Memorial Day 5K and Jump!

Saturday was a Bruns Family "Out-and-About-the-Town" kind of day. It started with a Memorial Day 5K Fun Run - Michael joined Rob for a quick run in the morning.

"No, Michael - don't run to Mommy - run to the orange cones at the finish line!" 

Notice he ran the race like a boss - goldfish snack cup in hand.  ;)

After that excitement, we took a break for lunch (and naps) and then jumped on the subway headed to City Hall station. Next up was a visit to the Kyunghyang Art Hill for a performance of JUMP.

As we walked down the stone-wall road by Deoksugung Palace, we noticed a new sculpture in front of the Art Museum, which made me think of all my SAI sisters - miss you!

I had a monitoring ticket, thanks to the generosity of the Korean Tourism Organization, and we were brave parents for this one - brought along the kiddo for some martial arts entertainment. He was tired from the healthy walk from the subway, so it was amazingly easy to get him to sit down for the show.

He was especially happy to have his very own orange chair cushion and I LOVED that it was long enough to keep his legs up and out of "kicking the seat in front of you" position!

The theater set was a sparse one, which made sense later on as the flipping and kicking started. The floor is also a springy one, to help with the rebounds.

"Jump" had a fun, comedic storyline about a family of martial artists who eventually have to defend their home from a group of burglars. The show stayed true to the format of having audience participation segments and showcasing the actors' talents at various parts. It ended with a full group choreographed routine and a dazzling display of acrobatics. Very fun, very entertaining, and it managed to keep the attention of a 4-year old for most of the 80 minutes. Two-thumbs up! For anyone in Korea, here is the info from the back of the show's brochure:

Later that night, we got to have a mini reunion with a former student of mine from Groton, NY - Kaitlin's been teaching English here for the past few years and we managed to sneak this visit in before she heads back to the states. The world is truly a small place.

And on a final note,

Happy Memorial Day to all of our US friends and family, 

especially those who have served or are serving
our country in the military!

The Painters - an Art Performance

My friend, Sharamie, and I went to see The Painters at the Seoul Cinema in Jongno this week. We both enjoyed a much needed night out on the town!

The website and brochure bill The Painters as "an innovative art performance that stages the mid-blowing skills of live drawing with incredible visual effects filled with a witty blend of mime, dance, and comedy right before your eyes." That was definitely the case.

The artists came out to the theme of Charlie's Angels and immediately started with the audience participation by calling a very shy, unsuspecting woman on stage.  They did this a few times and of course the "victims" were rewarded with show swag. They continued their comedic behavior throughout the performance - all while creating beautiful art in various mediums. Here are a few examples, taken after the show when we were allowed:

The Man of Steel made his appearance via Rubik's Cube sculpture (the pattern on the reverse was his "S" symbol):

The comedy even extended to the building's restrooms (though I'm guessing it wasn't intended as such) with this helpful, directional chart in each stall.   : )   Just had to share the chuckle.

Thanks to the KTO and K-Performance Supporters for the chance to go see a pretty cool show!

Hours: everyday at 5 pm and 8 pm Directions:

Jongno 3(sam)-ga station (Seoul Subway Line 1, 3 or 5), Exit #14 Turn right at corner and walk for about 5 minutes; theater will be on your right.

ReCompose - Reinterpreted Korean Classical Music

This concert sounds like a good one - I hope to attend in a few weeks, but thought I would share some info here for your reading pleasure.

World-renowned composers Baudouin de Jaer from Belgium, Michael Timpson from the U.S., Takada Midori from Japan, and Chichun Lee from Taiwan reinterpret Korean classical music at this event. Read more here:  Recompose

Happy 4th, Michael!

Somehow time has flown by and our little guy just turned 4 - what?! It sounds so cliche, but I really do feel like he was just this big not too long ago:

Now he's this:

Again, what?!?!

To celebrate, he had a play group party at a park on Friday morning and another party at our place on Sunday (his actual birthday). Fun was had by all during our Octonauts themed weekend. I had fun crafting some of the party elements - thank you, Pinterest, for your useful (and addicting) suggestions.  Enjoy the pics!

Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa Kaufmann on Saturday:

And a few pictures from Sunday's shenanigans...

A happy boy digging through the Amazon boxes from Aunt Liz, Uncle Tony, and AJ, 

as well as Grandma Ella Bruns. Octonauts are in the house!

And he blew out his candles that evening, even though he still won't eat any kind of cake, cupcakes, or cookies. I know what you're thinking...he won't eat what?!? 

He had some yummy cherry tomatoes instead.    :)

Happy Birthday, Michael!

