Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning

On Christmas Eve I picked the boys up from preschool where they had had a lot of fun that day as well as a surprise visit from Santa before embarking on his round-the-world trip.  Dahin had a radio broadcast at MBC with her choir, so Jack and Dahin were out until about 8 pm.  When they got home, we made the cookies for Santa.  We had made the dough the night before and kept it in the fridge overnight (this way the cookies keep their shape better).  We used sprinkles and M&Ms to decorate the cookies.  The kids did a great job and had a lot of fun with their cookie designs.

Early Christmas morning, I woke up to find Tashi in his cage peacefully chewing on a bone that the big man had obviously slipped him to keep him quiet.  Tashi saw Santa, but wasn't talking.  With gifts under the tree and in the stockings, I decided to make the pumpkin pie after feeding Tashi and taking him for his morning outing.

Because frozen pie crusts are not a commodity in South Korea, I had to brave it and make my own for the first time ever.  After two failures and making it the right consistency, I found a video on youtube that was super helpful.  Here's the link in case you want to try it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjQ0GSSVymU
The recipe included with the video worked perfectly, so glad I was able to find these instructions from a chef who knows what he's doing.   Boy, I was sure glad that I had bought that beautiful pie dish at a yard sale in Oakland years ago.  And, I was doubly glad that I had decided to bring it with us to Korea.  I didn't get the pie crust perfectly the right size, but make it work. You can see Tashi on the right side of the picture hoping desperately that I drop something yummy (he was obviously remembering the night before when the kids made cookies).  Once the pie crust was set, I used a can of pumpkin and sweetened condensed milk I had gotten when in LA to make the filling.  I was so glad I did because the "pumpkin paste" we bought at a foreign foods market here in Seoul (I had originally wanted to make two pies) was not a paste at all but really a nector or thick juice.  That was a bummer since it cost me almost $5.  Should have known better since the label was Korean.  People here just don't get what canned pumpkin is all about.  Anyway, I fed some of this "pumpkin paste" to Tashi as a treat and saved the rest for later.

The kids rolled out of bed around 8 am and headed right to their stockings.  They had to wake Ronan up since I told them they could not get into their presents until everyone was awake.  Santa had left candy canes in everyone's stocking (well, except for Tashi's) and on the tree as is the tradition in our home.

Above, Dahin helps Tashi discover the contents of his stocking.  He got some yummy treats, a new toy, and some organic shampoo.  He was most excited about the treats.  Below, the kids opened the family gift which was a Wii.  After years of asking for a Wii from Santa, Santa finally delivered.  I couldn't get a good shot of them opening this gift since they kept jumping up and down and screaming.

Then, the boys and Dahin opened their gifts from Apa and Mommy.  The boys got a Pokemon playset, but really I think  they would have been just as happy with a stack of Pokemon cards (despite the fact they already have a gazillion Pokemon cards).  Tashi, below, was a bit resistant to his other Santa gift: a doggy bed.  He had hijacked one of our pillows and had been using it as a bed, and you can see on the right that the pillow is still the prefered lounging tool.

Dahin models her new coat and Christmas leggings, above, and, below, the kids play with some of the games they got from Santa.

The pie turned out perfectly.  Because only 1 pie was doable, we had a lot of Christmas cookies the kids had made so we packed those up with the pie and got ready to go to Uncle Brad and Aunt Wendy's home for Christmas dinner.  Also, I had attempted to make the yeast rolls I always used to make at the holidays, but that was a dismal failure as well.  The dough did not rise at all during the night.  The yeast here is different.  It is instant yeast instead of the yeast I am used to. I think, when I go to Hawaii this spring, I will stock up on some yeast, canned pumpkin, and other holiday baking musts so that everything will be makeable in multiples next year. I made biscuits from scratch instead, but those didn't rise like that should have and were a bit salty.  I followed the directions for adding baking powder to all purpose flour, but still very flat biscuits.  I am not sure why, but maybe the baking powder here is different, too. Still, the biscuits weren't that bad, so they become part of our contribution as well as some cranberry sauce I had found at the foreign food market and some wine that we bought at Shinsaege Department Store.

Dahin knitted a bit using her kit Santa had brought as a stocking stuffer while she waited for everyone to get ready to go.  Below, she models our Christmas gift for her cousin Mikayla. Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!!

Nuga Nuga Jal Hana

Once again we appeared on "Nuga Nuga Jal Hana", the Korean kids' song program.  This time around, it was celebrities and their families.  Our family fit into the 'special celebrity' category (e.g. not really a celebrity but interesting enough to be on the show).  I've been waiting to post this entry because I wanted Jack to clarify the names of the celebrities--all of whom I know by face, but not by name--but need to get this posted so what the heck.  Above, Dahin poses with one of Korea's famous senior celebrities.  She was incredibly nice and talked with us a lot.  She appeared on the show with her two grandchildren.

Above, the super-nice celebrity grandma with her two grandchildren--both who grew up in Thailand and attended international schools there.  The granddaughter is going to be a freshman at my university this coming spring.  The panel of judges (below) included a cutie who is part of a vocal group, Kim Inhye ( a voice professor at my college!), and a well-known comedian who was, truly, super funny.

Above, the KBS studio orchestra does a great job of accompanying the performing families.  Below, the comedian takes his turn at singing. It was very cute.

