Namsan Festival

Last Wednesday afternoon (4/8) my free day from school, I had a really fun time. Dong Won came into Seoul so I met him at Seoul Station for coffee so he could deliver some ribbons and drum sticks he'd purchased for me. He's headed off for a 10-day European trip where he'll be doing three separate workshops in Switzerland so will be quite busy. He had come into Seoul for a rehearsal with a group he's newly joined. While he has groups in Australia, Europe, and the U.S. (Silk Road Project) with which he plays creative music, he has not had a group in Korea. Although he loves and will always play traditional Korean music, to grow as a musician he needs the opportunity to blend that with contemporary sounds. A Korean jazz group heard his CD and began conversations about some joint concerts. There are two scheduled, and I will be here for both of them. I'm very excited to have the chance to hear Dong Won and this new group, which doesn't yet have a name.

While in the coffee shop I heard my name called. Obviously surprised, I looked up to see Mike Lapensky and his family standing there. They are from Minnesota; Mike's been in Korean class with me and has done some editing of Korean Quarterly when I've been wielding my red pen. I knew that he and Sharon with their two Korean children would be visiting Korea during the time I'd be here but never expected to see him. They were at the train station to take a trip to Pusan for their last day before leaving for home. Most amazing. . . .

After the meeting with Dong Won (and Mike's family), I joined HaeJung and MinJu at Namsan (a huge park in the middle of Seoul).


After a short walk, mostly up, from the subway station we took the cable car to the top of the "mountain." It was a warm and sunny day -- but very smoggy. With the warm weather the air quality has deteriorated badly. HaeJung had discovered there was a week-long festival at Namsan, although we weren't sure what was being celebrated -- perhaps just spring and the cherry blossoms. The Korean cherry blossoms aren't as large or flashy as the Japanese variety found in Washington, D.C. but were quite lovely. And some flowering bushes were also in bloom as well as some newly-planted annuals in several beds scattered about. It's definitely spring here.




































The festival featured a display of Korean medieval martial arts -- colorfully costumed. That was quite fun.




































Can't see much of Seoul from the lookout which is down a little bit from the top.


We finished our day out with dinner in Myong Dong at the noodle restaurant recommended by Peggy and Charlie Olsen who had eaten there on their two visits. The mandu really were yummy.