The Odds Against

Some pals and I are putting on a few shows in the upcoming weeks down in the Songdo (Incheon) area.  We are performing under the moniker The Odds Against:

Come check us out.  Our first gig is at What's David's in Songdo. 

Directions  |  Map  |  Photo

Bring on the Bling!

Just another typical Thursday evening for us in Seoul:  drank champagne with the fashion elite of Seoul, watched models strut down a runway, and chatted with Project Runway Korea judges.  You know, same old, same old.

Actually – no lie – that's pretty much what happened!

The husband of one of my colleagues happens to be the English tutor of the owner of the OVOCO Diamond Gallery and so received some complementary invitations to an Exhibition Opening and Jewelry Show featuring both the Seoul-based OVOCO and the once-Russian now Paris-based jewelry company Marchak.  

After a delicious dinner and a few glasses of wine and champagne, we had a chance to rub shoulders with Seoul's fashion finest, including one of the judges from Project Runway Korea:

Well, actually, there was very little shoulder rubbing that went on.  It was mostly just us standing around looking awkward and a little under-dressed as we watched the spectacle and waited for the jewelry show to begin:

Yeah, pretty much a typical Thursday evening.

Construction!

Just up the hill from our apartment building there used to be a soccer field.  In fact, Google Earth's picture of our neighborhood, taken about a year and a half ago, still shows the snow-covered field quite clearly:

However, where that soccer field once was, six new university dormitories now stand.  Now, I could go on and on about how fast stuff gets built in Korea (remarkably fast!).  Or I could complain about how frustrating the "Do it now; fix it later" mentality that accompanies such speed can be (remarkably frustrating!).  Or I could gripe about how ugly my walk to work has been for the past year (remarkably ugly!).

However, what I wanted to say was how impressed I am by SNU's commitment to keeping their campus green.  Where there was plain dirt two days ago, they've now planted hundreds of trees and they're still at it:

Some of the trees are probably a good 20 - 30 feet tall, too:

Anyway, can't wait to see how it all looks when all is said and done.

I Love My Job!

The semester's over and I just finished grading my last batch of essays, so of course I love it, right?

Well, that's true, but it's not the only reason.  Sometimes my students just surprise me with their creativity and wit.  Let me just say that this time I was in for a treat.

I teach an academic writing course here at SNU, and I keep the work load for my students pretty heavy.  However, the last two days of classes I just lead students in some fun writing exercises.  Anyway, one of these exercises that I did last week is called "Circle Stories."  It works like this:

1. After a brief introduction to the structure of short stories, pairs of students have to agree upon a genre, two or three main characters, a setting, a conflict, and a basic plot.  
2. Then, for homework, each student has to compose just the beginning of their story.  
3. The next class, students sit in a circle and pass their story beginnings one person to the left.  
4. Each student must then pick up where the first writer left off, continuing the story in the style and tone of the previous author.  
5. After fifteen minutes, they have to pass their papers again, even if they're mid-sentence!  
6. This happens several more times.  
7. Just before the stories reach their climax, they are returned to their original authors.  Each student then takes home that story, concludes it, types it up, and posts it to our class blog.

I encouraged them to be expressive and silly, to have fun with it.  Well, let's just say my students took that advice to heart.  For some reason, many of my students seemed to have an almost fetish-like fascination about casting me, their professor, in bizarre roles in their stories.

And one particular story went a little off the deep end.  In it, I was cast in not one, but two roles:  Zombie King Austin  AND  Vampire Queen Kaufmann.    

Anyway, it's good for a laugh!   I humored them by adding an edited photo of myself as a zombie.

[Read on or click here for the story.]

  

(By the way, yes, my students' English is far from perfect.  However, keep in mind that 3 months ago, most of these students couldn't put a paragraph together, so I’m very proud of them.  Also, this doesn’t represent their finest work because, as this was a "fun" writing activity, I didn't demand that they edit and proofread carefully.  Also, most of the story was made up completely on the spot.  Editor’s note: I made a few minor spelling and formatting changes to make it a little more readable.)

Zombies vs. Vampires

(Written by students in my CE2: Writing class)

In 2010 winter, there was a horrible virus which makes human zombie in Seoul city. So everybody turned in Seoul turned into zombies. Among zombies, Austin was most powerful and cruel so that he became the zombie king.

By the way, there was a different virus that makes human Vampire in Busan city.

     One day, because Vampire Empire grew bigger, King Austin was so afraid that he promised to conquer Vampire empire.  "Let's get rid of those bats!!!!!" The king Austin shouted.

