Baramgot Performance

July 14^th, 2011

Had class at Dankook University, the day started to feel like we were establishing a routine as a group, and we knew that we wouldn't have any more membership changes—our group is Amada, Caitlin (Theatre major), Chiayu, Hai, Abigail, Jessica (our only person with Korean heritage) and Alyssa. They're all really sweet. It's hard for some of them to do the type of reading I have assigned because they're not from the humanities, but they're all doing a great job trying. And they are learning the Bongsan Talchum motions faster than I expected, especially Hai.

In the evening I went to see 바람곳 Baramgot, a mixed fusion gugak group. Won Il is the artistic director and he plays 피리 piri and percussion for the group. There is also a 거문고 geomungo player, a 가야금 gayageum player, and a 대금 daegeum player, but the part that fascinates me and the songs I enjoyed the most were when they incorporated sitar (the sitar player also played percussion. The music was rather intellectual, and I definitely preferred certain pieces, esp. with the sitar, but it was all interesting. And there was a great guest performance by a group called 유희 spelled U-희(hee) which I think is stupid, but whatever. They're all Korean National University of the Arts graduates, all from the 연희학과 Folk Theatre Department. At the show I coincidentally ran into Lisa Kim Davis with a friend and also 기영 Giyeong. After the show I gave Won Il one of Karjam's CDs and we talked a bit more about him coming to play in Korea in October.

Karjam Leaves and I Practice Songpa Sandae Noli

July 1^st, 2011

In the morning Karjam finished up and uploaded to Youtube another video, the making of "Losar Dodlih" featuring Yoon Jihee (and you can see Go Seokjin on the video, too). Please visit it and give it lots of love! 

Karjam finished packing and re-packing then we had coffee/tea with our landlady. One last lunch in Karjam's favorite of our local restaurants (I'm actually glad I don't have to eat there anymore, I'm so sick of their food!) Then we headed to the airport. There is a new airport subway train that departs from Seoul Station and has a check-in counter for some of the airlines, including Korean Air which Karjam was flying. This was a real life-saver as his bags were SO FREAKING HEAVY. We checked in and went through immigration (no line and no line) there, then boarded the subway to the airport with his two instruments and a small backpack with his carry on stuff.

I was really sad to say good-bye to Karjam at the airport. It sounds dorky, but I'm more in love with my husband now than I ever was before, seems to keep increasing. I wonder if there is a limit?

July 2^nd, 2011

In the morning I worked on the computer in my empty house. In the afternoon right after writing something I –thought- was perhaps good I got on the bus and it turned out 박주현 Bak Juhyeon, our 대금 daegeum player was also on the same bus on his way to 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli practice. So we talked, starting with me asking him to help me understand some ideas I'd been playing with in my writing from his perspective, which helped a lot, but also meant I have to change some stuff. Better to change now than later! 

At class we had a fairly good turnout (it wasn't raining). 함완식 Ham Wanshik, 김명하 Kim Myeongha, 함승헌 Ham Seungheon and his wife and son (his son is so cute!), 어원석 Eo Wonseok, 윤지희 Yun Jihee, the 피리 piri player who's name I never remember, plus the two elementary school kids, their mother, and a guy who has attended 5 or so sessions of a community class and wanted to practice with us.  Ham Sr. talked and played the janggu while Kim Myeongha led the dancing. The difference between Ham's motions and Kim Myeongha's motions are like night and day. I think I prefer Kim as his motions are very natural. However in a calculated attempt to keep Ham happy with me I danced with Ham's motions all day and I know he saw that. After a good practice of basic motions Ham Sr. decided to lecture new guy about the instruments which 1) Ham doesn't know that much about 2) the musicians are younger and lower in status and can't contradict him 3) he didn't even find out if new guy already knew about the instruments or not… which he probably knew as much as Ham knows. So I was a bit frustrated. We then did basic motions again and Kim Myeongha led Eo and Ham Jr. through two acts (Buk Noli and Omjung).

After class Yun Jihee and I went to dinner together and she grilled me about advanced studies in the US. She didn't seem concerned about English, she wanted to know more what type of studies were possible in what type of department. It was nice to feel I might be helping her, since she helped so much with Karjam's CD.

