Andong Mask Festival

This was the first superman we met in the day.

For the entire day, Autumn (far right) had a massive craving for corn dogs. She talked about it every minute. Finally, we came to a corn dog stand, and she was in heaven.
We met Superman again, but looked a little different, and with him was Spiderman, Batman, and Wonder Woman. We went to get our picture taken with them, but then the flood gates opened and children were being pushed into us to get their picture taken with the Waegookins (foreigners).

We made our own masks, mine didn't turn out that well, but it was fun while we were making it.
I did a little Korean calligraphy and put up my work. I just said Lucas (heart) Erin 2008. And then I went to put it up, and it was like a swarm. The Koreans busted out their $1000 cameras with mega attachments and were snapping our picture constantly.
Everyone was a little tired."So-Mek". This is Soju + Beer. What kind of dangerous things do you think that this can do?

Today, Lucas and I made an impromptu trip to Andong with a couple of friends to go to the Mask Festival. Apparently, this is THE festival that "represents Korea's spirit". There were many masks, from Korea and abroad. We left the house at 8 am this morning to head to the bus station. We were all pretty tired. It was SO cold out this morning. The weather in Korea has taken such a sudden shift that it's thrown me of guard. Last weekend it was muggy and hot, and then on Monday, BAM, freezing. I was wearing a jacket all day, but was frozen to the bones. I couldn't shake the chill. We got to the festival just as things were beginning to open. Korea is the land of morning calm, so it takes a little to get things going. There was a carnival like beginning with Midway games. At the end of the day Lucas played on where you get a proze depending on what number an eel will swim to (he didn't do well, his prize was a wooden finger...?).

We meandered through the many tents that were selling random masks, pottery, and papers. It was fun to wander and see the wares. I love looking at everything, much to Lucas' dismay. We saw a couple performances, including one with drums. Before this show started, however, the MC brought a bunch of kids up for a dancing competition and a yelling competition. It was hilarious! They were aged about 3-6. One little girl, maybe 3 years old, tried to get down the stage, but got scared and started crying. I was looking for her mother, and she wasn't to be seen, so I helped her down. She just grabbed a hold of me so tight! She was adorable. Her mother did come though, damn! So the dance competition begins and each kids has their turn. Then the MC called me up, because I was in the front row, and he asked me to do some "free style Canada dance". So I did the kind of dancing my kids do for laughs. The kids behind me started to as well, and then me and this one little girl had a dance off. So fun! And then I got to give all the kids a button.

At this point, everyone's pretty tired. We wandered for a little bit, but we just ended up heading back to the station. It was hard moving at the festival becuase we would be bombarded by Koreans wanting their pictures taken of us, or with us. And in the beginning, the middle school students kept coming up to us, to "interview" us (basically, what is your name, where are you from, can we have a picture with you).

Now, we are exhausted. Tomorrow Lucas and I get our first taste of a Korean Wedding. Apparently, they are somewhat tacky and fast paced, but a great time. The first face we saw in Korea, Hyun, is getting married to his girlfriend of six years. Looking forward to it.