Virtual Recital Series, Episode 2

Here is our second episode of the Virtual Recital Series. We have some fun stuff going on at the end so make sure to watch the last 6 minutes!

You can read the artist bio and the program at www.virtualrecital.org

Our first Virtual Recital!

You can watch our first Virtual Recital here. For artist bios, please click here.

Announcing Hannah and Friends: Virtual Recital Series

I had this idea swimming in my head about using the Hangouts feature on Google+ to share music with a greater number of audience. The Google Hangouts feature is a video chat that allows up to 10 people to chat together. Google recently came out with a "studio mode" for musicians to share music online. Even though only a limited number of people can be in this chat, the performances can be streamed live to Youtube and is automatically recorded for later view.

So I am in the process of launching a project called Hannah and Friends: Virtual Recital Series. Every Saturday, I will be singing and inviting my performing artist friends from all over the US and other parts of the world to come to this cyber space to share their talents with you. The genres will include (but not limited to) western and eastern classical, crossovers, jazz, pop, indie, comedy, theater, folk, and other types of world music. We will be sharing the Youtube video on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and other social media sites to reach as many viewers as possible. Audiences and communities have become very insular to their niche and I wanted to create a platform where people can discover something new. It is my hope that this project will also provide opportunities for different types of artists to come together to create an online and offline community that unites all races, cultures, and people of various socio-economic backgrounds.

The launch date for this project is Saturday, April 4 at 3pm pst. I have some amazingly talented friends who will be performing so you don't want to miss out! The website for this project is almost complete and I will be posting it on here and everywhere when it's done. You can preview the profiles of the artists there.

More than anything, I am really excited to share the talents of my ridiculously gifted friends. I think you will really enjoy watching! Stay tuned!

How I am going to get rich and famous

It is always with guilt that I make my come-back after a long, unannounced hiatus. I do this with my journal, too, even though no one is reading the entries except me. With whopping 16 people following my blog (I am not being sarcastic. I really appreciate my followers. Without you, this blog would be voiceless), you can imagine the magnified guilt. But I am sure you weren't losing sleep over my unannounced absence except for maybe guitarsophist. (Maybe we should be Facebook friends so you know I am alive.) 

Anyway, some of you know from my Facebook status that I left Seattle for good. My life in Seattle was stressful, enlightening, educational, fun, and eye-opening. First of all, the study of ethnomusicology is really cool. (For those of you who are just tuning in my life, I enrolled in the ethnomusicology graduate program at University of Washington with the intent of getting a Ph.D.) I learned a lot and if you are interested in world music and academia sandwiched in one, I highly recommend you look into it. However, I decided to leave the program because I realized I wasn't on the path to living the life of my dreams. When I imagine my dream life, I am on stage performing. I am not reading and writing and trying get published. This realization was spurred on by meeting a hot musician who was living the life of his dreams performing all over the world. And I was like, why am I not doing that? It hit me like a ton of bricks. (Also, I was inspired by a graffiti scribbled on a bathroom door that said, "I aimed for the moon and returned with a pocket full of stars" or something like that.) So, a couple of weeks later I told the head of the department that I was leaving the program to pursue a performing career. She was surprised but gave me her blessing and said I could come back to the program if I so desired in the future. I said thanks, packed my bags and left.

So, how am I going to go about having a performing career, you may wonder especially if you are one of my hundreds of musician friends. Well, I wondered that, too. But I have been brainstorming for about three weeks now and here is what I have. The music I am going to make will be a fusion of pop, classical, and Korean traditional music. Still not sure what market segment I want to target but I decided to let that take care of itself by exposing it on the Internet. So, here is the plan: Write a song fusing all those elements, find musicians to collaborate with, make a recording and a music video. Enlist the help of my friends on Facebook (and that would be you, my dears) to make it go viral online. Link the music video to the Kickstarter fundraiser and raise enough money for a whole album and a concert. My goal is to have the music video circulate and go viral online by the end of the year. Which means it has to be good. Really good. And I am confident that it's going to be good. :)

I also have another project that some of you know about. It's an opera about the story of my grandmother told from my perspective as a Korean-American that I've been wanting to write for a long time. I found a composer and a historian/ethnomusicologist to collaborate with. I also have a conceptual artist in mind who might be interested in doing multi-media stage work. So, I will be doing a lot of research and interviewing my family members over the summer to write the libretto for this work. I am really excited about it. There is a lot that needs to be done for this project like finding funding but if the work is good, we may be able to get the Korean government behind it.

