Water Puppet Theater

Vietnam Trip ~ Day 10

July 22, 2012, Part 2

Since arriving in Vietnam we had heard about the traditional Vietnamese water puppet theater. We knew we definitely wanted to see a show while in Hanoi, and were so happy to be able to get tickets on our first evening there. Right after entering the building we saw posters explaining that if you wanted to take pictures or videos during the performance you could pay a little bit extra for a photo or video pass. The amount really wasn't much (an extra 20,000 dong ($1 US) for a photo pass and an extra 60,000 dong ($3 US) for a video pass), and we thought that was a great alternative to just saying "No Pictures or Videos" like many places do. I guess they know that tourists usually want to share interesting performances with their family and friends. We got bought a pass, and then found our seats, only a few rows up from the front.

The orchestra was small, and made up of very different Asian instruments. The musicians were dressed in traditional Vietnamese clothing and looked very professional. They played two introductory pieces before the puppet show started. During the performance, people behind a screen controlled the puppets, which were half submerged in water most of the time. For some of the short scenes, a woman playing with the orchestra up front also sang along, and a man backstage sang sometimes as well. They had really lovely voices and sang in a very Asian style. The performance was so neat to watch and very different from other traditional art forms. We were really glad we spent the $5 each to watch it. It was definitely a highlight of our trip!

Next up: Ha Long Bay

BaeBong Festival

Now that we've gotten all caught up with the posts from our term break, we can tell you more about some things we've done so far this term. On Saturday May 12 the institute church held their annual BaeBong Festival. We really don't know much about the origins of this festival, but what we gathered is that it's a festival that churches put on around May every year for outreach (not sure if it's just within the Adventist system or if this is typical in most South Korean churches). After church there were many booths set up in the parking lot outside the church and institute and apparently lots was going on, like free dental and health checks and other fun and free things. Unfortunately we didn't get to explore the booths much since we were in the church practicing songs with the church choir and our fellow missionaries pretty much all afternoon. At 4 p.m. the church concert for the elderly started and it went until around 6 or so. Here are some of the noteworthy things about the concert.

Near the beginning of the concert, the church choir, which a few of us foreign missionaries have joined, sang two songs. Both were in Korean (as all our choir songs are), and earlier that afternoon during our practice our conductor decided that one of them should be memorized. Thank goodness it was one that wasn't too long, had quite a few repeated sections, and we all knew pretty well!

Later in the program, all the foreign missionaries sang two traditional Korean songs with this term's All-Day Club members. Richard and Rachel were chosen by our institute director, Pastor Kim, to play the parts of Kabdol and Kabsoon in the first song. They "danced" along as the rest of us sang. Because they were the featured performers, they wore borrowed hanbok (Korean traditional outfits).

Richard & Rachel in hanbok along with Sandra who supported them and also wore hanbok for the event. They got quite warm in those outfits...

The song was about two young lovers. The first verse is about their secret love for each other. The second verse is about how the woman, Kabsoon, married a different man. And the third verse is about how  the man, Kabdol, married a different woman. So that should give you some background about the story in this song. It's actually kind of a depressing song, but it sure does get stuck in your head after several practices. If you want to see the words, click here.

Sadly, the lady Sandra asked to take a video of our songs only videoed the first one. The other one was pretty epic (read, extremely challenging) so it's a shame you won't be able to watch it. But this one is the most visually interesting of the two, so I hope you enjoyed it ! :) (And yes, for those of you wondering, Pastor Kim was sitting right in the first pew giving visual cues to Richard and Rachel so they knew what actions to do next. They had only been chosen to do the part at our practice the night before so they wanted to make sure they were doing everything correctly.)

There were lots of other songs and even a 10-minute "laughter coach" who told the audience jokes to make them laugh and had everyone stretch at about the halfway point of the concert. It was...interesting. Once the concert was over there was a free supper (the Pastor called it a banquet) downstairs in the fellowship hall for all those who wanted to join in. The elderly people went first and as they left after eating, they each got a large case of soy milk and a large box of seaweed (or maybe just one or the other). All in all, it was a really busy Sabbath, but a fun time working together for outreach.

Joined choir!

