A busy Saturday

Last week was Thanksgiving. This year I did not do anything to celebrate it. It snuck up on me. And even though I was invited to 2 ex-pat Thanksgiving feasts, I had too much going on to be able to go to either of them.

Saturday morning I got up early to go to Seoul to meet up with the North Korea Peace group for another balloon launch. I was the only one there who had gone the prior week (other than the group of core group members). It was nice to see a new crop of people getting involved. We first went to Imjanggak to see the ancestral shrine and freedom bridge. It is the closest you can get to North Korea. In fact the highway driving to it is just opposite the river from North Korea and it is clearly visible. The river bank heavily fortified with razor wire and armed guards. It's still so strange to see reminders of the ongoing conflict, the last remnant of the Cold War, among today's modern society.

So here is the freedom bridge and on the other side is North Korea.



Here I am, as close to North Korea as you can get outside the JSA. The banners on the bridge are messages of hope for unification.


And then, bizarrely, there is an amusement park on the premises. It's such a bizarre, yet also such a very Korean thing to see.


Then we moved on to the launch site. It was cold and drizzly, but wind conditions were perfect for launching balloons northward. When we got there, there was a whole group of ROK soldiers from the nearby garrison in plainclothes. Also there were Mr. Lee's police escort and the leader of the army garrison. He was happy to see me again as he remembered me from last time. Also there, previously unbeknownst to us, was a reporter from the sort of Associated Press of Korea. He took a lot of pictures and interviewed some of us. Here are a few links to the news agencies that picked it up already:

http://www.ytn.co.kr/_ln/0103_201111261738274913
http://news.naver.com/main/read.nhn?mode=LSD&mid=sec&sid1=102&oid=001&aid=0005390360

With the great conditions we were able to release all 10 boxes, so it was a very successful day!







This time, I was unable to stay after the launch for our group lunch. After a very broken Korean explanation to Mr. Lee and a farewell, I hopped the subway to get back to Incheon by 4, where I was to have a 'practice test' for leveling up.
I was expecting just the usual group of us to be there. Maybe the Korean masters would get some practice in administering a belt test.

But when I got there, I was surprised to see a group of about 8 other people, men and women, that I had never seen before. And there were chairs set up in the back of the room and our head master was wearing a suit. This was very curious.

With the discovery that I would have an audience, whoever they were, I became a bit nervous. Then I asked my foreigner classmate if he knew who the guys at the front of the room were. He told me that it would be better if I didn't know until after the test. I asked, are the from Kukkiwon? He said, I guess you could say that. This did not help me to relax.
(Kukkiwon=world taekwondo headquarters)

Also not helping me relax was how nervous the Koreans were. Something was up.

So then we lined up to begin. Guangjannim introduced the 2 men in front as a professor from Sangji University and the other as...(i didn't quite catch it. I thought I heard 'world taekwondo federation' and another guy heard 'president'. But it's not determined exactly who he was.)

So then Simsa began. The white belts went first. They did white belt form and basic punches. Then the 2 colored belts went (Me and Chris). First we did some kicks together. One of the Korean masters administered this. We had to say the kicks in Korean, which I was much more comfortable with than Chris was. Then we did one form together and he went to sit down and I did a form alone. Then the WTF guy asked me how long I had been studying taekwondo and I told him one year. Then I was finished and Chris went next. Then they guys up front called one of the Koreans up. They spoke to him for a while in Korean. Then I heard my name a few times. And then they called me up to stand with him. I was really confused and had no idea what they wanted me to do now, because my test was over. Luckily I understand enough Korean that I figured out they were testing him in instructing me in the second form.

After I finished the form, they told him to ask me how he had done. He was really nervous and I told them he had done well and I understood his instruction well.

So then they tested the other 2 masters in instructing the others. Then they tested them in their black belt forms and then they demonstrated some kicks. They demonstrated speed, strength, and precision. It was really cool to watch actually.

When they finished Chris told me that actually the professor from Sangji University was the coach for the Korean Olympic team that won gold in 1988 and 1992. Holy crap. Now I understood why the Koreans had been so nervous.
So then we all lined up again and the Olympian gave lots of feedback about kicking form and fist formation and all kinds of stuff. I wished I could understand Korean better because it was really cool to be getting coaching by someone who had led a team to Olympic gold!

Afterward we all chatted a bit. The other spectators there were the Korean's parents. Clearly this had been an important day. None of us foreigners had had any idea it was going to be like this. I'm still not entirely sure what it meant for the Koreans, but it was a cool day after all and I was glad I hadn't skipped it, which I had considered at one point.

Before changing, I was sure to get a picture with everyone. Please ignore my dorky stance. I look so much less cool than the black belts. I need to work on that. But at least I'm standing next to 2 of the biggest names in Taekwondo, so that's a plus.



After that was over, I had to head back in to Seoul yet again to meet up with my co-workers for a going away evening for one girl. She was let go and is leaving on Thursday so even though it was really inconvenient for all the rest of us, we went out in Hongdae and had a good time. Last week Ryan met the owner of a club so we got in for free. But frankly it wasn't that great of a club in my opinion. But we had fun anyway. It wasn't too late of a night and today I finally had time to do some long-awaited grocery shopping.

So it was a very interesting weekend. Saturday was full of interesting people and unexpected turns but it was amazing. This year I'm really meeting some fascinating people and am just loving it. Also my Korean is really improving and I even had a friendly chat with the taxi driver last night. It's nice to finally be able to communicate a little bit more than just 'hi nice to meet you'.

Next weekend is another big one...returning to the DMZ with my coworker. Last year I went with my brother but it was so ominously foggy they had to cut our tour short. So this time I'm hoping for better weather so I can see more and get the full tour. It will be interesting to be there now with my involvement in NKP. Puts a new perspective on it for me.
Also the biggest news is that on Sunday I'm going to a K-pop concert! I am so excited to see this live. My students are all jealous.
Don't worry, details will be forthcoming.