Saturday in Seoul

Today I had the first of my group drumming classes at the National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. They provide five different classes on three instruments for foreigners at an incredibly reasonable price -- W30,000 for 12 lessons plus the opportunity to perform on the 13th Saturday. That's about $1.75 per lesson at current exchange rates. My janggu class is quite large -- about 25 students. The students are primarily westerners; Americans predominate, but there are folk from England, Ireland, and Australia as well. There are also some SE Asians (Vietnam and Malaysia) and I think some Japanese (the latecomers were not introduced).

Lia, a drumming friend who spent a college semester abroad last year and took an NCKTPA class, warned me that the instructors would probably not speak much English. She was correct. We were supposed to have a translator, but one never appeared. The teacher's English was minimal so I was very glad that I had begun my janggu lessons in Minnesota with a good teacher who could explain things well (thanks, Brooke) and that I'd listened to Sangho, the leader of Shinparam, my Minnesota pungmulnori group, give directions to janggu players over the course of several years. As a result I was definitely at the head of the class. -- Not that anyone noticed, but I certainly felt confident.

These classes will be fun and will put me in touch with English-speakers who share an interest in Korean traditional music. But I don't think I will learn a great deal. So I am still hopeful I can find an instructor for some private lessons. I will include a couple of pictures from the class, which will appear somewhere in this post.

From drumming I went directly to meet friends Insook and Inae. I first met Insook in 1982 when, as a staff person for Save the Children, she accompanied me to visit the child I sponsored in Yanggu in a village about 8 miles from the demilitarized zone. Her sister Inae has provided lodgings for me on several trips to Korea, including almost 4 weeks in 1988 when I attended the Olympics. After a lovely lunch at a Japanese restaurant (our food was all cooked!), we went to an art museum for an exhibition of modern art from the Pompideau Center in France. It was interesting--and challenging. The paintings were titled in French; Korean translations were provided. Since I'm not fluent in either language, I had no idea what the artist had in mind. Of course, with modern art, I'm never sure the artist really had much in mind (prejudice showing). Insook and Inae then came back with me to my apartment so they could see where I was living. They were appropriately complimentary about the space and, especially, the views. A picture of the three of us in front of the art exhibit's opening display is somewhere in this blog.

In terms of pictures I've posted -- I just discovered (I am a computer neophyte) that if one clicks on a picture, the small version becomes large (maybe larger than the computer screen, especially if one has a mini as I do). But if you're interested in some detail, it is probably there.