A day in Gwangju

Yesterday I had my first Korean lesson. Well, actually, my third, but I missed the first two. They were on the alphabet and writing, which I already know, so I decided not to get up early so I can make it to the lesson for those days...
Actually, I timed it well. I planned to catch the bus at 9 (it usually comes on the hours), but it didn't come until 9:10. I got to Gwangju just a few minutes before the lesson, and managed to be only a few minutes late even though my cabby didn't know where I was trying to go.
There were only three other people in the class.
"Wow, big class!" I marvelled sarcastically as I entered.
The other three students chuckled, and our Korean tutor said "No, actually, it is very small class!". Another Korean doesn't get sarcasm... surprise, surprise.
The class was actually perfect, just what I need. They covered pronunciation, especially of double consonants, which is what I have a really hard time with. I actually asked her about it after class, because it sounded to me like the double consonants just get pronounced louder.
"No, not louder, stronger!" she said.
So I tried again.
"There, your pronunciation is perfect!"
"But I'm just saying it louder!"
So on the one hand it was nice to get told that I had good pronunciation, on the other hand, I still don't really understand what I am doing. Oh well, if I have perfect pronunciation (yeah right) then I guess that is all that matters.
The other students were hagwon workers from what I gathered, and a couple seemed rather peeved to be out of bed that early (class started at 10:30). They were a little shocked to hear that I had travelled an hour and a half to come.
The language exchange with the Ryus has really been paying off. We haven't learned a lot of words or phrases, but they really have helped us a lot with reading and writing. In fact, The tutor commented to me after class that I was doing really well, which was nice.
The downside is that in a beginner class that focuses on reading and pronunciation, I felt like a little bit of a showoff sometimes. When we were playing a game, the other team would struggle, and then my team (me and another woman who had good reading and pronunciation) would whip off an answer, then struggle... then BAM!
After the lesson, I walked out to find the street blocked offand a stage being set up. It was "Red Festa" day, apparently, judging by the signs. It was related to the celebrations for the May 18th memorial, which was a democratic uprising in Gwangju that resulted in the deaths of a number of protesters. There's a large memorial in Gwangju, and they do re-enactments.
There was very little English though, so I couldn't really appreciate the history behind it. I watched a re-enactment, which was all in Korea, and full of usual Korean problems, like mics that don't work and speakers that are cranked up too loud.
Then I just walked around and checked things out, and that's when the fun really started.
There was a high school band warming up. They were pretty out of sync, the drummer especially. But they weren't overly cocky, and they seemed to just be having a really good time. So, I stuck around. They played "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" a la Guns and Roses, and it was hilarious. I tried to call Steve to let him hear it over the phone, but they stopped moments before he picked up. The drummer kept losing the beat, so everyone else kept having false starts. The singer was good, vocally, but was of course heavily accented. Then they played the big soccer anthem, which was funny, because their audience was all middle school girls and me, so their "audience participation" bits (cue the drums, no instruments, singer waving his hand and holding his mic outward to the audience. Well, I know middle school girls, and good luck, guy, they're not doing it. And I don't speak Korean. So I can't repeat anything.
While I was watching, a girl came over and asked to take my picture. An hour later, it was hanging up on a wall of mesh. It is probably one of the best pictures of me from this whole year.
Later, I was asked for an interview for TV. That was pretty neat. Jessie said she knew it was not MTV, because they dfidn't ask who was the sexiest man in Korea.
Later, a lady tried to give me a pamphlet. I said "Sorry, no Korean! Only English!" She waved me over to a counter and told me to get one there. When I got there, there was no English. There was, however, a lady who forced a pen on me. I was then ushered over to a tree with pinwheels all over it. I was told to do something to it... but I didn't understand. So I wrote my name, and pinned it on.

That's all for now.