There are lots of big stories to tell, and maybe they will get told, but for now I've really got to start blogging (otherwise I will never catch up with myself), and by blog will be a memoir (always months behind me), and not a blog.
Last week some older folks (mostly ageshi's (older men), but some ageema's) greeted me as I was walking home from school. They were on their break from picking garbage up from the neighbourhood. It is a government funded program that gives older people a small income, and something to do. Once this generation goes the streets of Korea will not be a pretty sight. The younger generation depend on their diligence, and I can't see them happy with the same life as older people. One of the ageshi's asked me in Hangul (Korean) if I spoke Korean, and I said "chookum, chookum" (a little), and then "not really". To my surprise he began to talk to me in clear English (better than most of the Koreans my own age) - this is VERY uncommon for someone of his generation. His generation (and all of it's stories) are predominantly inacessable for an anglophone like me. I was happy to be able to communicate with him, and not feel horribly akward about not being able to say any more (in Hangul) then the rehearsed: I am a violin and english teacher, and I work at IVY academy. In my surprise I said "your english is very good", and he told me that when he was younger he was an english literature professor in Busan. They asked about my violin ect. and then one of the other ageshi's told me that his wife was a violin and piano teacher at a local hogwan. The english professor introduced me to one of the ageema's, and told me that when she was younger she was a classical singer. He told me she spoke english, but she was shy. She smiles at me alot, but she doesn't talk much. I asked the english professor if they were here every day, and he said yes, and that they also saw ME pass every day. I have visited with this group a couple times since. I have played my ukelele for them (an instrument they have never seen before), and discovered the the classical singer was a lyric soprano. The english professor told me that she has a very beautiful voice. Sometimes she sings when they are working. Today they asked me how old I was. They were very surprised at my age. Another ageshi from the neighborhood (I don't think he was part of the garbage picking team) with a small dog offered to set me up with a Korean man. He said that "I would be very happy, and so would the man". This was a translation of the english professor. I'm actually surprised they didn't ask me my age and try to set me up sooner. It's funny: being a 30 year old single woman in Korea (as far as I can tell) is seen as a state of emergency. Since I look younger then I am (and I'm not Korean so I don't know any better) they see it as a problem that can be easily solved, and so they are always eager to help (both men and women). Every one wants to be a hero. Today, I was also given a couple of handfuls of chestnuts from one of the members of the group (I don't remember which one, because they appeared so abruptly in my hands). I am happy to have met this group with another month of pleasant weather. I have lots to learn from them, and they seem to feel the same way about me, so I imagine we will be spending a few more afternoons together sharing culture.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
English phrases around town number 2
this bakery is pretty good, and specializes in something we all love:
when you drive your car speed and be happy:
I'd like to move into this appartment building (only a 15 minute walk from where I am living now), because the people who live here develop higher IQ's. There's stuff in the paint that is kind of like the opposite of led:
sometimes the kids sport down home country style:
This little girls' outfit educates us on the special capabilities of Korea's cows:
when you drive your car speed and be happy:
I'd like to move into this appartment building (only a 15 minute walk from where I am living now), because the people who live here develop higher IQ's. There's stuff in the paint that is kind of like the opposite of led:
sometimes the kids sport down home country style:
This little girls' outfit educates us on the special capabilities of Korea's cows:
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Wondong seasons #1: A walk through Wondong in early spring
This is a retrospective (i know that is probably a slightly wrong word, but you know what i mean) on my neighbourhood here. I've been fascinated with it since I got here, because it has all the conveniences of a modern city (minus a great night-live), and yet I am surrounded by rice, goju (red peppers), corn, many types of greens ect. + the people who grow them. I watch (half the size of the Korean's my age) sun-baked Koreans work in the fields every day as I walk to and from my work, and through the months I have watched everything grow. In the last few weeks the goju has been harvested (is still being harvested), and dried, the corn has also been harvested, as well as greens, and other plants, and they are now beginning to harvest, and process the rice. It is so interesting I want to stand and watch all these processes, but I also don't want to be rude, so I never stay as long as I would like to.
The first installment in this retrospective is spring. I'll take you on a walk through my neighbourhood.
From the park by my house through a tree:
About 15 minute walk from my house on the way to the woods. People working in the fields getting ready for the growing season.
I don't know what all the plastic is for, but systems here are very efficient and nothing is wasted (especially systems concerning use of space). As I watched the crops grow in Wondong I realised that in one plot of land every square inch was used (and not all for the same thing).
Up in the woods:
I've walked through a number of woods in Korea now, and even if you wack your way through (the woods by my house aren't really used by many people to walk in so you have to make your own path) you will always come across man-made clearing up on the top of hills, covered in graves. In general Korean's like to live in valley's, but when they die they always seem to move up into the hills. It's kind of nice, because there are many small graveyards tucked away in strange places. Really the opposite of how Korean's live (in apartment blocks, within large communities very close together). I find the graveyards here very peaceful.
Coming down from the forest, Looking through a field into Wondong:
A woman working in the field (about a 3 minute walk from my house). Notice the building block behind her. She is as small and old as she looks. Most of the people working in the fields are over 50, and under 5 feet tall.
I think this is what is left of the rice from last year (i'm not sure)
Because they turn it, and then it looks like this:
This house is an important image to me (i will include it in later pictures). It is a massive converted barn (I think, because it has hardly any windows, and the ones it does have are very small). The bottom of the house is a shed for all of the farm equipment), and the top is a house were people live. It looms over the small amount of farmland in Wondong. It is so huge, and so country, it looks completely out of place next to the apartment blocks, either like it once overlooked the ocean, but the ocean dried up, or like it used to be surrounded by an endless prairie landscape, and was quickly encroached upon by apartment blocks. I guess the later is more plausable, but when you see the house in all it's glory you will think the ocean dried up too.
to be continued........
The first installment in this retrospective is spring. I'll take you on a walk through my neighbourhood.
From the park by my house through a tree:
About 15 minute walk from my house on the way to the woods. People working in the fields getting ready for the growing season.
I don't know what all the plastic is for, but systems here are very efficient and nothing is wasted (especially systems concerning use of space). As I watched the crops grow in Wondong I realised that in one plot of land every square inch was used (and not all for the same thing).
Up in the woods:
I've walked through a number of woods in Korea now, and even if you wack your way through (the woods by my house aren't really used by many people to walk in so you have to make your own path) you will always come across man-made clearing up on the top of hills, covered in graves. In general Korean's like to live in valley's, but when they die they always seem to move up into the hills. It's kind of nice, because there are many small graveyards tucked away in strange places. Really the opposite of how Korean's live (in apartment blocks, within large communities very close together). I find the graveyards here very peaceful.
Coming down from the forest, Looking through a field into Wondong:
A woman working in the field (about a 3 minute walk from my house). Notice the building block behind her. She is as small and old as she looks. Most of the people working in the fields are over 50, and under 5 feet tall.
I think this is what is left of the rice from last year (i'm not sure)
Because they turn it, and then it looks like this:
This house is an important image to me (i will include it in later pictures). It is a massive converted barn (I think, because it has hardly any windows, and the ones it does have are very small). The bottom of the house is a shed for all of the farm equipment), and the top is a house were people live. It looms over the small amount of farmland in Wondong. It is so huge, and so country, it looks completely out of place next to the apartment blocks, either like it once overlooked the ocean, but the ocean dried up, or like it used to be surrounded by an endless prairie landscape, and was quickly encroached upon by apartment blocks. I guess the later is more plausable, but when you see the house in all it's glory you will think the ocean dried up too.
to be continued........
Monday, September 7, 2009
Korean Camping Festival
Some time in April I was invited by one of the bluegrass “old boys” – Peter – to be a groupie at the bi-annual Korean camping festival. The festival was hosted by the Korean Camping association, an association with more than 40, 000 members that also hosts camping trips every single weekend of the year. Korea is not very big, and as far as I can see the Korean perspective on camping is very different than the Canadian perspective. I think the association itself (40, 000 members – trips every weekend) is a hint as to where the differences’ lie. They take the campground to a whole new level. Camping seems to be far more of a social event here. The tents are sometimes so close together you can’t get between them. It is definitely about family and community, and also about camping gear. It is hard for me to see how it is about camping, but then I’m not Korean. It was nice to experience Korean’s in a family environment, because the kids I teach are in such an institutional/ business environment (the private education system in Korea is a business before an education facility), and the Korean’s I see outside of school are usually in drinking environments (also not family oriented). When I arrived at the site I was reminded of a medium sized folk festival – hillside in the late 90’s. It didn’t look like camping to me, but I didn’t know what to expect, and I was happy with everything I saw.
tent city (actually not at it's full occupation):
The view:
The “old-boys” didn’t have room for me in the car (due to an acoustic base), so they gave me directions to take the train. I figured if I was with musicians in Korea I would be fed, so I came unprepared (having eaten only an ice-cream bar by 4pm, and hoping for the best). I was starving for the first couple hours, and felt really stupid for only eating ice cream, but once the dinner hour rolled around food began to arrive in abundance. I was fed that night on three separate occasions. First home cooked Korean style camping food (which means a full on meal cooked outside) from the Korean campers who were friends of the musicians, second: delicious Korean drinking food (which also could be a full meal, but Korean’s don’t see it like that), + good wine, soju, and beer while I was listening to the show (provided by the camping association for the friends of the musicians), and then the musicians “meal” which I ate with the “band” after they performed at about 9:30pm. I was quite proud of my role as groupie at that time.
