The School Year Has Begun!

There are so many things I've started to write and haven't finished... maybe I will. Don't hold your breath. In the meantime, let me tell you about the start of the school year:

It's Saturday, the first week is done and I'm sitting in my office, listening to Karjam singing (unfortunately not live) and determined to finish a ton of class prep today.

Monday:
Intro to Modern Korean History (for majors)
Tuesday:
(5 weeks only): Intro to Korean Culture and Society (for majors)
(every week): Intro to Korean Studies I (for majors)
(teaching 5 weeks, attending every week): Intro to Korean Music: Pungmul Drumming (for majors)
Wednesday:
Contemporary Korean Culture and Society (for non-majors)
Thursday:
Modern Korean History (for graduate students in Korean Studies or International Studies)

This week was the first week, and usually first week classes are so easy-- you spend time on the syllabus and letting students know the expectations for the course and you try to get to know them and let them learn enough about you to suss out if they really want to take the class. But when it's your department and it's the same students on Monday and all three classes on Tuesday, it's very different... you really have to start teaching right away because you can't do introductory games and conversation for 11 hours! The students are not required to take all the classes--the required class is Intro to Korean Studies I and the rest of the classes are optional-- but of course they need a certain number of credits to graduate. So almost all of them are enrolled in all four classes (two students elected not take the history course and one student isn't taking the music course). They are also enrolled in various other courses that meet distribution requirements.

Next week I won't be teaching Korean Culture and Society, but rather Lyudmila will spend 5 weeks with them teaching them how to look at Korean culture and society through Korean literature. Then I get them, and at the end of the semester Lina (a friend from my MA at Yonsei University who is doing her doctoral dissertation research in Korea right now) will teach them about Korean Social Movements for 5 weeks. For the Korean Music class, however, I will always attend even when I'm not providing lectures on Korean music. On those days (about 9 or 10 of the 16 weeks) my friend Go Seokjin will teach them drumming on the janggu or hourglass drum. The style they will start with this semester is the style from Imshil Pilbong Nongak, also the style played here on campus by the student club. I am hoping to integrate my students with the club and then with attendance at the transmission center in Pilbong. An ideal outcome for me will be to find a way to give students credit for attending a certain number of weeks of classes in Pilbong during their vacations. I still have to figure out how that will work out, though. And my new chair, who I love in every other way, seems to be very nervous about the connection of pungmul drumming with politics and will NOT listen to me when I assert that the kids these days are not interested in politics and just want to play the music. I hope to get him to listen to common sense, soon.

So far I love the personalities and attitude of all my major students.

On Wednesday I taught my non-major class... that was stressful. First of all the classroom that was mine on the schedule was being occupied by another class. What the heck! Finally we started, at least 15 minutes late, in a different classroom, but it was NOT the way I want to make a first impression!!! Then the students included two students who spoke no English, even though the class is listed as being taught in English. These students (who are from China and from Uzbekistan-- it's not Korean students who are totally unprepared to use English) really wanted to take the class, and the students in the class really wanted to meet more foreigners and make foreign friends... this left me in a quandry over what to do. If I told the two foreign students to leave, we'd lose 2 out of 5 enrolled foreigners (only one is German and an obvious foreigner, by the way), but all my class prep was done in English, and I didn't want to redo my syllabus and spend all the extra time to prepare lessons in Korean (did that last semester and it easily was double the prep time, maybe triple).

Thursday was the hardest day. I got a bus at 6:05 and made it to the campus in Seoul by 8, finding the classroom by 8:20 or so. The class started at 9, and there were 12 students there, only one with a 100% Korean name, although several had diasporic Korean names (like Eric Lee). A student (sounded American and looked Jewish) was a bit abrasive and challenging of a couple of the things I said-- he took a hard-lined (Korean) nationalist perspective (which is kind of funny since he's not Korean), and his attitude in class really threw me off. I am hoping (for once) that my first impression made him think he did not want to take the class, because an argumentative ultra-nationalist will be hard to deal with considering that I was trained by the opposite of the nationalist camp and hence will say things a nationalist might not like over and over all semester.

Now I better buckle down and work on prep!

Yeonshik Guest Teaches Class

July 15^th, 2011

Class went really well today. First we had reading presentations, the readings were really tough but the students who were presenting did a great job and I feel like everyone ended up understanding the important points.

Then 박연식 Bak Yeonshik, my friend from 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum evening class came to present. First he gave a short lecture on the difference between singing styles from Namdo, Gyeonggi and Seodo and then he taught them to mouth the rhythmic pattern Jungmori Jangdan. After that he had them learn to sing Ganggang Sulrae. Then they sat down to the four janggu he'd brought and learned to drum and sing the song. They had a lot of fun. Yeonshik presented his own drumming skills to them (impressive) and last of all he drummed so they could practice Bongsan Talchum with a drum for once. It was really good, I think they all enjoyed it.

