Joel: Friday saw the start of the ninth annual Seoul Fringe Festival so Rakhi and I made our way up to Hongdae to see what was going on. It's an area we've never been to during the day before so it was great to get a new take on the place. We picked up a copy of the programme (containing a map) and set about finding a nice, air-conditioned cafe/bar to have a browse. Hongdae is jammed with cool little places - it's the area surrounding Hongik University which is famous for it's arts courses so I would imagine it's always had a bit of an edge. During the day we discovered a number of top little independent establishments - all with their own vibe and all completely unique. One little place on a row above some clothes shops was home to three of the fattest laziest cats I've ever seen - and I've lived with a very fat, very lazy cat. All three just sauntered around, ignoring the patrons and took naps here, there and everywhere: on a table ledge, on the bar etc. They clearly ruled the roost.
We decided we would get most out of an English language piece, or at least something that didn't require a good standard of Korean, so chose "Love Songs" by Cyril Wong, a one-man performance described as an "interpretation of songs that will break your heart and put it back together again". We took our seats in a darkened basement theatre not knowing quite what to expect. This guy was absolutely brilliant - his voice was incredible. His set included interpretations of "Unchained Melody" as well as pieces by Radiohead and Tom Waits. Stunning.
We also caught some street performances, the most memorable being a crazy musical duo; he looped beats on his laptop while she let balloons down into a microphone. Maybe this passes for avant-garde in Korea, I don't know.
Yesterday, we had the day off for Liberation Day so went into Seoul to see if anything in the way of celebrations was going on. We didn't find much of any interest but stumbled on the Museum of Contemporary art which is housing a Munch exhibition, so that made the trip worth it. Today, I began my second summer camp, grade 4 this time, and already it's clear they're a far less wild group than the first lot. The class went well but for the first time I was denied the comfort of air-conditioning and now I know how Rakhi's been feeling all summer. It feels like some kind of punishment. I'm trying not to moan too much about the heat but it does get pretty humid at the moment. And I am British - we must be world champions at moaning about the weather. Just wait till the Korean winter kicks in, it's all anyone will hear from me.