The sad tale of a starving artist is that even with all these grand plans, I still need to have a day job. So, I am planning on applying to community colleges to teach piano, voice, and/or music history and start a piano/voice studio.

So, that's the plan. And I am really excited about it!

Pokhara Part II

July 29, 2011

It's been raining all morning so Maureen and I have to change our plans. We were going to go on a hike to World Peace Pagoda and then to Devi's Fall but we decide to postpone that until the rain stops. Maureen suggests we go do some kind of yoga/meditation and on the way we spot a foreigner we saw the night before whose backside looks a lot like our friend Tim Vogeler. He looks way cuter in day light. We really want to hang out with our Nepali Tim but didn't have the courage to look like desperate psychos asking,"Can we be your friends?" with buggy eyes. So, we just stare like he's meat on legs.

After our session of chakra healing, we head over to the river to hike up to World Peace Pagoda. I have flip-flops on and I ask one of the boat drivers if it would be possible to climb up in my flip-flops. He says most of the path is made of gravel so I should be fine. We cross the river and start our hike and I quickly realize that there is no gravel in sight--it's all rocks. I curse him with every step to World Peace Pagoda.

We reach the top after two hours. The view is beautiful. Like a dutiful tourist, I read about the multi-purpose of this pagoda and the history of Buddhism on a large stone wall knowing I won't remember a thing.

Before we descend, we decide to grab lunch at a restaurant nearby. We are both starving. I order two main dishes (one in the guise of an appetizer), and a dessert. Maureen and I gush about how good the food is between our bites and how amazing the view is.

With a full stomach and a renewed spirit, we hiked down to find Devi's Fall. Maureen tells me it's a really cool water fall that disappears into a cave. We walk and walk and walk and we see no fall that disappears into a cave. Then, we spot a small fall that disappears into a hole. Maureen takes a picture of it just in case this is it. We reach the end of the trail in bewilderment with a frustrated mind full of what-the-hecks. "No way! Was that it?!" Unable to accept the crushing reality, we ask a little boy where Devi's Fall is. He points to the left. Still doubtful, we follow his direction into town.

In town, cows lazily meander about causing traffic on the road. We walk for about a mile wondering if we are in the right vicinity and if this thing actually exists. Then suddenly, Maureen spots a big festive entry sign that says Devi's Fall. We are so happy we hadn't already seen it.

We go through the entrance gate and behold the real Devi's Fall. And it's cool. Really cool. We pose for pictures and then for some more pictures and gawk at the awesomeness of this fall. After stupidly staring at it for some time, we decide to walk around the surrounding area. If there is one thing that I don't miss when I travel is an opportunity to throw a coin into a wish pond. And this time is not an exception. Maureen and I dig our wallets for coins and start throwing one coin after another for it to land on the "wish spot" so we can actually make a wish. Peripherally, I notice about five guys staring at us. When we turn around after our many failed attempts, one of the guys calls out to give us more coins. We accept and my last coin lands on the wish spot! We give our thanks (and my email address so we can be Facebook "friends") and turn around. I say to Maureen, "We gotta be more specific." And I make my wish: Please send us two *hot* men to hang out, or have a fling with, or marry. Thank you.

We take a cab back home to get ready for our real adventure in Parewadanda early next morning.


Maureen rowing on the lake

On the way up to World Peace Pagoda

World Peace Pagoda



On our way to find Devi's Fall

On our way to find Devi's Fall II

Going into town

Devi's Fall!

Sonata Allegro: Bridge to Development (Pokhara)

July 28, 2011

If you go to Nepal, anywhere in Nepal, people will ask you where you are from, which cities you have visited and where you are headed next. And if you have not been to Pokhara, they will talk, well, gush about how beautiful and amazing it is. If you don't go to Pokhara, you might as well say you haven't been to Nepal. So, after lollygagging for two days in Kathmandu, Maureen and I head out to Pokhara for our "mini-vacation" before the real work takes place in two days.

