Something About Festivals

The following are the videos I took at the 2007 Korean Lunar New Year Festival in Daejeon. The quality isn't the best as I was shooting with my 3.2 digital camera. There was also a red light on the stage which explains the red hue. My favorite video is the one below this post, and the other's follow in the same fashion. I wanted to take more video but I was working with a 256k memory card. Enjoy.

Traditional Korean Music

Traditional Korean Dance

Tae Kwon Do Demonstration

Tae Kwon Do Demonstration, Part 2

Korean Tradional Small Drum Dance

Korean Tradional Small Drum Dance, Part 2

Something About Crazy Toilets

This past weekend was The Lunar New Year in Korea. I think most people consider it The Chinese New Year. On Monday I attended a Korean cultural festival in Daejeon. After watching various presentations on the different elements of Korean culture, my bladder told my feet to make haste for the washroom. There were many people in line to use the facilities, and when my turn came it was a toilet, not a urinal, that was open. I walked into the stall and saw the craziest, space aged toilet I've ever seen. This was my first experience with a bidet. Different colored buttons were everywhere. After doing my "business" I pressed what I thought was the "flush" button. What followed next was probably the most embarrassing experience I've had in a very long time. Immediately after pressing the button a steady stream of water arched towards me. I immediately pushed myself against the wall of the stall to avoid this unexpected spray. Okay, I pressed the wrong button. Out of a possible dozen buttons to press, it didn't surprise me that I chose the wrong one. The problem was that this stream of water passing in front of me wouldn't stop. I was literally trapped between the stream and the wall. Because it was a "number one" I didn't bother locking the door behind me. As water continued to pour onto the floor, the curiosity of others prompted them to see just what the heck was going on. After a good two minutes it finally dawned on me to close the toilet lid, thus ending my embarrassing experience. For the rest of the day the Indians who had watched my comical episode would come up to me and say "You funny man! You very funny man!" Other than that, the day went pretty well. I took some videos with my digital camera but I've been having difficulty with YouTube today. I'll post them when I can.

Something About The Raman King

Momofuku Ando, the founder of the instant noodle, died yesterday at the age of 96. People in North America will no doubt recognize the noodles by the brand name "Mr. Noodles." In Korea these "Raman" noodles are hugely popular with children and adults. They are available in bags or bowls, and can be eaten right inside the local 7 Eleven. You can even buy small erasers that look like the noodle cups. Personally, I can't stand the stuff. I was low on cash while I was doing my B.ed and I could only afford a box of 24 Mr. Noodles at the local Super Center. After you eat instant noodles for 3 weeks straight I swear you will never eat them again. Even the smell makes me a bit sick. I walked into a class a few weeks ago and there were noodle cups on the desks. Aparently the students had arranged a "raman party." I ate a few mouth fulls but had to throw the rest out after class.

Something About Snow

While the weather in Toronto in unseasonably warm for January, the weather in Korea is pretty typical for this time of year. I'm sitting inside my apartment as a small blizzard takes place outside my window. I hope Venus appreciates the advantage she enjoys by staying inside.

Something About Descrimination

As I was reading the Joong Ang Daily on Saturday I came across an add for a dance club in Hongdae, Seoul. I'm not into dance clubs, but was curious about what was on offer in Korea. The club, called NB, describes itself before giving the price. Here's where it gets interesting:

"Foreign men must pay 20,000 won; everyone else pays 10,000 won."

Huh? Foreign men must pay an extra 10,000 won because they're, well, foreign? Talk about your discriminatory practices. Imagine for a minute a club in New York City with a price at $20 for Korean men and $10 for everyone else. It would never fly.

After all this Hines Ward brew-ha-ha I thought that Korea was finally turning it's back on it's habit of discrimination. I guess it will take longer than most people think.

Something About being M.I.A.

Okay, so I have a cold. As I was on the train to Daejeon this morning I happened to sneeze. This is not an uncommon experience, however I seemed to loose the gum I was previously chewing. I was very embarrassed and pretended nothing had happened. I casually looked around but couldn't see it anywhere. Oh, well. It will be a nice treat for some kid on the train.