Culture Heritage Tour to Daecheon/Boryeong

April 16^th, 2011

On Saturday I took mom with me to 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli. Everyone was really sweet to mom and the 피리 piri player with missing fingers, 주현 on 대금 daegeum and윤지희 Yun Jihee on 해금 haegeum were all there, plus of course 함완식 Ham Wanshik (Nat'l Human Treasure) on the 장구 janggu. So mom was able to hear a lot of awesome playing in addition to watching me dance. For dancers we had only 함승헌 and Ham Sr.'s friend. I really should learn his name. He was very sweet to mom and told her she was much more beautiful than I was and that she didn't look her age. Ham Jr. talked in English to mom, Ham Sr. was his usual friendly self. We did the basic motions, Act 3 (this time I was 먹중 병 which is the one of the three with a really long speech. I didn't do so badly!), then Act 4 (this time I was the old procuress who doesn't have any lines), then we did 말뚝이놀이 which is Act 10. I played 샌님 Saennim, the oldest of the yangban and the only one with speaking lines. I'd never paid attention to that character before. It was not half as much fun as being the youngest yangban, 도련님, who is a bit retarded and unruly.

After practice we walked a bit in the park there and then looked at the ice-skating rink in Lotte World before going back home.

April 17^th, 2011

Policy Director of the Cultural Heritage Administration 엄승용Eom Seungyong invited me to go hiking with him and Prof. David Mason. It sounded like it would be fun—outside Seoul, spring weather, hiking, a temple, things I hadn't seen before… so I asked if it would be okay if mom tagged along and they said yes. A little later Seungyong clarified that we should pay our own ticket there (대천역 Daecheon Stn) but that after that the transpo and lunch would be provided. That sounded even nicer. I bought our tickets –to Daecheon- on Friday but not the tickets home as I had no idea when we'd be heading back to Seoul.

We woke up early and got to the station on time, then took the approximately 3 hour train ride down to Daecheon (this is the train station for 보령 Boryeong a town most known for its mud festival in the summertime. This festival is mostly marketed to foreigners, and I am adverse to it for that reason if not because nothing sounds good to me about wallowing in a bunch of mud with strangers who shouldn't be exposing as much (mud-covered) skin as they are). Actually my friend Eugene did a post about this—read it.  When we arrived the scene I had imagined (of Seungyong, David, some (perhaps English speaking) people interested in heritage and tourism) was abruptly shattered by the reality that Seungyong (undoubtedly incredibly busy) who is from Daecheon had combined our plan with a plan to get together the alumni of his high school. Many of these people were interested in heritage and promotion of Daecheon, Boryeong and the area, but not many of them worked in that area. There were several professors, a high school principal who was quite the cultural expert, local councilmen and other politicians, and more colorful characters amongst Seungyong's high school fellows, and there were also a few younger people (not sure how they got involved with the tour) and officials for Daecheon's culture and tourism department including an English-speaking tour guide (who like many, no let me change that, like most tour guides in Korea knew almost nothing but memorized (or cribbed on notepaper) facts without contextualization and with plentiful errors). She was one of those idiots wearing 3 inch fairly spikey heels on a cultural tour where we'd be clambering around in grass and woods and what not.

View of the Port of Boryeong

I was not in the most social mood and I find large groups of men in their mid-50s a bit much to deal with so I only really talked to five of the Koreans on the tour, they were all very nice. I was most impressed with the high school principal as he was legitimately excited about showing us these sites and had very deep knowledge. I also talked with Chris, a blogger David knows who had come on the tour. He seems interested in learning more about Korea, but hasn't gotten very deep into it yet. I should send him some suggestions for good books.  David who speaks no Korean despite a prodigious memory for Korean terms related to history and culture spent a lot of his time educating the tour guide (I would have done it if he hadn't, but he was much more prepared since he seemed to have brushed up on the local area and what we'd be going to see –and- as a professor of tourism (at Kyunghee University) he has a highly developed idea of how tour guides should be presenting things. Also some (though not all) of our sites for the day were related to his own areas of concentration, specifically religion). Sometimes I disagree with David's ideas, but I have to say I was immensely impressed with how he handled the social aspects of large-group-of-powerful-older-Korean-men. His manners were unfailingly correct and he handled things like an impromptu speech during lunch perfectly—thanking the vice-mayor (who'd joined us for the meal) and everyone else, remembering the names and hitting just the right tone. He really came across well, although he did give a short lecture in English that I thought should have gone deeper, because even though they do not know English well (many of them) they were pushed by the principal to really complex and detailed understandings when he was speaking and I think that David should have pushed their knowledge, not just their ability to understand English.

