my little hellions in jewel class tried to charm me before our field trip down the road to jangsan mountain by giving me flowers for teachers’ day.
then, it was off to the mountain, where we did a brief art project,
and i learned that my 5-year-old students all draw better than i do. especially tony, who is probably destined for artistic greatness.
for a while there, tony quit coming to school because he was afraid of my not-korean face. when he came back, all his classmates told me, “teacher, i am happy today because tony isn’t scared of you anymore!”
hooray.
then the kiddies got a rare opportunity to play.
next, it was game time. there was the relay race run while hugging a ball between two kids,
try to catch a candy using only your mouth,
and tug of war!
jewel class won, and i have to sheepishly admit to being overly pumped about this.
i have so, so many more pictures of the kiddies from that day, but i’ll spare you. i doubt i would be that pumped about looking at strangers’ kids if i didn’t teach them…
I am a big fan of photo contests. Not for the fame and fortune, or even the competition, but just for the simple fact that I love pushing my photography and the contests always give a theme and a direction to push towards. The bonus is that if you win, you usually get something nice, but again it is not the driving factor behind my motives.
This weekend I found the National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2011. I feel that this contest is perfect for the expat photographer in Korea. The styles of photos that they are looking for seem to match what a lot of people are shooting these days. Here are the categories and descriptions of what they are looking for:
Sense of Place: Pictures that evoke the essence of a place
Spontaneous Moments: Fun, quirky, surprising, and unrehearsed moments
The submission period ends July 11th and according to their site, more than 11,000 images were uploaded for last year’s contest. The top prize this year is an Expedition-type cruise around the British and Irish Isles for two. The second place prize is a nine night hotel stay around India with Trident Hotels. Simply fantastic stuff!
The photos should be uploaded online and have a minimum pixel size of 1600, but less than 5 megabytes. Also note that you want to be on the light end of the photoshop scale, so be careful that you are not removing objects or cloning things that aren’t really in the original image. HDR is allowed (assah!) but I would keep it at a minimum and not too crazy like some of the shots that I got for Buddha’s birthday… Here are the official rules and be sure to check the “how to enter” section for more on what you can and can’t do to your shots.
Now, there is a fee of $15 USD per photo and there is no limit to the number of photos that you can enter. These payments can be may through paypal. The contest seems pretty much open without any “special restrictions” on things like published photos or photos that have been entered in other contests. I got bit in the ass by that one a little while ago when I submitted the same photo to two different photo competitions in Ulsan and the photo got pretty much the same award (honourable mention). Sadly I had to cancel one and send back the prize because of the regulations. However, you won’t be that restricted here.
I hope that some of you enter your awesome shots in this contest, I know I will be! That trip to India sounds great to me! I will also keep you posted on the upcoming KTO Photo contest as it is extremely hard to find the posting for that one.
If you ever want to know why I like living in Korea, it's because last Saturday evening at 9pm I was stood in the middle of Yongdusan Park with thousands of other people, immersed in the 2011 Busan Lotus Lantern Festival (there's another in Seoul). By contrast, the only reason you go to a park after dark in my city is to shoot up hard drugs or get murdered. And while there are things to do and places to go after dark, it involves locking yourself in your car and hoping someone doesn’t ram you from behind in one of the bad neighbourhoods which are too numerous to avoid, as part of an insurance fraud or carjacking.
During my first stay in Korea, I saw a lot of places and did a lot of things, and now I have a child I have to reluctantly acknowledge that it was a more carefree lifestyle which might never be fully regained. So whereas once we would have made a date to visit Yongdusan Park on Saturday evening for the Busan Lotus Lantern Festival, and culmination of the three-day Joseon Tongsinsa Festival – it was past our son's bedtime and we thought we probably wouldn't make it unless he was in a good mood. But Thursday was Children's Day in Korea, so we went then instead, after lunch. The lanterns were out but the effect was obviously less impressive in the daytime, and we're getting to that time of year where the heat and humidity are becoming uncomfortable, which also detracts a little from the experience.
As things were, we actually did manage to get back on Saturday, although it didn't quite work out as planned. The event was scheduled to begin at 8pm, but it was late starting, and we didn't really think through the nature of the event. We went for the lanterns, but there was a parade. Korean parades are often noisy affairs, and when the lights were finally turned on and this one arrived, it was no different. To an extent you can move away from the samulnori and other sundry musicians, but there was no escape from the on-stage performances which were so loud over the speakers I left the park barely able to hear myself speak - this is not an exaggeration. I haven't experienced anything like it since university. Add fireworks into the mix, which admittedly were rather nicely enhanced by the fog, and it explains why my wife - concerned about our baby’s hearing - immediately fled from the park with several other parents.