When we get off the bus after an 8-hour ride, a swarm of hotel lobbyists and taxi drivers flock over to us like bees to honey saying things like, "Our hotel is by the lake," "You get a free taxi ride and if you don't like the hotel, you can just pay for the taxi and go find another place," "We have a room for only 500 rupees (approx. $7) a night!" Maureen is totally amused by the scene and laughs and I am calculating in my head what the best deal would be. I have my guard up because I don't want to get ripped-off but Maureen, in her total optimism, picks out a 500- rupee room that is by the lake and they even offer a free taxi ride. My brain is overloaded with information but the offer sounds better when Maureen says it instead of tanned Nepali men who come up to my chin with eyes shooting laser beams at my wallet.

Hotel Grand is the abode of our choice. We decide that I would be in charge of bargaining and Maureen will be in charge of reinforcing and nodding. Our guy takes us to a room that is 700 rupees a night. My don't-be-a-stupid-tourist flag goes up and I immediately inform him that that is not what he said at the bus stop. He gestures a things-like-this-happen motion and tells me all the 500-rupee rooms are taken. But consider the view, he says as he opens up the curtains. I can see a mountain. I tell him I can go outside and look at the mountain for free. He doesn't budge. I don't mind paying 700 rupees ($10) a night but I don't like being toyed with. I sort of call him a liar and he seems apologetic. Maureen and I deliberate and we decide that our fatigue outweighs justice so, we stay. The whole drama seems anti-climatic and my sense of heroism is wounded.

To put the unpleasantness behind, we go out to get dinner by the lake. We have the most delicious chicken masala curry I've ever had. We look around and Pokhara is beautiful. The mirror images of the mountains on the lake and the blue sky make the view absolutely heavenly. We take in the scenery and are as happy as two forgetful clams. We go out rowing on the lake for a couple of hours and treat ourselves to a full-body massage. The power is out (it usually goes out periodically at night) so we get our service in candle light. I really want my shoulders and lower back worked on but the guy focuses mostly on my ass and legs. But, whatever. He wants us to come back the next day. No way, Jose.

We look at the list of places to visit in Pokhara that Manish gave us in Kathmandu. (He and his girlfriend come here every time she visits from Malaysia. Apparently, Pokhara is a great place for romance.) I tell Maureen that this trip would be even more amazing if we had two guys to hang out with. Maureen wholeheartedly agrees. So, we place our order out to the universe and ask for two guys (one for me and one for you) with some wavering faith.

To be continued...

Sonata Allegro: Exposition (Kathmandu, Nepal)

July 25, 2011

Maureen arrives in Kathmandu a week earlier then I do because she has to go back a week early for her sister's wedding. I arrive on the night of July 25 armed with the vague idea that I will be contributing my drop in the bucket of goodwill. I know nothing about Nepal except that it is sandwiched between India and China. I will be in Kathmandu for a couple of days and then head off to some touristy city that starts with a "p" for a few days and then to a village that I don't even know the name of. I unpack my backpack at Aastha's parents' place where Maureen has been staying for a week. I sit on my bed and think, "What in the world am I doing in Nepal?" I feel unprepared and inadequate to even make a dent in the face of intimidating poverty.

In Kathmandu, I meet Manish who supervises the boys at the SOS Children's Village--he is also the product of the organization. He was sent there when he was three when his family was too poor to raise him. Manish is my age and I mispronounce his name as "Mannish" as in "He's so mannish." It's actually pronounced "Maneesh" with an accent on the "neesh." He takes me and Maureen around Kathmandu and is one of the nicest and generous men I have ever met. He studied ethnomusicology in Kathmandu University but had to drop out two years into it because his mother fell ill and he felt he had to earn money. Dropping out of school is one of his greatest regrets in life. He says he envies me and I feel apologetic for the opportunities I have.

I also meet Bsam who was sent to the SOS Children's Village when he was two by his grandmother when his mother abandoned him. He is granted admission at Kathmandu University this fall and will be studying ethnomusicology there. I give him a couple of piano lessons and I can tell he's smart. I ask him about the music education that is available in Nepal. He tells me there is a dearth of resources for teachers and students of western music. The "books" that he has are photocopies of the music foreign teachers brought to Nepal.

On my second night, I meet an 18-year old Sulochina who invites herself into our room and asks us various questions with beaming curiosity. She shows us her Nepali things that might fascinate a couple of foreigners. We love her trousers and want to get some for ourselves so she takes us shopping. We also get mehnhi (henna tattoos) on our hands and we think it's the coolest thing. We go back to our place and show her the things we got earlier that day. She immediately asks us how much we paid for them and gives us a nod of approval for not being the stupid foreigner and getting ripped-off. Her charm and sass totally win me over.