In the evening I wanted to go see the performance at 풍류극장 Pungryu Geukjang but I had been convinced by 최해리 Choi Haeri to see a show with her instead. It was basically horrible! All dance, including two modernish dance and one new traditional dance plus classics, the best performance was definitely the 태평무 Taepyeongmu which I've seen so darn many times it was also kind of boring. Not the best dancer, just the best in the show.

July 16^th, 2011

I stayed home and worked on the computer, went to Chans Bros and did the same, then came home and did more work. That's all. Laundry. Cooking. Cleaning. Okay NOW that's all. 

Teaching Gugak to Elementary School Students

May 11^th, 2011

I actually had an incredibly full day. I got up early (peeling my eyeballs open) and took a bus to 안성 Anseong, a city a little south of Seoul, where I met my friend 박연식 Bak Yeonshik from my 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum class. Yeonshik is a professional supplementary teacher for Korean traditional music, as I mentioned in this blog when I first found out. On Wednesday I actually went along and watched him teach class. The school we went to is a tiny school of only 16 students for all six grades of elementary school. Since it's so small the students are two grades to a classroom and Yeonshik and I started with the 3^rd and 4^th graders. It was his eighth meeting with these students, but as I found out, classes are much longer than 40 minutes, we were in the classroom more than an hour and a half, although there was a break so that they could hit the can if needed.

Yeonshik had a 단소 danso and the students had brought their own instruments too (it's sort of like a recorder, a vertical bamboo (or cheaper plastic) flute). They began with Yeonshik writing out the notes in the 구음 gueum (the vocal representation of the notes) for the song they were playing (오나리 from 대장금) on the board. The students prompted him as he wrote 황태태 태황무 임무무무 황태태 태중태 태황태태 and so on. Then they all reviewed the fingering for the notes together, with emphasis on breath support and the particularly high and low notes. The students spent a few minutes practicing high 중 and low 중 and then everyone played together. As they played first one 3^rd grader and then near the end another 3^rd grader (there were 5 students, 3 in 3^rd grade and 2 in 4^th) gave up. As I continued to observe class it was obvious the one girl just had problems concentrating or had no sense for music though she was interested. After they went through it Yeonshik reminded them to not breath between each note, first they played a section of notes before breathing (as written above a section would be the series before each space) and then after they'd done that they practiced playing two sections before a breath. Everyone was really enjoying the class except the one girl with concentration issues, but I think she was having fun, too. She didn't seem frustrated that she couldn't play. Yeonshik used chocolate as a motivator. He gave it as a reward for doing things, but never actually denied it to anyone who hadn't, he just praised the ones who had managed to play through with the breathing right, for example. He particularly praised the one third grader who was doing well, as this student had never been exposed before the beginning of the term and yet was playing better than the fourth graders. The student took this very seriously. Yeonshik told him he could go to university for gugak (traditional music) and the little boy asked him very sincerely "but can you make a good living from gugak?" an answer that Yeonshik kept trying to side-step and the little boy kept asking. Yeonshik had each student play one by one, and praised each and critiqued them lightly (you need to concentrate on your breathing, it won't sound right until you take a breath at the right place and not other times) and gave them chocolate. When it was the turn of the girl who really couldn't play (last in the order Yeonshik had picked) he sent the students to recycle their milk cartons and then asked her to play, she was still having trouble getting sound to come out (it's not easy to blow like a recorder, it's vertical but like a flute you need to be positioned correctly relative to the hole or it's not going to produce a sound).

After about twenty minutes on the danso they opened their textbooks (they opened the textbook for fourth grade music not third) and they switched to playing 장구 janggu on the desk with their hands while speaking the 입장단 ipjangdan. Interestingly the notation they used was the traditional notation of circle, line and circle with a line in it (at Imshil Pilbong Nongak all the college kids read the notation that is just the ipjangdan written out 덩덩쿵딱). They practiced together beating the desks (one little third grader pulled out some cloth to shield her hand from the desk). Each time they went through the rhythm three times before stopping and trying again or getting feedback. First they did 자진모리, then 세마치, then 굿거리 and last 중중모리. Honestly they were quite good and they traded off having Yeonshik sing while they played (desk slapped and vocalized the sounds) and having them sing while he played to see if they were keeping the rhythm right. Actually I think they only sang two songs, but he sang with each of the rhythms. Because they knew the songs, this was how they checked themselves to see if they were correct because if the rhythm was wrong it was going to screw up the song. These songs were in the textbook next to the rhythms, they must have practiced the songs in a previous class.

After a break we went on to 강강술래 ganggangsullae (a folk song with a dance but they didn't do the dance). Yeonshik was even asking them questions like "what are the special characteristics of Namdo Minyo" and they (or at least one of them who answered first) could answer! Really really cool. And they were having so much fun. The girl with the concentration issues remained a little spacey but she had fun with the desk slapping and with the singing. They were quizzed on the details to the origin of ganggangsullae (sort of a myth) and they'd obviously learned it in a previous class.