The zombie army of Austin kept running, they finally arrived at Busan. Seeing thousands of terrible zombies, the Vampire Queen Kaufmann got scared. Because her army was smaller than Austin's, she had to find another way instead of head-on collision. So, she went in an envoy to Austin and have met him privately.

"Hello, Ausstin." said Kaufmann in a tempting voice with red liquids in her mouth.

"Why did you want to meet me privately?" asked Austin with a bad face-looking after hearing Kaufmann's weird and strange voice, which actually sounded like a pig.

"I don't understand why you attack my empire. We didn't do anything!" said Kaufmann.

"But you are growing stronger, and all the Korean peninsula should belong to the Zombies!!" he said. "I will give you two choices." he continued, "you can have Jeju Island...   Or you can die!"

"We are not afraid of you," the Queen said. "We will fight." But she knew they could not win, so she came up with a different plan.

     A few days later the Zombie King, Austin, was walking through the Zombie filled streets of Gangnam. He was starting to relax. He had expected the vampires to fight, but they had disappeared. 

Suddenly, a beautiful young zombie woman walked in front of him in a mini-skirt so short that Austin couldn't help but notice.

"Oh, your majesty, it's you," said the woman, and bowed deeply. There was something familiar looking about this zombie girl, thought Austin, but he couldn't remember her face or name exactly.

"Well, beautiful, what the hell are you doing here? I'm dying because you're so beautiful. If you want to live longer, give me your phone number!" he said violently as he always does.

Suddenly, she cried. Then she ran away. 

Being embarrassedly, Austin followed her, but he couldn't find her.  "Where has she gone? She just disappeared...."

He looked up a sky. There was a bat flying, even though it's not a night. But he couldn't aware of it because he missed her too much.

     That night, the Queen sent her envoy to the Zombie King.

"My Queen wants to meet you again, privately."

"I don't have a duty to accept it," said Austin. "Get away, you bat."

"My Queen also said that she has information about your missed one."

How she could know? But it could be a chance, he thought.  "Good, I'll accept it. Go ahead, I'll follow you."

     After 8 hours, at the beach of Haeundae, King & Queen met each other.

"So, do you know whom I looking for?" he asked.

"Of course," the Queen said. "It was a beautiful girl."

"How did you know?"

"Because............. It was me."

"Now way, you liar!" He yelled, "How she could be you!"

"Contemporary Vampires have a special ability to change their shape. Actually, my real shape is that girl. To be a mighty queen, I temporarily changed me to mighty-looking shape."

"So, is that really you?"

"Yes, let me show you." Suddenly, the beautiful girl appeared in front of King Austin.

"Oh my god, it was really you!"

"Sure. Actually, I fell in love with you when I first saw you. Could you be my husband? And let's make Korean peninsula peaceful."

"That's what I was thinking about."

     

Finally, they get married and Zombies & Vampires are living forever happily.

대한민국! Daaaaaaee Han Min Guk!

The Republic of Korea registered the first outright victory of the 2010 World Cup today, taking down Greece 2-0.  Below, my favorite Korean player Park Chu Young battles Avraam Papadopoulous of Greece for the ball:

Korea team captain Park Ji-Sung, of Manchester United fame, scored the second goal of the match and was selected Man of the Match:

Despite the rain, about 40,000 people showed up to the Seoul's World Cup Stadium to watch the game on on the screen and cheer on their side.  Thankfully, the upper decks are covered so we didn't get soaked.

The Korean soccer fans are known as the Red Devils (or simply the Reds), and many dressed the part:

My buddy Juil and I cheered ourselves hoarse:

(Double-fisting, Juil?)

Well, the Korean team looked strong tonight, but they'll have to play even better on Thursday if they hope to take down their next opponent: Argentina.

I'm HUGE (in my apartment) in Korea (Part XIV)

[For the rest in the "I'm HUGE in Korea" series, click here.]

This is an old photo Mandi took last Thanksgiving, but somehow I never saw it until today.  I think it's Brigitte's ukulele in the background that adds the funniest touch to this one.  

What's David's and Mountain Biking

After the Songdo Social Club gig there was an after-party at What's David's, an international style pub and tapas bar in Songdo that serves great beer and food:

(pictures taken from the What's David's Facebook page)

The after-after-party involved a trip to the noraebang, but I skipped that, opting instead for a few more hours of sleep because I knew I'd need my rest for the next morning's activity...