Now our baby is old enough to start seriously venturing from the confines of the apartment, it's occurring to me for the first time that, at least as far as festivals and other events are concerned, Korea may not be particularly baby friendly. Maybe there's a way of holding an event like this without getting noise complaints from Japan, but if there is it hasn't crossed the organisers' minds.
Unfortunately at the point at which my wife ran away we were separated, and she had my phone, leaving me with Korean Mother who had taken a seat near the stage and was largely inaccessible – not just because of the language barrier. I spent at least thirty minutes looking for my wife and child, although it could have been longer since without my phone, I didn't know the time either. I discovered why I couldn’t find my immediate family once I worked my way to Korean Mother. "Shall we go?" I asked in Korean, but she said no, she was having fun. I lacked the depth of language to ascertain whether she was saying this for my benefit or not, and I didn't want to press the issue by emphasising that it was really OK to leave, because I was afraid of dragging her away from something she wanted to stay at. Predictably, it later transpired that while she was enjoying the event, she also mainly staying for my benefit.
The misunderstandings meant that I saw the events through to their conclusion. Confusion, noise, colour, laughter, large crowds, barely organised chaos among the performers and the possibility of permanent physical damage afterwards - the Festival was a microcosm of life in Korea, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Leave and get on the train. Know that where you are going is considered to be one of the oldest temples in Seoul.
Meander through the soggy street of Insadong, noticing that within the past two years many changes have occurred here. Like more beauty-product stores and less Korean-trinket shacks.
Turn left down an alley and come to the steps of the Jogyesa Temple. Since it is the exact day of celebration, try not to impose on those worshiping.
Notice that even in the muddy puddle is a genuine reflection of people's devotion.
Take in the long line of folks waiting to prostrate in front of the Buddha, and listen to the chanting.
Turn around and notice people walking around the pagoda and bowing in front of it, perhaps because there is an old relic there that was brought by a monk a long time ago.
Notice that even pigeons can find a peaceful spot.
As you know the flame of one candle can be shared with another and so that little piece of light grows and grows as it is passed along.
You might also know that the lotus flower blooms from the muddy puddles of a swamp or pond. Because it is so white and pure one can't help but think of searching for such beauty in their own life.
Go back to where the steps were and make it through the crowd to the one that is loved.
Another Buddha's birthday passes while the warmth of summer starts to grow and the green leaves continue to unfold.
These photos were taken at Oncheonjang Stream, a stretching park running just outside our door. As the cold winter faded to spring, we waited while the cherry trees prepared themselves for the blossom filled spectacle that would stick around for nearly two weeks. What a gift.
The blossoms hug each side of the park. Makes the wide space feel cozy.
You can't see all the letters in the picture, but the bushes spell out Yeonje-gu, the name of our neighborhood.
The air was fragrant, and reminded me of lilacs bushes back stateside.
The blossoms called for a giant festival, of course. Festivities included throwing sticks in buckets,
advertising models spinning prize wheels, opera recitals, and dozens of food carts all
selling the same deep fried but now cold food. It was much more fun than it sounds. Really.
Perhaps its the atmosphere of living next to Igigdae Hill/Park where two gisaeng jumped off the cliff with a Japanese general inspiring me. Old legends have a certain power that grows beyond what a real factual account would have. The story sounds suspiciously like another story "a patriotic kisaeng named Nongae in the late 16th century...while entertaining Japanese generals at the Choksongnu Pavilion that overlooks the Nam River in South Kyongsang Province, Nongae led Japanese general Keyamura Rokusuke to a cliff, embraced him and cast herself into the river, killing them both". I found the latter version of the story here @ Han Cinema. The story sounds more reliable than the Igigdae story which doesn't mention which general and gisaeng. Perhaps the Igidae story came from this one.
The story of the gisaeng taking out a general reminds me of the story of koreas ninja the Ja-gaek who were male acrobats trained to be assassins by a korean general of the Hwa-ryung warriors...but I digress...
Lately I've been reading up on all things gisaeng. Gisaeng were the Goryo and Choseon Dynasty entertainers. They were very much like the Japanese Geisha. Later this week I shall find myself in the comic book room beneath the Kyungsung McDonalds reading "Gisaeng Iyagi/Story" by Kim Dong-hwa.
One of the most legendary gisaeng was Hwang Jini. In part, due to the success of "Memoirs of a Geisha" back in 2005, interest in Hwang Jini sparked the production of both a Hwang Jini movie and TV series. Of the gisaeng she was one of the more prolific, writing 60 shijo poems that still survive today, (I've got a book on order about gisaeng shijo poems, book review coming in a few months...). Her beauty and talents became legendary as she charmed great scholars of the era, among them a Buddhist monk named Jijok who later was excommunicated because of her.
