Jogyesa Buddhist Temple | Seoul, South Korea
February 2008
((I don’t even. ))
sattelite image of the korean peninsula by night.
seoul / south korea
These ancient stones were initially used by Joseon dynasty labourers to build embankments on either sides of the Cheonggyecheo stream (also known as Gaecheon, prior to the Japanese colonization), in an attempt to control its erratic nature. In 1760 King Yeongjo ordered the embankment of the stream by dredging and building walls of etched stones taken from a “disgraced queen’s tomb”. The dredging was done by around 200,000 labourers, and the displacement of the sand of the stream bed raised the levels of the surrounding streets by about two meters.
My co-teachers went for a seminar so I came back to an empty office. I was chilling, making a lesson plan and browsing the interwebs when I heard footsteps.
I straightened my back and looked like I was working SUPER hard.
Guess who?
My friggin principal.
I instantly stood straight up like a badass soldier and gave him the most cutest, respectful bow. I threw in a sweet, “Annyeong-haseyo” and flashed him an innocent smile.
He motioned me to sit down, so I did. I began to furiously type out my lesson plan.
He walks over and watches me work for a bittie.
Then, he walks over to the random piano that’s in our office and starts playing me a song. He turns around to make sure that I was paying attention (my chair was already turned towards him) and then played more.
He then sang me a song and then left.
My school… rocks.
The atmosphere is lively and there is not a whole lot of room to gather a huge party together, unless you head there early. The start of the performance came with a relaxing piano intro, not too overbearing to distract anyone but also takes your focus. The drummer, guitarist, and pianist all play seamlessly together and you can tell they’ve done it a million times but the passion still looks like the first. When the music heats up you realize they play for the audience, but they play more because they absolutely enjoy it. The intermissions were entertaining. The musicians pop a few jokes here and there, and the pianist even dared to wear some rather tall high heels during the entire performance. Maybe if you can play piano like that you are given the right to do whatever crazy stuff you feel like. In the end, it’s a good way to toss up a basically music-driven atmosphere. The last half was mainly about the singers. The singers stand on the right edge near the audience and move on stage. They perform various jazz vocals and more modern mainstream music like Alicia Keys. I was sitting near the exit door (presumably where the musicians take breaks) and they constantly weave in and weave out. It’s kind of a great way to see the artists as people and not as performers completely separated from the audience. Wherever you sit, the powerful performances are sure to capture your attention. For more articles on Music and other topics related to Korea visit www.obangsaek.com
Finding Jazz in Korea is surprisingly unchallenging, but you might want to get a good first impression and not just go anywhere. In that case, Club Evans could be a place to stop by as it is conveniently located in the famous strip along Hongik University and well known for the last several years. If you have time at 9pm.