, awesome live bands, amazing fundraisers, great baseball games, open mic nights, a pub quiz, cool festivals, and so much more,” Cygan said.“I get to interact with people from around the world on a daily basis, and it is so amazing to meet so many people with such different backgrounds. I've learned so much, and I feel like I've even grown as an anthropologist in this setting.”

And as for Korea itself, Cygan said, “I love so much about Korea. The food is so delicious and fresh, the people are so friendly and helpful, and it's so easy to travel around, not just in the country but to other places in Asia.”“There are definitely some differences with customs; for instance, the elderly are extremely revered here in Korea. There is even an element of the language you must add to the end of statements to declare politeness and respect,” she said.“I've been very fortunate to have had the opportunity to see nearly every corner of this beautiful country. There are some gorgeous mountains, beautiful beaches, great camping spots, and of course the third-largest city in the world (Seoul). I have visited the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and actually stepped into North Korea, which was really cool, too,” she said.She said the USO does some great tours for visitors in South Korea to explore the DMZ, a three-and-a-half hour bus trip north of Seoul.Cygan said, “We were picked up and escorted by American soldiers to the border, where we learned a lot about the history of the split. We got to cross into North Korea. The tour was a full day tour, where we didn't just cross the border, but we also got to see the propaganda village right on the border in North Korea.”And despite the periodic threats issued by the Communist regime of North Korea, she said the South Koreans are probably less worried than Americans.“It is nothing like Western media portrays it as. Every time there has been a concern about the North-South relations in the news, I've only heard about it from people living back home, messaging me to be sure I'm safe,” Cygan said.“I've spoken to numerous Koreans about it, and it really isn't anything they are worried about here in a threatening sort of way. Many Koreans do hope that their country can one day be reunited,” she said.As the calendar turns to a new year, Cygan said, “I'm not sure how long I will be here, but Gwangju will always be my home away from home.”“My family has not yet been able to come out and visit me, but I've been very lucky to have a handful of friends come and visit me, and there are actually two other SRHS grads that are living in the country now. “Cygan added, “I have been able to come back to visit twice since my original move here in July 2012. I made it home for Christmas and New Year's in 2013, and I was home for about six weeks last summer after my three-month stint backpacking through Southeast Asia.”

South Korea is the southern half of the Korean peninsula bordering the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea.An independent kingdom for much of its history, Korea was occupied by Japan beginning in 1905 following the Russo-Japanese War. In 1910, Tokyo formally annexed the entire peninsula. Korea regained its independence following Japan's surrender to the United States in 1945. After World War II, a democratic-based government (Republic of Korea, ROK) was set up in the southern half of the Korean peninsula while a communist-style government was installed in the north (Democratic People's Republic of Korea, DPRK). During the Korean War (1950-53), U.S. troops and United Nations forces fought alongside ROK soldiers to defend South Korea from a DPRK invasion supported by China and the Soviet Union. A 1953 armistice split the peninsula along a demilitarized zone at about the 38th parallel.Its climate is temperate, with rainfall heavier in summer than winter. Its terrain is mostly hills and mountains with wide coastal plains in the west and south.South Korea's population of 49 million is almost completely Korean except for an estimated 20,000 Chinese.Languages spoken are Korean and English, which is taught in junior high and high school.The country is 31.6 percent Christian, 24.2 percent Buddhist, 43.3 percent no religion, and other or unknown 0.9 percent, according to a 2010 survey.South Korea over the past four decades has demonstrated incredible economic growth and global integration to become a high-tech industrialized economy. In the 1960s, its gross domestic product per capita was comparable with levels in the poorer countries of Africa and Asia. In 2004, South Korea joined the trillion-dollar club of world economies. A system of close government and business ties, including directed credit and import restrictions, initially made this success possible.The government promoted the import of raw materials and technology at the expense of consumer goods, and encouraged savings and investment over consumption.The Asian financial crisis of 1997-98 exposed long-standing weaknesses in South Korea's development model, including high debt/equity ratios and massive short-term foreign borrowing.The Military Demarcation Line within the 4 kilometer-wide demilitarized zone has separated North from South Korea since 1953. There have been periodic incidents with North Korea in the Yellow Sea over the Northern Limit Line, which South Korea claims as a maritime boundary.SOURCE: CIA Factbook

The sun rises over the top of f Mount Mudeung, the mountain that overlooks Gwangju, South Korea.

Calen Cygan poses outside one of the many elaborately decorated stores in downtown Gwangju, just before Christmas 2012. She said many Koreans celebrate Christmas if not in quite the same way as Americans.