So b-boying is a big thing in Korea. Go to any college-y area and you’ll be sure to see multiple street performers. We even saw breakers for a performance at the 민속촌. 전통 style! So like I was definitely going to try it at some point.
Tuesday was that point.
Side note: Before I went in to look silly breaking, KU WAS HOLDING A FASHION SHOW AND FILM SCREENING ON THEIR COURTYARD! Such interesting things take place randomly on this campus.
I met and practice with KUDT (고대’s dance troupe). Unfortunately, unlike Yale. There are only two dance groups on 고대’s campus: the ballroom group and this one that encompassed all the other genres. However, this made for a lot of fun seeing bunch of different styles practice at the same time in at the top floor of their student union. At the same time, with all their people, only a small portion of people can use the actual dance studio space. In turn, about 80% of the group was dancing on the mediocre tiled flooring. Poop.
Why was it “poop”? Breaking, if you’re good, can be done anywhere. For a novice like myself, that floor made my hands feel disgusting and I ended up feeling cold the entire practice. Damn, get a brother a heater up in here! So in the end, not bad.
While I tried my hand at breaking, a pretty important politician broke away from the DPRK. What’s more stunning is the fact that his entire family managed to defect. Unreal would be an understatement. Since Miriam and Joseph intern for the North Korea Strategy Center, we were humbled with an opportunity to hear him speak and impart certain details of the secretive dictatorship.
For his and his family’s protection his political position and other personal details were excluded from the forum. Numerous things were discussed: the recent period of absence of the supreme leader, relations with Russia and China, economic progress (or lack thereof). Since he was speaking from a North Korean dialect and speaking with relatively high vocabulary, not everything was readily absorbed. However, I and all the other attendees could say we probably got his Korean better than the terrible translation that was provided. Due to the terrible translation, the impact factor on foreigners was not as high as it could be thus the discussion seemingly provided 동문서답 (irrelevant answers). Persons that could partially or entirely grasp his Korean were left with a better impression.
A few insights: The long period of absence of the supreme leader was very much not a sign of the prowess of the Organisation and Guidance Department (OGD) over him. China’s ever stricter policies are creating an economic incentive for the DPRK to better relations with South Korea. Likewise, the DPRK are working on strengthening ties with Russia for extra support with the weakening economy. In regards to defectors, the way through China is becoming more of a concern.
In other news, writing science is ridiculous! So many words that just fly over my head at the speed of light, leaving my brain in a superfluid state from the immense heat the knowledge radiates. Physicists out there, please check me on this. I’ll try to get back to you guys once my brain re-solidifies.
