Bongsan Talchum Performance (in the cold) and Wolduk's Wedding

April 23^rd, 2011

We were supposed to take KTX back to Seoul, but since 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli practice was cancelled, we switched to the much cheaper bus. In the evening all three of us went to 남산한옥골 Namsan Hanokgol which is a completely unpopulated 한옥 hanok (traditional Korean building) village in Seoul accessible from 충무로 Chungmuro Subway Station. We were there for a performance of 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum but we were early enough that we could walk around a bit in the last rays of the setting sun on the picturesque buildings.

Quite a few of the evening class students showed up, or specifically 하연, 정현, and 신마. I sat in the front row with mom and took photos on my long zoom (most of the time) and Karjam stood u p above the entire seating area and took video looking down on us. Most of the audience evaporated during the show because it was beastly cold. The performance however was totally awesome, I am so glad that mom got a chance to see that particular show because they really were just blazing.

First they performed 사상좌춤 sasangjwachum, the dance of the four Buddhist novices. Next was the dance of the eight dark-faced monks, they performed monk 1 which I never get to see (except the other day when I went to see 최창주 Choi Changju's class). Then 2, 3, 4, and 8. Of course at the end all 8 danced together. Next they did the story of 소무 Somu and 노장 Nojang, the old monk. What was special is that they really did the whole thing, starting with carrying Somu onto the stage in the litter. The shoe seller and monkey came on and did their bit and last 취발이 Chuibali came and chased of Nojang so he could take Somu for himself. Finally (of course) they did 사장춤 sajachum, the lion dance. I truly think that the two who did the lion were probably the only comfortable people there (temperature wise).

After the show when I was bowing to everyone 장용일 Jang Yongil told me that they don't care if there is just one person in the audience, they're going to give it their all, but he also thanked us for staying in the freezing temperatures.

Mom and I went to Lazy Sue's and had tea and shared a dessert before heading home.

April 24^th, 2011

Sunday was a really busy day. First we got dressed up and went to 김월덕 Kim Woldeok's wedding to 이주원 Yi Juwon. I had an immediately great impression of him, and I think that Woldeok must have been embarrassed to say that he was handsome, because she had said he wasn't yet he looked quite dashing. We took photos with the bride and then sat down to wait for the wedding, Karjam over on one side near the microphones he'd use to sing a congratulatory song, the two of us on the groom's side (better seats were available for filming Karjam and the wedding). It was a large hotel wedding where you sit at your lunch table to watch the wedding. After the ceremony (Karjam's song went off very well) we had lunch, took the group photos and all that. We also peaked in on the 폐백 pyaebaek traditional ceremony for a few minutes with Bonnie and Curtis.

Mom and Karjam went home, I headed to the 임실필봉농악 서울전수관 Imshil Pilbong Nongak Seoul Training Center where I was about 1.5 hours late to a rehearsal with 개전연 Gaejeonyeon (my 풍물 pungmul club) for our performance next weekend from 1-4. The room was packed with 19 participants all dancing and/ or playing instruments. It seems that there are three of us doing 잡색 japsaek (dancing in costume and playing the part of a specific character). I will be 화동 Hwadong , a male character who wears red robes and a red hat with pheasant feathers. I could have asked to do 소고 sogo but someone has to do japsaek and I enjoy it. It's certainly livelier than the other parts, although not a way to show off skills! In the future when my상모  sangmo is just a little better I hope to do sangmo, of course. Of course 은정/도령 Eunjeong was leading the rehearsal. She'll obviously be the 상쇠 sangsoi (꽹과리 ggwaenggwari lead player) for the performance as well.

I rushed home and then mom and I went to check out 인사동 Insadong although it was getting late and shops were rapidly closing. 

Jeonju and Daegu

April 21^st, 2011

Mom and I woke up early and went to 광화문 Gwanghwamun area to catch a special free tourist bus to 전주 Jeonju. These buses, which go to 경주 Gyeongju and 부산 Busan as well, are widely advertised as a great way to get foreigners a chance to see things outside of Seoul. A lot of foreign residents in Korea pan them because you can't ride the bus in the opposite direction if you wanted to go to Seoul for a day or a few. However I think it's a pretty good idea to get people around the country if they're just visiting Korea for a short trip. There are several ways in which the system is not so good, though. First of all it's not done on a first come, first served basis. It's done on a lottery system. I entered our names a couple weeks ago and got a confirmation email. Then I waited. I didn't see any other email, so on the 20^th I got on the internet and went to the site where I entered our passport numbers and it said "reservation confirmed" and it also showed that there were (unless I was totally misunderstanding) still tickets available on the bus. But when we checked in at the site they said that we had not 'won' tickets (although every other name of every other person and the person(s) accompanying them on the list had 'won' tickets). I protested that we'd seen a confirmation email but never seen any other follow up email such as a 'sorry, you didn't win, try again' email. The young lady was apologetic and explained that she often gets people with the same complaint but there is nothing she can do; her job is just to check people in not to send emails related to the program. Fortunately some people who had 'won' seats didn't show up, so mom and I were able to get on the bus after all but it was a bit stressful and I had lots to say about how bad it made Korea look to foreign tourists if they experience something as confusing as that.

In Jeonju (and this is basically why I even decided to go) the bus took us to the 한옥 hanok village; an area of Jeonju where traditional style one story buildings made of wood with tile roofs are still common. We walked around the streets, and checked out the scenery, a couple 한지 hanji (paper) making workshop/factories and their associated gift shops, a calligraphy museum, some other craft halls and had a marvelous lunch. Overall I found the area too developed for tourism—it was a bit gross how much of it was predicated on rapidly relieving the visitors of their money. Most of the tourists, of course, were domestic, including several school groups, but I started feeling really claustrophobic and uncomfortable. The best part of the entire Jeonju experience (except for the lunch which was just the type of ordinary home-cooking I love) was our visit to the 경기전 Gyeonggijeon with a shrine for 태조 Taejo, the founder of the dynasty. The inside of Gyeonggijeon was just as run over with visitors but the area was far larger and the birds were chirping, the sun shining and the new leaves were practically unfurling as we watched.

We took a taxi to the Express Bus Terminal and took the 3:10 bus to 대구 Daegu, arriving  shortly before 6:00. We took another taxi to my 합기도 Hapkido studio and we spent the rest of the evening there until I felt that mom would turn into a pumpkin if I didn't take her to Georgy and Jinhong's and a bed. At Hapkido I led class (it was a day to focus on kicks) and had a pretty good time. It was fun that mom got see the 관장님instructor 15 years after she first met him.

April 22^nd, 2011 Earth Day

I'm afraid I didn't do anything special for Earth Day. I guess I just have to say "every day is Earth Day!" In the morning I made pancakes for the four of us. Jinhong took mom to see some things and I worked on an application while Georgy made cupcakes (I had given her a cupcake cookbook because she loves cupcakes). After a lunch that Jinhong made I went to the post office to send my application (Jinhong drove me to a print shop and the post office, so sweet), and mom and Georgy went fabrics shopping at the traditional market.

I went back to 합기도 Hapkido and stayed there until 10:45. It was a test day so I mostly helped run the test, but I got some exercise in as well. When I got back to Georgy and Jinhong's only the latter was still awake.