Music and More

Today was rather a full day.  In the morning, we listened to a performance of music done with traditional instruments, and then were allowed to have an attempt at playing them ourselves.  That actually went better than I had expected, but with a group as large as ours (over 100 students total), there were no were near enough instruments for everyone, so there were some backlog and sharing issues.

Following that we left for Samsung-Dong and Bukchon Villiage, which are both these little authentic areas of Seoul, with old-style houses and some art galleries and little shops.  It kind of reminded me of parts of the Mediterranean or little cutesy towns along the coast like Martha's Vineyard or whatever.  We stopped in  a coffee shop that's part of a chain called Beansbins, and got Ice Cream Waffles.  Apparently Belgian Waffles with Ice Cream are a big thing here, and it makes me wonder why a chain carrying them has never caught on at home.  With the American appetite what it is, you'd think they would.

We then continued walking past the US Embassy and the Blue House, which is kind of like the Korean White House.  My guide book had said that it was just offices, but when I asked the Korean girls with us about it, they said that the President actually lives there.  I'm starting to worry about trusting my guide book too much, as it's making me say things that make me look like an idiot to the Koreans.  Hmm.

We then went to a small park in Seoul, which for the life of me I cannot find the name of, but it was directly across from The Plaza hotel.  There was a stage set up (apparently sponsored by UNESCO for some reason) and a band playing.  After that a group of little schoolgirls in cute little blue-and-white outfits with bows came up and did a song-and-dance performance for the moms who stood in front of the stage.  We sat farther back and clapped when they finished too because it was cute, but we looked a little bit like creepers by doing so.  We kept getting stares from the Koreans in the park for exploding in laughter or whatever.  Typical American tourists.

Then one of the Koreans said we should try traditional Korean liqour.  We thought that this would mean getting up and heading to a restaurant, but it turns out that it's a-okay to drink alcohol in public in South Korea.  So they went off to a grocery to get some makgeolli, which is sort of like a rice wine.  It was very strange to sit in a park and drink and not feel like a total delinquent.

Then we walked to a theater where we saw a performance of the NANTA Cookin' show.  It's like STOMP with food and chefs, and was quite entertaining.  It really made me want to go see the actual STOMP, because I enjoyed this and would like to see how it differs from the US version.  Also, there was audience participation last night, which always makes me nervous during a show, spending the whole time trying to avoid getting called on to do anything.

Now it's the next morning, and I slept until 10am.  I guess I was sleepier than I thought.