You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2008.
Just an update on my gaygeum lessons. I have developed a nice little blister on the inside of my index finger. Plucking the gayageum strings can be very painful until you have developed the necessary calluses on your fingers. At least the blister is in a less conspicous spot unlike violin hickies which just look like hickies on your neck. Haha.
Also, I have had this new found obsession with trying to listen to as much gayageum music as I can in my spare time and I found this interesting video on Google Video through one of my many searches. This is a gayageum improvisation with the Wonder Girls’ song “Tell Me” which, for those of you who didn’t know, swept through South Korea like a storm. It was so popular that people were making videos of themselves doing the addictive dance like crazy and posting them up on the web. Also, even now, you can’t escape references to it on Korean shows. This improv is really good. Take a look:
sorry for any of you who are already really sick of this song.
Friday night (Good Friday) found me laying still awake in bed with Maya snoring next to me and Daniel also trying to get to sleep. I don’t know where or how my thoughts started but I began to think about how I hadn’t talked with my mom for awhile. In fact, it had been over a week and I knew it was my fault that we hadn’t talked. Since I have picked up new students and with the time difference it seemed that every time my mom called I was either at work, cooking dinner, or just getting up. I think maybe she is waiting for me to call when I get the time and I’m not so busy so that we can have a nice non-stressed conversation. I feel guilty. I haven’t called. Sure, I had lots of excuses…it might be too late there to call, I am really tired right now, I just don’t have the time….there were many more. I started to think about how I do call when I NEED something or when it is convenient for me. I need a recipe or I need to ask my mom for some help in Korean. Only when I needed to. My mind wandered from my mom to Easter and to Jesus Christ. I realized that I had treated Him the same way I had treated my mom. I only came to Him or thought of Him when it was convenient for me. The same excuses I had used on my mom were the same ones I had used on Him. He had become a God of convenience for me. As I was thinking about my relationship with Christ a line from the Traditional Christian hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” came to mind. It goes like this:
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
I felt, that Friday night, that I truly am a creature prone to wandering and leaving. I felt that most of the time I spend trying to work out my problems by myself instead of coming to my knees before Him. I get so caught up in my daily life, teaching and taking care of my family, that I forget a lot of times the fount of all my blessings. I don’t want this Easter to be a time that is just convenient for me to remember Christ and His Resurrection and the promises that have been fulfilled because of it. I want to remember that each and every day. I want to remember it when I am tired, or when I am lonely, when I am happy, or when I am just content.
I know that I can do this at anytime. Christ is waiting for me at anytime. Just like I think that my mom is waiting for me anytime to call her.
Happy Easter to everyone! And may this Easter be the time to rededicate our hearts to the God that we love so much!
Here is a you tube video of the the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” :
Today was absolutely wonderful in Seoul. The skies were blue (and clear!) and the weather was warm with a slight breeze. So I took advantage of it by doing some exercise in the morning. I walked over to Boramae Park and walked around the 600 meter track a few times and then did some stretches. After all of this I decided to sit on one of the benches that surround a huge pond in the middle of the park. I scrolled through my play list on the ipod and found some classical music that I thought would compliment the nice mood I was in. As the song started I heard a distant tapping sound and someone chanting. I tried to ignore it and listen to my song but the sound was insistant. I reluctanly paused the ipod and pulled out my earbuds. I suddenly realized it was the sound of a buddhist monk chanting and hitting a wooden fish. (I just found out is prevalent in Mahayana Buddhism which is practiced mainly by Buddhist disciples in East Asia.) The incantation was melodious yet very beautiful and the sound of the wooden fish was clear and resonant. (There is a small Buddhist temple in Boramae park hidden by the trees near the south entrance. )As I listened to the chanting I almost couldn’t see the high-rise apartments that surround the park. I just saw the trees and I began to wonder what Korea was like when all you could hear were the chantings of the nearby Buddhist temple maybe periodically interrupted by travelers. I thought it must have been very peaceful in a sense, even though Korea was a country that had seen very little peace in its history. I was almost completely lost in these thoughts when I saw a young Korean man wearing a pair of jeans where the crotch zipper was a bright yellow. I was initially shocked at the effect it created. Then I began to think about how I had other errands to run (like going to Costco). I was quite sad to be taken away from these somewhat romantic notions. They are sometimes hard to come by.