Really awesome informative principal

Gate to the Commandery

It's spring

Ink stone

As for the sites, well, I am not the type to feel comfortable being ushered on and off buses, into the pose for group photos, to the next stop and so on. Also I felt a little hesitant to ask questions in front of so many people for fear that I had misunderstood what I'd just heard or for fear that I'd garble my question. I did ask some questions one on one, though. The experience of going on a 문화유산답사 munhwa yusan dapsa (Cultural Heritage Educational Lecture/Tour) was interesting though in the context of a book chapter by Robert Oppenheim and as a reminder of another way that Koreans have tried to turn back and learn about their past/culture. Since I like to quietly explore things on my own, I don't normally get this perspective, but it's important to remember it as I write my dissertation.

We saw the site of the execution of several Catholic missionaries, including 5 French martyrs. We went to 충청수영성the commandery for the naval defense force in the region (part is being excavated but it's mostly ruins), and to 성주사지 the site of Seongjusa Temple, which is also now a ruin, but it's one of the original temples for the 9 mountain schools of Shilla Era Buddhism, so it was really awesome to go there—it was the biggest reason I wanted to go on the day trip, though I was also looking forward to hiking which never happened. We got to see a private and very unusual shrine to Sanshin (according to David who specifically wrote a book about Sanshin) and even stopped to see the training center for the provincial human treasure for ink-stone carving (used in calligraphy). We also had an elaborate lunch—almost all seafood including plentiful sashimi in Boryeong Port. The weather was lovely all day.

We didn't get seats for the train home. I managed to keep mom in seats almost the whole way (which was good since she really slept a lot) and Karjam sat between two cars, but I stood up all but perhaps 20 minutes. And my knees were already killing me.

We watched "Hanna" which was a little disappointing before going home. 

Great Songpa Sandae Noli Rehearsal

March 26th, 2011
Saturday has traditionally been my day for 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli. When I returned to Korea late last summer everyone still practiced in one group on Saturday, but before long they decided to split up the practice so that the 이수자 isuja would have their own special practice on Friday nights. This was partially out of a sense that what they needed to practice was different than what others needed (the isuja handle the bulk of the performance duties but haven't been doing it as long as the higher ranked people, so they are still rehearsing specifically to improve their performance), and partially because the timing was more convenient for the majority of the isuja. Honestly I was annoyed at first, because I thought it would be poor for my research not to see how the isuja were practicing. But honestly, I've seen them all practice before right when I got here and in past years. There really isn't anything that would have been that different. With them gone, the idea is that the Saturday and Sunday practice could actually work on equipping the jeonsuja (registered students) and other junior members with the skills needed to perform with the troupe. Which I'd like, since I've only been able to perform Songpa Dari Balpgi so far. Recently I was talking to 어원석 Eo Wonseok and he told me that he practiced for more than ten years before he was allowed on stage. Talk about a way to discourage people from continuing to practice! With isuja and jeonsuja on the same day, basically the jeonsuja are expected to learn from watching, without many chances to actually stand up and participate.

