The largest denomination of currency in Korea is worth about US$10. Imagine getting your paycheck in ten-dollar bills! I felt like a drug dealer. walking around with a wad of cash so big that it barely fit in my pocket. And since we received it at the beginning of the school day, I had no choice but to cram it in there and hope that none of the kids went snooping around my pockets (which they do.)
The GNP of South Korea is 941 billion dollars. And they don't even use twenty-dollar bills. How? Discuss...
On Saturday, Pam and I caught a traditional show in Seoul. It covered many of the traditional arts such as the music of 6 and 12 string lyres and those high-pitched flutes that make Asian music sound Asian, high-action drumming (excellent!), fan dancing (a pleasant surprise), and singing. Before the singing we were both afraid of our ear drums rupturing from the wailing of an old Korean woman, but it wasn't too bad. But as it was in Korean we had to invent our own story of what it was about. I came up with a tale of a poor plum wine harvest owing to a man chasing a beautiful bird away. Anyway, she's finally done singing.
We also managed to buy tickets for a real Broadway show in July. With actual Broadway performers.
Next weekend it's back to Seoul for Buddha's Birthday and huge lantern festival and parade through the streets.
A strange thing I've noticed - I commented on a student's hair which has highlights. She said she didn't like them but her mother made her get them. Here mother's hair is straight black. Another girl wore all pink, yet pink is not her favorite color. Who's favorite is it? Her mother's.
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