Hi Seoul Festival, 2-10 October 2010

DATE: Saturday 2 thru Sunday 10 October 2010
TIME: vary depending on the event/activity – day and evening events
COST: many events are free of charge – see programme
VENUE: downtown Seoul. Yeouido, Seonyudo and Hangang – in particular Yeouido Hangang Park

Hi Seoul Festival is a seasonal cultural festival that has been held four times a year in Seoul since 2003. Under the slogan of “Gesture of Seoul and Gesture of the World”, the upcoming festival will be held in areas around Hangang parks from October 1 to 10, 2010. As we can see from its slogan, nonverbal performances will be the main content of this year’s festival. In addition, the festival adds more value in that it encourages citizen participation and sharing. It will be the world’s largest nonverbal arts festival, transcending barriers of race, language, generation and culture.

Performers from 13 countries will stage more than 400 shows. If you think that there cannot be very many types of performances in the nonverbal genre, you will be surprised. In the Hi Seoul Festival, more than 400 performances will be staged by 70 groups from 13 countries and also some citizen participants. There are various nonverbal genres such as street performances, puppet shows, pantomime, musical performances and circus. At the Hi Seoul Festival, you can pick and choose a variety of quality programs.

In addition, renowned music director, In Jae-jin, will turn Seonyudo into an island of music under the title of “Jazz in Seonyudo”. Twelve next generation visual artists will put their installation works on exhibition, entitled “Osaekchanran”, which means colorful and brilliant in English.

Especially, this year’s Hi Seoul Festival will infuse an air of festivity throughout the whole city by linking about 20 other cultural events in the country such as Jeonju International Sori Festival, Andong Maskdance Festival, Seoul Performing Arts Festival, Seoul Design Fair and Seoul Theater Olympics.

This year’s festival will not be confined to downtown Seoul. Yeouido, Seonyudo and Hangang will also become venues for the festival - Yeouido Hangang Park will be the main venue for the festival.

On the last day of the festival, many world street performance groups and about 1,000 citizens will march down the car-free Jamsugyo under the title of “World Street Performance Parade”.

For more information, please visit: http://english.hiseoulfest.org/2010/

                 KBS 1 TV “National Singing Contest”

                                              “Special Day with Foreigners”

Date & Time: September 19th (Sat), 2010 13:00

Place: Special stage at Yeouido Park in Yeongdeungpo-gu

Preliminary: September 13th (Mon), 2010 15:00 at KBS annex open Hall

Participants: open to any foreigner residing in Seoul

Registration period: September 1st – 11th, 2010

Registration: Yeongdeungpo Global Village Center (02) 2670-3800-7

Sponsor: Yeongdeungpo gu District Office International Support Division  (02)2670-3803

For those who are interested in this contest, please contact Daejun Lee at Yeongdeungpo Global Village Center ( 2670-3800 or ledaju@ydp.go.kr)

Seoul Drum Festival 2010

This annual festival is held at various venues from September 4th to the 30th, with the main concert performances at Ddeukseom Seoul Forest Park in the evenings of Friday the 24th, Saturday the 25th, and Sunday the 26th. Now in its 12th year, the festival brings together great percussion artists from Korea and around the world.

For more information visit the festival’s English website: http://www.seouldrum.go.kr/english/

Korea International Art Fair 2010

The Korea International Art Fair(KIAF) will be held in Halls A and B of the COEX Mall from September 9th (Thurs) to the 13th (Mon). This fair brings together works from 193 galleries in 16 countries. The featured guest country at this year’s fair is the UK and there will be various programs, including lectures, to introduce British contemporary art. General admission to the fair is 15,000 won. For more information see the KIAF website: http://www.kiaf.org/