I still feel bewildered by the newness of this place. I can't believe I am in Nepal! The reality hasn't sunk in yet. But after living in the dusty and crowded city for two days, I long to get out to the countryside and take in a breath of fresh air.


Me and Bsam in his room



Manish



Me trying to sing a hymn from Maureen's iTouch on demand



Bsam's friend, Bsam, Maureen, me and Manish



Our henna tattoos



Me and Sulochina

Prelude: What? Nepal?

I am not very good at serving people. You may even call me selfish. I have big ideas and the desire to serve, but they always get lost between transactions. So, I have to commit to something big and announce it to the world (via Facebook) so I will actually do it.

I saw a flier for volunteer work in Nepal in the summer of 2008. I really wanted to do it but didn't have money at the time so the plan got pushed back indefinitely until I could afford it. In the winter of 2010, I mentioned my plan to Maureen at an Indian restaurant run by our Nepali friend Aastha in Seoul. Maureen had a friend in Nepal doing volunteer work at a school in a village where we might consider helping out. So, the plan was born. We will go to Nepal in the summer of 2011--exactly three years after the idea was conceived. I committed to Maureen and announced it on Facebook. That's how I ended up in Nepal.

Dog Cafe

I am not sure if there are cafes like Korean cafes anywhere else in the world. If you don't know anything about Korean cafes, this is going to blow your mind. In Korea, there are normal cafes like Starbucks where you order drinks and sit and chat with your friends. But there are other cafes that you probably have never heard of. There are fortune-telling cafes, game cafes (where you order games and play), book cafes, magic cafes (where you learn how to do and practice magic), chess cafe, cat cafes and dog cafes. Like any other cafes, you can order drinks and sit and chat with your friends--you just get to do extra things. And I am sure there are many more that I haven't heard of.

A couple of weeks ago, my friends and I went to a dog cafe. They had all kinds of dogs that you can pet and play with. You don't pay an entrance fee but you have to order a drink and you may also purchase dog treats to entice the dogs to come play with you (since you will be fighting for their attention with other customers). I was feeling down that day but forced myself to go and be social. And lo and behold, the dogs cheered me right up! I now am a firm believer in pet therapy. Here are some pictures!

The Plastic Surgeon and I

broke up. We talked the following morning after our second date but hadn't exchanged texts or talked for over 2 weeks. So, naturally, I thought we broke up. Then he called me last night out of the blue and we ended up talking until 2:30 in the morning.

So you think this is getting good right? Well, I thought so, too.


We started out great. We joked and laughed a lot. We talked about baseball, volleyball, books, his psycho client, church, our dreams, how we want to raise kids, why we are not married, and what our family thinks about that, etc. We also talked about what we expected from our future husband/ wife. He thought I expected too much from my husband.

Toward the end of our conversation, I realized how big the cultural gap was between us. He's Ko-Ko (Korean-Korean as opposed to Korean-American) and I don't think his expectations and my expectations of marriage jived very well. He thought I was too American in my way of thinking and the way I expressed my opinions. I think he was overwhelmed by my straightforwardness and honesty. (Or maybe turned-off is a better word.) I was actually stunned that he thought that that was a bad thing. Then I realized that I had never dated a Korean man before and didn't know what their expectations were exactly. I had an idea of what they were like, but I thought this one was different but was disappointed that he wasn't. It just confirmed my belief that I would be better off with an American.

So, back to square one.

Homesick

Really, I am. And I think the homesickness I am experiencing is of a different breed than the other ones I've experienced in my life. I think the core of my homesickness ironically stems from being in a country where I was born. It's funny because I speak the language, I can read the signs and everyone around me looks like me. But I don't feel like I quite belong here--I feel like a foreigner. Korean people who know me like my co-workers don't regard me as a "real" Korean even though we are good friends. And I don't completely understand the way they think or even if I do, I don't necessarily agree with those thoughts that are deeply entrenched in Confucian philosophy. I feel more like a minority here than when I was in the States. Even though I was a racial minority, I understood the culture and the American way of thinking. In Korea, I am part of the racial hegemony, but I feel like a small Korean island with a half-mast American flag pathetically mounted by my side.

