Gongju's Got Talent!

So this past weekend, Kayleigh and I went to a chesnut festival that was happening literally in my backyard. We knew it would be there all weekend but we weren't sure what would happen or what the main attractions were. We soon found out that it was very much a cross between a fair and walking through Zoo Lights. There was a floating bridge set up on the river with a little cafe, games to play, chesnuts to sample, and music performances to watch. Friday evening we walked around and tried our luck at some carnival games. Threw some darts, knocked over some pins and shot some hoops. None of which we were very good at, and not to mention that whenever we tried a new one, we drew a crowd of people cheering us on or ready to laugh at the Americans! No pressure! At the balloon/dart board Kayleigh took the first two shots and mananged to hit the only hole in the entire booth. The wall was covered with balloons but both times, she got it right in the hole. It was so funny! But we each managed to come away with a cute little pillow, they may have just felt sorry for us!

We asked one of the ladies to take a picture of us with our winnings but unfortunately I don't think she had ever held a camera in her life. First of all it was aimed backwards so that the photo would have been of her and second, after we got her switched around, she held the button for about one second and then immediately handed us back the camera which at that very moment, the picture took and we got a nice photo of the ground. We thanked her and figured we'd try someone else. :)

Next it was off to try out the food. We had a variety of strange things to choose from including some kind of larvae, pig roasting on a spit, whale, octopus balls, corn dogs, waffles and as many chesnuts as we could ever ask for. They even had some chesnut wine which we sampled. We soon learned that if you stood there long enough looking and trying to figure out what was what, they would just shove some food into our hands. The people of Gongju are very kind to foreigners!

After getting our fill of food, we headed over to the stage for some live music. There were several good performances but throughout the weekend, we definitely had a special place in our hearts for this amazing saxophone player. He was fantastic and on Saturday night, we became friends when he let us pick out a song and he dedicated the Titanic theme to us! Near, far..wherever you are...

To kick off the show on Friday night, they had a fantastic fireworks display and in the background was a song by Yanni. Many of you may not know who this is but if you grew up in the Hixson house, you most certainly know! My dad is a huge fan and it was fun to hear such a familiar song from so far away. We sat and listened/watched many performances and while the crowd thinned out, we moved closer and closer to the front so that by the end we were in the second row. Towards the end of the night, after much chesnut wine had been consumed, we found ourselves sitting amongst a very cheerful group of men who quickly starting speaking to us in whatever English they knew. They said things like "Congratulations!" and "It's my birthday!" and "Old friends." It was hilarious. The guy sitting next to me was singing along to every song at the top of his lungs and so Kayleigh and I just decided to join in. Soon we were making up words and cracking up at our situation. But when it got to a point where we were attracting more attention than the people onstage, we knew it was time to make an exit. As we left, they shook our hands and said "Sa rang hae" which means I love you. We were laughing so hard by this point!

On Saturday night, while watching the sax man, he recognized someone from the crowd and people starting applauding. We had no clue what was going on, so we just followed suit. A few minutes later, the guy came and stood by us, introduced himself as the Mayor of Gongju and gave us his business card. He then took my hand and made me take Kayleigh's and started waving our arms in the air to the beat of the music. He must have held my hand for about 4 long uncomfortable minutes but it was so funny that there was nothing I could do about it. Mind you, we were the only ones waving to the music. haha!

To culminate the event on Sunday night, they had a giant stage set up at the park near the river. We were told that a major popular rap artist named Drunken Tiger would be performing. So we chilled out on the floating cafe and waited for him to get started. There were tons of opening acts but finally we heard enough screaming that we knew it was his turn. We leisurely made our way to the stage and literally about 10 seconds after we got there, he finished. He walked offstage and this crowd starting rushing him. We were like, what? That's it? He only did maybe 2 or 3 songs. They had been building up to him all night and as soon as it started it was over. Oh well, culture difference. I found out later that this is the norm. Overall we had a fantastic weekend! It really felt like we were part of the community because every night we would run into people we knew from school or church or other foreigners etc. It's nice to feel more at home here. Thanks Gongju!