Celebrating in Changwon

Today in the Bible Study with my church, Hanbit International Christian Fellowship, we discussed the value of celebration in the life of a Believer. That joy and celebration go hand in hand. So with that in mind, I think it's a good time to share with you my experiences celebrating the city of Changwon.

A few weeks ago Changwon had a city festival. They do it every year. The unique thing about the festival this year is that they did it in the pouring rain. Yup. It rained the entire time of their special Festival Parade. And I was there for every soggy moment of it. I think the pictures and videos say it all.

This poor security guard had to stand like this in the rain for the entire parade.

The parade had a low turn out due to the rain.

The Changwon City mascot. I call him 'Fro Boy.

Korean Navy guys. Our city is near a Navy Base.

Look! Native Americans in Korea!

Transformers?!

The next day was bright and sunny which was great because the Changwon Kpop World Music Festival was scheduled to take place outside in the middle of the city. For those of you who don't know this about me: I like Kpop (Korean Pop) music. I don't like all of it. Inappropriate groups and girl groups that are too cutesy I avoid. But I really love to watch the dances of the 2-10 member groups and laugh at the crazy outfits, hair, and make-up. I kind of see Kpop as a form of Musical Theater, only without speaking lines and in short 5 minute performances.

My favorite Kpop group is Shinee.

 

Anyways, I went to the Kpop World Music Festival where teams from around the world sang and danced to their favorite Kpop songs in order to win a cash prize. Professional Kpop groups also performed at this event so I was able to see some artists that I knew.

 

Watching the bands rehearse before the concert.

I liked this lighting design.

FT Island performs. I like this group.

There were lots of pyro-effects.

 

 

 

So that was a few weeks ago. Since then, I've gone on a cultural trip to Gyeongju with my church that I'll write about later and just lived life as a English Teacher. One final thing I did to celebrate my wonderful city was to visit Yongi Lake to see their nightly laser light fountain show. For those of you from Cleveland, think of the Christmas Tower City Fountain show but bigger, in the middle of a lake, with more dancing fountain water, and music, lights, and lasers.  I really enjoyed the show. Here is my attempt at taking some pictures:

 

 

Random Stuff

While I was waiting for the Fountain Light Show to begin I had an hour to kill so I decided to go for a walk around the lake. As I was walking I heard music and singing. I discovered a group of University students performing acoustic guitar music by the lake. They had microphones and speakers and everything. I'm not really sure why they were performing in the cold but I thought they did a great job so I stood with the onlookers and listened and clapped along with the music. I could tell some of the students standing around were curious about me because they were doing that thing that I occasionally notice Koreans do where they look at you and then look away when you look at them, but then they try to sneak a look when they think you don't notice. Haha. It's pretty funny. (Actually, I sometimes do it to them as well. ;P)  I wondered if someone was going to say something to me. People sometimes say 'hi' to me in English and then get all excited when I say 'hi' back. Well, lo and behold, a girl came up to me, handed me a gift, and said, "This is for you." It was candy and a liquid filled square thing. The student performers were handing these gifts out to people who answered questions in between sets. I guess I got a gift just for being a foreigner. :) Later, a guy came up and asked me where I was from. I feel like next time I'm asked that question I should be ready with a question to ask back so that I can help the person practice their English more. Conversations seem so bland when they end with "I'm from the USA." "Oh." All in all, I'm glad I got to meet these University Students. They reminded me of the students that always used to hang out at Starbucks at home. 

 

The gifts from the Uni students.

 

And now I'll leave you with a random picture of the McDonald's delivery scooters. Yes. You can get McDonald's delivered here in Korea. The way the delivery guys drive puts a new meaning to the phrase "Fast Food." Look Out!