Groupie food #2 (while the band was playing):
The performers that night where: First: 2 Korean’s who dressed up like traditional Dutch/Norwegian/Swiss highlanders, and played a mix of Norwegian (i think), and American old-time country music. Their instrumentation included upright base, guitar, vocals, and occasionally Alpine horn. Quite a lot to imagine. Imagine yodeling too. This band was pretty tight, and at times hilarious.
The bluegrass guys I knew came with went on next. Although there was one Korean in the group they were really the foreign content. They played the kind of bluegrass you would hear on the radio (with tight harmonies), and fast clear lines. It was the same atmosphere as a hippie folk festival, only everyone was Korean, and no one was dancing, including the kids (it was 8pm – there where lots of kids not dancing). I couldn’t help myself. I got up and danced to their music. Some little kids stared at me in awe (or disgust – it’s sometimes hard for a foreigner to tell these things). During one song a Korean man wearing a cowboy hat came up and danced with me. That was fun, and a little awkward. Fortunately I think this inspired courage in the 2 sideline kids who came up for a little brief (but victorious – for me if not for them) spontaneous, and childishly free dance along side us. Before the next song they had regained their Korean composure.
The "band": Mississippi Dave, Peter (Pan), Qu-Ha (for Korean content)
While we ate dinner some all-Korean bands came on, and played classic American rock songs moderately badly (moderately badly for classic rock is actually very bad, because very bad would actually be more interesting to listen to). After listening to my table make fun of the band for a while I suggested we go off to the cabins and make our own music.
The jam session included the “band” + Roger (the enthusiastic banjo player), Yvon (the craigslist contact who put me in touch with everyone), and 2 of Qu-Ha’s students (we were all the groupies). One of Qu-ha’s students was a drummer, and one was a mandolin player. The drummer played pots and pans from the cabin fantastically, and the guitarist fell in love with my little red ukulele, and played it sincerely and beautifully (and a whole lot better than me) within five minutes of it being in his hands. I wish I had a picture of this love affair.
After the jam bed assignment was a bit of an ordeal. Qu-ha, Mississippi Dave (the mandolin player), Roger, Qu-ha’s students, and myself were all in one cabin with a small bedroom (one double bed), and a pull out couch in the main area. There were also Korean style sleeping mats in the cabin. It was tight, but it shouldn’t have been a problem. However, the Korean tradition of classifying things hierarchically went head to head with plain old selfishness for awhile before a solution was reached. Earlier in the evening Mississippi Dave (a 60 year old man who is actually from Winnipeg claimed the bedroom because he was “in the band”). I thought “that’s fair I guess. Qu-ha is also “In the band”, but I he’s younger.” It seemed to me like it made the most sense for people to share the beds, but it wasn’t up to me, and Dave seemed pretty determined to sleep by himself. When it was actually time for bed Dave was on a walk. Qu-ha just started assigning sleeping places. He put me in the bedroom (because I was the only girl), Roger and Dave on the pull out double (because they were the oldest), and everyone else on the floor mats. Roger and I mentioned to Qu-ha that Dave had claimed the bedroom, but he seemed to think that was a ridiculous idea so I chuckled at my good fortune, and made ready to go to bed. However when Dave came back he wouldn’t have any of it. He felt so entitled to sleep by himself in the bedroom that Qu-ha’s ideas of gender segregation didn’t stand a chance. So Qu-ha took the next best option, and put me on the pull-out double, by myself! Yes! I was so happy to be the only girl there. I felt a little bad when there were 5 people sleeping on the floor instead of 3 (there weren’t even enough floor mats, so some people were sleeping on blankets), but at the same time I didn’t really have a choice. I would have had to turn it into a humanist/feminist debate in order to take a spot on the floor so that 2 people could have a spot on the bed. It was late. I was happy for my undeserved spot in the bed.
The cabin we stayed in (Roger and Yvon):
In the morning all the kids (the ones who didn’t dance the night before) were rounded up for kids games and activities. There was a whole army of them. It seemed like so many more kids than I had imagined were at the festival suddenly appeared. In my mind I compared it to the craft tent or some other kid themed tent at Hillside festival, and the number of kids that would have showed up there (also the way they would have participated in the activities – maybe start making a tambourine, and not finish it, get their face painted like a cat, and then run off meowing ect.). The kids here were on vacation. They were free to do whatever they wanted. It seemed funny to me that they wouldn’t just want to mess around by the river, or pile stones by a tree, or watch ants, or something. They all seemed to WANT to be marched around in organized kid activities. It seemed very strange and out of place to me. It really sent home the fact that Korean kids are raised in a significantly different way than Canadian kids are.
the kids being assembled:
We had another jam in the morning,
Me and Roger are facing you. Peter, and Yvon have their backs to you.
A Korean man in a cowboy hat buys a cd at the morning jam session. Another Korean man in the background is "Qualified" and also supports Snoopy and Newyork:
while a cute little girl blows bubbles:
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UdGAFpULr6Q/SqUgqwKdVAI/AAAAAAAAALo/HXLBbDR4L5U/s1600-h/DSCN0151.JPG">
+ her twin sister!
<
and I took the train home with Roger in the early afternoon.
Roger and I at the train station ineffectively pretending to be Korean:
My summary of the Korean camping association: Families, community, weekend getaway, and lots of camping gear.
Serious about gear:
and the pet tents too
And here is a video of a tune from the morning jam. it wasn't a particularly happening one, but it gives you a sense of the mood of the morning + i fuck up the chords in the middle, and uncross my legs, and it looks like the camera man is hoping for a bit of a better view. After that is my solo. it seems like maybe the mistake woke me up a little.
tent city (actually not at it's full occupation):
The view:
The “old-boys” didn’t have room for me in the car (due to an acoustic base), so they gave me directions to take the train. I figured if I was with musicians in Korea I would be fed, so I came unprepared (having eaten only an ice-cream bar by 4pm, and hoping for the best). I was starving for the first couple hours, and felt really stupid for only eating ice cream, but once the dinner hour rolled around food began to arrive in abundance. I was fed that night on three separate occasions. First home cooked Korean style camping food (which means a full on meal cooked outside) from the Korean campers who were friends of the musicians, second: delicious Korean drinking food (which also could be a full meal, but Korean’s don’t see it like that), + good wine, soju, and beer while I was listening to the show (provided by the camping association for the friends of the musicians), and then the musicians “meal” which I ate with the “band” after they performed at about 9:30pm. I was quite proud of my role as groupie at that time.
Groupie food #2 (while the band was playing):
The performers that night where: First: 2 Korean’s who dressed up like traditional Dutch/Norwegian/Swiss highlanders, and played a mix of Norwegian (i think), and American old-time country music. Their instrumentation included upright base, guitar, vocals, and occasionally Alpine horn. Quite a lot to imagine. Imagine yodeling too. This band was pretty tight, and at times hilarious.
The bluegrass guys I knew came with went on next. Although there was one Korean in the group they were really the foreign content. They played the kind of bluegrass you would hear on the radio (with tight harmonies), and fast clear lines. It was the same atmosphere as a hippie folk festival, only everyone was Korean, and no one was dancing, including the kids (it was 8pm – there where lots of kids not dancing). I couldn’t help myself. I got up and danced to their music. Some little kids stared at me in awe (or disgust – it’s sometimes hard for a foreigner to tell these things). During one song a Korean man wearing a cowboy hat came up and danced with me. That was fun, and a little awkward. Fortunately I think this inspired courage in the 2 sideline kids who came up for a little brief (but victorious – for me if not for them) spontaneous, and childishly free dance along side us. Before the next song they had regained their Korean composure.
The "band": Mississippi Dave, Peter (Pan), Qu-Ha (for Korean content)
While we ate dinner some all-Korean bands came on, and played classic American rock songs moderately badly (moderately badly for classic rock is actually very bad, because very bad would actually be more interesting to listen to). After listening to my table make fun of the band for a while I suggested we go off to the cabins and make our own music.
The jam session included the “band” + Roger (the enthusiastic banjo player), Yvon (the craigslist contact who put me in touch with everyone), and 2 of Qu-Ha’s students (we were all the groupies). One of Qu-ha’s students was a drummer, and one was a mandolin player. The drummer played pots and pans from the cabin fantastically, and the guitarist fell in love with my little red ukulele, and played it sincerely and beautifully (and a whole lot better than me) within five minutes of it being in his hands. I wish I had a picture of this love affair.