Remember my post about the ajummas here in Korea? How they aren’t afraid to express their opinion to you about anything? Well my mom (who is Korean and immigrated to the States after marrying my dad back in the 80’s) related to me an experience she had recently. An experience that made her think of my exact post. Back in Utah a couple of weeks ago she took my cousin (who is Korean and came to the US to study English) and his girlfriend snow shoeing for the first time up Provo Canyon. Since my mom only had two pairs of snow shoes they took turns going in pairs around the park. Well it was my mom’s turn to sit out and while she was waiting she saw a couple of young boys playing around in the park. She noticed that they were making snowballs and throwing them at something. She soon realized that their target was a herd of deer that had come down off the mountain. The boys were throwing the snow balls into the herd trying to scare them and really just trying to have some “teenage boy fun.” And this is when her ajumma instinct came out. She didn’t feel it was very nice for them to be throwing anything at the deer so she yelled over to them and told them to stop throwing the snowballs. They were quite shocked and a bit embarrassed that anyone said anything to them. They stopped, apologized, and high-tailed it out of there before the Korean lady might get angry. When she thought about the situation a little time later she thought about my post and how she had “lapsed” into ajumma mode….despite over twenty-years of living in the States. But, as she thought more about it, she didn’t feel there was anything wrong with what she did. She wasn’t mean, her request was out of concern for the animals, and she didn’t harm anyone. I think that I have to agree with my mom. I think sometimes we need and should say something. Of course we should never be mean or judgemental or anything, but we should care a little more for the people around us. Genuine care. I know I have been in situations where I saw something and knew I should have said something but didn’t. Maybe it’s because we are too afraid of hurting someone’s feelings or for what they may think of us. When the ajumma, here in Korea, told me that it was cold and I should cover Maya with another blanket….first getting over the initial shock of someone telling me something…I felt a little grateful that she really cared to say something. Maybe we should all be a little more willing to have an “ajumma moment” when something needs to be said.
I am so excited to post about this! In fact, I have been waiting for days now to share with you an exciting opportunity that I am able to participate in. As of today I am learning how to play the gayageum. It is a Korean zither of which you can read more about here. The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts (NCKTPA) hosts classes for foreigners to learn various Korean traditional instruments such as the gayageum, janggu (drum), and danso. It is a 12-week program which culminates in a performance where we get to perform what we have learned on stage with the professionals who play for the NCKTPA.
Today was my first day and I just know that I am going to love it. I have such an international class consisting of people from places like South Africa, Japan, France, China, and the US. My teacher is a talented gayageum major and she teaches the class both in Korean and English so I get to practice some Korean as well. Here are some pics of my first day:
This is my teacher tuning all the gayageums whilst the class tries to memorize all the strings.
Here’s another picture of the gayageums:
Here’s my gayageum:
Here is a close-up of the movable bridges:
It really is a very elegant instrument. The strings are traditionally made of silk. You tune the strings by moving the bridges. It is definitely different than the violin, and I love it! After watching the Korean drama “Hwang Jin-Yi” I fell in love with the gayageum. The drama is about Korea’s most famous gisaeng, Hwang Jin-Yi (similar to Japan’s geisha). In the drama it shows the different courtesans playing the traditional instruments like the gayageum. The sound is so rich and beautiful. Here is a video I found on google video of the sanjo gayageum :
As you can see this instrument takes a lot of skill and technique with both the left and right hand. I have quite a formidable task ahead to learn the gayageum at least decently. Today we learned the proper way to sit and hold the gayageum in our laps. We also learned the proper technique of plucking and we learned the names and the pitches of the different strings (there are 12 in all). We also worked in groups of four to learn and practice some simple exercises to help us get comfortable with the different strings.
I also met some really neat people today and I hope that along with learning the gayageum and more of Korean culture I will also get to make some good friends.
Here is the website for the NCKTPA if you are interested in attending any of their regular performances. The center is located in Seocho-gu, Seoul. If you missed this semester of learning Korean traditional instruments, you can find out more about their fall semester at this website as well. Just click here. The site offers both a Korean and English page.
So, we finally got a couch! My aunt picked it out and sent it to us and it has been a wonderful addition to our home. Sitting on the floor 24/7 can get a little tiring no matter how used to it you are. The fabric is suede and it folds into a bed. Daniel has been trying out the bed for the last few nights and he says that it’s pretty comfortable.