A "Fanta-stick" and "Bibap" weekend

It was a busy, musical weekend here in Seoul! As a May monitoring team member for the K-Performance Supporters, I have four Korean musicals and shows to see this month. Rob's birthday was this past weekend, so he tagged along on a recent trip to see a performance of "Fanta-stick", and then I ventured out to see "Bibap" for Mother's Day.

Fanta-stick is a Fusion Gugak performance - a mix of contemporary and traditional elements of Korean music and dance.

The comedy show was a fun one to watch, with a story line involving a modern-day car repair garage, ancient star-crossed lovers, ghosts, and a musical battle involving a drum and a flute.


It was nice to hear some traditional instruments mixed with the recorded dance music, including the daegeum (horizontal flute), haegeum (fiddle-like), ajaeng (zither-like), and janggu (drum).  Click on their names to see a picture and description. I think a future trip to the musical instrument market will be in order, so we can bring home a few as souvenirs!

The true highlight for me, however, came when the cast was performing the audience participation segment of the show(which it seems every K-Performance show has, so far). Rob was not showing

enough enthusiasm during the call and response section, it seems, so he was the one called up on stage! He had to perform a simple drumming rhythm with the cast (with some added choreography, of course) and was definitely a good sport about it. It was priceless, and I truly wish I had broken the "no cameras" rule to snap a photo, but he walked away with some cool swag.  Happy Birthday, Rob!  ;)

On the way to the theater, we had to walk through a school and embassy district, where a craft fair was in progress. We also stumbled upon these interesting art pieces (there are huge statues all over Seoul).  The first was the artist's depiction of a family standing against the elements in the harsh winter, inspired by a group of kimchi pots seen covered in snow that looked human.  

The second is a wooden bench sculpture outside of the Canadian Embassy.

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On Sunday, I got a short reprieve from an unsuccessful day of potty training with Michael (UGH!  Don't ask!) and went to go see "Bibap", which is billed as a delicious musical.

I was really not sure what to expect. Based on some quick research, and this entryway art, I knew it was a food themed musical with two competing master chefs.

What it really ended up being was a true "K-Performance" (Korean show with mixed arts) - the singers/performers were accompanied by onstage beat boxers, there were two B-Boy/break dancers, one martial artist, and singers.  They all danced at varying times, and it was definitely a comedy, complete with the pre-requisite audience interaction and participation. 

It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it, though I did have flashbacks to the end of "Lord of the Rings" towards the end of the show- once the storyline was finished, they then brought everyone out for more solo/group performances to showcase their different genres.  

This is my "okay-I-think-it's-done-now" face.  ;)

Random "Living in Korea" Stuff

There are a few quick and random things about living in South Korea that I thought I'd share:

1) Pennies - as in, there are NO US pennies used on Yongsan Garrison. If something costs $2.48 and I use 2 quarters to pay, it's really $2.50, as they don't have pennies for the owed change. Sometimes this can work to my favor, as I have gotten a nickel back if change owed is 3 or 4 cents.  It must all work out in the end, but to a super saver like me, it's been an adjustment.  I know...just let it go...

2) Recycling to the extreme - some of my family and friends back in the states have to recycle, and some do not (which drives me crazy!). Here, the entire area under my double kitchen sink and a portion of my kitchen counter are dedicated to recycling. We have to bring our recyclables and trash downstairs to the basement each week, with separate bins for paper and cardboard, metal cans, plastic bottles, styrofoam containers, glass, food waste, plastic bags, other regular trash, clothing, and household appliances/items. Some people here complain; others don't - honestly, I find it refreshing and appreciate it.

3) Toilets - this may be too much information for some, but it made me laugh, so I'm sharing.  I had a run-in with a female squatting urinal at a public restroom a few weeks back.   They look like this:

Thankfully, Michael was not with me at the time, as that would have added a whole new level of hell to the "using the restroom with a preschooler in tow" scenario.

4) Traffic and drivers - both can be pretty horrible here. And I know I will have friends who say something about how bad drivers are in NYC or Atlanta, etc.  Believe me when I say they have NOTHING on the drivers here. Road signs, lane lines, and lights are merely a suggestion, even with traffic cops "directing" traffic. And if you are a motorcycle/scooter driver (which there are a TON of), rules do no apply at all - especially areas for pedestrian crosswalks or sidewalks - all are fair game at any time. And let it be known, that despite all good intentions, expat drivers will be assimilated in order to survive and actually make it through an intersection sometime during this century.

5) It takes a village...  Children are loved here. And as such, random strangers will help your child at any time. Some memorable moments so far:
--the waitress who wiped Michael's nose while we were eating out;
--the man who popped Michael onto the back of his son's bicycle at the play park so they could ride together;
--the older gentleman who gave him a whole handful of candy while on the subway for sitting nicely.

There are also the funny "rockstar" moments, where strangers will take pictures of your child while they play or want their picture taken with them - foreign kids are a novelty!