Parade of Korean Christmas Cards!

I just love Korean holiday cards.  They are very reasonable priced and beautiful to look at.

I picked up quite a few.

Even a couple of pop up cards

                                                                     Outside

                                                                        Inside

                                                               Outside

 

                                                                   Inside

                                                                   Outside

Inside

                                             I love the Asia brush stroke cards.

 Then we come to a few that made me go hmmmm.  I hadn't seen this before but I had to get them too.

                                                 Holiday cards are usually cheery.
                                           Holiday cards don't show butt cracks.

This one had me confused the most.  In olden days in Korea, if a child wet the bed they were made to wear this type of basket on their head and parade through the village.  I have no idea why this would be a good subject for a holiday card.

This is How They Do It in South Korea!

This is how to dance taekwondo style This is why I DON'T drive in Korea: This is a holiday song:

Chilbo (Korean Enameling) Class

 Chilbo this week was all about blending. I found it incredible difficult and frustrating. But hey, sometimes that is just what I need, to be pulled out of my comfort zone. The one on the left is mine and the one on the right is Nan's. I loved hers, mine not so much. This is what they looked like before firing.

 This is what they looked like after firing.  I know it will take practice to get good at this new technique.  She wants me to try doing a portrait but I don't even want to think about trying that at this point.
                                                     This is what another student had done.

Nan's building front was getting a facelift when I was there on Friday.  I can't wait to see what it looks like when they are done.

Rocketman was in Japan all of last week returning on Saturday afternoon.  He found out while in Japan that he needed to go to Taiwan so he left for Taiwan this morning.  He was home just long enough for me to wash, dry(hang drying for the most part), and iron his clothes.  I'm hoping the craziness ends soon for him.

Bojagi (Korean Quilting) Class

                                                      I finished my latest bojagi project.

 I love the thread my teacher gave me to use for the decorative stitching.  It was varigated and really beautiful.

                                                                  Here is the back.

                          My teacher surprised me with what I'll be making next.  I can't wait!

Rocketman has been traveling a lot lately.  He was in Japan last week returning Saturday afternoon only to leave Sunday morning for Taiwan.  He asked me what I've been eating and this picture pretty much sums it all up, lots of kimchi.  There's nothing better than a bowl of homemade kimchi.  I also think it tastes better with the metal chopsticks and I've gotten pretty good at using them.  I don't really cook while Rocketman is gone and usually eat salads and bagels.  Things that don't create a lot of dirty dishes.

Gallery Opening at the Hwaseong Fortress

 On Wednesday, I went to a gallery opening at the Hwaseong Fortress.  I was also participating in it.  Here is chilbo and maedeup pieces made by Young-Soo.

                                           This was made by my friend, the bodyguard.

                                        These chilbo pieces were by Nan-Young, my chilbo teacher.

                                                                More by the bodyguard.

                                Metal guy was also there in person and in a piece of his copper art.

                                       My chilbo jewelry boxes were included in the gallery too.

                                               These pieces were made by my hanji teacher.

 She does amazing paintings on cloth and she really wanted me to take her picture so I did.  She is a sweetie and always calls out to me when she sees me around town.

                                                            There was also a lot of food.

          And a pig's head.  Some of the head was cut up into easy to eat pieces.  I was totally grossed out.

                                 There was also a group of Korean kids that played a few songs.

  

                                                Then bodyguard put money in the pig...

                                           and others followed suit.  The kids loved it.

  Me, not so much.  I had never seen a pig head at a gallery opening and I have been to many now.  All they told me was that it was good whatever that means.

 There was a presentation where several people talked and then each of us had our names read and we stepped forward and bowed.  Then the eating began.

              Then the drinking began.  I stayed with Coke even though bodyguard wanted me to drink soju.

Bodyguard drank A LOT of soju.  I'm not sure how he got home.  I was the first to leave and metal guy gave me a ride home.

I also took some video:

Miniature Korean Food Class - Fruits

These are my finished miniature fruits.  We made apples, bananas, tomatoes, lemons, tangerines, strawberries and kiwis.

 I even got to do a little millefiori.  It had been a long time since I had done any and that's how we made the kiwi slices.

 Here we are from left to right, the miniature shop owner's sister who runs the coffee shop next door and feeds us lunch, my teacher, me, Nan-Young - fellow student (same name as my chilbo teacher) and the miniature shop owner.

I had been asking for awhile if there could be a class on Korean street food and I never got an answer.  So I thought that this could possibly be my last class ever.

The owner let me know that she is teaching on class on Korean street food and making the street cart you see in the photo above.  We will just be making the street cart and the food.  I was over the moon and told her that it was the best Christmas present ever.  It will be a two day class, December 11th and 18th.  If they do have any classes in January, I will take those also.  I love it even though I come home exhausted.  Happy, but exhausted.