Last week Ruthie, who works in the Academic Office, e-mailed Jonathan and asked him if he and I would like to join the church choir. Recently they've been announcing in church that they are looking for new choir and orchestra members. We thought the orchestra looked like fun, but since we don't have our instruments here, we aren't exactly able to join. And as for choir, all the songs are in Korean so we never really considered joining it. But Ruthie said that she didn't read Korean very well either and the choir members wrote out the sounds in English letters so she could sing along. She had joined the week before and now was actively recruiting other foreign members so she wouldn't be the only one. We decided to take the plunge and Jonathan picked up two copies of the choir songbook halfway through the week. On Friday night after vespers we went to the practice and were happy to find out that Ruthie had convinced another foreign teacher, Sandra, to join as well. So that made four of us foreigners. All the choir members were so kind and helpful, even though some of them knew very little English. The ones who did, sat beside us, helped us write the sounds in our music, and translated with the director was saying. Ruthie, it turned out, was being very, very modest. She actually reads Korean quite well and didn't even need to write the sounds in her music to feel confident enough to sing for church. The other three of us, though, were very glad for the assistance. But we're all planning to study up on Korean and try to be self-sufficient in the near future. Here's a little look at our music and Korean lyrics.

Choir songbook for this quarter

The special music song for March 31, Communion Sabbath

Korean and English details

Korean snowman hidden in our music (it's pronounced 'hung')

Hymn in Korean with a cheat sheet - The choir sang this for passing out the wine

And, for your viewing pleasure, you can feast your eyes and ears on these two videos taken in church last week. The first is the theme song we've been singing at the end of song service time during the month of March. I believe the theme song will change for April, so I wanted to get a video of it before we stopped singing it. It's called "We Will Keep Our Faith Alive" and is a song I'd never heard until we first sang it in March, but it's definitely one that I want to keep in my repertoire. It's so beautiful and uplifting! Another foreign teacher said, during a song service practice, that it sounded like a Christian anthem. I agree. Apparently it's very popular with Korean Adventists, and now it's popular with me, too!

The second video is of our special music song with the choir, "I Could Not Do Without Thy Grace."

*Both videos were taken by an All-Day Club student, Jennifer, since Jonathan and I were both in the choir. I neglected to tell her how to focus the camera in the few seconds I had between the end of our practice and the start of the church service, so it's my fault the videos aren't focused. But you can still hear the pretty songs! (And also, sorry the musicians are overpowering the singers in the choir special music. I'm sure it didn't sound like that from a little farther back in the church.) Thanks, Jennifer, for taking these videos for us!*

So that's the recent news from our part of the world. We're leaving tomorrow morning for a four-day teacher's retreat with all the teachers, directors, and administrators in the SDA Language Institute system. We'll be back sometime on Monday, so I'm sure we'll have something to post from our time at the Yangpyeong English Village when we return. Stay tuned!

Christmas Program

Friday evening was our Christmas Program at the Seocheonan Church. Jonathan, Fabrice and I invited all of our adult students to come and enjoy the program and we all had a few students come! Many of the church members participated in the program. Even Jonathan and I got involved with playing music. Once the pastor heard that Jonathan and I play string instruments he asked if we would play for the program if he rented a bass and a violin. We said yes and he managed to find us each an instrument. Another church member, Alice, plays the cello so we formed a string trio and played a couple Christmas carols. The church members and guests were so excited to hear the bass and the pastor told us many times that, "it was the first time we have heard the contrabass played." The pastor's wife, Mrs. Lee, also asked me to play violin with her two young sons and two other children. It was fun to be involved in a Christmas program again this year and I think everyone enjoyed the event! Below are some pictures of our program. (Sorry there isn't a picture of me playing violin with the kids. Check back later...hopefully we'll be able to find a church member who got a good picture of that. There were a lot of cameras out so I'm sure we'll be able to find one.)

Hazel and Gabe - the evening's emcees, joke-teller & translator

Alice was busy accompanying for almost every group during the program

The "Praise Ye the Lord" side enjoying the actions for "Hallelu, Hallelu" before the program started

The "Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah" side

Our string trio playing some Christmas carols

This girl sang a song in Korean and had a beautiful voice

The guys playing a slightly-jazzy version of "Silent Night"

Alice's husband on electric-acoustic guitar (not sure of his name)

Gabe on bass guitar

Jonathan on piano

These four boys made up the children's choir.
The three on the right are sons of the Korean junior teachers and one of the institute secretaries.

Korean solo

Guitarist and a Korean duet

Lilly, the Korean junior teacher coordinator, on the flute

Caroline, another Korean junior teacher, and her husband, Larry singing a duet

Peter singing an English solo

An impromptu choir made up of teachers and a few willing students

We ended with the whole group singing "Silent Night" together