After the jam bed assignment was a bit of an ordeal. Qu-ha, Mississippi Dave (the mandolin player), Roger, Qu-ha’s students, and myself were all in one cabin with a small bedroom (one double bed), and a pull out couch in the main area. There were also Korean style sleeping mats in the cabin. It was tight, but it shouldn’t have been a problem. However, the Korean tradition of classifying things hierarchically went head to head with plain old selfishness for awhile before a solution was reached. Earlier in the evening Mississippi Dave (a 60 year old man who is actually from Winnipeg claimed the bedroom because he was “in the band”). I thought “that’s fair I guess. Qu-ha is also “In the band”, but I he’s younger.” It seemed to me like it made the most sense for people to share the beds, but it wasn’t up to me, and Dave seemed pretty determined to sleep by himself. When it was actually time for bed Dave was on a walk. Qu-ha just started assigning sleeping places. He put me in the bedroom (because I was the only girl), Roger and Dave on the pull out double (because they were the oldest), and everyone else on the floor mats. Roger and I mentioned to Qu-ha that Dave had claimed the bedroom, but he seemed to think that was a ridiculous idea so I chuckled at my good fortune, and made ready to go to bed. However when Dave came back he wouldn’t have any of it. He felt so entitled to sleep by himself in the bedroom that Qu-ha’s ideas of gender segregation didn’t stand a chance. So Qu-ha took the next best option, and put me on the pull-out double, by myself! Yes! I was so happy to be the only girl there. I felt a little bad when there were 5 people sleeping on the floor instead of 3 (there weren’t even enough floor mats, so some people were sleeping on blankets), but at the same time I didn’t really have a choice. I would have had to turn it into a humanist/feminist debate in order to take a spot on the floor so that 2 people could have a spot on the bed. It was late. I was happy for my undeserved spot in the bed.
The cabin we stayed in (Roger and Yvon):
In the morning all the kids (the ones who didn’t dance the night before) were rounded up for kids games and activities. There was a whole army of them. It seemed like so many more kids than I had imagined were at the festival suddenly appeared. In my mind I compared it to the craft tent or some other kid themed tent at Hillside festival, and the number of kids that would have showed up there (also the way they would have participated in the activities – maybe start making a tambourine, and not finish it, get their face painted like a cat, and then run off meowing ect.). The kids here were on vacation. They were free to do whatever they wanted. It seemed funny to me that they wouldn’t just want to mess around by the river, or pile stones by a tree, or watch ants, or something. They all seemed to WANT to be marched around in organized kid activities. It seemed very strange and out of place to me. It really sent home the fact that Korean kids are raised in a significantly different way than Canadian kids are.
the kids being assembled:
We had another jam in the morning,
Me and Roger are facing you. Peter, and Yvon have their backs to you.
A Korean man in a cowboy hat buys a cd at the morning jam session. Another Korean man in the background is "Qualified" and also supports Snoopy and Newyork:
while a cute little girl blows bubbles:
a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_UdGAFpULr6Q/SqUgqwKdVAI/AAAAAAAAALo/HXLBbDR4L5U/s1600-h/DSCN0151.JPG">
+ her twin sister!
<
and I took the train home with Roger in the early afternoon.
Roger and I at the train station ineffectively pretending to be Korean:
My summary of the Korean camping association: Families, community, weekend getaway, and lots of camping gear.
Serious about gear:
and the pet tents too
And here is a video of a tune from the morning jam. it wasn't a particularly happening one, but it gives you a sense of the mood of the morning + i fuck up the chords in the middle, and uncross my legs, and it looks like the camera man is hoping for a bit of a better view. After that is my solo. it seems like maybe the mistake woke me up a little.
Monday, August 24, 2009
First and maybe last authentic nooribong experience (with Korean's) - the night before Buhdda's birthday
About a month ago I had 4 days off that I was notified about exactly 2 days in advance. Being really new to Korea this did not exactly give me a lot of time to plan a vacation. I made plans with Cate to go to Busan (the other sort of cool city in Korea on the opposite coast, the cleaner coast), but she cancelled last minute due to lack of funds, and I was left with no plans. I texted lots of people, and did some Internet searches, and didn’t come up with anything I wanted to do by myself, or anyone who wanted to go anywhere with me. If I went somewhere by myself I had in mind a mountain or the ocean (preferably both). I didn’t want to wander around another big polluted city by myself. On the Friday night before my vacation I went drinking with my co-workers. I drank far to much soju which (I have now had enough experience with to know for a fact) is always what happens with Koreans. Their drinking games are brutal, and I am sure that they change the rules for unsuspecting foreigners who don’t know any better. At the beginning of the night it was just Amy (my co-kindergarten teacher), and Dustin (the gym teacher, who also teachers only kindergarten). These are the people at work who I am closest to, because I hang out with them all day. We ate some food together, and got pretty drunk. Dustin was pretty tired that night, and he was speaking to Amy in Korean more often then usual. At one while listening attentively to their Korean conversation I realized that I had been listening as if it was French, and I could get the jest of what was going on, but not really communicate my own ideas, but this was not the case. I understood exactly nothing. The only thing I did pick up on were the polite endings to words. The only kind of information that gives you is whether they are talking about a kid, a boss, or their grandparents, and at that point I wasn’t even sure what meant what. At this point of realization I gave them a little very interested look which was enough for them to realize I was left out, and then I asked them what they had been talking about. The funny thing about that moment is they had actually been talking about me. But it wasn’t bad (or at least not that they let me know). It turns out that Amy was saying that she’s met a lot of foreigners through her work. In general they think that just because she’s Korean and they are foreigners she will want to be friends with them. She said that this was especially true of men. She was saying that I was different, and that she actually wanted to be my friend. I related to her sentiment, I mean about foreigners, but of course from a different perspective. Something really annoying here is that so many of the foreigner men act like assholes, and I don’t think it is just because this country attracts foreigner assholes, although that is part of it. There are a couple of reasons why a lot of foreigners assume that Korean’s will just automatically want to be their friends. A lot of Korean’s are so anxious to learn English that they will be nice to you just to get the opportunity to talk to you. Another thing is: Many Korean women idolize white men. As a result white men get excited, and think that all Korean women love them. The culture here is definitely behind Canada, America, and other “western” countries in terms of feminism, but it is also different. Misogyny is way more understated, because everything is more understated. So what happens to a lot of western men when they come here, is that they bask in the misogyny of the culture, but totally miss the understatedness of it, basically reverting to obnoxious misogynistic behaviors that may have been appropriate in their home countries 50 plus years ago, but that are certainly not acceptable now. It is really kind of depressing. I am friends with a lot of men, and I like men. I am a feminist, but I am certainly not a man-hater. This behavior has made me very disappointed in men in general, to the point of sounding a bit like a man-hater. O.k. I’ll stop, but I think you see where I’m going. It’s just depressing to see so many men revert to shitty behaviors as soon as they have the opportunity. I guess I actually had more faith in a genuine desire for equality among most men and women, but I don’t think that people with this kind of desire are really the majority. It was pretty cool to hear a Korean woman actually express an irritation at this obnoxious behavior. That night Dustin also said that Amy was helping him to change some of the ideas he had about women: that they couldn’t lift things ect. because Amy helped move tables and stuff like that. Not exactly heavy lifting, but there is an idea held by some people here that women can’t really lift anything. I don’t think I really fall into the same category, because foreigners are all just weird.
Dustin, Amy and I got good and drunk just in time for the principal of the school to finish work, show up at the restaurant, and insist on buying us all another full meal, and more alcohol. This is the point were I really started to exceed my consumption limit (both in terms of food and alcohol), but I was told that in Korea if your boss buys you food and alcohol you have to drink and eat. There was another proud moment with Amy at this restaurant. At one point she started to have a serious discussion with the principal. When he left the table I asked her what they were talking about. She said that she was telling him that the school needed to be more organized in order for her to do her job well, and be challenged by her job. I admire really admire Amy for being thoughrouly Korean, and yet displaying assertive behavior that I don’t even find too common in men hear (in a very respectful way of course). I think she is very brave.