After class but before we left Yeonshik was praising the one little 3^rd grader again and he told him that if he practiced for a year or two he'd be good enough to start performing. The little boy had tons of questions, he was so into it! And all the kids decided they needed my autograph (it's this weird thing in Korea where they do that, and I've experienced it before many a time so it didn't phase me too much). So I was writing these little sentences like (dang these don't translate well) "Your joy at practicing gugak looked very good (to me)" and then signing my name and the last two were like "just sign, only sign, really big" and gave me these huge sheets of like sketch book paper (I felt so guilty to use it). Apparently my sentiments were not needed, only my foreigner handwriting.

Next we went to the 5^th and 6^th grade classroom which was only three students (one of the two fifth graders was slightly retarded). The two girls played danso even better than the younger kids, but the boy had none and just sort of hummed along off-tune. He still got chocolate. They discussed vibration as a special element in Korean music and practiced for 25 minutes, then switched to 민요 minyo folk songs. I didn't get to see the names of the songs written down, the first one sounded like 당기둥기 might be the name and the second could be called 떡떡대기야. The two girls sang quite well and the boy was having fun in his own way. The latter song might be one they've known less time, because Yeonshik did call and repeat, but it sounded good that way, so it might just be how that song is normally sung. Part of Yeonshik's job is to teach Korean thought/consciousness (의식) and after the break they talked about 한글 (the Korean alphabet).

Yeonshik took me to see the huge facility that Namsadang has constructed in Anseong and then we had a great lunch and a long conversation followed by coffee and more conversation before I went back to Seoul.  

Many Days of Scanty Fieldnotes

May 2^nd, 2011

Monday I had 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum of course, but before that I went to meet Hilary and Won Il, a well known creative-contemporary-traditional performer and a professor of composition at K-Arts. I've wanted to meet him for some time, partially just because he sounds interesting, but mostly because since Karjam wants to record he'd be the right guy to introduce a studio or engineers or whatever. And sure enough he had some great ideas. It was a very productive, if quick meeting. Bongsan Talchum class was still a little under-populated, but Kim Yongcheol, Sumi, Yeonshik, Byeongho were there and one other guy whose name has slipped my mind. I did mini-interviews with Yongcheol and Byeongho.

May 3^rd, 2011

I had an amazing writing day, the first good days with several pages in weeks. In the evening I had 상모 sangmo with Hyeonseok and Yi Jonghui, of course. The latter took Hyeonseok and I out for dinner.

May 4^th, 2011

I intended to watch the K-Arts students rehearse, but I couldn't go because they'd be doing stage blocking with various staff members and it would have been a hassle to get permission for me to be there and I didn't want to trouble them when they were already stressing about the performance.

May 5^th, 2011

The K-Arts 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum team had their performance. I met Sumi at the subway station and we went together. The performance was outside and it got pretty chilly before the end, but we were getting sunburned in the beginning. Putting the sun behind the perfect angle to watch the performance is so silly. They could have oriented so the sun was over one shoulder or other…

Wonjung did an excellent job as 취발이 Chuibali, in general the performance was grand with many exciting things to watch, but not –good- mask dance. Many of the performers had no sense for the flavor that should come through with the performance, and the sections with 풍물 pungmul drumming and the singing section were by far the best, as they were closer to the natural talents and interests of the majority of students.

May 6^th, 2011

I had my first day of 사물놀이 samulnori class with 이종휘 Yi Jonghui. These classes will be at Sogang University, where 지용 Jiyong from 개전연 Gaejeonyeon is a student. When I arrived a few minutes before 8 there was a very strong 상모 sangmo vibe going on, and I had brought mine. We ended up doing sangmo until 9:30 then switching to 장구 janggu and 꽹과리ggwaenggwari until the end of class. I played janggu of course. 

Sangmo and a Performance at KOUS

April 19^th, 2011

We took care of some odds and ends including getting mom's business cards printed. In the evening mom went with me to 상모 sangmo practice. It was an unusual class because 이종휘 Yi Jonghui was out of town for a performance, so it was just 현석 Hyeonseok and me. Except when I arrived 은정 (도령) Eunjeong and 승민 Seungmin were there, along with a guy I don't know and a woman whose named I've never learned, though I've seen her a lot. A little later 유미 Yumi showed up, too. It was really good to see them. The reason they were there was to practice for the 계전연 Gaejeonyeon spring performance that will be held on the 30^th. Seungmin praised my improved sangmo, pointing out just how many people quit long before they get to the point I'm at.

Hyeonseok and I practiced more or less as we'd normally do with Jonghui there—moving through a logical series of motions, I didn’t do anything new, but I got a chance to practice until I was sweating.  

April 20^th, 2011

Karjam and mom went to the National Museum, I stayed home and worked on my computer. After making a nice dinner we all went to KOUS to see a performance.

