so i have my first birthday in korea and the teachers decide to give me a 'surprise'. at lunch i was told by one of the teachers there was going to be a 'presentation' for my bday in the english room at 1.20. good job he told me as i was going to do some typing in the teachers room. then two teachers asked me what time they should come to my presentation? good job i knew what they were talking about. then they all come and give me a cake and some gifts which was nice of them when i didnt tell anyone. they said i can keep the cake and take it home, and i'm looking for plates to share with everyone. so i had to explain to them back home we do not take the cake home, it is very bad manners, and we share with everyone which we later did. :-))

the weather has suddenly dropped in daegu by 10 degrees. i'm trying to figure out the heating as its quite cold overnight but the thermostat seems to be stuck at insisting the room temperature is 28 degrees, which is not possible if the overnight low is 12 degrees and i feel cold? i think i'm going to have to fool it and set it for a temperature in the 30s for the boiler to switch on. now i figure it out the heating is a giant underfloor radiator. so i have to pick everything off the ground to let the heat get thru and stop things from sticking to the floor!

so two boys were stroking each others hair like kittens, refusing to stop or pay attention in class... sleeping on the job is ok as teachers are always taking a nap in the staffroom in full view of the principal and vice principal. i have my own private office with two leather couches for a lie down inbetween classes. also the classroom has a surround sound system so i can even put on some music and relax! some kids tried to follow me home and said they wanted to play on my computer, thats all they seem to like to do when you ask what they did in their sparetime or holidays.

answers kids yell out
if fast food is bad for you what should you eat........ slow food
who is bob talking to ..............bob, bob!
why are they painting easter eggs............ bored
your sisters husband is your .......... boyfriend
in hallways...
teacher, you are handsome
(boys) teacher, i love you

ok, so getting back to the andong mask dance festival which was on saturday. actually its a 10 day event starting from the chuseuk holiday and running into october. a group of us went and we took a bus to andong which is only 90 mins from daegu. this is an annual event which the town is famous for. so its a big carnival type atmosphere with lots of vendors selling food, throw and toss type games, selling handcrafts. there were at least three stage areas setup with different performances. in another area you can make and paint your own mask.

video : span of festival area http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/6/9cYkc9I0iaQ

after lunch some of us went into the maskdance theatre which was one of the venues. we missed a lot of the performances but we still got to see some good ones. first we saw the tail end of the malaysian dancers. they did a mask dance, then some traditional village and fishermans dances. next the indonesian dancers which had a bit more subdued atmosphere than the malaysians which was quite cheerful and upbeat. the indonesian style is more sombre sounding and slow like the ramayan night ballet i had seen when i was in jogyakarta

video : malaysian mask dance http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/5/zm-3AFkvbQA
video : malaysian folk dance http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/4/V2dNXGlLDGQ
video : malaysian castenettes http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/3/QGAoidhuy3A
video : malaysian dance http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/2/D_XXJShu5h4

finally we see the korean performers which was quite fun. this can be described as street theatre and they are telling a story in different parts. so first the vilagers come out banging their cymbals. then what looks like two deer or animal with antlers fight for a bit. then a cow comes out (like a pantomime horse with two people dressed up inside). after lifting its leg and spraying water pee on the audience, a masked farmer comes out and chases it around. finally he catches the animal, kills it, slices its inside and pulls out the heart which he tries to sell to the audience.

video : korean folk performers http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/1/LtqtNf1F2Eg

then some more dialogue from the farmer and more performers such as the old washer woman and a multicoloured lady (his wife?). andong was fun, next year i should try to plan it better and spend more time watching more of the performances. there is also a folk village about an hour outside andong also a unesco heritage site, which we did not have time to goto but that would be a seperate trip as its so close to daegu. finally the rain hits again when its time to get back

video : farmers performance http://www.youtube.com/user/londone73#p /u/0/pH4uSz4X7pM

so arrive back in downtown daegu and again i dont understand the buses. its 1030pm on a saturday night in the downtown core, and the three buses that goto my neighbourhood are not running. so i end up taking a cab all the way home for $11 which is not too bad. but this is the only city i've ever seen where public transit closes down so early. some people wanted to goto gyeongju on sunday but that would be too much with seoul last week, andong saturday, gyeongju sunday.

next weekend is the silla cultural festival in gyeongju anyway so i'll goto that celebrating the 1000 year rule of the silla dynasty over the korean peninsula. now i find out the world baekje festival is also taking place for the other royal dynasty with 2000 performers, horseriding cavalry processions, royal ceremonial processions, so how can i miss that, like watching the shooting of an outdoor movie epic. as well as the jinju lantern festival taking place in another town... when can i have a quiet weekend!!!! :-)))))

i've now had over 1000 page hits on this site. if everyone on my distribution list visits each page once it still doesnt add up, so not sure who the rest of you all are?? :)