Once we were good and drunk, and stuffed to the absolute limit with tasty food we went to a nooribong (a very very typical Korean drinking night which I now try successfully to avoid doing too often, but I thought with my Korean co-workers was an appropriate enough situation to warrant this type of experience). This was probably the most interesting nooribong experience yet. My co-workers illegally ordered soju for me (which they brought me in a water bottle with food. The water bottle because soju is illegal in a nooribong (you are only allowed beer). The food because they couldn’t stand to see me drinking soju without eating something. This is very typical. Amy sung the most, and she picked a mixture of western and Korean songs. I was just starting to be able to read the alphabet at the time, so I took pleasure in sounding out the characters as she sung them. Amy’s voice is pretty high. She doesn’t sing very tunefully, but she seems to sing with passion (I think). Korean singing is really hard to interpret. My boss came out in this session. He picked songs by Frank Sinatra ect, and his Korean counterparts, and sang them in a semi crooner/ semi operatic voice with perfect intonation, and classical control. My boss was a music major. He actually studied voice, but never really pursued it. He is a nervous, particular fellow (very much a boss type character), so it was really interesting to see him in this capacity. You could tell he loved to sing, and he was good at it (whatever stylistic judgments I may not have agreed with). Upon hearing Amy’s high voice I looked up “girls just want to have fun” in the songbook. Glory Hallelujah, it was there! Amy had never heard of it, but she agreed to try to fake it with me. She actually did a pretty good job of it AND Dustin, and Micheal (my boss) got up and danced. It was a very uncool, and victorious moment. Of the same quality as “little miss sunshine”, but not quite as heart-warming (almost though). Later in the evening I picked “walk on the wildside” by Lou Reed. I remembered that I really liked singing along with it, but had forgotten that is was about prostitution in New York City. This led to another slightly uncomfortable, and somewhat uncool moment of a different nature. Amy had left the room, so it was just me, Micheal (my boss), and Dustin (the male gym teacher). When you see lyrics written on a screen while you sing them your really become much more aware of what you are saying. At first I became quite uncomfortable, and Dustin asked if I would like to turn skip it, but the fact is I LOVE SINGING WITH LOU REED, and I really couldn’t pass up the opportunity (Lou Reeds voice, his lyrics (with a few mistakes) floating across the screen), and a microphone with built in bad reverb for my personal enjoyment). Who would pass that up? In conclusion: my first real Korean Nooribong experience (the other one was a foreigner experience) was incredibly uncool, super fun, and just a little bit embarrassing. Everything one should expect from an experience of this nature. I woke up on Buddha’s birthday with a fuzzy head, and cursed the soju for it’s incredible unholiness. Soju is really the dirtiest alcohol I have ever experienced. I was a bit pissed at myself because I didn’t think Buddha would approve in the least, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my 4 days off (which happens very very rarely in Korea). However, I don’t think that Buddha is really the disapproving type, and fate took a very nice turn for me that weekend despite my possibly bad decisions in with respect to alcohol consumption on Friday.
Dustin and Amy:
A great meal:
Dustin, Amy and I got good and drunk just in time for the principal of the school to finish work, show up at the restaurant, and insist on buying us all another full meal, and more alcohol. This is the point were I really started to exceed my consumption limit (both in terms of food and alcohol), but I was told that in Korea if your boss buys you food and alcohol you have to drink and eat. There was another proud moment with Amy at this restaurant. At one point she started to have a serious discussion with the principal. When he left the table I asked her what they were talking about. She said that she was telling him that the school needed to be more organized in order for her to do her job well, and be challenged by her job. I admire really admire Amy for being thoughrouly Korean, and yet displaying assertive behavior that I don’t even find too common in men hear (in a very respectful way of course). I think she is very brave.
Once we were good and drunk, and stuffed to the absolute limit with tasty food we went to a nooribong (a very very typical Korean drinking night which I now try successfully to avoid doing too often, but I thought with my Korean co-workers was an appropriate enough situation to warrant this type of experience). This was probably the most interesting nooribong experience yet. My co-workers illegally ordered soju for me (which they brought me in a water bottle with food. The water bottle because soju is illegal in a nooribong (you are only allowed beer). The food because they couldn’t stand to see me drinking soju without eating something. This is very typical. Amy sung the most, and she picked a mixture of western and Korean songs. I was just starting to be able to read the alphabet at the time, so I took pleasure in sounding out the characters as she sung them. Amy’s voice is pretty high. She doesn’t sing very tunefully, but she seems to sing with passion (I think). Korean singing is really hard to interpret. My boss came out in this session. He picked songs by Frank Sinatra ect, and his Korean counterparts, and sang them in a semi crooner/ semi operatic voice with perfect intonation, and classical control. My boss was a music major. He actually studied voice, but never really pursued it. He is a nervous, particular fellow (very much a boss type character), so it was really interesting to see him in this capacity. You could tell he loved to sing, and he was good at it (whatever stylistic judgments I may not have agreed with). Upon hearing Amy’s high voice I looked up “girls just want to have fun” in the songbook. Glory Hallelujah, it was there! Amy had never heard of it, but she agreed to try to fake it with me. She actually did a pretty good job of it AND Dustin, and Micheal (my boss) got up and danced. It was a very uncool, and victorious moment. Of the same quality as “little miss sunshine”, but not quite as heart-warming (almost though). Later in the evening I picked “walk on the wildside” by Lou Reed. I remembered that I really liked singing along with it, but had forgotten that is was about prostitution in New York City. This led to another slightly uncomfortable, and somewhat uncool moment of a different nature. Amy had left the room, so it was just me, Micheal (my boss), and Dustin (the male gym teacher). When you see lyrics written on a screen while you sing them your really become much more aware of what you are saying. At first I became quite uncomfortable, and Dustin asked if I would like to turn skip it, but the fact is I LOVE SINGING WITH LOU REED, and I really couldn’t pass up the opportunity (Lou Reeds voice, his lyrics (with a few mistakes) floating across the screen), and a microphone with built in bad reverb for my personal enjoyment). Who would pass that up? In conclusion: my first real Korean Nooribong experience (the other one was a foreigner experience) was incredibly uncool, super fun, and just a little bit embarrassing. Everything one should expect from an experience of this nature. I woke up on Buddha’s birthday with a fuzzy head, and cursed the soju for it’s incredible unholiness. Soju is really the dirtiest alcohol I have ever experienced. I was a bit pissed at myself because I didn’t think Buddha would approve in the least, and I had no idea what I was going to do with my 4 days off (which happens very very rarely in Korea). However, I don’t think that Buddha is really the disapproving type, and fate took a very nice turn for me that weekend despite my possibly bad decisions in with respect to alcohol consumption on Friday.
Dustin and Amy:
A great meal:
Buhdda's Birthday: (may 2nd in Korea!!!!!) - I am VERY behind.
Saturday morning on buddha’s birthday with a soju head. I was so ashamed of myself, but I figured Buddha wouldn’t be happy if I was ashamed of myself, and I certainly didn’t have the mind to meditate, so I started researching a trip (to salvage my little 4 day vacation) on the internet. I found out some information about a place called sokcho on the east coast (the clean ocean) with a beach and a mountain. I was trying to figure out how to get there when Lorena (the Canadian who I met in a bar, and is now working at my school) called me. She said that her and the boys (her husband and sons) were going out to the shack (the one on an island she had told me about when we me) to move some stuff around, and that I was welcome to come. They were just going for the afternoon, but she thought it might be interesting for me. Realistically my brain was too fried to plan my own adventure, but I took this as fate smiling on me for trying, so I said “sure”. She came to pick me up with Sangmin (her husband), and Jungyun (who I teach in Kindergarten), and “the little one” (her 2 sons). The shack really was a shack (what I was hoping for). It had 2 small rooms, and a very small kitchen that was in need of a good deal of work. One of the rooms (as promised) had a piano in it which was reasonably well tuned (for the fact that it lived in a shack), but was sinking the floor in.
The shack:
The scenery was gorgeous! The shack was surrounded by mountains, and small farms of all types. There were a lot more trees, and different types of foliage on these farms then on western farms, and they were covered in beautiful red dirt. One of the property’s had a group of deer held captive in a relatively small cage. Lorena told me that Koreans keep those kind of deer captivity for the purpose of drinking the blood from their horns. They believe it gives them strength and vitality (or something like that). It seems pretty cruel to me, especially since deer are not particularily territorial animals. We’re all human, and human’s always seem to find ways to abuse the illusionary power that they have over nature. Another common practice here that is questionable as far as the natural world is concerned is the flattening of large hills into the ocean, extending the shoreline, and creating very well-irrigated farmland. It may infact be harmless, but it seems possibly dangerous to the balance of things to mess so severely with the tideline. It is also very unsightly to see bulldozed foothills in the midst of beautiful mountains.
The View from the shack:
Behind the “shack”, and up a little hill was a school, and school grounds used to teach kids in the surrounding area traditional arts, craft, agriculture, music ect.
In the schoolyard:
The art "greenhouse"/tent on the school grounds:
In the past it had been an alternative residential school with a philosophy I can most closely compare to Waldorf (focusing on traditional cooking, farming, music, art ect.) It was eye-opening, and refreshing for me to see this kind of response to the rapid acceleration of Western culture in Korea being made by Korean’s. Lorena told me that the alternative school was still in operation, but it had moved to a different location. Lorena also told me that before the school changed locations many of their neighbours taught at the school. Amoung them were a group of traditional Korean musicians. Two years ago the musicians lived in the building beside her, which at this point in time is completely run down. She said that when the musicians lived there it was kept in very good condition. It was very small. It was hard to imagine any more than one or two people living there, but she said that there were five or six.
The musicians house:
Lorena and Sangmin have owned the shack for 5 years, and they have had a relationship with the school since the beginning. When the musicians lived there they used Lorena and Sangmin’s shack as a practice space when the family wasn’t there. When the family was there, they were often the audience to all night jam sessions (fortunately they are the type of people to appreciate this kind of thing). The family uses some space in the school for storage, and also uses the washroom in the school (since they don’t have one in the shack). When the school moved Lorena and Sangmin wanted to start a live in english school with a hands on philosophy – as an alternative to the book focused language teaching method here in Korea that is as prevalent as it is ineffective. She said that she had actually tried to start it, but had run into a wall, because there are no government grants in Korea similar to what we have in Canada. People who start adventurous, or unusual businesses start them because they either have money themselves, or they know people with money.