The performance, another in the current dance series, was particularly attractive because 이윤석 Yi Yunseok, National Human Treasure for Goseong Ogwangdae, was performing 덧배기춤. It was a day when I knew half the audience, the entire regular crew from 봉천놀이마당 Bongcheon Noli Madang (about 10 people), plus 10 of the K-Arts students, plus 김성범 Kim Seongbeom and 허창열 Heo Changyeol as well as (performing a special 꽹과리 ggwaenggwari part during Yi's performance), 고석진 Go Seokjin. I had permission to take photos during Yi's piece (as long as I didn't take too many).

The entire performance was really amazingly good, one of the best I've seen and our front row (literally front row) seats were great for seeing every detail. Unfortunately mom (who always has a hard time sitting still during concerts and such) was falling asleep almost the entire show. That sort of distracted me because I need to feel the energy of the performance but I kept being worried that mom was missing out (and I took her so she could appreciate it, not take a nap). It was a great show, although I got a little pissed when we had to hear the announcing schtick stupid un-funny jokes. The 태평무 taepyeongmu by 강삼숙 was awesome, one of the best I've seen. And 이철진's 승무 seungmu was the best I've ever seen except for 정재만 Jeong Jaeman (who we're seeing next week!). 황지인's 입춤 ipchum  was really good. The 소고춤 sogochum by 임은주 from 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum (she's an이수자 isuja) was exuberant, very fast-paced and fun but somehow I'd been expecting something more. 김선정's 살풀이 salpuri was disappointing, I've seen the dance too many times and it has to be done really well to wow me. There was no special flavor to it. Next was Yi Yunseok's performance, but he was exhausted from the performing trip to Malaysia and it showed. We all screamed really loudly but for someone who didn't know him and have a connection I wonder how it would have seen. I was really pissed when 진옥섭 Jin Okseop came out after his performance and said "I think he forgot the last half of the dance and just repeated the first half." You don't say that, even if it might be true! Next was 양길순's 도살풀이 do salpuri. Karjam and I saw her last year and thought she was great, this time I wasn't quite as impressed. Last was 문근성 who performed 설장구 seoljanggu (dancing with the janggu drum) very very very well. It was a great end to the show.

After the show I talked with Go Seokjin, Changyeol, Yi Yunseok, some of the Bongcheon Noli Madang people and the kids. Finally the performers left and we bowed their van away before dispersing. 

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. 

Mom Arrives in Korea and the K-Arts Students Have a Show

April 14^th, 2011

We went to the airport on the new airport railroad and picked up mom. She'll be here for two weeks.

I ran off to 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum soon after we arrived home. Class was sort of depressing. I made some silly mistakes when I intended to finally do this one part error free. I was just having an off night I guess but it really bummed me out.

April 15^th, 2011

I woke up at 3:30 (two hours sleep) and got mom up (not hard because of the time difference). We went to 조계사 Jogye Temple for the morning prayers. I think our taxi driver there was drunk.

The prayers were good but because of mom's bad knees she can't do any of the prostrations, which is too bad. I did 108 before the service actually started, then during the main prayer suddenly my knee sort of popped and it started to be almost torture to do any additional prostrations. The service was particularly long with a series of prayers I haven't do much, but a nice 보살 bosal (volunteer in the temple) came and brought me a prayer book that included those prayers and I really enjoyed chanting, I understood a lot of the prayers we recited, much more than I understand the prayers I'm used to doing.

Before we left we bought some things, she bought 3 little gifts and I bought a ring for myself with 반야심경 the prayer Banya Shimgyeong on it. I think mom enjoyed the trip to the temple. When we left it was just starting to get light a little. We headed to the bus stop and took the bus back home and napped.

After we got up we went to the 찜질방 Korean bathhouse/spa. It was a good place to take mom, I think. We enjoyed all the saunas and pools before we joined Karjam in the co-ed area. I think we were there about 3 hours, but when we left Karjam decided to stay.

In the evening we went to the Korean National University of the Arts for the new student performance. All the new students in the School for the Traditional Performing Arts performed. The first piece was a court orchestra piece and I was really impressed. Honestly, that's not my favorite style of Korean music but I thought that the performance was highly professional, really I could not perceive any difference between their performance and that of any ordinary traditional music orchestra, despite the fact that all the players were freshmen (who would be approximately 18-20 American age). The next three pieces featured 거문고 geomungo, 가야금 gayageum and 해금 haegeum. Although I was looking forward especially to the geomungo, the piece was just a boring composition (it was a new work). The gayageum piece was Pachabel's Canon on 3 different pitches of gayageum (with three players per pitch). Blah. I am not a fan of trying to recreate a Western sound on a Korean instrument. It's a waste of the capabilities of the instrument. The haegeum piece also was nothing special. Next we had a vocal number with four pansori singers, a gayageum byeongchang player/singer, several minyoperformers and one women doing jeongga. I found their performance pretty good but not great, at least it got mom fully awake (she is jet-lagged). One really super fun aspect was hearing this type of singing with a knowledgeable (and supportive) audience. There was so much well done 추임새 chuimsae. The next piece was dance, a giant rendition of taepyeongmu and the only performance for the night with upper classmen (why? I see no reason why they couldn't have just had fewer dancers on the stage). It was frankly the most boring and soulless rendition of taepyeongmu I think I've ever seen. Mom fell back asleep.

