Freshmen Welcome Ceremony

I had a great weekend. Note that the weekend after pay day is always pretty spectacular, but this one was especially good. We had the longest drumming practice ever on Thursday night. I thought I was going to fall over my drum and pass out by the time 9 pm rolled around and we'd only had a 20-minute break. But Matt made me a hamburger when I got home, so life was pretty sweet here in Korea.

We hauled ass at the gym on Friday morning, AND I didn't have to come to school. It was the day to welcome the freshmen, so Black Dress picked me up and we all headed over to Sungkyul University for a talent show celebration of sorts. It was really a nice day: longer than expected (since it was only to be a half day), but it was well worth it. The university itself was really new but had a distinct western feel (not UWO, but rather non-eastern). Reminded me of home (how about that cross, eh? A bit obvious, thinks I, but this was the theology building...it was sort of fitting).

We had so much time to kill before our performance ;) so I made quite the dent in The Shipping News. It's getting really good now.

This was the scene once the kids started the talent portion of the show:



They're so cute: they essentially act out various K-pop music videos, but some of them actually sang to accompany their dancing. These little mandoos (Korean for "dumplings"...they hate it when I call them that. I love it, however, so I do it ceaselessly) were amazing. And they were from the troublesome class from last year. I was so proud of them, gyrating up on stage like little exotic dancers. Wait...I'm not supposed to encourage that, am I? Nevertheless, it was entertaining.

These girls are part of the Girl Scouts, so their movements were a little less provocative.



And then it time to practice one last time before we went on stage. We took the only place available that wouldn't interfere with others: outside. Um, Korea, it's winter. And drumming takes agility and patience. Both of these run out right fast when I'm standing outside. When they brought coffee out to warm us up, it was lukewarm from the server walking from the door to us. Not a good part of the day.

We went backstage to prep for our entrance. The kids were rowdy and getting noisier, as the MC's (students) got them even more hyped up. Since I had no idea what was going on (understandably, the ability to speak a second languages fades fast when one is nervous, so no one could explain what I could expect as the sequence of our set got ever closer), I wasn't nervous at all.

But when we ran on stage, carrying our barrel-sized drums with us, and the lights hit me, I got a little flutter in the belly. It was fun! We all performed pretty badly. Our timing was off because the instructor, though in the first row of the audience, was not rapping on her sticks as she had in practice. The kids went mental though. They totally loved that we were all up there and they especially loved that I was up there. Each class went ballistic when their homeroom teacher was called and he or she waved, but they all went ape when it was my turn. It was pretty cool. Phew...they must like me ;)

We went to a fusion restaurant when it was all over for some amazing Korean food. We had tapas of grilled shrimp with cheese and thyme, tiny squid steamed in their own blue dye, braised pork with greens served in a thin radish wrap, and salad (salad!) with creamy sesame dressing. Apparently it was very expensive, so I won't be heading back, but boy was I glad to have had a Korean meal that I actually appreciated. Aside from the times My Korean Mother has taken me somewhere, I always find these "traditional Korean restaurants" and the food they serve pretty mundane. This was sensational.

I stayed home Friday night, exhausted from the week, needing to rest up for the weekend ahead. I was asleep by 9:30!

Apparently, I have some pics
heading my way
of me hittin' the drums.
I'll post 'em as soon as I get 'em!