Trying to belong in Korea has been like trying to match a square piece of wood into the indent of a triangle. Being ethnically Korean, I feel like I should feel at home here but since I don't, I feel a bit betrayed by the reality. I have learned a lot about the Korean culture, history and people and I am very grateful and delighted to have the opportunity to learn but I didn't expect to feel this way. Maybe I should just stop running my square piece into the triangle hole hoping it would fit someday. I think I just need to be okay with me being me and accept my reality. Just wish it could that easy.

My Conversion to Buddhism

For two days that is. I went to do a temple stay at a Buddhist temple where people could come and learn about Buddhism and mediate.

Day 1

We first had a tour of the temple and the temple ground.









There were a lot of exchange students who came that day and the interpreter was so nervous to speak English, I ended up doing most of the interpreting.



We had dinner after the tour. We sat on the floor with our bowl and couple of people went around the room to distribute food. We had to eat every tiny morsel of food then wash the bowls with water and a piece of radish and drink the water and eat the radish. We ate/drank everything that was in our bowl.



After dinner, we had tea with the head monk of the temple for a Q & A session.





Around 9:30pm, we all went back to our room (shared by all the females there)and laid out our sleeping blankets on the floor. Lights went out at 10:30pm. The thing about communal sleeping arrangement is that someone is always bound to snore. This night was no exception. I was woken up a few times by a girl whose snoring got progressively more thunder-like as the night deepened. I was woken up again around 3 am feeling very annoyed and irritated. The calm, peaceful, chatter-less mind of the previous night, GONE! I got up and followed the sound of roaring thunder marveling at how she can sleep through the sound of her own snore. After brailling through the floor in the dark, I finally found the culprit. I really wanted to stuff toilet paper down her throat and nostrils but decided against it (after all, I was at a Buddhist temple). Instead, I gently shook her to wake her up so she would stop the damn noise. But she wouldn't wake up! So, I shook her harder, and she still wouldn't wake up. So, I slapped the side of her arm, and she stopped snoring. I crawled back to my blanket and lied down. A few seconds later, the snoring resumed. I wanted to kill myself.

Day 2

We woke up at 4:30 am to get ready for the morning chant, prayer and meditation. We did 108 prostrations to repent for our sins and offer gratitude for our blessings.






After prostrating 108 bows, we sat and meditated until the sun came up.





We had breakfast after and went for a brief hike and meditated some more.





After the dawn and morning meditation I forgot all about the snoring of the previous night and felt at peace. We had some warm tea and Snickers (yes, Snickers) on the mountain and slowly descended down to the temple. The last thing in our itinerary was making lotus blossom lanterns. I gave mine away to a sister missionary and I forgot to take a picture before I gave it to her so you'll have to just rely on my word that it was the most amazing lantern you've ever seen in your life.

The head monk delivered a final remark before we departed as I interpreted in the back of the room.



We said goodbye after 2 days of meditating, praying and friendshipping.

My Big Fat Korean Wedding

Well, it really wasn't *my* big fat Korean wedding but a big fat Korean wedding nonetheless. It was the wedding of my grandfather's brother's daughter's daughter's wedding so it was imperative that I go. The wedding took place in Busan, about a 4 hour drive from Seoul. The parents of the groom and bride rented a huge tour bus for the guests driving down from Seoul. However, this was no ordinary tour bus.

The wedding started at 2pm, so the guests gathered at the bus terminal at 7 in the morning to ride down together. I got up at 4 am to get ready and get down to the terminal so I was pretty exhausted and prepared to sleep on the bus. Unfortunately, this "tour" bus was equivalent to a night club bus that operated also in the morning. I got in my seat and got cozy to sleep when the driver blasted karaoke music at 7:30 in the morning. 7:30 in the freakin' mornin! And they proceeded to pass out breakfast complete with rice, bulgogi (marinated beef), donkatze (breaded pork), and various side dishes along with beer. The heartiest breakfast I have ever seen in my life.

As people filtered into the bus and my aunt introduced me to all the people that I was distantly related to, I realized that most of the people on the bus were my relatives! They were mostly the descendants of my paternal grandfather's brothers. A lot of them knew who I was because they knew my dad. I learned that they referred to my dad as Hee-ya oppa (my dad's name is Byung-hee, and oppa means older brother). I felt very welcome and stunned at the fact that I had so many relatives.

