Now who's a diva?

Diva: a distinguished female operatic singer; a female operatic star or prima donna.

I recently went to hear my friend Charlie sing in an opera showcase. He is a quite talented tenor, and it was fun to hear him sing in a true concert hall. Usually I am subjected to his singing in places such as my kitchen or his car, which are not exactly great acoustic settings....and frankly a voice that size has no business in a space that small. It's rather painful. I imagine that opera stars must wear earplugs so they don't blow out each others' eardrums when they are singing together on stage.

Anyway, as wonderful as Charlie was and as much fun as it is to watch a friend perform, the highlight of my evening was a performance by a mezzo soprano. The quality of her voice was so clear and rich, it literally took my breath. I have never heard in person such an incredible voice before. It didn't seem real.

Now, I realize I am a complete dork and a bit of an oddity in my enjoyment of opera, but as a language person, I should have been quicker to appreciate the nuances of the word diva. I came home from this stunning performance and told a friend of mine that I was, "totally wowed by a diva." And her response was, "Which one are you rooting for?" um what? I am embarrassed at the length of time it took me to realize that she thought I was talking about American Idol. :) In my awe of the diva I heard perform, I sort of forgot about the modern inclusiveness of this term....and it's negative connotations.

So now that we call misbehaved, mildly talented pop-stars divas, what should we call the truly talented? If they are now the divas, the woman I heard singing last week definitely deserves a better title.

Surprising Silver Love!

That's me.
In all of my infinite wisdom, I decided that the best time to learn to read and speak Korean is when I know I am leaving. Yes friends, June will mark the end of my stay in the land of the morning calm. I'm not sure where I'm headed yet, but it will either be Europe, the US, or Puerto Rico. I have applications open in all locations. :) I must say that I love Korea, and I will really miss the food when I leave, but it's time for a new chapter; hopefully in greater proximity to my family and boyfriend.

So anyway, my friend Charlie is trading me English for Korean, and I really am learning this time! I can introduce myself, and I can read pretty well! I'm also learning "I want" "I like" and other important phrases in Korean. We started talking about names and the importance and meaning behind them, and Charlie asked me if I wanted a Korean name since my English name is so hard for Koreans to say. Right on! The interesting thing about names here is that they go back to Chinese characters. Charlie picked some Korean syllables that are commonly used in names and then went back to look through the meanings of the associated Chinese symbols to find a meaning close to my real name. We settled on a syllable that sounds close to my last name here anyway, and then looked for a name close to my given name's meaning. My Korean name is Mo, Eun-Jin. There are many meanings for each of these syllables, but we chose the love meaning for Mo, silver for Eun, and surprise for Jin. Surprising Silver Love. :) Not bad eh?

PS: The most common meaning for Mo is what, which I think also goes hilariously well with my name.

Bust a move!

Well, this week, I participated in quite a variety of cultural experiences, ranging from hearing a Russian classical pianist, to enjoying my colleagues in their finest polyester. Tuesday night was an opera recital done entirely in Russian featuring music from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. The singer was a Korean soprano, and she was accompanied by a Russian pianist. I just love the opportunities I have had to hear incredible music here, and believe it or not, such an amazing performance was free!

Last night the musical genre was disco, or at least that's the way things started. My friend Jen decided to celebrate her birthday with a disco theme party in a club downtown. We all got dressed in our best polyester, blue eyeliner, and fake afros, and took the Koreans downtown by storm. :) Honestly, I thought we would be a bit of a freak show, but it turns out that the usual club goers didn't mind. They wandered in and joined us anyway. As the DJ's revolved, we made our way from '70s to '80s to hip-hop and techno, and then the manager told us the B-boys were there! Who?

Well, it turns out that my knowledge of Korean pop culture is quite limited because apparently these B-boys or breakdancing boys are a pretty famous group here. And I can see why! So what started as a disco party turned into a breakdancing showcase as these guys performed stunts worthy of Olympic gymnastics. Spinning only on your head gives new depth to the phrase, "Look ma, no hands!" Not only do these guys have to have incredible core strength to perform the stunts they pull off, they have unbelievable proprioception. I don't know how they manage to keep in mind where the edge of the crowd is as the spin across the floor on their backs with their legs in a full straddle, but even in the tiny space of that club, they didn't hit a single spectator!
Usually foreigners here are a bit of a novelty anyway, so I figured that dressed in our strange garb, we would be quite a show for the locals, but it turns out that we weren't the ones being stared at last night. The B-boys were a much better spectacle than the disco divas. They were nice enough to let me take some pictures too. :)