Of course the important part of the show was the last act: the performance by the 연희학과 Department of Traditional Folk Theatre. The show opened with 13 (of 15 new students) on stage playing seated 사물놀이 samulnori. Actually they all began on 장구 janggu then they switched to samulnori. I was glad off the video camera as it made it easy for me to spot Ga-eun who stayed on janggu and Heesu who switched to buk. Of course as soon as I saw that Wonjung and Inseon were not there, I knew it was because they were in costume somewhere off stage. They entered the stage and the drums switched to a smaller configuration and one player re-emerged on 태평소 taepyeongso. Wonjung was dressed as the old yangban husband and Inseon as the old grandmother, his wife. They discovered each other and exchanged various fairly typical dialogue, then introduced the tight-rope walker. The tight-rope walker was very good, certainly 80% as good as the top performers, National Human Treasures, who I've seen. After he was featured there was a section for standing 풍물 pungmul performers, with Ga-eun as one of the two 꽹과리 ggwaenggwari players. She had a wonderful section being featured dancing with the large poof of ostrich feather whip that they manipulate much like a sangmo. There were several dance solos, including Heesu on sogo with wonderful manipulation of the sangmo. I am totally impressed. Two other Namsadangnoli trick performers came out (I think one was the same guy as the tightrope) and they dealt with spinning tops and disks.

It was absolutely a wonderful performance and I was so proud of the students. Afterwards I gave my students some drinks and told them they did a good job, while I was talking to Ga-eun Professor Kim Duksu came up and asked her who I was. I was a bit tongue-tied, but managed to ask him for an interview. He passed me off to another professor, a theory expert. I guess I'll have to try to ask him again at another time when I'm more prepared! I think mom had fun but she was really exhausted by the time we got home. 

A Songpa Sandae Noli Rehearsal Where I'm the Only Person Dancing

April 1^st, 2011

Had 허창열 Heo Changyeol and 세정 Sejeong over for lunch. Between the two of them they could somewhat communicate in English with Karjam, and it was a pleasant visit. And my food came out really well.

I submitted the completed translation.

Karjam and I saw "Black Swan."

April 2^nd, 2011

I went to 송파산대놀이 Songpa Sandae Noli class and for some really strange reason I was the only person there to dance. 함완식 Ham Wanshik was there to play 장구 janggu, 박주현 Bak Juhyeon (who went to middle school, high school and college one year behind Sejeong, Changyeol's girlfriend) was there to play 대금 daegeum and 윤지희 Yun Jihee was there to play 해금 haegeum. In addition 안병인 Ahn Byeong-in was there as the dance instructor of the day. Needless to say I felt self conscious as the only person to dance with all these others, but it got worse because Ahn was apparently tired out from rehearsal on Friday night, so he wanted me to dance all by myself and prove that I knew all the motions correctly. This was very intimidating because we don't have a memorized set of motions, and each person who leads dance practice does it differently. Plus I have never had to do any motion on my own, I'm always following along (I'm an excellent motion-mimic in general). After a bit of a false start I got going all right, until I had to do 겨울보기 one of the motions with sort of tricky and specific timing. I practiced just that motion for quite a long time until Ahn was convinced, did a couple more, then reviewed all of them. Ahn left and Ham and I practiced the dialogue for Act 3 and Act 4, which was nice of him. Obviously –he- doesn't need to practice.

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.

Watching Goseong Practice at KNUA

March 15th, 2011
I worked on the computer. Had lunch with Sarah. Worked on the computer. Went to 상모 sangmo class.

In class there was 현석 Hyeonseok, 지수 Jisu (who has not practiced since the fall), 성현 Seonghyeon and I. 이종휘 Yi Jonghui decided to loan me his really awesome whip part on the sangmo, and it is heavier than mine and spins SO SMOOTHLY. I looked in the mirror and partially because of the superior equipment, but partially because I really have improved a thousand fold, I was momentarily amazed that it was actually me making those perfect motions. Jonghui, as usual, was a hardass and made us repeatedly practice the same thing… I wanted to do 나비사 nabisa with his whip, but no, instead I did reversed direction circles for the second week—but those look almost as good as the counter-clockwise regular circles, now.

March 16th, 2011
I had lunch with Jan, a German guy studying Korean and interested in doing research on 판소리 pansori, worked on translation, and went to KNUA to see everyone practicing. First I met 혜미 Haemi and 경진 Gyeongjin for dinner. We just went to a little Korean-style fast-food place (a 분식 bunshik). But I bought their dinner and also bought some drinks for everyone while practicing at the market. During vacation they both worked at different kinds of drinking establishments, and they told me they'd been practicing three times a week, giving each other critical feedback. Classes started at the beginning of March and they're learning 양주별산대 Yangju Byeolsandae, 경기도 새남굿 Gyeonggido Saenamgut (a shamanic ritual, they learn the music and dance primarily), they have a lot of theory classes this term, too. They also mentioned that 창열 Changyeol was going to come to evening rehearsal. When we got to campus and the practice room everyone was there except for 기영 Giyeong who was at a funeral. I got tons of totally awesome hugs when I arrived. I scribbled six notebook pages of notes while watching, to summarize:
In addition to Changyeol, 안대천 Ahn Daecheon also came to practice, as he's a whole gigantic one year older than Changyeol, he talked most of the time and Changyeol was relatively quiet. Daecheon's wife and daughter (who's less than a month) also came to practice.

