Bowling with International Friends (2)

I had to take Eyra and Freya with me to the bowling center since their Mom was in Ansan to attend a meeting. Hmm..a weekend with two kids-minus their Mom. 

Ok..let's take a pose, first.
Although the bowling arena did not provide kid-friendly bowling facility, it did not hamper Eyra to take pride for being her Daddy's supporter. 

Yeaaach...let's smile!! 

They loved seeing me play the bowling match with other fellows. 

Amateur..are we! So much so, we were relieved that we could finish the 10-round (?) game...+ another 10 round. 

Yippieee...I was one of the top scorer. So, I joined other mates from Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh to beat other team. 

Nice job! I was alarmed and surprised at my own achievement, considering that it was only my 2nd time playing it. 

So..with a smile on our face, we were ready to jam and immerse ourselves in the Finale. ^^

Yes...it is a great time, indeed. 

Bowling with International Friends (1)

Me and my friends from Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. 

We live in the same neighborhood. Some of us study and some others work in Korea. 

We have something in common: being members of multicultural neighborhood in Seoul. More precisely: we take pride in taking part in Pureun Multicultural Organization.  

One of today's activities is going to the bowling alley and having fun together.

Well, we can spot and find bowling alleys in most areas in Seoul so..we picked one near the neighborhood.

We are one team and we got to compete with 7 other teams. 

There were 8 teams with each team consisted of international friends.

We loved the fact that we come from different countries, and yet we could be one like this. 

First attempt by our group. Oh, what a great afternoon it was. 

Well spent.

Om Wawan was trying his first string of luck. Yes, most of us are first-timers and amateur  in action. 

But, that did not hinder us from taking this seriously simply we knew that we could win a prize should we be number one. *-* aha!! 

Most of us gazed on the monitor....what the scores were...and how many we missed and how many we led the scores for each team...

Ready, Get Set, Go to the Fiesta

Borrowing a rickshaw from a Bangladesh friend, we were teamed up with other Korean fellows who would go to the Fiesta/multicultural festival venue. 

Clad in a light blue T-shirt, they were ready to do a one-day fiesta. 

 

Ready for another show. Taking a pose in front of Indonesian-booth at the festival. 

What would be a multicultural festival be without the local delicacies of Indonesia. Well, since Indonesia has more than 200 ethnics, we dare not say that we represent Indonesia as a whole. So, instead we just showed what we knew best about some dishes that we could make in Korea. 

One of the posters my fellows created to show to the visitors of our booth.

All in Korean, of course. 

Saman Dance @ Multicultural Center Fiesta

An annual event in our previous neighborhood: 다문화축제  (Multicultural Festival). This is our 2nd time participating in the event. Being foreigners in Imundong where lots of foreigners reside, we feel obliged to 'get in touch' and know where we live. 

So, we end up associating ourselves in Pureun Multicultural Center where lots of activities to cater the needs of those both Korean and foreign nationals to mingle and understand each other's cultures. 

Indonesian team teamed up with our Korean counterparts performed Saman Dance (a traditional dance originated from Aceh, Sumatra). It took my wife and Ulfa..let's see..hardly a month to teach other Korean friends to be able to perform the energetic and no-mistake-or-we-are-doomed-:-D)-kind-of-dance. 

It was a relief that we did excel beyond our expectation...

and 'Encore! 'Encore!' exclamation sort of acknowledged our efforts to put in on the show.

Dolls for Free!!!!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013....the kids were prepared for the first-come-first-served event of dolls for free held by our neighborhood Modoo Children Library . 

I got a text informing about the event two days earlier and for sure I would not let the kids miss the chance of getting the dolls that they wanted.

Freya and Eyra were all ready for the best time ever..^^. It turned out that they were not allowed to pick the ones they liked, instead, they were given a lottery and the kinds of doll they would get was written inside the rolled paper.

Eyra got her all-she-ever-wanted (in)famous Brownie doggy. 

Freya got a 'Muuuuach -I-love-you' saying doll a.k.a. dutch pillow-shaped bear.

So, did you have a good time, dear? " Yeaaaaachhh'

I heard from my wife that a bunch of kids showed up at the first day event scheduled to be held until January 10, 2013. So...I assume.....there are still more dolls left.^^

multicultural families trip

Most of us were multicultural families living in Korea. Most of us. Saturday morning we met up at Children Grand Park to bring all of the children to the park. We let them play and experience lots of stuffs.

Lunch? We just ate what we brought from home. 

Kimbab, chobab, fruits, snacks, fried rice, and all kinds of food were available. No, of course.

Say Cheese! Kimchiiiiiii!

Most of the kids were multicultural kids since either their Mom or Dad was Korean. 

The best thing about it was that...we could sort of exchange ideas and views on how to experience and enjoy life in Korea to the fullest. What better way to do this than going out together and have some great time while at the same time chatting or exchanging views informally. 

This activity was conducted by the Purun Community Center in our neighborhood. 

MUlticultural Center in Korea

There are lots of multicultural center in Korea. what I mean by multicultural center or in Korean 다문화센터 or sometimes 다문화가정센터 ( multicultural family center) is a place usually set up by non-profit organization to arrange and organize all-purpose center for every foreigners residing in Korea--especially those who are either working or living in Korea. They may come from different backgrounds and reasons as to why they come to Korea in the first place. First, of course, is that..they are simply migrant workers, the others could be simply because they are married to Koreans, which thus...either make them Korean by nationalities (after several years) or simply  (still, yet) foreigners who happen to marry Korean nationals. That's the simple way of putting down what a center is and who the members are.
..My wife who happens to be living in Korea accompanying me while I am studying here is also taking the best of her time here by joining or at least participating in this center.
She takes Korean class three times a day. That is supposed to be her prior motive of joining the activities right here. But then..as more friends come and we got to know each other, it turns out that lots of activities are laid out for all of us.
Both Koreans and other nationalities are the hosts of the center. None is higher or lower in status. We come and stand in equal. That's the beauty of it all.

Friends from Indonesia: United.

Today is the anniversary of Purun Citizen Community which orientates itself as a local community for volunteering participation of local residents. I think it works best since this Purun Community aims to build a healthier democratic society as well. I could feel ( the first impression) how freedom, justice, human rights, and welfare are fully guaranteed right here. Well, I do hope that it goes on and on.
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Friends from Vietnam: Splendid!

So, today..I witnessed an anniversary where lots of friends from Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Japan, and America blended in together celebrating today's occasion, Of course, what an anniversary would it be without singing and dancing.
So here comes the the parade of national songs: Gebyar Merah Putih from Indonesia, then came along friends from Vietnam with their Vietnamese songs, then friends from India highlighted the day with their rendering of 3 Idiot's theme-song: All is Well, then Kuch-Kuchi Hota Hai, then the most favorite of them all is....Chaya-Chaya song. All of them are (still) very much popular in Indonesia.

Friends from India: hilarious!

So, I guess .....today's fiesta did show off our unity in diversity. It is true that song is a universal language where people of different languages and races could easily overcome their language barrier and simply got themselves mesmerized by the sheer audacity of a song as simple as "Chaya-Chaya"
--
then...the fiesta of its true-ness: Food of all nationalities attending today's fiesta.
Gosh..so many things to choose and eat...that we just could not get enough. ^^
What a splendid day to spend the day. ^^
*oh, for anyone interested in learning more about Purun: just go to  www.epurun.org