This next picture is of the couch but it has my “security” on it. When we first got the couch it was of course a magnet for Maya. I was so afraid that she would drop something on it or make it really dirty—like little kids tend to do. I was more worried because the material is suede so it isn’t the easiest thing to wash. Well, one day she just all of a sudden got a bloody nose and of course some of it dripped on the couch. After taking care of her and rescuing the couch I decided to keep this folded up sheet on there. Now, I don’t have to worry as much since the sheet is much easier to clean. I know it looks a little tacky, but what the heck.
To give you an idea of the length, Daniel can lay down on it and his feet just barely hang off. For those of you who don’t know Daniel, he is about 6 foot 3 inches tall. So, it is a pretty good sized couch.
After the Indian buffet fiasco at Chakraa, I was a little hesitant to try out any more Indian food. I figured I should just settle with Korean and leave it at that. However our friends, Aaron and Na Young, introduced us to arguably the best Indian restaurant I have ever been. It was soooooo good! The only down side to this place is the location. It is located up an infamous hill dubbed “hooker hill” in Itaewon and I was a bit nervous walking back down to the subway station after dinner. There was a group of foreigners coming out of a bar drunk and yelling profanity down the street and I couldn’t help but be a little scared and embarrassed.
But, let us get to the food. Our friends suggested we order a set menu where we could choose one type of chicken curry (we chose chicken vindaloo), one type of vegetable curry (we chose matter paneer), and one type of lamb curry (I am not sure what it was called, but it was lamb and spinach). We also got to choose a type of naan (we settled for a mix, both butter and garlic) and a type of Indian rice (I think we chose saffron rice). We also got some delicious tandoori chicken sizzling in it’s yummy bed of onions and some samosas with different chutneys to start us off. Drinks were also included. It was absolutely delicious. The price was reasonable and you got a fair amount—in other words, we didn’t leave hungry. They kept the curries warm on the table with candles burning underneath the curry holders.
I give this restaurant, on a scale from 1-5, a 10!!! It was soooooo good!
Here is the website: click here!
Just last week I received a huge box of kimchi from my uncle and aunt living here in Seoul. It’s the second box we have received since moving into our own apartment. The kimchi is excellent. I think, besides my mom’s, it is the best kimchi that Daniel and I have ever eaten. It is seriously that good. Why are we so lucky? Well, my uncle and aunt run a restaurant franchise called TwoTwo chicken. They have to order kimchi for their restaurant to serve with their dishes and they have scouted out a few kimchi producers to find the best.
Just a little note: A lot of people, especially here in Seoul, probably don’t make their own kimchi. Some do, but I am thinking most don’t. So, how do they take care of their regular “fix” of kimchi (since it is the national dish and it is eaten at every meal)? The local neighborhood markets as well as places like E-Mart and other stores (including Costco) sell kimchi. Most of them are really good. Restaurants as well mostly order their kimchi from companies that make kimchi, in bulk, for that purpose.
Anyway, we are very lucky to get some of the kimchi that they order. Well, this particular package had double the amount of kimchi (엄마, I got 8 half-heads*…and they are huge!) And just to illustrate how much I got I will tell you that I couldn’t fit it all in the fridge. Half is in the fridge and half of it is in the utility closet that stays pretty cold since it is basically outside. I am a little worried now since the weather has been warming up a bit…
Now, to why the title of this post is “Am I becoming more Korean?” Just the other night I was “taking care” of our kimchi. Meaning I was refilling one of the containers with cut-up kimchi that we eat at meals and repacking the “main” container and cleaning it up a bit. I kind of have this rotating system going on. As I was looking at the overflowing container of kimchi and thinking to myself how in the heck we are going to eat all of this and all of the kimchi outside too, I started to get this sense of…I don’t even know how to describe it…a sense of WEALTH…a sense of HAPPINESS and PRIDE mixed with this weird sense of IF I HAPPEN TO RUN OUT OF OUR OTHER FOOD AT LEAST I HAVE ALL THIS KIMCHI AND SOMEHOW I WILL SURVIVE….yeah, weird, I know. I shook my head and started to wonder if this is how Korean people feel about their kimchi, especially when they have a lot of kimchi. Can anybody enlighten me on this? 엄마 (mom)? 이모 (aunt)? Am I becoming more Korean?
This kimchi is an older picture. This is a quarter-head. The main type of kimchi is made from chinese cabbage or napa cabbage. Usually they cut the heads in quarters when they are preapring kimchi. However, the kimchi I got was in half-heads!
*this is just my way of sizing kimchi. By no means is it a standard unit of measurment used by anyone.
