This and that

Patience is a virtue, but I lost my virtue long ago...

These multiple Korean classes have combined to make me muuy (Korean for “very”) confused. LOL.

And the Dongguk job seems to be sort of fading off into the distance - one of the positions has already dissapeared and my second meeting in a row has been called off.

I hope that will sort out, but don't anticipate a problem getting another job whatever turns out with Dongguk.

Today we head out for the Balloon Festival downtown. Being that it is in Korea it will undoubtedly be called the “International” balloon festival and necessarily feature Koreans trying to rap and a bunch of dance troupes of varied skills.

Korean rap is ridiculous to anyone who grew up around the US version. The essentially foppish style of the Korean young man doesn’t work for rap. Seeing four spindly dudes with hairstyles from “America’s Next Top Model” try to act ghetto is amusing mainly for how far it is from the real mark. There’s also the fact that the ‘real’ rap moves, like profanity, swearing, crotch-grabbing, tattoos and drug and alcohol use, simply aren’t allowed onstage in anyplace in Korea that I’ve been. So you get this really silly version of rap that makes the wiggas back in the US seem completely OG.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, the B-boy dancing here is world-class and always worth watching. The traditional dances are pretty good as well and when the inevitable group of Korean pre-teens playing drums and gongs comes out I’m, well, I’m hella down. ;-)

Korean attempts to do “International” dance leave me cold. I suppose this is partly because it is almost always expressed in belly-dancing. There is something odd about Korean women trying to belly-dance. I can’t put my finger on it, but it looks wrong and that isn’t about ethnicity – the style is just slightly off somehow, but I can’t get in touch with my inner gay-choreographer to figure out what the problem is. It’s just there. I suppose part of it is that Korean women are slim-hipped and generally small-breasted – you don’t get that feeling that you’re watching the in-between space above hips and below breasts.

Still, Koreans come at these things with considerable enthusiasm and that always makes festivals fun. The rapping and belly-dancing may be wildly misguided to a Western eye, but the enthusiasm is contagious and the desire to share public moments is a very refreshing change from California.

With that said, I guess I need to start walking towards Expo Park.