AMCHAM Labor Day Picnic

On Saturday September 4th from 11am to 3pm. The American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) will be hosting its annual Labor Day Picnic. Tickets are 50,000 won for adults, 35,000 won for children 8-18, and children under 8 can come for free. The venue is the mini soccer field of Misari Park in Hanam-si, Gyeonggi province. There will be shuttle bus service offered from Seoul. For more information see the posting on the AMCHAM website under news and events: http://www.amchamkorea.org/index.php

AWC Coffee Morning

The American Women’s Club (AWC) is holding its September Coffee Morning on Friday the 10th at 10am (check in starts at 9:30). At this month’s meeting the guest speaker will be James Kim from “Concierge K” which is a company that specializes in providing lifestyle management services for expats in Korea. You can learn all about their personalized shopping, travel, and relocation services. The venue for this month’s meeting is the Seoul Club. The cost is 12,000 won for members and 15,000 won for non-members. For more information on this event and others see the AWC website: http://www.awcseoul.org/

Oktoberfest 2010

The Grand Hilton Seoul will be hosting Oktoberfest 2010 on September 10th (Fri) and 11th (Sat) at 7pm. This popular celebration will includ two German bands, great food, and of course unlimited beer. There will also be a raffle with great prizes including Lufthansa air tickets and hotel vouchers. Tickets are 120,000 won. See the contact information below if you have any questions or would like to make a reservation:

Tel: 02) 2287-7456  Email: oktoberfest@mail.grandhiltonseoul.com

SIWA Guided Tour of the Leeum Art Museum

On Friday September 3rd from 10am to 1pm the Seoul International Women’s Association (SIWA) has organized a tour of the Leeum Art Museum in Itaewon (near Hangangjin subway station). The Leeum Museum, funded by Samsung, has both traditional and modern arts sections, but because there is only limited description in English it is not easy for foreigners to fully enjoy the displays. However, this tour will be lead by an expert guide, Mr. David Mason, who will explain the displays in the traditional arts section in English. The cost for this tour is 25,000 won for SIWA members and 30,000 won for nonmembers. For more information, and to sign up for this and other SIWA events, visit their website: http://www.siwapage.com/

The autumn semester of 2010 Korean Traditional Music Class for Foreigners starts from Sep. 4.The program will be conducted in English and Korean (with language assistants) and the instruments necessary for the lesson will be leased during the class.

1. DURATION
- Sep. 4 ~ Nov 20 (12 weeks) / 10:30~12:30, Every Saturday
* Costumed final presentation scheduled on Nov. 20 and Korean traditional costumes will be leased for free.

2. PARTICIPATION FEE
- 30,000 won (covering the whole 12-week course)

3. CLASSES
- Janggu (Hourglass-Shaped Drum) Beginner’s
- Janggu Intermediate
- Gayageum (12-Stringed Zither)
- Haegeum (Two-Stringed Fiddle)
- Samulnori (Percussion Quartet, Prerequisite janggu class or janggu skills required)
* Classes are subject to be cancelled due to insufficient participants.

4. APPLICATION
- Period : Aug. 19 ~ Sep. 2.
- First come, first served
- How to: download application form, complete it and send it to baewon76@gmail.com.

For more information and questions, feel free to contact Mr. Lee Baewon (02-580-3054, baewon76@gmail.com) or visit the official website http://www.gugak.go.kr/html/jsp/eng_2006/index.jsp

Synopsis Having once done time behind bars, CHA Tae-sik now leads a quiet life. His only connection to the rest of the world is a little girl, So-mi, who lives nearby. So-mi’s mother, Hyo-jeong, smuggles drugs for a drug trafficking organization and entrusts Tae-sik with the product. When the traffickers find out they kidnap both Hyo-jeong and So-mi. Mistaking Tae-sik for another mule, the brothers that lead the gang—Man-sik and Jong-sik—promise to release Hyo-jeong and So-mi if Tae-sik makes a delivery for them. Tae-sik makes the decision to face the outside world in order to rescue So-mi. However, the delivery was part of a larger plot to eliminate a rival drug ring leader, Mr. Oh, and Tae-sik is arrested. At the same time, Hyo-jeong’s disemboweled body is discovered, and Tae-sik realizes that So-mi’s life may also be in danger. He fights off half a dozen detectives and escapes from the police station. Now on the run, Tae-sik pursues Man-sik and Jong-sik. In the process, he discovers that their drug ring operates around kidnapped children. Stumbling upon a factory where the brothers have children’s organs removed to accommodate the drugs, Tae-sik rescues one child just before surgery and becomes enraged at the prospect So-mi may already be dead. Tae-sik prepares for a battle with Man-sik and Jong-sik, putting his own life at risk…source Source http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr

Times and locations:

Here at the Itaewon-Hannam Global Village Center we have built up quite an extensive library of English books, most of which have been donated by other expats. In fact, we recently received

A very generous donation of approximately 100 great books and these have greatly expanded our collection. In total, our library has now has over 400 books including both fiction and non-fiction titles.  There is also a section of books to help you better understand Korean culture, language, and history.  In particular, we have a good selection of Korean language study books to help those who are working on improving their Korean. Anyone can borrow a book from our library. We just ask for a 5,000 won per book deposit from first time borrowers . Feel free to drop by anytime and pick up a good book. Our shelves are now pretty full but we can still accept donations of a book or two. So, if you have some good books just lying around that you think others would enjoy reading, please bring them into the center.

Synopsis
In a follow-up to popular horror film, “Death Bell” (2008), Se-hee is haunted by her step sister Tae-yeon who used to be a promising swimmer but suddenly killed herself in a swimming pool 2 years ago. During the summer vacation, she joins the study camp at school for upcoming college entrance exam with other 30 elite students. On the first night, when Se-hee finds a riddling passage scribbled in the desk, she soon sees a dead girl’s body hung upside down. Then the TV monitors are on and the students watch another friend crushed by his bike in the corridor. Since then, the succession of cruel killings occurs whenever they fail to answer the given questions in time. Meanwhile, the hidden truth behind Tae-yeon’s suicide is slowly revealed and terrified students struggle to death to undo the puzzle before they become the next victim.  Source http://www.koreanfilm.or.kr

Times and locations:

Also, looks like I was wrong, there are some final showings (though they are really trickling out) of Moss coming up in the next couple of days:

Movie of the Month “Mother”

The movie of the month for August is called Mother. It was directed by Jung-ho Bong and screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. It is considered by many to be the best Korean film of last year.

It is the story of a widow who lives alone with her only son. The son is 28 years old but he is very shy and quiet. A murder is committed, and, although there is no real evidence against him, he is considered the prime suspect. The boy’s mother is determined to protect him and prove his innocence.

◈ Date & Time: Wednesday August 25th at 6:30pm

◈ Place: Itaewon ∙ Hannam Global Village Center

◈ Participants: Open to anyone  (not suitable for youger viewers)

◈ Participation Fee: Free of Charge * Snacks and drinks will be provided.

You can sign up by visiting the center, or by telephone or email.

Tel: 02)796-2459~60 / Email: itaewon@sba.seoul.kr

Making Makgeolli

(The Korean traditional rice wine)

Makgeolli is the alcoholic drink which has the oldest history in Korea.

The Yeoksam Global Village Center is hosting a program to provide you an opportunity to try making Korean traditional rice wine and to taste other Korean alcoholic beverages, too.

Come share this experience with us! Those interested in the activity, please send an email to yeoksam@sba.seoul.kr with your name, nationality and phone number.

Details :

• Date & Time : 2010, August 25 (Wed), 10:30~13:30
• Place : Bukchon Traditional Culture Center, Subway line 3, Anguk station, exit 2
• Meeting Time : 10 am
• Seats : 10 persons
• Fee : 10,000 won

If you have any questions, please contact the Yeoksam Global Village Center at 02-3453-9038 / 02-3453-9039 or email yeoksam@sba.seoul.kr.