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Yesterday, Wednesday, was Children’s Day, a national holiday in Korea. (Though I find that there are no real holidays working for the university–we have to make up all classes that are cancelled due to any “holidays.”) It’s kind of like Christmas for the kids, with gifts and time off from school for fun. It’s a day out at the amusement park, the zoo, the movies or just an afternoon playing games with mom and dad.
Celebrated each year in conjunction with the holiday is the Yeosu Turtle Ship Festival. I’ve posted a few times previously about Admiral Yi Sun-shin and his invention of the turtle ship, and Yeosu has a four-day festival to celebrate his achievements. Usually, there is an International Tall Ship Festival held near this time also, but it was cancelled this year due to the construction of the Expo 2012 grounds at the harbor.
I took a bus to the Ocean Park Walkway (see a previous post about the walkway here) and spent about 3 hours walking around the various exhibits and watching some of the local talent performing on the main stage. Here’s the main area before the talent show began. Later, the place was packed, not half-empty as it appears here.
Here are a few shots of some of the performances; much of the local talent was quite good.
Many of the older folks were wearing traditional Korean clothing that is considered their national dress– the hanbok. I persuaded this gentleman to pose for me. I assume the cap and sunglasses aren’t standard, but I thought he looked pretty cool.
There was an international fireworks festival later that evening, but, having jogged for 80 minutes in the morning (almost a record for me), I was pooped and decided to call it a day around 4 in the afternoon. In addition the forecast had called for rain in the evening (which we got), and I had a couple of early morning classes today, so, early to bed. More later.
Related posts: - Spring, At Last (I Hope) Finally, we had a nice Saturday in Yeosu, one that saw me walk for several hours in the morning and early afternoon around Odongdo and the downtown area near that...
- Boats and Churches Hmmm, boats . . . do I mean arks? No, not really. I was just going through some of my older photos, kind of cleaning the cobwebs out of the...
- Andong Mask Dance Festival 2004 Andong just concluded, yesterday, its annual Mask Dance Festival, and it was superb! Featuring performances by dancers from 14 countries over the 10-day run of the festival, the event offered...
Hmmm, boats . . . do I mean arks? No, not really. I was just going through some of my older photos, kind of cleaning the cobwebs out of the attic, so to speak, and came across a few shots of some boats I took. First up is one taken at the Tall Ship Festival that was held way back in May. Here’s an article about the festival, which was held in conjunction with the annual Turtle Ship Festival. I wrote about the turtle ship as part of my Field Trip post of November 7th this year.
This is a lineup of some of the ships, including a modern-day Korean naval vessel, taking part in the festival. The two tall ships, the Pallada and the Nadezhda, if I’m not mistaken, are from Russia.
Here’s a replica of a turtle ship, also displayed at the festival. It features armor plating and sturdy wooden planking, and, to deter enemies from boarding, sharp metal spikes studded the deck. By all accounts, they were very effective in staving off Japanese invasion fleets in the late 16th century, though there weren’t many of them, according to this Wikipedia article.
Hiding in there somewhere is the Korean training tall ship, the Koreana. Here’s a photo of it at the Soho Yacht Marina, a photo I played around with in Photoshop to give it a somewhat antique look.
Also in the marina area is an interesting Korean church. There is no shortage of unusual, strange and downright bizarre Christian churches in Korea. I could probably publish a coffee table book of them. (Hmmm, there’s an idea.) Are these churches established in existing buildings or are they built from scratch? I imagine it’s a bit of both. The first shot below is a church near the Sindeok Beach area. To me, it resembles the prow of a ship (the ark?). What do you think?
Now, here’s the one that’s not too far from the marina. If the church above resembles a ship, what does this one resemble? What’s its theme or motif? Let me know what you think. Leave a comment below, if you’d like.
[NOTE: Added these photos and one more of me (as if anyone would care except my mother  ) to the Yeosu Photos section in the Photo Gallery.]
Related posts: - The Admiral and the Busy Port In a previous post titled Boats and Churches, I made reference to Yeosu’s historic past with a photo of a turtle ship replica. High atop Jasan Park overlooking Odongdo Island...
- Children’s Day and Turtle Ship Festival Yesterday, Wednesday, was Children’s Day, a national holiday in Korea. (Though I find that there are no real holidays working for the university–we have to make up all classes that...
- Pepero Day Yesterday, the 11th, was Pepero Day in Korea. It’s akin to Valentine’s Day, which is also celebrated here, with young people and couples exchanging candy, mainly the Lotte Corporation’s Pepero...
The Africa Cup is currently being contested for in Cairo, with 16 teams making the cut, 4 in each division. Today I watched the match between Morocco and Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast) on my somewhat fuzzy TV, reception being what it is with only a pair of rabbit ears. I opened up my window, despite the slight chill in the air, because I wanted to listen to the neighborhood’s reaction when (and if) the Moroccan team scored. About the middle of the second half, down 1-0, it appeared that they had finally put the ball in the net. Yup, people in all the surrounding cafes erupted with shouts and cries of joy. I dare say most of Meknes and, indeed, most of Morocco, were tuned to the match. Alas, the camera angle only made it look like a goal; the ball actually went wide, hitting a supporting pole and bouncing into the back outside of the net. Morocco went on to lose by the same margin, 1-0. I’m sure the whole country is disappointed. But, they play again on Tuesday against Egypt and then a few days later against Libya. If they can come back to win those two games, there is a good likelihood that they will move on to the quarterfinals.
Saif left a comment on the “Feast Day . . ” entry asking why I didn’t post the photo he took of me with the sheep. Well, even though I love taking photos, I’m a bit camera shy myself, but, if you’re interested,click here.
Related posts: - Football, CALL and Chinese New Year Tonight might be the final match for the Moroccan team in the Africa Cup. They could only manage a 0-0 tie against host Egypt last Tuesday, but they needed to...
- Morocco 0-0 Libya Morocco has a very good defensive team, allowing only one goal in 3 games in the Cup championship. Unfortunately, usually a good offense helps. In Morocco’s case, they have NO...
- Soccer Match and Some Photos Well, it was pretty quiet last night after the Laos-Malaysia soccer match. Yes, unfortunately, Laos got beat 3-1. Malaysia scored about 15 minutes into the game on a spectacular over-the-head...
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