The students began with the basic motion set followed by 덧뷔기 deotbuigi. 재윤 Jaeyun played the 꽹과리 ggwaenggwari and Haemi played the 장구 janggu (because during the performance as well they'll be the primary musicians). As soon as they finished the basic motions then they moved directly into Act 1 (문둥북춤 Mundung Bukchum). 태환 Taehwan was playing the part and I thought he looked a lot more fluid, if a bit repetitive in his motions. But Daecheon criticized him intensely, particularly focusing on the fact that he didn't convincingly show his interest in the 소고 sogo before he came and tried to pick it up.

The students moved onto the second act, but after a couple minutes Daecheon stopped them again, this time with pointers that they needed to seem more excited to be "at play" than they were, how they should avoid 말뚝이 Malddugi's whip and so on. He said they didn't even look like they were worried they'd get hit. After a bit more criticism and an example of how several characters should be acting, the scene started again. As 민기 Min'gi entered the center for the Malddugi solo it was clear he was hesitant, he looked down at the floor and shook his head after small mistakes or to shake out the next move. Daecheon stopped them again, talked to Min'gi (but somewhat mildly it seemed to me) and criticized the musicians, saying they weren't connecting with the dancers. When 정우 Jeong'u had to do his solo for 원양반 Won Yangban he had the half smile that says "oh crap, I'm going to screw up." He also kept his head down a lot, biting his lip and faltering on his speeches. Min'gi lost his balance on a dance solo, to his evident embarrassment. While they were practicing next to me Gyeongjin was running through the monk's steps. It seemed obvious to me that the students may have been rarely practicing or not practicing at all and before long Daecheon announced that they were all worse than they'd been at Goseong (so does that mean he and Changyeol hadn't stopped in at all until the day I came?). Daecheon even questioned if Jeong'u was right for the part, asking everyone if they'd been practicing their individual dances, and asserting that everyone needed to practice special dance parts at least three times per day and then when rehearsing show some awareness of where the audience is, where the edge of the stage is, what angle to look at and generally to keep the energy level high, which it was not. The second time through Jeong'u looked more masculine and confident and he remembered all the dialogue, making me really think they just hadn't been practicing enough to remember stuff.

Act 3 went pretty smoothly and it runs out to the end, but Daecheon points out that the Yangban should move more like a yangban. Also they must choose where on the stage to do certain things and then keep doing it that way when they practice.

Act 4 is barely criticized, and Gyeongjin doesn't make any mistakes but the two women are told they don't look feminine enough and Daecheon points out a lack of intention in the mood- the old monk must seem like he's really into the women.

Act 5 was criticized by far the most. The blocking is off on the stage, the group hasn't practiced enough together, and Changyeol says it wasn't even funny, though it should be. Changyeol says it was "제일 보기 싫어" (the one that was the most painful to watch), basically all parts of it are wrong, even to the fact that the students hadn't brought props they need for the practice. They were told they looked like they didn’t want to be practicing. "Get your mood up! Don't depend on us to be here, figure this out for yourself." The students answer that they'll practice every day from April, but Daecheon and Changyeol want them to find places and ways to practice every day now, separated by act being fine.

Then Act 5 is told to practice again and again, until at least 11 pm but around 10:30 everyone else is excused worried about timing to get home, I left, too.

Dissertation Ideas Coming Together

March 14th, 2011
I worked on translation most of the day, then went to 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum class at the 중요무형문화재전수회관 Training Center for Intangible Korean Cultural Assets. Today was actually a sort of pivotal day for me at this class. For months, as you know but I rarely explain, I have been figuring out how to write about the things I do in my dissertation. I can't say everything, so I have to pick relative and important aspects to develop, right?

I've been leaning towards a certain focus with my chapter that will be primarily about Bongsan Talchum, and tonight two conversations that I had really brought it together for me. First of all, I have been thinking of this as a chapter on Bongsan Talchum, and as such I've thought that the primary people in this chapter were 김은주 Kim Eunju (my usual teacher), 장용일 Jang Yongil (who sometimes teaches and I like him and he's a senior member of the group who I have interviewed multiple times) and other group members. But now I understand that the real point in this chapter is about the people who are coming to learn and the fact that they are almost entirely made up of people who are already invested in either performing or traditional arts on a full-time basis, and they regard Bongsan Talchum class as a new skill to pick up and utilize somehow in the process of personal advancement (much like an office worker might try to polish his English fluency or get certified in a new computer program).