Then, our turn.  We sung "Flying a Kite,"  not to be confused with the kite song from Mary Poppins.  The Korean title is "Yeon nalligi" and it has a bit of a gugak (traditional music) feel.  It was a lot of fun to sing.  Dahin was so great.  Her experiences this fall auditioning for "Annie" and joining the Rainbow choir have obviously taught her a lot.  She was so poised and was even coaching me and Jack on how to move and pronounce the lyrics.   That, and she was incredibly smiley and outgoing--her stage manners have improved a lot.

Below, all of us gather onstage.  Included in the lineup was a well-known actor and his daughter, a yudo competitor who made a name for herself at the '88 Olympics, a broadcaster, an actor well-known for his work in historical dramas (as a general), a doctor and her twin daughters (who were total brats--I am sorry, but they were), and the celebrity grandma and her two grandkids.

Everyone got prizes,  We received the "Do re mi" prize for song performance.  I guess everyone got prizes because, when you invited people who are celebrities you kind of have to do that.  There were two top winners. Second place was the actor and his daughter--they got a violin and announced that they were going to donate it.  First place was the bratty twins and their mom.  They got a cello.

Here we are with the "General" team.  It was fun to hang out with people, like the "General", who I've seen on tv.  It was surreal.  Our team name was "Gugak Sarang," or "Loving Traditional Music" (or something like that).  The show airs on New Year's Eve at 4:30 pm on KBS.

Thanks to our nieces Jeongeun (above) and Mieun (below) were got plenty of pictures of the performance.

Here's our performance.  As you can see, Dahin really was the best.  I don't know why I kept swinging around and Jack was as stiff as a corpse.  Still, we did great for our family singing debut.  Enjoy!

Mine

We got an awesome holiday package from Grandfather and Bubbie that included DVDs of "A Christmas Story,"  "A Charlie Brown Christmas,"  "An All Dog's Christmas Carol," and a special box set of Christmas classics including "A Christmas Carol" (all pretty much impossible to get in Korea unless you order overseas from Amazon) as well as Celtic Christmas CDs and cards. Tashi got a special Christmas toy that he was very quick to claim.  Guess he was totally smelling Cookie, Simon, Francis, Sheila, and Dove on Mr. Reindeer.  Needless to say, he loves this new toy.  Thanks Grandfather and Bubbie!!

This Week

On Tuesday I went to the last concert for the semester with my freshman seminar students.  Not all of them were here (we have a schedule and they choose the ones they can attend) but a good number attended.  A student from Germany (on the right) also attended, and my T.A. Kibbeum  (in the front middle) attended as well.  The concert was a recreation of an historic event at court.  It was great--dance, music, acting.  The students seemed to like it a lot, as well.  Afterwards, we went to a cafe and had some tea/hot cocoa with apple pie and cheesecake.

On Wednesday morning, I was up before the crack of dawn to make it to an interview at Kugak (Korean Traditional Music) broadcasting.  I was out the door by 6 am, but got there at 7 am.  Guess I thought it would take longer to make it across town.  Still, it was nice to sit in the studion and listen to the beginnings of the show.  The radio crew bought be a latte, so I was happy and warm while waiting for my turn.  The sun rising over the buildings from the 11th floor view was nice to see. 

My interviewer, Oh Jung-hae, is very well known in and outside of Korea as the star of the now-classic film Seopyeonje by the legendary film director Im Kwon-taek.  The film was one of the first Korean films I'd ever seen and it blew me away.  Many people credit Seopyeonje with helping in the contemporary revival of interest in traditional Korean music.  A synopsis and info can be found here:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108192/   
Anyway, it was really cool to be interviewed by her on her morning show.  She was very nice, and no, I did not go all freaky fan on her.  It was cool to hear "Jindo Arirang" from the soundtrack right before my interview started, and I said, "Oh, that was from Seopyeonje" and she just smiled.  She's done other things, including another favorite movie Chukje in which she plays a blacksheep of a family. She's a well-known singer and appears often on a variety of television programs.  A famous scene from the movie can be seen here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5r9nQgXsw4&feature=related 
I told her my parents were listening live (via online streaming) in the States and she had me say hi not just once, but twice.  It was a lot of fun, and the radio team were thrilled to know the program was being heard overseas.  I hope to meet her again soon.

After the interview, I headed to the Hyatt hotel for a College of Music women's faculty lunch.  We ate and talked for quite a while, and even had a drawing for presents.  The women's faculty usually gets together about twice a semester.  Eating at the Hyatt is nice because there is a pre-main dish salad buffet and a dessert buffet.  Can't get much better than that.  It always feels so elegant to eat lunch there.

The week ended with a dinner hosted by our geomungo professor, Jeon Daeseok.  For the past year, he's been leading classes for professors, graduate students outside of the program, and administrators.  I've been a part of those classes and have loved learning the geomungo.  Taking the class has been a great experience and I hope to continue with the geomungo classes for as long as possible.  We ate dinner at the Hoam Faculty house on campus and then a small group of us followed that up with some makgeolli and other forms of liquor and spicy side dishes at a little place down the street. Most gathered were either in the music school or the school of fine arts (we know how to celebrate).  It was a great ending to a great year of geomungo learning. 

Me with one of my favorite T.A.'s and geomungo players, Seonhwa.

I look super tired (in the worst way), but thought I should post this shot of me with Jeon Dae-seok.  An angel of a man, he is arguably Korea's top geomungo player. It's an honor to learn from him.