B & I were supposed to have a fun-filled packed weekend, but he got called away last minute to attend a training--so I was off to do some more exploring of Seoul!! He'll be back this weekend, and then we are off to Beijing, China for the Columbus Day Holiday. It should be a nice time. We missed out on the Korean Mask Festival this year in Andong Province--maybe we can catch another one sometime.
The Seoul Drum Festival was taking place--so on Friday night, I headed up to the Seoul Forest to check out the performances!! It was the most amazing free concert I've ever been too--packed with loads of great rhythm, dance, and beats.
The Band from Brazil
Amazing choreography on this act Choi Sori & Arirang Party
They did this dance routine with swords--pretty cool!
This guy is the best brake dancer I've ever seen--wish I could move like that. Our floors would be well polished.
Traditional Korean Dance--Samulnori Jinsoi (Janggu--Korean drum) Performance
10 year old Tiger from Japan on the drums.
"Taiga “Tiger” Onitsuka is a 9 year old Japanese jazz prodigy. He is officially recognized by the Guiness Book of World Records as the “The World’s Youngest Professional Jazz Drummer”. Onitsuka started playing the drums from the age of 5 and performed at a concert in Harlem, New York in 2005 at the age of 7. Last October and November Onitsuka performed at the Yokohama Jazz Promenade and at the 3rd Ginza International Jazz Festival with his band “Tiger, Burning Bright” (taken from: http://japansugoi.com/wordpress/taiga-tiger-onitsuka-japanese-jazz-prodigy/)
Turkish Band IFAK
South American band meets Korean drummers.
Head Ribbon Twirlers : Samulnori Jinsoi
At the end of the performance, the audience all rushed towards the center stage to dance around in a circle with the drummers and performers. It was great to see the Koreans finally express themselves to the beat!
The LG Twins had their last game on Saturday, October 4Th at Jamsil Baseball Stadium. They are always very entertaining to attend. Women sell dried fish outside the stadium/beer/water, etc. It's definitely interesting to check out the entire whole dried squid. I haven't gotten the stomach to try it yet. The Twins beat the Giants 4-0!!
The crowd going crazy!
The person I didn't want to be at the game: The man passing out red balloons. I think they just did this for their last game--it was hilarious watching people of all ages run and tackle the balloon man--for a free one!
The cheerleaders! They sure do know how to get the crowd going!
Sunday was a day packed full. It started with mass at the International Catholic Church near our house. A great way to start the day. I then joined a Seoul Stitch & *itch group here! It was an awesome way to meet some new faces. We had a S&B group in Italy--so it was really neat to see how women all over the world come together to work on knitting/crocheting projects. Some gals were working on sweaters, bags, etc. I quickly learned that I need take a walk outside of the box and learn a new stitch. This will be my goal for our next meeting. They meet up twice a month--which should keep me busy on some projects :)Then it was back to the Seoul Drum Festival. One of the gals from the group joined me. The temperature was perfect--and the bands were great. There's something about live music that just makes you want to dance. The Korean crowd was a bit tame--in the US, the crowd would have been up dancing all around. People quietly kept their seats until the end--when everyone got up on the stage and danced around the performers, etc. It was great. See the pictures below.
Indonesian Band--Sambasunda--check out the guys on the floor--they would even use their left foot. Now that takes some coordination.
The ending performance--similar to the opening one!--Still very impressive. The drummers were jamming. I just love the fans!! 
The girls dancing-Check out the drummers fire drumsticks!
The End: The crowd rushes to dance in front and on the stage with band members!
Below are videos from the various performers that played at the Drum Festival. Enjoy a brief overview of what the performances were like! ~Check out the Turkish Band--they played music with two wooden spoons--some on their mouth to get the right sound effect. It was impressive to say the least.