I mentioned a few weeks ago that one of the Bongsan Talchum students, 박연식 Bak Yeonshik, turned out to be the leader of a 풍물 pungmul group that performed at the 대보름 daeboreum celebration in 송파 Songpa. Tonight I pushed him on what else he does, because he said he was teaching class during the day. He is employed with government funds (have to find out who his actual employer is) to go to five different schools where he teaches 민요 minyo (songs), 단소 vertical flute, 장구 janggu (drum), 국악 이론 traditional music theory and 정채성 Korean thought/philosophy. He rotates through 5 different schools the five days of the week. On Monday he teaches 3 classes, with a total of 25 students at a small school in a rural area, on Tuesday he has 180 students in 6 classes, on Wednesday 15 in an even smaller school, in fact he has 3 classes and one class has only 3 students, the entire fifth and sixth grade. Thursday he has 90 students, also in 3 classes and on Friday he has 120 students in four classes. He said that approximately 8% of Korean schools have someone like him to supplement their Korean music education (since the regular teachers are incapable) but that it was a higher amount before 이명박 Yi Myeongbak became president.

There was a student I hadn't met before tonight, he'd come on Thursday at least a couple times according to 하연 Hayeon. His name was 김용철 Kim Yongcheol. I stepped into a conversation during the evening that showed me (because he was also moving in demonstration) that he had significant dance training but then we had to get back to our class, so I quizzed him after class ended. He was born in 1965, he has his BA from Keimyung University in dance, then his MA and Ph.D. are from Sejong University also in Dance. The Sejong programs were theoretical programs but his focus was on choreography. He's performed around the world primarily in 창작 new creations for Korean dance (his aren't enormously traditional as he incorporates b-boy or modern dance moves with traditional moves). For four years he worked with the Seoul City Dance Company, but now he's teaching—he teaches at 한예종 KNUA, Sejong University and Jungang University as an adjunct professor of dance. He is particularly interested in Bongsan to learn new moves that he can work with in creating new works and keeping in shape because he has to keep up with his students.

Making ends meet in traditional arts. It'll be a lively section of my dissertation.

Sangmo Class with Yi Jonghui

February 15th, 2011

I got a lot of work done on the computer in the afternoon to the extent that every additional minute to type meant another amazing rush of words onto the page—bam bam everything coming together-- then rushed to 상모 sangmo class. And frustratingly 이종휘 Yi Jonghui was over an hour late (he's never been more than ten minutes late before and that only once). This was complicated by the fact that he had a new phone without any of our numbers in it and until I called him, he couldn't even tell us he was running late. When I got there 현석 Hyeonseok was already there, playing 장구 janggu, as was another woman, who turned out to be a 교포 gyopo (Korean-American) but no, I didn't talk to her. Maybe next week.

Before Jonghui showed up 구철회 Gu Cheolhoi (my first sangmo teacher) showed up. I was weirdly nervous. I think partially because I know I'm still not that good. But he was really surprised to see me. Probably thought I'd never spin a sangmo again after the week with him last summer. It was awkward to have him there, but fortunately a couple minutes later 진영 Jinyeong showed up, very happy to see her. When class finally started, it was such a weird adjustment to be back to Jonghui's style again. He forces us to take no breaks and do everything perfectly. He hassled me a lot to get some moves (more basic motions) right, but then praised my 나비사 nabisa (the most difficult motion I know).

Today after sangmo class when we were packing up our sangmo in our bags Hyeonseok started talking to me a lot more than he has in the past. His opening salvo was "I'm not good at this so I'm working towards being a professional – If I want to be professional I have no choice but to work, so (after much practice) I'm good at this." And "sangmo isn't fun at first. It's hard and frustrating and over 90% of the people who start quit it then. But if you get past that, then it's alright." We talked all the way to the subway and waiting for the subway and the stops until my transfer (he mostly talked and I listened and tried to follow along because he was talking to me as though he would another young person and young people have their own ways of talking these days. Most of the college kids I talk to sort of match the way I talk (a bit more formally) but Hyeonseok was talking with a lot of slang and full use of the habit of Koreans to not speak the subject and even the object of sentences if –they- think it's obvious.) He's getting more excited about his future prospects (I think he was really happy that I had complimented him on his drumming, which is frankly amazing) and really thinking about applications to university. He feels that students from arts high schools have a disadvantage when applying to KNUA, but he agreed with me that KNUA wants to see solid basics more than the most talented advanced performance. He went through a long list to me of which schools have better chances of sending their applicants to KNUA. The schools with good odds had two students accepted this year, so I don't see big difference from one (Hyeonseok goes to the same school 원중Wonjung was going to, and Wonjung was the only applicant that got into KNUA this year). It was really interesting to hear him lumping himself in with the professionals already, but he is performing (and probably earning money from it) already and he's definitely driven and hard working. Another subject of the conversation was that he is from a poor family and they don't have enough money for him to take lessons, not really, or not the number of lessons he wants to take. Instead of studying 봉산탈춤 Bongsan Talchum directly with 손병만 Son Byeongman he plans to start attending the evening Bongsan class, it's a lot cheaper. He told me he's planning to ask the teacher if she'll waive tuition for him. (And he's only planning once a week, which is around 30 bucks for the month- almost nothing!). So I sent her a message and told her that I wanted to secretly sponsor him to attend class. Among the many things Hyeonseok wants to learn is 바라춤 Barachum (the dance of the cymbals) it's a dance performed as part of the 영산재 Yeongsanjae ceremony (intangible cultural asset #50) by Buddhist monks.

