The Amazons Invade a Toga Party

A Bright Idea

About 2 months ago, a couple of theater friends of mine (of course they are theater people lol) had the idea to throw a Toga Party in Downtown Daegu. Now our friend Nick is known for putting a spin on these kinds of things. He approached us with the idea to dress up as Amazons and invade the party. 

Of course, busy schedules and all, we left the costume making till the last-minute. The lead Amazon, Una, is amazing at sewing and costume making. She headed to Seomun market to buy material and scraps. As many of you recall, Seomun Market is famous for its fabrics and is also pretty cheap. 

So for a few hours, we were outside in the parking lot, hammering holes into this pleather material we bought. It was a lot of work, but the end result was pretty good. I was really impressed that we were able to look like an awesome pack of warrior women!

I think the whole neighborhood can hear us

Toga Parties

Angled cement beds from Pompeii

The Greeks had parties that were male-only. It was filled with elite men who reclined and propped themselves on pillows in order to drink, chat and over indulge.  For the Romans,  they also included upper class women in the soiree. 

Straight from Wiki, here are some more facts:

 

• The first recorded college student toga party was in 1953, when Pomona College students wore togas and ivy wreaths, and brought their dorm mattresses to freshman Mark Neuman’s home.
• The Guinness World Record for the largest toga party is 3,700 participants.
  

Toga Daegu Style! 

The birthday boys looked like emperors~

Amazons and Ares

The beautiful goddess Laura~

Close-up of my Princess Mononoke inspired make-up

International Women’s Day and Korea

Today is 100th International Women’s Day. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women (its roots in primarily Eastern Europe, Russia, and the former Soviet bloc) to a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements (the United Nations sets a theme each year to raise awareness about certain issues). I asked my students who they thought was an important women in South Korean history, and these are who they chose:

Famous Women in South Korea

Shin Saimdang 신사임당 (1504-1551) was a Korean artist, writer, calligraphist, noted poet, and the mother of the Korean Confucian scholar Yulgok. She is seen as a model of Confucian ideals, her respectful nickname was Eojin Eomeoni (어진 어머니; “Wise Mother”). As she was raised in a son-less household, she spent much time at her parents’ house even after her marriage to Commander Yi Won-su at the age of 19. Having had no brothers, she received an education that would have only been bequeathed to a son, and this background greatly influenced the way she educated her children. Saimdang was able to cultivate her talents thanks to an unconventional household and understanding husband, in a rigid Confucian society. [Wikipedia]

In 2009, South Korea’s central bank chose the face of Korean motherhood, Saimdang, as the first woman to be featured on its banknotes, but women’s rights groups said the selection only reinforces sexist stereotypes. A paper on a government Web site describes Shin as “the best example of motherhood in Korean history,” while the central bank said she was selected “to promote gender equality and women’s participation in society.” [source]

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DGFEZ – Road Trip Through Gyeongbuk

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As promised, here is the video we filmed with DGFEZ during the Lunar New Year. You can read my blog post about it here.

Valentine’s Day in Korea (발렌타인 데이!)

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Valentine’s Day this year was a flurry of events! The morning started with Matt and I filming for DGFEZ. We did a tour of Seomun Market – the largest and oldest traditional Korean market in Daegu. It was a dream come true as I got to try on the traditional Korean hanbok – shoes, headgear and all!

Next, I met up with some chicas from the Love in Action ministry I’m involved in (in which I am doing some sex trafficking advocacy with), so we could share some love on Valentine’s Day and hand out chocolate to people. It was fun surprising people with chocolate and best of all, it was nice hearing them say “Thank you!” in English to me ^_^

Matt and I finished the night putting up posters for the new Daegu Theatre Troupe play that’s gonna happen next week. We went to the local bars that foreigners usually go to and went above and beyond our call of duty and enticed them to actually pose with the signs.And we found the cutest dog at one of the bars!! Here are some of the pics, along with our awesome new friend Brian and Haerin. We interrupted their VDay celebration but they welcomed us to eat cake and play darts ^^ :