Korean thanksgiving was great! It is based off the lunar calandar though so it changes which day of the year it falls on. Unfortunately this year it fell on saturday so I only got 2 days off work, but enough complaining! It was wonderful! The picture above in inside a great concert / TV broadcasting hall where the President of Korea sat 10 rows infront of me then read poems on stage and many Korean famous music groups performed. But before that I want to talk about some other very fun things that happened first!
So first my good friend Calvin (궝선) and I went to the far east side of Seoul to go to a traditional Korean festival. Calvin is in the same shape as I am with family, his family is in Japan and so we were some of the few people in Korea who weren't with their families. But that is OK! We had fun anyhow, first it took around 3 hours of travel because of subways and buses and the like but when we got there it was a rather quiet peaceful park with only like 50 cents admission fee so I couldn't complain.
We went over to the festival area and there were loads of Koreans wearing Hanbok's and playing the Korean traditional games (which i sucked big time at). First there was the making of Duc which is basically rice pounded by a big hammer until it becomes more like a paste and it has seasoning put on the inside then after it is rolled into a ball. But we practiced making some Duc!
Starts like this:
Ends like this:
I dont think I actually ate that one for fear of germs but I eat Duc all the time and it's not bad. Then we got to see some old school Korean cultural music and I even got a picture with one of the guys. Calvin is the best buddy to have around because he hooks me up with great pictures all the time. They were interesting but it got a little dull after a while and I think it was even more dull for poor Calvin because he didnt see anything that new or special. I was wide eyed the whole time because I had never seen anything like this place.
First off the Kids in hanboks are the cutest thing I have ever seen.
Then there were all these fun games where people were using rope whips to keep tops spinning on the ground and rolling metal rings around with a little metal racking stick. Hmm hard to describe... But anyways the kids and the Korean middle aged men in suits sucked, then the old 아자씨 (Korean old man) comes up and shows everyone up. It was pretty funny. But anyway I got to see many super unique things that I am at a loss to describe.
One last thing i will try to describe because it was pretty sweet. So the festival music guys with the drums had this thing on their head that would whip around all over the place the whole time. It looked really cool, like it was always floating and that is the of my ability to describe it sorry...
So then after that and another hour in the Subway Calvin and I had some wonderful soup and met up with another of our best buddies 이정아 (Jeong-ah Lee) and she was super awesome! She got us tickets to see this wonderful TV special on thanksgiving for free and the president of Korea was there! yeah crazy right!
Well first we had some time to burn so 정아 (Jeong-ah) brought some thanks giving food that her family made and it was very very tastey! So we hung out in 요이도 (Yo-ei-do) park which is like The Park in Korea. Comparable to Central Park in New York and it is very close to where the Korean congress meets. Anways I can't communicate with 정아 that great but she is a really awesome person. Almost every Korean I have met has suprised me with how nice they are.
So the concert finally started and the security was huge because the president was there sitting in the middle over everyone and many other important dignitaries from America and other nations were also present. But other than the dignitaries who were old dudes I was the only foreigner there and as much as i try not to I kinda stand out. So I was getting odd looks all the time but I am pretty used to the by now but I cant kick the habit of checking my fly sometimes when people are staring at me.
The show was wonderful and it was about being generous and giving to others. So a good thanksgiving message. Some of the artists had birth defects or problems but it was about helping them and each other and encouraging people to do so. So the president read some poems about giving and helping. It was a good thanksgiving message.
This show was broadcast on Korea's biggest TV channel the KBS (Korean Broadcast station) and it was very well done. And yes 소녀시대 or Girls Generation was there but they didnt do "Gee" because apparently that song is pretty old in Korea so they did their newer songs which were pretty well done and I am pretty sure they were actually singing, i dont think it was lip syncing. Either was it was great and they are really fine! Calvin was yelling for one of the girls named Jessica the whole time, and it was pretty funny.
We weren't allowed to take pictures during it but Calvin was brave enough to snap one off at the end. My white hair was already drawing enough attention so I didnt but his photo is at the top of the post. It has 소녀시대 on the left in the blue outfits.
It made for a great thanksgiving and the next day was sunday so I went to church and that day was just as wonderful. Even though it was a Korean holiday it did make me wish to be with my family but the church members were really great. We hung out together all day and played games and even though I can't communicate well with most people they are really accepting of me.
We played 윷놀이 or the Korean game with the sticks that is very traditional and fun. And they really tried to include me in the other games as much as they could. I feel bad because things didnt work exactly as expected with the other games when they try to include me but well we all had a good time.
Then after spending the whole day with everyone who just about welcomes me as a family member everyone (except Calvin and I) brought loads of thanksgiving food and we shared it all. It was a really great time but I will admit it was a bit difficult being away from home during thanksgiving; even if it is the Korean thanksgiving.
Link to my other pictures: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdrobison100%2FkgTWyI%3Ffeat%3Ddirectlink&h=10f599a075b1d6903f35d44351a0781f
Well as normal I dont have much time which means I dont have time to proof read this so, sorry for my many errors. I am an OK English teacher I swear!
안녕 annyeong peace
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