We left the shack around 2:30 or 3pm to go for some lunch in towm. The town was a super quaint ocean town - very asian, but with similar characteristics to all asian towns: hilly streets, little restaurants with good simple food, and the smell of the sea. The luch we had was a simple noodle soup with a perfect broth, and homemade noodles. The only side-dish we had was kimchi. It was so modest, and so good. Over lunch Lorena realized that it was Buhdda’s birthday. On the island Ganghwado was one of the oldest temples in Korea (Jeondeungsa). We decided to stay for the ceremonies in celebration of Buhdda’s birthday. We finished lunch around 4pm, and the ceremonies didn’t start until 7pm, so we went to the site of the temple, and climbed up, and around the mountain. It was slow and easy with two little kids in toe, and watching the two parents trying to get their three and five year olds to have some understanding of the “way of Buhdda” was quite entertaining. Jungyun is an incessant chatterer. His mom told him that all these people were celebrating Buhdda’s birthday because he was a very special person, and on Buhdda’s birthday it was important to try to understand who Buhdda was, and that one of the things Buhdda did for a very long time was: not talk, so in order to understand Buhdda it was important to try to stop talking. This is the abridged explanation. The actual explanation had many many interruptions, and questions on the part of Jungyun, and took about twenty minutes to complete. Eventually Jungyun just said, quite firmly, and loudly that he DIDN”T WANT TO BE BUHDDA.
The family treks up the mountain:
Coming down to the temple, from the walk on the mountain, I started to feel a strong “energy”. I have felt an “energy” like that before, at the Vipassana meditation center in Sutton. Then, and now, I connected it to so many people meditating in such a small space. This “energy” at Jeongdeungsa was so strong it was almost palpable. Later, Sangmin told me that the spot was chosen for its level of “energy”. I’ve heard that kind of thing before too; that sites for temples are very carefully chosen, considering a number of factors relating to “energy” flow (not something I understand at all), and after that, the buildings are placed in a very specific location on the site, in order to remain “in harmony” with the “energy” of the landscape. The use of quotations emphasizes the fact that this is all very flakey use of language, and I actually have no idea what I am talking about accept that I am 100% sure that I felt the same thing at Jeongdeunsa as I felt at Sutton, and I can only describe it as some kind of “energy”.
The family, coming down from the mountain to the temples:
Anyways, I really wanted to meditate, knowing full well that “wanting” anything was very unzen……hmmmm….but just the same. Lorena seemed to think that it would be O.k. for me to go into any of the little temples, and meditate, but the first place I tried were I thought it would be least distracting) I was shooed out of. So I went a little ways up the hill to a quiet spot, and meditated outside.
When I came back the family was eating supper. I ate with them, and had only a few minutes to “buy a wish” (part of the ceremony). I felt a bit weird about this (buying stuff on Buhdda’s birthday). The wishes were hung from lanterns. The more you spent on your wish, the bigger your lantern. Does that mean you could make a bigger wish too? Sometimes I can be such an idealistic ass. I don’t know enough about Korean buhddism to make such judgements.
A cheesy picture of me with a lantern, a wish, and the temples behind:
Many lanterns:
All the wishes were written in Korean. I felt self conscious writing in English, and nothing came into my head other than “peace”. I felt funny about writing that in the form of a word, so I wrote the first shape that came out of my hand (can’t write it here). I thought it was a peaceful looking shape. The Korean’s thought I was weird. The drumming started as I finished writing my wish. One huge drum pounded on by three monks, and then one big gong to call everyone to the temple.
The drumming:
In the temple the monks led chanting, and bowing. Some of the Korean’s knew the words, others didn’t. Myself, Lorena, and Jungyun where the only foreigners there. During this time, my cellphone rang. I felt like the obnoxious westerner I always try so hard not to be…AHHH!!!!!! I wrapped it tightly in a scarf, and put it in my shoe (Korean’s are always shoeless indoors). Later, Lorena told me how to put my cellphone on “manners mode”. I have since been extremely grateful. It also works for pretending I don’t have a cellphone, when I don’t want to talk to people I’m not with.
The temples at dusk:
After the drumming and chanting we were all given candles, and all of the lanterns were lit up (not with fire, but electronically). Despite the safety precautions this was completely stunning. There were hundreds of lanterns of all different shapes, sizes, and colours. We then walked with our candles on a path that covered the circumference of the lanterns chanting something that I was told meant “Buhdda is light” – exactly what Christians say about Jesus. I’m not sure what I thought of all the souveneirs being sold, and all the buhdda statues, and shrines, but the air was good, and the meditation was in it.
Lit lanterns:
After the walk the wishes were put inside lit up hot air balloons, and sent up into the sky. That was magical, and I probably shouldn’t criticize it.
flying wishes:
The shack:
The scenery was gorgeous! The shack was surrounded by mountains, and small farms of all types. There were a lot more trees, and different types of foliage on these farms then on western farms, and they were covered in beautiful red dirt. One of the property’s had a group of deer held captive in a relatively small cage. Lorena told me that Koreans keep those kind of deer captivity for the purpose of drinking the blood from their horns. They believe it gives them strength and vitality (or something like that). It seems pretty cruel to me, especially since deer are not particularily territorial animals. We’re all human, and human’s always seem to find ways to abuse the illusionary power that they have over nature. Another common practice here that is questionable as far as the natural world is concerned is the flattening of large hills into the ocean, extending the shoreline, and creating very well-irrigated farmland. It may infact be harmless, but it seems possibly dangerous to the balance of things to mess so severely with the tideline. It is also very unsightly to see bulldozed foothills in the midst of beautiful mountains.
The View from the shack:
Behind the “shack”, and up a little hill was a school, and school grounds used to teach kids in the surrounding area traditional arts, craft, agriculture, music ect.
In the schoolyard:
The art "greenhouse"/tent on the school grounds:
In the past it had been an alternative residential school with a philosophy I can most closely compare to Waldorf (focusing on traditional cooking, farming, music, art ect.) It was eye-opening, and refreshing for me to see this kind of response to the rapid acceleration of Western culture in Korea being made by Korean’s. Lorena told me that the alternative school was still in operation, but it had moved to a different location. Lorena also told me that before the school changed locations many of their neighbours taught at the school. Amoung them were a group of traditional Korean musicians. Two years ago the musicians lived in the building beside her, which at this point in time is completely run down. She said that when the musicians lived there it was kept in very good condition. It was very small. It was hard to imagine any more than one or two people living there, but she said that there were five or six.
The musicians house:
Lorena and Sangmin have owned the shack for 5 years, and they have had a relationship with the school since the beginning. When the musicians lived there they used Lorena and Sangmin’s shack as a practice space when the family wasn’t there. When the family was there, they were often the audience to all night jam sessions (fortunately they are the type of people to appreciate this kind of thing). The family uses some space in the school for storage, and also uses the washroom in the school (since they don’t have one in the shack). When the school moved Lorena and Sangmin wanted to start a live in english school with a hands on philosophy – as an alternative to the book focused language teaching method here in Korea that is as prevalent as it is ineffective. She said that she had actually tried to start it, but had run into a wall, because there are no government grants in Korea similar to what we have in Canada. People who start adventurous, or unusual businesses start them because they either have money themselves, or they know people with money.
We left the shack around 2:30 or 3pm to go for some lunch in towm. The town was a super quaint ocean town - very asian, but with similar characteristics to all asian towns: hilly streets, little restaurants with good simple food, and the smell of the sea. The luch we had was a simple noodle soup with a perfect broth, and homemade noodles. The only side-dish we had was kimchi. It was so modest, and so good. Over lunch Lorena realized that it was Buhdda’s birthday. On the island Ganghwado was one of the oldest temples in Korea (Jeondeungsa). We decided to stay for the ceremonies in celebration of Buhdda’s birthday. We finished lunch around 4pm, and the ceremonies didn’t start until 7pm, so we went to the site of the temple, and climbed up, and around the mountain. It was slow and easy with two little kids in toe, and watching the two parents trying to get their three and five year olds to have some understanding of the “way of Buhdda” was quite entertaining. Jungyun is an incessant chatterer. His mom told him that all these people were celebrating Buhdda’s birthday because he was a very special person, and on Buhdda’s birthday it was important to try to understand who Buhdda was, and that one of the things Buhdda did for a very long time was: not talk, so in order to understand Buhdda it was important to try to stop talking. This is the abridged explanation. The actual explanation had many many interruptions, and questions on the part of Jungyun, and took about twenty minutes to complete. Eventually Jungyun just said, quite firmly, and loudly that he DIDN”T WANT TO BE BUHDDA.
