This weekend, my friend Liu and I visited the Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival. Adventures with Liu, an expat from China, are guaranteed good times, but we hadn't a clue what we were in for. In my mind, we would take a nice relaxing stroll down a sidewalk surrounded by cherry blossoms. We did just that, but also found ourselves amidst perhaps the entire population of Korea and talent everywhere.
As we walked through the perfectly lined cherry blossoms, we'd meet circles of onlookers surrounding performances of various sorts. People were genuinely happy- dancing, singing, clapping, and smiling. I often time sense the stress radiating from hard working Koreans. Here it's not uncommon for students to be in school 12 hours a day (Saturdays too), business men to work into the late hours of night, and women to dedicate themselves to a job all while retaining almost full responsibility of cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Sometimes I feel like foreigners are the only ones that let loose and have a good time, but that just wasn't the case on this day, at this festival.
타 묘 at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.
Korean music that is not K-Pop! Probably the best discovery since my arrival. 타 묘 is adorable and very talented. During their performance, we had the t rain to our left, the Han River/city in front of us, A bridge to our right and cherry blossom trees behind. It was perfect.
Samul Nori (사 물놀이) at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.
I've loved Samul Nori since orientation when I was able to play. The sound makes my insides vibrate and I feel alive. Some of these guys brought me up to dance with them!
Brazilian Capoeira at The Yeouido (여 의도) Cherry Blossom Festival from Lana Wright on Vimeo.
I had never seen this before, but it is called Capoeira and originated amongst descendants of African slaves in Brazil. It's mixes music and martial arts.
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