Jeju Cultural Festival

The $3 (or 3,000 won) purse that I bought! These are the famous stone island people you see all over Jeju. This is a picture of a Korean singing/ doing karaoke, or as they call "Notaybong" at the festival. And here is the hilarous video of the Korean performance/ play that we watched while sipping on makali!







Two weeks ago Keith and I went to the cultural festival, which was walking distance form our apartment, right near the ports. It was definitely a dip into the culture....we were able to see the little stands of food, hats, purses and other things they were selling. I actually bought a really cute hat and purse for 3,000 won each!!! That's less than $3 in US dollars!! Take a look at the pic of them too...what a good buy! (After telling my co-teachers at school though, this is very rare and it is hard to find a good bargain like that! Go Tina!) We drank makali...the Korean rice wine, and thought it would come in a little bottle, but we ended up having this huge bottle of it for both of us, and it's pretty strong stuff! oops It is very common for Koreans to drink, especially older Korean men. You will usually see them at night on the weekdays or anytime on the weekends just stumbling over when walking around the streets. They do not seem out of control though, but just that they have been enjoying a lot of makali or soju:)

There were some carnival games for kids and games that you could throw a ball and if you hit the blocks or bottles, you would win a prize. One Korean man bought me a throw and it won me a massage wooden stick! wahoo. Then, it was random, but there was some type of gambling on the floor that the older men were playing with sticks. Keith got in one game of course (lol) and he won 1,000 then lost it. I think the men were impressed he won and I think the Korean dealer wasn't sure if he should tell him he won or not! :)

There was also Koreans singing (kind of like karaoke) on this big stage with so many people watching. Koreans love karaoke...they call it Notaybong, or the singing room...and it is very popular for Koreans to go out to bars that have Notaybong. I have yet to go, but many EPIK teachers have already and say it's so much fun and that half the songs are American songs. Pop music, or boy band music, is the most popular and most often played music in Korea. And so far, I have learned that my students love Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, and Kelly Clarkson. For Korean music, my middle school students love Big Bang, Green Eyes Girls, and Abracadabra.

We also went by this other stage and a play was just starting. We watched most of it and since we were drinking all that Makali, the play was hilarious to us, and still is when I replay it now! Check it out!!! lol Great night!