Mountain biking!

(Heather, Rob, Ty, & Jo)

We drove from Songdo and then ferried from the Incheon Airport island to a smaller island.  (I'm completely blanking on the name of this island -- someone help me out on this, please!).

(Rosie and James on the ferry.)

 (view of low tide from the summit.)

There were frequent breaks for water, and at the summits the faster uphill climbers had to wait for us slower folks to walk our bikes up the steeper sections.

(group shot from the look-out tower  - thanks, Anders)

No one got any "action" shots of me biking, but I had a blast.  It was my first time ever mountain biking, and according to the experienced bikers in our group, I did pretty well for a beginner.   

After the ride, it was time for snacks, beers, and chatting: 

Unfortunately, most of the talk wasn't in English.  And, no, it wasn't in Korean.  It was in bike-geek talk, and I seriously understood about as little of it as I do Korean.

There was also some comparing of battle wounds.  One of the more aggressive riders face planted into a tree and had some nasty abrasions to prove it.  Sadly -- or perhaps kindly -- I didn't snap a photo.  

Many thanks to Rob Gordon, Jerry, and Stan for letting me borrow bikes and a helmet, and for hauling me and my instruments around all weekend.

Gig with the Songdo Social Club

So, Thursday night around midnight I receive an urgent email from a friend of mine, Stan, who plays in a band called the Songdo Social Club.  (Stan is one of the mountain bikers I met at the campfire jam last month, and Brigitte and I opened for Songdo Social Club at the house party gig two weeks ago.)

Anyway, the email was a (desperate?) request, asking if I would sit in as a mandolin and harmonica player for a gig...on Friday, the next day!  Apparently, less than 24 hours before their gig, their talented but temperamental violinist walked out on the band due to (how does the euphemism go?) "creative differences."  I don't know the details and don't want to.  

Never one to turn down a chance to make music, I accepted.  And so did another friend I met at the biker campfire jam, Kerri, a singer and fiddler.  So, the next morning, Stan emailed us the SSC set list, giving Kerri and me a whopping eight hours to learn their 28-song repertoire before sound check.

(Kerri, Robbie, and I waiting for sound check.)

(Setting up the rental drums and PA system.)

(L to R: Austin, Stan, Robbie, Kerri, Moon, Rob.  Not pictured, SSC's trombonist, Jeff.)

I can't say that it was the tightest performance in history, but we sounded pretty good and had a helluva lot of fun busting out 3- and 4-part harmonies and performing with an eclectic range of instruments:  upright bass, mandolin, violin, cello, harmonica, trombone, drums and of course guitars -- acoustic, electric, and slide.  


Songdo Social Club's set list is equally eclectic, ranging from Marvin Gaye to Willie Nelson, Green Day to INXS.  Here we are performing Neil Young's "Come's a Time":





(This video recording was done purely spur of the moment.  Between songs I noticed that my camera happened to still be sitting -- facing the band -- on top of the stage-right speaker.  So I stabbed at the record button and hoped for the best.  Someone in the audience was kind enough to pan it to the left to bring me into the field of vision.  Thanks, whoever you are!)


Here the link for the audio to our impromptu version of Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," which we did as a soundcheck. (Songdo Social Club's website may make other songs from the show publicly available later on their website, so I don't want to steal their thunder.)


The event was hosted by the Incheon Global Fair and Festival Foundation, and as you can see from the pictures, the venue itself was a sight to behold:

We played underneath this very funky building, the Songdo International City Culture Center. 

The concert was a part of the larger event centered around the opening of an art exhibition featuring the works of the late Nam June Paik (1932-2006), an internationally renowned Korean-born sculptor and video artist.  

(An exhibition worker readies the gallery's video installments.)

In the background of the video clip and several of the the photos, you may have noticed the sparse but striking Songdo skyline, including the sleek North Asia Trade Tower, Korea's tallest skyscraper:

Well, these buildings are all brand-spankin' new.  In fact, every centimeter of Songdo International City is new, ground and all.  Being built entirely on land reclaimed from the Yellow Sea, this 100% planned Incheon suburb, slated for completion in 2015, is being billed as "the world's most futuristic and livable city."  For a detailed article in Fast Company magazine about Songdo International City, it's designers (the New York-based Gale International), and a little about its critics' concerns, click here. 


My thanks go out to the Songdo Social Club for the opportunity to perform at such a fun gig.  If you need me to sit in again, let me know.  Just try to give me more than 24 hours' notice.