The family treks up the mountain:
Coming down to the temple, from the walk on the mountain, I started to feel a strong “energy”. I have felt an “energy” like that before, at the Vipassana meditation center in Sutton. Then, and now, I connected it to so many people meditating in such a small space. This “energy” at Jeongdeungsa was so strong it was almost palpable. Later, Sangmin told me that the spot was chosen for its level of “energy”. I’ve heard that kind of thing before too; that sites for temples are very carefully chosen, considering a number of factors relating to “energy” flow (not something I understand at all), and after that, the buildings are placed in a very specific location on the site, in order to remain “in harmony” with the “energy” of the landscape. The use of quotations emphasizes the fact that this is all very flakey use of language, and I actually have no idea what I am talking about accept that I am 100% sure that I felt the same thing at Jeongdeunsa as I felt at Sutton, and I can only describe it as some kind of “energy”.
The family, coming down from the mountain to the temples:
Anyways, I really wanted to meditate, knowing full well that “wanting” anything was very unzen……hmmmm….but just the same. Lorena seemed to think that it would be O.k. for me to go into any of the little temples, and meditate, but the first place I tried were I thought it would be least distracting) I was shooed out of. So I went a little ways up the hill to a quiet spot, and meditated outside.
When I came back the family was eating supper. I ate with them, and had only a few minutes to “buy a wish” (part of the ceremony). I felt a bit weird about this (buying stuff on Buhdda’s birthday). The wishes were hung from lanterns. The more you spent on your wish, the bigger your lantern. Does that mean you could make a bigger wish too? Sometimes I can be such an idealistic ass. I don’t know enough about Korean buhddism to make such judgements.
A cheesy picture of me with a lantern, a wish, and the temples behind:
Many lanterns:
All the wishes were written in Korean. I felt self conscious writing in English, and nothing came into my head other than “peace”. I felt funny about writing that in the form of a word, so I wrote the first shape that came out of my hand (can’t write it here). I thought it was a peaceful looking shape. The Korean’s thought I was weird. The drumming started as I finished writing my wish. One huge drum pounded on by three monks, and then one big gong to call everyone to the temple.
The drumming:
In the temple the monks led chanting, and bowing. Some of the Korean’s knew the words, others didn’t. Myself, Lorena, and Jungyun where the only foreigners there. During this time, my cellphone rang. I felt like the obnoxious westerner I always try so hard not to be…AHHH!!!!!! I wrapped it tightly in a scarf, and put it in my shoe (Korean’s are always shoeless indoors). Later, Lorena told me how to put my cellphone on “manners mode”. I have since been extremely grateful. It also works for pretending I don’t have a cellphone, when I don’t want to talk to people I’m not with.
The temples at dusk:
After the drumming and chanting we were all given candles, and all of the lanterns were lit up (not with fire, but electronically). Despite the safety precautions this was completely stunning. There were hundreds of lanterns of all different shapes, sizes, and colours. We then walked with our candles on a path that covered the circumference of the lanterns chanting something that I was told meant “Buhdda is light” – exactly what Christians say about Jesus. I’m not sure what I thought of all the souveneirs being sold, and all the buhdda statues, and shrines, but the air was good, and the meditation was in it.
Lit lanterns:
After the walk the wishes were put inside lit up hot air balloons, and sent up into the sky. That was magical, and I probably shouldn’t criticize it.
flying wishes:
Friday, June 5, 2009
new friends
I’m going to start with some of my new friends. I made a couple of really good friends here circuitously through a craigslist posting I put up advertising myself as a violinist. About a month and a half ago I began feeling out a number of different musicians, and band situations. Some I let go, and some I have stuck with. I tried a rock-band that I really liked, because they let me play drums, and base, as well as violin, but I think they either thought I was too weird, or just decided they didn’t want a girl around all the time. Probably a combination of both.
Right near the beginning of my craigslist adventures I met a drummer named David, who I have become really good friends with, and am working on a number of projects with. Mostly all of them are whimsical: the kind of projects that I have always wanted to do, but have never found someone else who thought they were worth the time, and have never had confidence in my own belief that they were worth the time. One project is just drum set and violin. We are working on Bach partitas (trying not to make them sound horribly cheesy in the drum set/ violin combo), and also improvising in odd meters using my lesson in canartic music (Indian violin) as a guide. Another project has one other member (a composition major named Geoffrey). This one is pretty undefined as of yet. We mess around with various instruments (including toys). I always bring my ukulele. We write stuff down on paper, make opera’s to storybooks, and listen to Bartok, Schnittke, and anything else that comes up. David also introduced me to Janggu (traditional Korean drumming). I have been taking lessons every Saturday morning for the last 2 months. This is costing me 30 thousand won (that is less than $30 in total!). Most of the students in this class are foreigners, but the teacher is Korean, and doesn’t speak hardly any English. He speaks to us in Korean, and we don’t understand anything he is saying, but it works just as well. The drum speaks for itself. I am also playing in a jazz band with David. Most of the members of this band are Korean. They speak a lot better English then our drum teacher, but long discussions on the way we are going to play something are definitely out of the question. I’m going to start taking Korean lessons with the base player next week.
Now to the bluegrass crowd…..I wouldn’t have been able to organize these people through categories (for better or for worse) a month ago.
One of the guys I met through craigslist (Yvon) introduced me to a 60 something year old banjo player named Roger. Roger was a bit rusty when I met him, but super super keen. We started a jam session at a place called the Orange tree bar on Sunday afternoons. The bar is usually closed on Sunday, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The acoustics are beautiful. Lots of wood and windows. Good resonance of sound, and reflection of light. Mood is important in these kind of situations. The orange tree bar is in the most foreigner dense area in Korea (Iteawan). We played with the windows open pretty soon we attracted some street interest – other bluegrass players!, and/ or people interested in playing bluegrass. From the street we drew in a guy who calls himself Mississipi Dave (even though he comes from Winnipeg). He is kind of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to instruments (mandolin, accordion, guitar). He brought in his band for a couple of weeks (a pretty top notch crew of bluegrass players). Peter (a singer and base player) worked as an MC in Nashville for around 20 years, and won a bluegrass world championship in 1997 (I really have no idea what that means). I think his band did the shredding though. He’s mainly a singer and entertainer (but he’s definitely solid). Also with this group was a super charismatic Korean guitar player named Que-ha. I think of him as mythical, and this is why. When he is in a room, and you haven’t noticed him, the room is balanced, but as soon as he enters your awareness everything is focused on him, and he is not loud. It is as if he came out of the mist. It sounds like I have a crush on him (maybe I do), but only because he is extremely charismatic, and most people (including strait men, and gay women) probably also have a crush on him, because that is what charismatic people do to everyone else. He’s a solid musician all round. It is very clear from his playing and improvising that his abilities go far beyond bluegrass, yet all of his accompaniments, and solos fit perfectly into the genre (a kind of musicianship that I aspire to). It turns out that he is a jazz guitar teacher at a college in Incheon. I’ve talked to him a little about his teaching, and he teaches old jazz (like 1920’s stuff), bluegrass, blues ect. to his students. Super cool. I wish he was my teacher in university!
A very important character in my life, for a very brief period of time, was Cate. I say was, because she suddenly left Korea a week and a half ago on a whim, and I haven’t written this blog for so long that I didn’t even mention her, but she is well worth talking about. She also came to the bluegrass jams on Sunday (although sometimes very late or not at all). She is also not really an old boy (although she may aspire to be one one of these days), so she’s not really part of the bluegrass crowd. I enjoyed joking with Roger and Dave calling her a wayward youth when she showed up 2 hours late for the jam sessions because of excessive drinking the night before. Cate is 23. She is very cool, which sometimes can be mistaken for age, because confidence comes with age, but young people always show signs sooner or later. When she met me, I think she thought I was younger than her, because I got very big sister vibes from her, and she was quite surprised when she found out how old I was. I am getting quite extreme reactions to my age here which is actually not as nice as one might think. I feel like I should wear a bit button that says “I’m 30” because every time I tell people my age after I’ve hung out with them for awhile I feel like they are almost angry (I think maybe because they are making young person exceptions for me or something), and it makes me feel really bad. The nicest reaction I have had (that didn’t make me feel bad at all was just recently. A singer I met to play music with asked me how old I was. When I told him he replied “really!” I said “yes”. He said, “you’re just a really big kid”. I liked the fact that age was associated with bigness (it made me laugh). Also, he didn’t hesitate for a moment before making a comment. It is moments of hesitation that make me feel nervous + it made sense to me. I feel like a really big kid.
Anyways: Cate. I’ll describe Cate by what she does. She writes brilliant funny country songs. You should check out her myspace: www.myspace.com/categiordano1234. She also makes films. I haven’t seen any of them, but just before she left she rented a studio to build a white buffalo for a film that was going to be staged live (like a play) at a sports bar in Seoul, with a bluegrass band as a narrator. I was flattered to be cast as the narrator/band leader. The play was cast with a male lead (played by her), and a supporting female character played by a man. The film was supposed to be some sort of western cowboys and Indian thing, Native Americans to be played by Koreans. The whole idea had a kind of possibly politically incorrect, gender/race/culture bending quality that I really appreciated the sensibility of (if you can use the word sensibility for that). Cate studied film in arts school. One of the projects she told me about back home was a big song and dance production with 100 or so people that she called “Dolly Presley”. My understanding of it was basically a big party with singers, dancers, and “Dolly Parton/Elvis Presely (in one person) impersonators.