Something About Being a Buddha

On my train ride to Church this morning a mother and her children walked up beside me and stared. I gave a polite nod hello and kept reading my book. Soon after the two children came unescorted and stared at me again. I nodded again, and kept reading my book. About 5 minutes the two returned yet again, this time bearing food. They placed an orange and cookie on my lap and ran away. While sometimes I feel like a zoo animal, at other times I feel like some kind of Buddhist statue.

Something About Shoes

This Summer I wore my sandals every day with the exception of my trip to Vietnam and Cambodia. Today was the first day I wore my leather shoes in over 3 months. Sure enough, I ended up injuring someone with them. As I was leaving the bank this morning I pushed on the door to open it. After finding that I had to pull instead, I took a step back to open the door. That step landed on some poor old lady who was still wearing sandals. She let out a hoot and I apologized in English. Maybe I'll wear my sandals for a few more weeks.

Something About Wishes

Be careful what you wish for. After 4 straight weeks of non-stop rain and flooding, the hot season has finally come to Korea. While it was only last week that I was wishing for the rain to stop, now after one day I'm wishing the hot season would end. It seems as if I don't like the rainy or hot season in Korea. While today's temperature is forecast to be sunny with a high of 29 C, the humidity will push that to about 35 C. I woke up at 3:00 this morning covered in sweat and have been unable to get back to sleep (it is now 6:11 a.m.). The one good thing is that my bath towel was actually dry when I woke up. During the rainy season I had to put up with damp towels pretty much every morning. On the up side, I'm traveling to Vietnam and Cambodia next week. While the trip will give me some relief from the Korean heat, I will be thrown into the Vietnamese rainy season. I can't win!

Something About Birds

I can usually hear birds outside my window (including a coo-coo) but this morning the noise was louder than usual. I don't know what I heard first; the bird's cry or Venus' heart pounding. The bird stayed on my balcony for about 5 minutes. I tried to move Venus closer to it for a better picture but the bird suddenly flew away.

Something About Excitement

I was awoken at about 12:30 Tuesday morning to my neighbors shouting and screaming. What was going on? I figured it had to have something to do with the World Cup but I knew Korea wasn't playing that night. I later found out that Australia had beaten Japan, and the Koreans were ecstatic. It doesn't really matter how far Korea advances as long as they do better than the Japanese. It is nice to see the country get so excited, but I'm certain my sleep will have to suffer. Korea plays their first game tonight at 10:00 p.m. . That shouldn't be too bad for me. What I'm worried about is the following two games that will be both played at 4:00 a.m. on June 19th and 24th. It won't just be the "hooting and hollering." Every brand from Coke to Kellogg's has been giving away free noise makers for the past month now. I would estimate that 1/3 of all my students came to school today wearing red t-shirts while a smaller number had their faces painted. Like I said, it is good to see so much excitement. All I have to do now is find a good pair of ear plugs.

Something About Christians

I came across this coffee shop in Doonsan Dong, Daejeon. I was thinking of going inside to see just what a coffee shop for Christians entails but it was just too hot that day for coffee. Personally I find these kind of places embarassing to the Christian faith.

Something About Driving (a) Drunk

I had a very strange experience on my drive home tonight. I went out for dinner with my adult students after class and was on my way home. As I was heading towards the highway that connects Nonsan to Ganggyeong I came to a stop at an intersection. I was just about to make a right hand turn when someone got into my car! This drunk Korean guy opened my passenger door and asked "Ganggyeong?" He seemed harmless so I let decided to take him. I don't think he realized the driver of the car was a big white guy from Canada. As he settled into the seat and put on his seat-belt he looked at me and started laughing his head off. Seriously, the only concern I had on the 15 minute trip was the guy vomiting in the car. He spoke a bunch of Korean to me but I had no idea what the guy was saying. Anyways, it was an adventure.

Something About English

As a foreigner living in Korea I never pass up the opportunity to read English writing on t-shirts. You need to understand that in Korea, most English-printed shirts are worn not for what they say but because they simply have English words on them. Some t-shirts I've read are so vulgar they cannot be reprinted on this blog. Most involve an insane amount of curse words thrown together in various runoff sentences. Others, like the one below, are funny not because of what they say but because of who is wearing it. As you can see, my male student is a "Cute Smart Girl."