This picture entitled "7 girls" from the Franklin Francis Carpeter Library of Congress Collection shows 7 young girls who were gisaeng in training. Girls as young as 8 years old began training as gisaeng becoming actual gisaeng at 16 or 17 years old. According to legend, Hwang Jini was the illigitimate child of a yangban and the gisaeng Heon Keum.
Gisaeng girl 1890. Gisaeng went through 8 or 9 years of strict training in poetry, song, dance and tea ceremony.
In 2006 actress Ha Ji Won played Hwang-Jini in a TV series entitled Hwang-Jini. I'm wondering what happened to the 2007 TV production entitled Haeauhwa (해어화, 解語花) which is about another, though less famous, gisaeng. You can pick up some parts of the Hwang-Jini TV series with English subtitles on youtube. Though to watch the entire series you'll probably have to purchase it on DVD at Someyeon's DVD/CD store. The one with all the korean TV series' on DVD there.
Actress Song Hye Kyo playing Hwang Jini in a movie (I'm off to rent and watch it this afternoon. Most video stores here have a copy of it. All you have to do is give the video store your phone number to start an account with them and maybe your foreign card which has your address. Videos are usually 2000 won each for 1-2 days.
As Harvard Professor and shijo poet David R. McCann relates, "some of the most famous kisaeng poems were composed to persuade prominent scholars to spend the night".
Here's one by Hwang-Jini below:
청산리 靑山裡 벽계수碧溪水야 수이 감을 자랑마라. 일도창해一到滄海하면 다시 오기 어려워라 명월(明月)이 만공산滿空山하니 쉬어간들 어떠리. In this poem 벽계수/Byuk-Gye Soo is the name of the Yangban Hwang-Jini is addressing the poem to. Historical records show there was a man of royal birth of that name. 명월 (明月)or bright moon is Hwang-Jini's nickname. Thus the poem translates as:
Don't be proud, clear water/Byuk-GyeSoo of running free to the beach! You will find it hard to go back, once the azure ocean you reach. Take a break, while the moon is bright in the sky, I beseech. --Hwang-Jini. Translated by Kim Young Nahg.
As part of the Hwang-Jini craze that has swept Korea, Korean Vogue brought a bunch of models to Paris and dressed them up like gisaeng for a photoshoot. Later I'll bring you more of Hwang-Jini and other gisaeng's shijo poems. Until then, I'm logging off so I can watch the Hwang-Jini movie. Till next time... --MWT.
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About the Author
Matthew William Thivierge has abandoned his PhD studies in Shakespeare and is now currently almost half-way through becoming a tea-master (Japanese,Korean & Chinese tea ceremony). He is a part time Ninjologist with some Jagaek studies (Korean 'ninja') and on occasion views the carrying on of pirates from his balcony mounted telescope.
Literally, the blossoms appeared in Korea and they were seemingly gone overnight. They were gorgeous while they lasted. Happy I got some good photos. Spent a weekend outside of Busan, where we went to Yeongdeok to see the Wind Power Plants and spend the night in the OkGye Valley. Hello, Spring.
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About
Hi, I'm Stacy. I'm from Portland, Oregon, USA, and am currently living in Busan, South Korea. Check me out on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Lastfm, and Flickr.
Visited the Jogyesa Temple last Tuesday, during the Buddha's birthday celebrations. Again, before I show the picture story I am going to share the video story...
From Freakenomics (the paragraph contains links that can be found at the original article):
Strange how the traditional laws of supply and demand go out the window when it comes to traffic. Studies over the last decade (like thisone, this one, and this one; plus the bookSuburban Nation) have pretty much dismantled the theory that more roads equal less traffic congestion. It turns out that the opposite is often true: building more and wider highways can increase traffic congestion. If only people like Robert Moses andLe Corbusierhad known this before their grand urban plans left our cities clogged with traffic, and carved up by ugly, value-destroying highways.
I also like the approach taken in New York where an elevated road was converted into parkland. The High line Park:
The black steel columns that once supported abandoned train tracks now hold up an elevated park—part promenade, part town square, part botanical garden. The southern third, which begins at Gansevoort Street and extends to West 20th Street, crossing Tenth Avenue along the way, opened in the summer of 2009. This spring a second section will open, extending the park ten more blocks, roughly a half mile, to 30th Street. Eventually, supporters hope, the park will cover the rest of the High Line.
Walking on the High Line is unlike any other experience in New York. You float about 25 feet above the ground, at once connected to street life and far away from it. You can sit surrounded by carefully tended plantings and take in the sun and the Hudson River views, or you can walk the line as it slices between old buildings and past striking new ones. I have walked the High Line dozens of times, and its vantage point, different from that of any street, sidewalk, or park, never ceases to surprise and delight. Not the least of the remarkable things about the High Line is the way, without streets to cross or traffic lights to wait for, ten blocks pass as quickly as two.
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