My relationship with Cate was based on making up vocal harmonies to her lovely drawling melodies, and criticizing people/art/music ect. as a team. That is what I fell in love with, and have been missing since she left. I named us the “eagles” from the muppets. The couple of weekends I spent with her we to shows, and walked around on the street criticizing the hell out of everything. This kind of activity can be super irritating if you do it with the wrong person. It can get super negative, and even boring, but Cate was just the right kind of intellect, and just the right kind of humor for me, and we had a pretty jolly time tearing things apart together.
Now the open mic. people. The open mic is at a bar named Woodstock in the really obnoxious foreigner area. Note: there is also a bar called the “Hardrock café” in the same area. This area is called Iteawan, (I think I mentioned it before). It is the area where foreigners can go if they need to act like bad stereotypes of American’s. I don’t always feel safe on the street at night by myself in this area. Everywhere else in Korea feels ridiculously safe. The Woodstock is O.k. though (quite O.k.). It is hosted by a guy named Jeremy. He is a big southern American with a good sense of himself, and where he comes from, and a good sense of the rest of the world too (a real rare breed). He is a great open mic. Poet. One of the few I can listen to. His poems are short and sweet. I’m not being sarcastic. The sweet part is important too. His hosting style is similar. If he ever uses humor between acts, he never performs long, extended soliloquies that take away from the main acts (and he is also actually funny). When I first met Jeremy he was very welcoming. He saw my violin case, and he asked if I was going to play. I told him that I would accompany someone if they wanted me to, but besides that I was going to sing. We talked a little about singer/songwriters, and I said I was looking for people to sing backup vocals. He volunteered his girlfriend, and had such confidence that we would get along, and work musically together, that I believed him. Jeremy also bought me 2 shots of Jameson the first night I met him. He scored lots of points with that one, especially considering the fact that he is completely in love with his girlfriend, so it was out of pure hospitality, and friendship. Jeremy’s girlfriend’s name is Rebecca. She is from England. She has a beautiful deep voice, a motherly personality with a feminist edge, a good sense of humor, and classic hippie good looks. She did wonderful backup vocals (we practiced out in the hall) that first open mic. on 2 of my most simple songs. I played some violin for her on a Gillian Welsch song. Jeremy and Rebecca are one of those super solid couples around which communities gravitate. I have begun to develop a theory about these types of couples: They become like mom and dad in social circles of people who have been kids for way too long (by most standards) ie. the majority of our generation, all the ones not rooting and having kids themselves. I think these couples both love and resent this role. Being mom and dad to a bunch of grownup kids with full-grown personalities has got to be a very challenging experience.
At the same open mic. night I met Lorena. Lorena was in the audience. I was introduced to her by someone else simply because we were both Canadian. This kind of thing happens a lot here. Lorena is from New Brunswick (ah the east-coasters). Fortunately her personality reflects her background well. She is welcoming, grounded, and funny, with a very high tolerance, and appreciation of alcoholic beverages. Of course shortly after meeting her I started talking about Ingrid. There is enough of a common vibe among east coast Canadian’s that you can’t help but miss your east-coast friends when you meet another east-coaster. I soon discovered that Lorena lived about a 5-minute drive from my house, and she had a car, so she ended up driving me home. On the ride home we talked about music, her husband, her boys, and the Korean drummer that wanted my phone number, and stood speechless and awkward in front of us as we were leaving for a good minute before Lorena got him to ask. She told me that her husband is sort of Buddhist but non-denominational. She tries to get her sons to meditate in the mornings, but it doesn’t usually work. She told me she has a shack on an island near Incheon with a piano in it that I would be welcome to go and play (WOW! Since that first car ride I have been to the shack and played the piano – another story). She also told me that she was looking for part time work. Earlier in the week my boss had asked me to work more hours (10 more hours a week: way way too much for someone who has never had a regular job). I wanted to help him out because I knew that it would be hard for him to find a part time foreign teacher. With an E2 visa (the one I have, and most foreign teachers have), you can only work for one employer. Also, the inability to say no that is prevalent in Korea, is contagious. He was offering to pay me overtime, but I just didn’t want to do it. Lorena was a perfect candidate. Because she’s married to a Korean she can work for whoever she wants, and she lives five minutes from the school, so it would be easy for her to commute. Lorena was such a perfect solution to the problem at work, that it made me wonder what kind of things were going on in the sky around Sagittarius (just kidding). It was ridiculously good though: I meet an interesting woman who lives close to my house, and wants to take the work I don’t want. She was such a good candidate for the job, and the pickings were so slim it was almost gauranteed that she would be hired. I would have a friend at work AND not have to work more hours. Lorena was such a great person to meet for so many reasons. She is established in Korea in a circle of Korean's that I would never meet without a foreigner to bridge the cultural, and language gaps between myself, and the type of Korean's I am really interested in meeting. She knows spriritual people, musicians, and artists. These are the kind of people who generally aren't quite as obsessed with the west, and as a result learning english. Korea has such a strong divide between the 2 types of people, that the older (more traditional type is almost impossible for a foreigner to meet. You won't get closer to them through the commercial obsessed ones (and the Christians), because these people reject the older culture. The new type of Korean is much more acessable to a foreigner. I took Loreana's card, and gave it to my boss. Within a week she was hired. Now her oldest son is in my class, and he is a pleasure to teach. I don’t see her much at school, but our encounters are always positive. She has invited me to her shack, taken me up a mountain to a temple for Buddha’s birthday, and also invited me to a kiln opening of a traditional Korean potter.
Now I feel like you have the background. Next posting will be about my adventures, and I promise to include pictures, and some videos too. But I have to warn you in advance that the ones of the most beautiful place I visited where taken on my cellphone because I forgot to charge my camera before i left.
lots and lots of love. I miss you all.
p.s. those of you in Montreal (or anywhere with good coffee) SEND ME COFFEE! Instant coffee is going to kill me before the bomb falls on us from North Korea. My adress is:
Cassie Norton c/o Micheal Yoon
HeeRim Tower 5F, 100BL-1LOT, Danga-dong,
Seo-gu, Incheon, 404-310 Korea.
I promise to post more often if I get lots of coffee!!!!!!
Right near the beginning of my craigslist adventures I met a drummer named David, who I have become really good friends with, and am working on a number of projects with. Mostly all of them are whimsical: the kind of projects that I have always wanted to do, but have never found someone else who thought they were worth the time, and have never had confidence in my own belief that they were worth the time. One project is just drum set and violin. We are working on Bach partitas (trying not to make them sound horribly cheesy in the drum set/ violin combo), and also improvising in odd meters using my lesson in canartic music (Indian violin) as a guide. Another project has one other member (a composition major named Geoffrey). This one is pretty undefined as of yet. We mess around with various instruments (including toys). I always bring my ukulele. We write stuff down on paper, make opera’s to storybooks, and listen to Bartok, Schnittke, and anything else that comes up. David also introduced me to Janggu (traditional Korean drumming). I have been taking lessons every Saturday morning for the last 2 months. This is costing me 30 thousand won (that is less than $30 in total!). Most of the students in this class are foreigners, but the teacher is Korean, and doesn’t speak hardly any English. He speaks to us in Korean, and we don’t understand anything he is saying, but it works just as well. The drum speaks for itself. I am also playing in a jazz band with David. Most of the members of this band are Korean. They speak a lot better English then our drum teacher, but long discussions on the way we are going to play something are definitely out of the question. I’m going to start taking Korean lessons with the base player next week.
Now to the bluegrass crowd…..I wouldn’t have been able to organize these people through categories (for better or for worse) a month ago.
One of the guys I met through craigslist (Yvon) introduced me to a 60 something year old banjo player named Roger. Roger was a bit rusty when I met him, but super super keen. We started a jam session at a place called the Orange tree bar on Sunday afternoons. The bar is usually closed on Sunday, so we had the whole place to ourselves. The acoustics are beautiful. Lots of wood and windows. Good resonance of sound, and reflection of light. Mood is important in these kind of situations. The orange tree bar is in the most foreigner dense area in Korea (Iteawan). We played with the windows open pretty soon we attracted some street interest – other bluegrass players!, and/ or people interested in playing bluegrass. From the street we drew in a guy who calls himself Mississipi Dave (even though he comes from Winnipeg). He is kind of a jack-of-all-trades when it comes to instruments (mandolin, accordion, guitar). He brought in his band for a couple of weeks (a pretty top notch crew of bluegrass players). Peter (a singer and base player) worked as an MC in Nashville for around 20 years, and won a bluegrass world championship in 1997 (I really have no idea what that means). I think his band did the shredding though. He’s mainly a singer and entertainer (but he’s definitely solid). Also with this group was a super charismatic Korean guitar player named Que-ha. I think of him as mythical, and this is why. When he is in a room, and you haven’t noticed him, the room is balanced, but as soon as he enters your awareness everything is focused on him, and he is not loud. It is as if he came out of the mist. It sounds like I have a crush on him (maybe I do), but only because he is extremely charismatic, and most people (including strait men, and gay women) probably also have a crush on him, because that is what charismatic people do to everyone else. He’s a solid musician all round. It is very clear from his playing and improvising that his abilities go far beyond bluegrass, yet all of his accompaniments, and solos fit perfectly into the genre (a kind of musicianship that I aspire to). It turns out that he is a jazz guitar teacher at a college in Incheon. I’ve talked to him a little about his teaching, and he teaches old jazz (like 1920’s stuff), bluegrass, blues ect. to his students. Super cool. I wish he was my teacher in university!
