Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival: Talent Under the Trees

This weekend, my friend Liu and I visited the Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival. Adventures with Liu, an expat from China, are guaranteed good times, but we hadn't a clue what we were in for. In my mind, we would take a nice relaxing stroll down a sidewalk surrounded by cherry blossoms. We did just that, but also found ourselves amidst perhaps the entire population of Korea and talent everywhere.

As we walked through the perfectly lined cherry blossoms, we'd meet circles of onlookers surrounding performances of various sorts. People were genuinely happy- dancing, singing, clapping, and smiling. I often time sense the stress radiating from hard working Koreans. Here it's not uncommon for students to be in school 12 hours a day (Saturdays too), business men to work into the late hours of night, and women to dedicate themselves to a job all while retaining almost full responsibility of cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Sometimes I feel like foreigners are the only ones that let loose and have a good time, but that just wasn't the case on this day, at this festival.


타 묘 at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.


Korean music that is not K-Pop! Probably the best discovery since my arrival. 타 묘 is adorable and very talented. During their performance, we had the t rain to our left, the Han River/city in front of us, A bridge to our right and cherry blossom trees behind. It was perfect.


Samul Nori (사 물놀이) at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.

I've loved Samul Nori since orientation when I was able to play. The sound makes my insides vibrate and I feel alive. Some of these guys brought me up to dance with them!


Brazilian Capoeira at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.

I had never seen this before, but it is called Capoeira and originated amongst descendants of African slaves in Brazil. It's mixes music and martial arts.

Happy Pepero Day, Veterans Day, and Birthday to me.

Usually birthdays are somewhat awkward for me. Generally, the day feels the same as any other day of the year and my age, the same as all previous adult-ages. This birthday, however, felt different.  Being in a foreign country as I hit my mid-twenties surely added to the effect, but what stood out most was how much I have grown over the past year, maybe two. This growth felt worthy of celebrating. In my entire life, never have I felt this confident, this wise, this sure of every decision I make and my ability to do whatever I put my mind to. Never before have I cared less about potential failure or whatever others might think of my actions. Sure, I still have insecurities, like all people, but I don't feel like these insecurities will ever define who I am or what I do, as they may have in the past. Get ready for major cheese, but I feel like I am a strong, independent woman. No longer do I feel like I'm still a 20 year old girl, and that would be the reason I finally felt different this birthday. The past two years threw some pretty intense hurdles my way, just up until my breaking point, but never past. I've grown, I've learned and I'm just ready for this new year.

November 11th was not only my birthday, but one of my students birthdays, Veteran's Day in the states, and then, here in South Korea, Pepero Day. Pepero Day is similar to Valentines day, only instead of shitty Barbie and Rugrats cards, students (and lovers) pass out the tastiest of treats: bread-like sticks dipped in chocolate and sometimes rice krispy treats, peanuts, sprinkles, etc. Unfortunately, my school canceled the celebration of Pepero Day because it is "too commercial." Certainly true, but come on, they have me teaching about Christmas, Santa, and elves this week...

Despite Pepero Day being canceled, I was welcomed with kind birthday wishes, gifts, and company on both Thursday and Friday from co-workers, students, and friends. The best gift of all was receiving a spare key to my bike lock and unlocking my bike from its dwelling outside my school where it has been stranded for two weeks. To my surprise someone had attempted to burn their way through the lock, but fortunately, were unsuccessful. So what did the pesky thief do? They stole my blinkers and a little heart sticker placed on the bike by the previous owner. Way to be! 

Unlocking the bike meant a ride I've been meaning to take since I got the bike: biking to The Han River, Seoul via the Anyancheon River. I DID IT! About 35 miles and I was there, rode along the river, and back. It was freezing and my nose running uncontrollably, but it was so incredibly invigorating.Especially when I stumbled upon a Samul Nori group playing along the river.


Samul Nori on the Anyangcheon from Lana Wright on Vimeo.

Back in the Game

Aside from meeting new people, the second best part of
orientation was learning Samul Nori, traditional percussion
music. We did not do the dance part, but learned
some pieces on the drums. Something about hitting the drum
with every bit of strength felt amazing.

GEPIK orientation came and went. My feelings about the experience are mixed, but overall, I'd say the majority of it was positive. It amazed me to see such a diverse group of English speakers together in one place. If Koreans at all have difficulty putting a finger on key characteristics of Americans (although there were a few English, New Zealand and Canadian citizens present), it's because the ones here are all so very different. And not just minor differences, but it is those with extreme personalities that have the courage and desire to make their way to another country. I immediately clicked with my roommate and the girls next door to us. We were able to assume a mixture of professionalism and fun, which was difficult for the many teachers that found themselves shit faced in the evening, only to have to wake up at 6:30ish in the morning. Call me square, but I cherish this experience and my reputation as an educator far too much to put myself in those shoes.

New friends from GEPIK orientation. 

When I got home (woah, feels weird to say that), my computer charger exploded and I was also out of minutes on my temporary pre-paid cell phone given to me by my recruiter. I felt totally cut off from all communication with everyone and quite lonely/home sick/on the verge of a breakdown. The next day was no better, I got to school and just had a very rough day. It was nothing that students, teacher or myself did, but just this huge communication barrier that I felt existed. Co-teaching with three teachers, all with very different teaching styles and varying levels of English, seemed impossible. Even closer to the breakdown, like literally about to start crying in the middle of the city, a lady out of no where said hello (Ahn nyeong) to me. It was very comforting and helped me in keeping in my tears. Later, I began a mission to find the post office. I asked about four people for directions, searched for about an hour and finally I found it. While the search was starting to break me down again, the feeling of successfully finding it built me up again. I needed as much strength as possible because after the post-office came E-mart (the giant local store) where I knocked over an entire stack of Kleenex boxes...great. An nearby employee appeared upset, but helped me pick them up. After saying sorry (Mian Ham Nee Dah) in Korean, she seemed a little less annoyed with me.

Yesterday I finally received my alien registration card and so I was able to get a cell phone and a bank account (WHEW). Oh yea, and my phone has an antenna and TV capability... I have also found a few nearby PC Bangs (computer rooms). I am feeling much better and now have the weekend to re-gather myself. For those of you at home, I hope you are not worried about me after reading this post. Yes, I had some of those difficult days that I'm sure everyone must experience when moving to a new country, but I am still very much in love with my experience. I wish I could upload some of my photos for everyone to see, but that will have to wait until I get my hands on a new computer power cord. Now I'm off to explore Seoul!