Charity Fiesta ..for The Library

I came to the bar with Eyra...

..who's a bit scared of the atmosphere of the bar where we're having our charity party.

...a charity for the Children Library..

..at our neighborhood. Modoo Library.

....there's another event...coming up.

Right...we need some help to save the library from being closed.

..the library was inviting lots of people...

...to come...and enjoy...

...the party held at a bar in our neighborhood.

...we could eat....drink...donate...on a monthly basis to keep the library alive.

I loved the poster...

...and ...the rope indicating where the venue of the party was being held... 

나눔주점

....well...the venue was a bar....but we're having the place as a venue and change it into a family-friendly place tonight.

...to invite more people to donate.

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. 

Wait...I thought they were....

learning Korean at the Pureun Multicultural Center. But..how come that I found this footage?

It looks like they were in some kind of parks...

I just learned that these Moms were having their time learning Korean at the park while of course chattering other stuffs.

One from Philippines, one from Vietnam, one from China, two from Indonesia.

Except the ones from Indonesia, the rest are Moms of multicultural families in Korea. 

Oh, there were others, too. I should've known.

Looks like they sure had a time of their life. 

Exposed themselves to Korean life and adapted themselves to other cultures brought by their peer friends Moms.

Multicultural Kids Gathering

After watching the Gayageum show, the kids seemed to be adamant of going back home. They thought that it would be too early to go home...so we decided to take them to a nearby playground where we (the parents) could sip some coffee while letting the kids play^^ 

We just let them play ...and luckily it was not that cold today. It was only 6 degrees Celsius and that was warm to our standard.^^ (Look who's talking, tropical suray:)  

We bought them some lunchbox for them to enjoy in between their playtime. 

Actually we did not buy the lunchbox at this Coffee Shop, but since we also bought some coffee here, the host just let the kids have their lunchbox there. 

The coffee-shop also provided one computer for the kids to play the games. I felt like this is intentionally designed so ..in order to let the parents do the chit-chat while their kids play some games...* not to mention the nearby playground where the Cafe was located.^^

All in all...today we did have a great time of taking the kids out..during the weekend. 

미루의 소리 상자: A Gayageum Concert

Today we went to 소월아트홀 Sowol Art Hall at Wangshimni to take the children to see the gayageum orchestra (Korean traditional musical instrument). 

We went there at about 13.30 and we missed the show since we could not find the exit 9 at the Wangshimni station...anyhow..we managed to ge there at 14.05 when the show just began..so we had to wait until the second act began. 

So, we checked out where we would be seated. Eyra and Freya were looking at the seat arrangements at the main hall. 

While waiting to enter the main hall, the kids were enthusiastically touching and playing the displayed gayageum at the entrance. 

It was the scene when the gayageum played by the gayageum orchestra from Sookmyung was beng performed. I took the picture just when the last scene was about to finish. 

I never thought that the endless arrays of sounds could be achieved and come out of the gayageum. It was just amazingly marvelous. 

The orchestra did a wonderful job of perpetuating and exemplifying all kinds of feelings and excitement. 

The sound of wind, tooth being pulled, a swollen tummy due to pregnancy, the tiptoeing, the happy thoughts...you name it, gayageum seemed to be able to express those.

The show was over after an hour or so. The kids got up from their seat... 

Eyra coud understand and enjoy the show since she experienced and could relate herself to what Miru 미루 the main character being portrayed in the play: being a 7-year old girl who had to undergo the feeling of both excitement and anxiety of waiting to have a little brother or sister. This is pretty much what the story was all about . 

After the show... 

At the front facade of 소월아트홀 where the show was being performed. We went there with 11 other kids of multicultural family and Korean families. This activity was one of our weekender program^^ 

The leaflet of the show. 

The synopsis and other info on the show. 

Our seat arrangement.

Ice Skating @ Kwangwoon University

Now kids, let's get started. First, those in kindergarten should be in the front and tag along the ski skating instructor of today. Freya, being the smallest one, was in the lead. 

It was Freya's first time ever on ice rink...let alone having any prior experiences of ice skating. But to my surprise, she was eager to do it..though at first...she kept on holding tight on the handrail. 

As for her sister, it was her 3rd time. She's lucky that she got her previous ice skating lessons thanks to her school's program. 

Just look at the kids on their lessons on how to ice skate. They were the kids of multicultural families (except us^^) in Korea. Most of them have multicultural backgrounds: either from their Mom or Dads. 

This is our weekend activity where kids from Korea and other nationals meet and get along together to learn about each other through various activities: This wee: ice skating.

How great it is that this ice rink is just a 15 minute ride by bus or 25 minute ride (including the walking part^6) by subway from home. 

This young instructor patiently taught the kids about how to scoop and skate. Guess he's pretty patient with the kids of  

I just realized that the helmets the children put on their heads were mostly yellow. 

Eyra and Freya did not seem to be scared or afraid at all. In fact, they kind of enjoyed it.

But, after a a while, Freya just gave up. She insisted on taking the skiing boots all the time. 

As for her sister, she kept on doing it and she pretty much got the hang of it and now I could proclaim that she pretty much nailed it. 

Freya and Eyra: separated by a pane of glass. 

Break-time: we were having some snacks, ramen, chocolate, bread, water, and....oranges. 

I thought that after a break, most of them would feel so tired..but we were wrong, almost all of them tried back on skiing I mean...skating. Eyra, too.  

This is when Eyra showed of f what she could accomplice today. In fact, I thought that this has been one of the best things of being in shape and focused on what the training would bring about. 

She kept on going back and forth and circling the rink for more than 12 times.!!! 

In fact, I should have captured all of the moments. 

She pretty much knew nothing about skating until today....everything seemed so wonderful, she said. She was like flying when she scooped over the ice. 

She was about to fall when I captured this.^^ 

But, as soon as she got off again, she kept on looking for her friends...and it seemed that they get along well.

Toay's program was then sealed in Lotte @ Cheongnyangni.