A very important character in my life, for a very brief period of time, was Cate. I say was, because she suddenly left Korea a week and a half ago on a whim, and I haven’t written this blog for so long that I didn’t even mention her, but she is well worth talking about. She also came to the bluegrass jams on Sunday (although sometimes very late or not at all). She is also not really an old boy (although she may aspire to be one one of these days), so she’s not really part of the bluegrass crowd. I enjoyed joking with Roger and Dave calling her a wayward youth when she showed up 2 hours late for the jam sessions because of excessive drinking the night before. Cate is 23. She is very cool, which sometimes can be mistaken for age, because confidence comes with age, but young people always show signs sooner or later. When she met me, I think she thought I was younger than her, because I got very big sister vibes from her, and she was quite surprised when she found out how old I was. I am getting quite extreme reactions to my age here which is actually not as nice as one might think. I feel like I should wear a bit button that says “I’m 30” because every time I tell people my age after I’ve hung out with them for awhile I feel like they are almost angry (I think maybe because they are making young person exceptions for me or something), and it makes me feel really bad. The nicest reaction I have had (that didn’t make me feel bad at all was just recently. A singer I met to play music with asked me how old I was. When I told him he replied “really!” I said “yes”. He said, “you’re just a really big kid”. I liked the fact that age was associated with bigness (it made me laugh). Also, he didn’t hesitate for a moment before making a comment. It is moments of hesitation that make me feel nervous + it made sense to me. I feel like a really big kid.
Anyways: Cate. I’ll describe Cate by what she does. She writes brilliant funny country songs. You should check out her myspace: www.myspace.com/categiordano1234. She also makes films. I haven’t seen any of them, but just before she left she rented a studio to build a white buffalo for a film that was going to be staged live (like a play) at a sports bar in Seoul, with a bluegrass band as a narrator. I was flattered to be cast as the narrator/band leader. The play was cast with a male lead (played by her), and a supporting female character played by a man. The film was supposed to be some sort of western cowboys and Indian thing, Native Americans to be played by Koreans. The whole idea had a kind of possibly politically incorrect, gender/race/culture bending quality that I really appreciated the sensibility of (if you can use the word sensibility for that). Cate studied film in arts school. One of the projects she told me about back home was a big song and dance production with 100 or so people that she called “Dolly Presley”. My understanding of it was basically a big party with singers, dancers, and “Dolly Parton/Elvis Presely (in one person) impersonators.
My relationship with Cate was based on making up vocal harmonies to her lovely drawling melodies, and criticizing people/art/music ect. as a team. That is what I fell in love with, and have been missing since she left. I named us the “eagles” from the muppets. The couple of weekends I spent with her we to shows, and walked around on the street criticizing the hell out of everything. This kind of activity can be super irritating if you do it with the wrong person. It can get super negative, and even boring, but Cate was just the right kind of intellect, and just the right kind of humor for me, and we had a pretty jolly time tearing things apart together.
Now the open mic. people. The open mic is at a bar named Woodstock in the really obnoxious foreigner area. Note: there is also a bar called the “Hardrock café” in the same area. This area is called Iteawan, (I think I mentioned it before). It is the area where foreigners can go if they need to act like bad stereotypes of American’s. I don’t always feel safe on the street at night by myself in this area. Everywhere else in Korea feels ridiculously safe. The Woodstock is O.k. though (quite O.k.). It is hosted by a guy named Jeremy. He is a big southern American with a good sense of himself, and where he comes from, and a good sense of the rest of the world too (a real rare breed). He is a great open mic. Poet. One of the few I can listen to. His poems are short and sweet. I’m not being sarcastic. The sweet part is important too. His hosting style is similar. If he ever uses humor between acts, he never performs long, extended soliloquies that take away from the main acts (and he is also actually funny). When I first met Jeremy he was very welcoming. He saw my violin case, and he asked if I was going to play. I told him that I would accompany someone if they wanted me to, but besides that I was going to sing. We talked a little about singer/songwriters, and I said I was looking for people to sing backup vocals. He volunteered his girlfriend, and had such confidence that we would get along, and work musically together, that I believed him. Jeremy also bought me 2 shots of Jameson the first night I met him. He scored lots of points with that one, especially considering the fact that he is completely in love with his girlfriend, so it was out of pure hospitality, and friendship. Jeremy’s girlfriend’s name is Rebecca. She is from England. She has a beautiful deep voice, a motherly personality with a feminist edge, a good sense of humor, and classic hippie good looks. She did wonderful backup vocals (we practiced out in the hall) that first open mic. on 2 of my most simple songs. I played some violin for her on a Gillian Welsch song. Jeremy and Rebecca are one of those super solid couples around which communities gravitate. I have begun to develop a theory about these types of couples: They become like mom and dad in social circles of people who have been kids for way too long (by most standards) ie. the majority of our generation, all the ones not rooting and having kids themselves. I think these couples both love and resent this role. Being mom and dad to a bunch of grownup kids with full-grown personalities has got to be a very challenging experience.
At the same open mic. night I met Lorena. Lorena was in the audience. I was introduced to her by someone else simply because we were both Canadian. This kind of thing happens a lot here. Lorena is from New Brunswick (ah the east-coasters). Fortunately her personality reflects her background well. She is welcoming, grounded, and funny, with a very high tolerance, and appreciation of alcoholic beverages. Of course shortly after meeting her I started talking about Ingrid. There is enough of a common vibe among east coast Canadian’s that you can’t help but miss your east-coast friends when you meet another east-coaster. I soon discovered that Lorena lived about a 5-minute drive from my house, and she had a car, so she ended up driving me home. On the ride home we talked about music, her husband, her boys, and the Korean drummer that wanted my phone number, and stood speechless and awkward in front of us as we were leaving for a good minute before Lorena got him to ask. She told me that her husband is sort of Buddhist but non-denominational. She tries to get her sons to meditate in the mornings, but it doesn’t usually work. She told me she has a shack on an island near Incheon with a piano in it that I would be welcome to go and play (WOW! Since that first car ride I have been to the shack and played the piano – another story). She also told me that she was looking for part time work. Earlier in the week my boss had asked me to work more hours (10 more hours a week: way way too much for someone who has never had a regular job). I wanted to help him out because I knew that it would be hard for him to find a part time foreign teacher. With an E2 visa (the one I have, and most foreign teachers have), you can only work for one employer. Also, the inability to say no that is prevalent in Korea, is contagious. He was offering to pay me overtime, but I just didn’t want to do it. Lorena was a perfect candidate. Because she’s married to a Korean she can work for whoever she wants, and she lives five minutes from the school, so it would be easy for her to commute. Lorena was such a perfect solution to the problem at work, that it made me wonder what kind of things were going on in the sky around Sagittarius (just kidding). It was ridiculously good though: I meet an interesting woman who lives close to my house, and wants to take the work I don’t want. She was such a good candidate for the job, and the pickings were so slim it was almost gauranteed that she would be hired. I would have a friend at work AND not have to work more hours. Lorena was such a great person to meet for so many reasons. She is established in Korea in a circle of Korean's that I would never meet without a foreigner to bridge the cultural, and language gaps between myself, and the type of Korean's I am really interested in meeting. She knows spriritual people, musicians, and artists. These are the kind of people who generally aren't quite as obsessed with the west, and as a result learning english. Korea has such a strong divide between the 2 types of people, that the older (more traditional type is almost impossible for a foreigner to meet. You won't get closer to them through the commercial obsessed ones (and the Christians), because these people reject the older culture. The new type of Korean is much more acessable to a foreigner. I took Loreana's card, and gave it to my boss. Within a week she was hired. Now her oldest son is in my class, and he is a pleasure to teach. I don’t see her much at school, but our encounters are always positive. She has invited me to her shack, taken me up a mountain to a temple for Buddha’s birthday, and also invited me to a kiln opening of a traditional Korean potter.
Now I feel like you have the background. Next posting will be about my adventures, and I promise to include pictures, and some videos too. But I have to warn you in advance that the ones of the most beautiful place I visited where taken on my cellphone because I forgot to charge my camera before i left.
lots and lots of love. I miss you all.
p.s. those of you in Montreal (or anywhere with good coffee) SEND ME COFFEE! Instant coffee is going to kill me before the bomb falls on us from North Korea. My adress is:
Cassie Norton c/o Micheal Yoon
HeeRim Tower 5F, 100BL-1LOT, Danga-dong,
Seo-gu, Incheon, 404-310 Korea.
I promise to post more often if I get lots of coffee!!!!!!
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