Day 3 of the Winter Sangmo Intensive

February 9th, 2011
It stayed warm all night. Or should I say seriously hot. But the good news was that in the morning the video camera was working properly. I really think it just hates to get cold. I was able to shoot the entire morning class.

We began class on time, with me leading the beginning exercises, then practiced on our own stuff until the teacher arrived (all in all, though, this teacher is much more prompt than most of the teachers I have had here). He had everyone who could do 양사위 yangsaui do 150, but at just past 100 there was a mistake and he made us start again. So we certainly got a work out. Then I was assigned to walk and do 나비사 nabisa at the same time!!!!!!!!! Wow! And I was able to do it (with sort of tentative steps at first but I got better). That was great.

In the afternoon, as usual on Wednesdays, we had a game day. I was in team 8, and each team began by making a name and a song/chant. We named ourselves 원래 골찌 "have always been last" more or less. I could probably translate that better if I spent time thinking about it. I think in Korean, so I don't always know how to translate things. Anyway, it was a joke about how the team I've been on has always been last every time I've done one of these camps at 필봉 Pilbong. And the song was pretty funny, too. It went more or less "There's no denying I'm always last, that 막걸리 makgeolli over there won't be mine, even coming here four times, always last, this time I'm sure to be last again." We had four rounds of games. First we played a charades type game, where you relayed the acting through the whole team (pair by pair) and the first person in line had to guess what it was. We lost totally unfairly because the other teams subject was movies, and all the movies were major blockbusters, then our subject was animals and the animals were like "water skater beetle" and "gray bearded baboon" and things like that. Really hard to guess! Two times our team just had to pass the animals because the first guy had no idea what they were. The only one that compared with Titanic and Matrix was giraffe. The second round was the best. Totally fun. We had to lock our arms to our legs and then scoot on our butts and knock over the other team with our feet until we got their queen. I was a total killer. It was great. We won twice and so there wasn't a third game. Which almost made me sad we had won both times. The third round was horrible. We had to do three legged races to the 장구 janggu and then one person played each side of the janggu. After you'd randomly drawn the name of a 장단 jangdan (rhythmic pattern). Of course I don't really remember any of the jangdan names, so I was a total handicap to the team. We lost royally, because it was a race to get through all our pairs before the other team did, and they won by miles. The last round was actually four games, we won the first and third, but then the judges said the first game was a practice game. Game one was where you say a number and the people on the other team stand up or not. If the same number stand up as was named, then the team loses. Game two was a really complex Korean rhythmic syllabic game and I bowed out. You had to say a four syllable word or phrase four times, accenting a different syllable each time, as fast as you could. Then the next person did it but they couldn't go in the same order as you. The third game was another speed game with guessing the word, but this time the person who knew the word described it to the next person in line. We had to get through as many people as we could in the allotted time. We got through nine people, I did fine. Our subject was "bathroom" I had to guess "plunger" and had to describe "bidet." The other team drew the subject "Korean TV stars" so if we'd had that then my team would have been screwed. The final game was a game of true or false, the last team with players who were right would win. It was so sad, it ended up me against two girls from the other team and on the last question I went true, with one of them, the other went false. It was false. So close…

Then we all reassembled and my team had come in seventh (out of eight). We got 4 bottles of makgeolli as our prize, but then there was a big true or false game and my team was the last standing and we won 5 more bottles.

Photos of our team:




After dinner we had sangmo practice again. Everyone was doing well, except 의영 Uiyeong still can't really spin even once. This guy 진용 Jinyong who was with me in Week 3 arrived the evening of the 8th to do sangmo, too. In the morning he wasn't able to do nabisa and worked with 정화 Jeonghwa, but by the evening he exploded into really doing it well, which sort of frustrated me.

The 뒤풀이 duipuli for the night was according to the teams of the day. We had our 9 bottles, with 8 people, but we were having fun and decided to go begging off other groups. We got one from our neighbors, then three from one group by doing my arm trick, and three from another group by using my braid like a sangmo ribbon. So we all ended up with at least two bottles each. I was sitting next to 문형 Munhyeong, another individual participant, and 형진 Hyeongjin, a future acupuncturist. It was a lot of fun, especially when we started playing this huge selection of games. I'm almost getting good at those with so much practice. Fry pan game, strawberry game, image game, makondo, one where you have to do the multiplication tables, etc. I went to bed at three after two and a half bottles.