This past summer we hosted the 여도초등학교 traditional Korean orchestra. The students ages ranged from 8 to 12 years (3rd through 7th grade). The 여도 elementary school is a private school funded by multiple chemical companies in the 여천공단. The orchestra came to the United States to promote the World Ocean Expo 2012 bid. (Congratulations to 여수시 for winning the bid!) For the two weeks that the students spent here we had two boys, two girls, and the school principle and his wife stay at our house. We arranged for the remaining 40 students to stay with various families in the area. Finding host families was not easy in this small community but everyone that hosted these children had a very memorable if not experience.
The children had a total of seven performances while they were here, two at the local high school, two at a theater that we rented, one at a Koean church, and one for the Korean press club in the San Francisco Bay Area. They also perfomed live for a television station morning show. This performance required that they be at the station at 5:30am so the evening prior we had fourteen children stay at our house!
Everyone liked staying at our house. I think that the children that stayed here had the easiest time adapting to American life, probably because we had things that were familiar to them like 김치, 김, 밥, and spoken 한국어. We had the youngest orchestra member stay with us for those reasons and she had no problems at all. Many of the host families were amazed that such young children were travelling away from home for three weeks (they toured for a week before returning to Korea).
There were a few awkward moments with American life for these children. One girl had a very difficult time with one family’s cat. It took her a few days to get used to the idea of a giant (25 pound) cat in the house. She actually spent one night at our house (we don’t have any indoor pets at the moment) and then she was fine. Most of the children were uncomfortable with the idea of indoor pets but by the time they left they were very comfortable with dogs and cats. Another family noticed water all over the floor of the bathroom after the Korean children showered; American bathrooms don’t have drains in the floors of the bathroom as a rule. Despite some communication difficulties everyone got along very well. Several of the families are considering sending their children to Korean for a couple of weeks this coming summer as a kind of sister school exchange. We shall see how this works out.
The performances here were excellent. Some video and pictures can be found here. For a link to lots of photos click the “우리들의 앨범” link on the left. Unfortunately, when someone in America hears the words “elementary school band” they don’t think of well trained performers, skilled in their respective instruments as well as stage presence. Consequently, the performances were not as well attended as they should have been (sold out would have been nice…). Those that attended were treated to an hour and a half long performance of traditional and modern arrangements. Everyone left very impressed and no one missed “Hot Cross Buns” (our local middle school band favorite heard at every recital).
The instruments featured in the orchestra included the 가야금, 대금, 소금, 거문고, 해금, 태평소, 피리, 아쟁, 모둠북, 사물놀이, 등등. I will try to post some detailed information/pictures of these instruments in the forums. While many of the instruments were foreign to the audience, it was very fulfilling to be a part of this cultural exchange.
Merry Christmas everyone!