I thought about all my cousins in the States and how they don't even know these people exist on the other side of the globe. I also thought about the cultural collision and shock they will experience when they meet these people. It was a strange feeling straddling the two worlds of the same family.

Anyway, we arrived at Busan around 1 pm and waited around until the wedding started. The ceremony was short and quick. We finished eating and socializing around 4 pm and the bus came to drive us back up to Seoul.

Most of the guests got up at the crack of dawn to come down to Busan so I assumed most of them were exhausted after the wedding and reception. After all, most of them were in their 50s, 60s and 70s. I fell asleep almost immediately after we departed. But only for a short while. Another session of blasting karaoke music shocked me out of my sleep. But this time with disco lights. The entire ceiling of the bus was lined with bright, eye-blinding technicolor. After a couple of hours of singing, the MC (yes, there was an MC) suggested dancing.

I huffed at this suggestion. There was no way these old people were going to get up and dance on the aisle of the bus. But to my utter surprise, with the start of the deafening blast of techno remix of Korean oldies (ppong-jak), people in their 50s-70s stood up, went to the aisle and started doing a very jolly rendition of I-have-to-go-pee dance as they basked in the schizophrenic beams of disco lights. My. Jaw. Dropped.

Who says Asian people don't know how to party?

Chuseok: Korean Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving Day. Chuseok is very different from the American Thanksgiving in that it includes a ritualistic ceremony for one's ancestors. So, this being my first Korean Chuseok, I made a number of cultural faux pas that I tried to pass off with nonchalance and grace only to shroud myself in the cloak of idiocy.



The ceremony is called "charae" and to properly offer food to the ancestors, one must arrange the food in proper order and put chopsticks on the food so they can "try" that dish. Then, we prostrate ourselves in front of the pictures of the deceased twice and do a half bow. We rearrange the chopsticks so they can "try" other dishes and each time we change the chopsticks, we prostrate ourselves again in the same manner. Since there are a lot of dishes on the table, we do a lot of prostrating.

I think there are 3 ways to prostrate oneself for various occasions. I didn't know which one to do so I just picked the simplest one and kept going. And of course, it was the wrong one but nobody corrected me. I was also supposed to cover my feet with socks or footsies but no one told me, so went in barefoot. I felt a bit irritated but I think they were trying to accommodate my "foreignness." It felt very strange to receive the treatment of a foreigner even among my relatives.

The whole event was an interesting experience but it also made me realize how much there is to learn about the Korean culture and how everything is related to eastern philosophy and the indigenous psyche of the Korean people. But that's a whole new entry.

Some cool people I met

About a couple of weeks ago Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa came on our show. He was in The Last Emperor, The Mortal Kombat, and Memoirs of a Geisha among numerous movies. Contrary to his bad-guy image he had accumulated over the years in Hollywood, he was genuine and really sweet. We hit it off right away. We talked about our identity issues as Asian Americans and how we can create our own niche to feel at peace in such a convoluted and complex world.

I asked him how he came to be at peace with Hollywood only giving him racially stereotypical roles as an ass-kicking villain. He said he wanted to be in film and he took whatever opportunities that came his way so that he can make a difference from inside out. Now, he has enough connections in the industry to make films he wants to make and foster future generations of Asian American actors.



Here is a picture of me and Jihye, my co-worker with Cary-Hiroyuki.

This week, we had the legendary Korean film director Lim Kwon-taek on our show. He has directed Seopyeonje (서편제), General's Son 1,2,3 (장군의 아들), Chun-hyang (춘향전), and Chuihwason (취화선) for which he received the best director award at Cannes Festival. I love all of his movies especially Chuihwason. I am sure you can get his movies with subtitles on netflix and I highly recommend them. His works are masterpieces.

Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk with him very much but did get a picture with him.

The Korean Folk Village

Last Saturday, I had visitors from the States and took them to The Korean Folk Village. The Korean government has recreated this folk village to display the traditional life and culture of the Korean people. There are approximately 250 replicas of buildings of the different social classes (peasant, landowner, aristocrats) and a traditional market and restaurants. We also got to see the traditional Korean wedding, and the farmers' performances of traditional music and dance. It was pretty cool.

Here are some pics!


Farmer's dance and music


Korean traditional wedding


Korean traditional kitchen


My traveling backpack with straw shoes tied in the back


Me hauling water


Carrying water on my back