In class on Saturday we began with three accompanists (I forget the name of the 피리 piri player, but 함완식 Ham Wanshik our National Human Treasure was there to play janggu and 박주현 Bak Juhyeon came to play 대금 daegeum. Jeonsu gyoyuk jogyo 이수환 Yi Suhwan was there, as well. There were three jeonsuja, Eo, 함승훈 Ham Seunghun and me. For learners we had Ham Wanshik's annoying friend, Yi Suhwan's friend (her second or third practice), plus the two elementary school girls. It was sort of obvious from the moment I got there that Yi would be running class that day, but I'd just been fighting with him on FB over the previous two days (and I felt very disrespected) so I was not particularly happy to see him. I did not greet him warmly or talk to him directly at any point during the practice. However, it was the best practice I've had for Songpa Sandae Noli –ever- in my 7 years with them. Before things started Yi and Ham were discussing why the preparations for the performance would be on Friday not on Saturday, because of course this creates a problem since Eo and Ham Jr. will perform, but they aren't welcome to Friday night practice. So they have to practice acts that need multiple players without the others who will actually perform in the Annual Full Length performance (scheduled for May 15th this year).

First we all did the basic motions with Yi leading, using our voices instead of the 장구 janggu to mark the timing (deong ddak gi deong ddak –eolsu- and repeat). It was a bit odd because most everyone doesn't have the level of physical conditioning to keep up the 입장단 Ip Jangdan, so I was more or less the only person doing it by the end. It was also weird, and I don't know if this is an old habit that has fallen out of practice, but Ham Wanshik kept practicing 불림 bullim scripts instead of doing the jangdan (the timing is the same), and it was really distracting because I've never heard that done before. After about fifteen minutes the three musicians sat down to play and the rest of us went through the basic motions for over 15 minutes in a circle. It was long enough that we worked up a good sweat. Yi told Ham Jr. and Eo they'd have to work on their acts and after a short discussion (where Yi pointed out incredibly obvious things like how your motions should be bigger –spatially- in a big madang than if you're performing on a small stage) we moved onto practicing the acts.

The two then ran through the act (act 5) one time, then Ham Wanshik had the rest of us join in. We did it one more time after which Ham could not resist being all authoritarian so he went to the white board to explain all about the act, but then gets worried he's not quite on and asks me not to write down what he's writing on the board. Which wasn't something I could fully follow anyway, as it had more to do with the historic meaning of 곤장 (act 5 is 곤장놀이) than anything that happens in the play. Ham should really either prepare a lecture or not go to the white board, but I guess I can't tell him that.

Then we switched to act 3 (the one I've been practicing) and this time I was 먹중 갑 Monk 'Gap' instead of 'Eul' which I've done every time so far. I did a pretty good job, actually. I delivered my lines with confidence, anyway. We were all (except Eo) reading from the script the whole time, though. Next we practiced 말뚝이 Malddugi's act, which was the first time I could ever do that one! I got to be 도련 Doryeon, the youngest of the yangban, and that was fun because he's all goofing off and running around and stuff (but no dialogue). Coolness!

Class ended then, a full two hours after we started!

After class, unfortunately, Ham Wanshik's annoying friend decided to confront me in the middle of Lotteria when we were all having a nice bit of fries and soda and various types of burgers. We'd gotten in each other's faces a couple weeks before—honestly I didn't behave like a Korean should and he was being a dick, so we were both at fault. Whatever, worked it out.

March 27th, 2011
Chans Bros on the computer and at home on the computer. I skipped Sunday Songpa Sandae Noli practice because I just wanted to get some sleep instead.

Three Days in Seoul

February 3rd, 2011
My friend Bonnie and her husband Curtis came and spent the night, so I made them dinner and we had a long Korean pop culture conversation. Otherwise I finished Photoshop on the photos from Goseong and transferred all the video to Karjam's computer and other book-keeping type tasks.

February 4th, 2011
I went to a concert at the 국악원 Gugakwon with Kimberely Hall in her capacity with the Asia Society, as the event photographer. However the seats weren't ideal for photography. Worse, though, was that the lighting in the hall was atrocious. The person I was particularly supposed to photograph, Jocelyn Clark, an American professor in Korea with amazing 가야금 gayageum skills, was lit with a spotlight straight down from above, so she had dark pits for eyes and her nose cast a shadow over her mouth—it's not pleasant for the audience to see a show lit like that, and definitely I was dissatisfied with the photos. When I met her after the show she said the lighting also made it difficult to see the strings. The rest of the show was moderately better lit, but none of it was very good.

The show itself consisted of six pieces of new music for Korean traditional instruments (usually). I have limited patience with such, in general, because for every good piece you hear quite a few bad ones. It is as if the musicians, composers, directors, etc. are all so bored with the traditional repertoire they're willing to try anything—but that doesn't mean it's good for the audience! The first piece was for five solo gayageum. No, that doesn't make sense. Why not just have one solo player do the whole thing? Why five? They alternated playing in a very unconventional way, taking the new techniques popularized by composers like 황병기 Hwang Byeonggi and then going way beyond into new territory. Chiefly, the piece was not melodic. I'm sure it must be beastly hard to play as nothing was predictable at all.

The second piece featured the 생황 saenghwang, an instrument that was described after the show by Kimberely American boyfriend Shawn as "you know, the bong," and indeed Hilary Finchum-Sung (who also attended with son Oliver), confirmed that it's filled with water. It was saenghwang, viola, cello and two violins. I honestly didn't feel that the music fell within the category of "Korean music" in any way at all, but I'm probably just being conservative. Honestly, to me, it sounded like the music to a movie montage about a person who was losing their mind and was committed to a mental hospital.


The third piece was one of the two I liked the most, it showed the promise of new compositions particulary through the interesting conversation between the 단소 danso and the 피리 piri and a lovely part where just the danso and아쟁 ajaeng were playing together.

The fourth and fifth piece were for full orchestra, the orchestra was seated in chairs (western), and wearing black and white (so western), with vaguely hanbok styling to the neckline, the women's outfits ended up looking more to me like Vietnamese clothes given that it was a slit skirt over pants. I have not much to say about either piece, they used some interesting additional instruments from western and other non-Korean areas, but the music itself didn’t captivate.



The sixth piece was in the broad genre of military music, powerful and aggressive with 나발 nabal horns, 태평소 taepyeongso and piri plus a lot of percussion. More than just the music, I enjoyed hearing the composer (who was also the conductor) talk a bit about his process before the piece began.


February 5th, 2011
I met Joji at the Electronics market and bought another voice recorder because the one I bought in August records at much too low of a volume to be useful. Even if the mic is practically in the mouth of whomever I'm interviewing. We then proceeded to the National Museum where we toured the Silk Road and Dunhuang exhibit.

At five "The Gwangdae" had a performance, the hall was crowded but 대천 Daecheon's wife helped us to find a seat. The show was fairly good.

사물놀이 samulnori, a singer, followed by 풍물 pungmul, followed by 이매 Imae from 하회별신굿탈놀이 Hahoi Byeolshin'gut Talnoli, followed by a lion's dance (the lion pretended to be a camel to great amusement), then a spinning disk performance and that was the it. The audience, especially the young children loved it. After the show I got to see everyone which was awesome. 가은 Gaeun also came to the show.

Still feel sick.

Bongsan Class

October 11th, 2010
In the morning I went to meet Professor David Mason, a Korean culture expert who focuses on tourism related issues and teaches at 경희대 Kyunghee University. We had pasta and green tea and talked Korean Studies.

In the evening I went to 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum, a former attendee showed up with plans to come again every Monday, and with his arrival the one month ago almost entirely female (except for 원 중 Won Jung) group has become mostly male. Won Jung will hear if he made the second round audition on Friday. Class was uneventful, I was exceptionally low energy and so it seemed was everyone else. I talked with 현철 Hyeoncheol who resumed Bongsan practice last week. He looks about 22 but is actually 27 and in graduate school for music education, even better, his undergraduate was in 피리/태평소 piri and taepyeongso, and he is focusing on Korean music education, not just music in general. He can only come on Monday because he has a grad class on Thursdays.

After class ended I had a strangely long and interesting research-related conversation with the front desk/security guy at the training center (there are two of them, the one that was there was the younger one). It’s great when I can talk through ideas with random people, unfortunately not enough people know about traditional arts to an extent that a conversation can really get off the ground (and that’s why I’m doing this research!).