Korean Music Night at NDK

Last Thursday we had  the opportunity to go to a Korean music concert at NDK - the National Palace of Culture - organised by the Korean embassy. Just between you and us: they're also planning a Koran section in the library itself, so as you can see they're being quite aggressive - in a good way!

The musicians performed with a guitar, a piano, a kayagum and a taegum

The programme (source: Korean embassy in Bulgaria facebook page):

< Programme >

1. "Ch’ŏngsŏnggok"(청성곡), Traditional music - Taegum
:Taegŭm is a large transverse bamboo flute, or tanso, a small notched bamboo vertical flute.

2. "Sanjo"(산조), Traditional music - Kayagum
:Sanjo is Korean representative music for solo instruments, developed in the 19th century. It has five movements which increase in tempo Chinyangjo, Chungmori, Chungjungmori, Chajinmori and Hwimori.

3. "People of the sea" (바다의 사람들), transcript by Ju Eun Jung from traditional melody - Kayagum, Taegum

4. "Pochagi" (보자기), Hye Lim Kim - Taegum
:Literally 'Pochagi' means a patchwork cloth that can be used as a wrapping cloth.

5. "Let it be", Beetles - Kayagum, Guitar

6. "Heart for the People"(그들을 위한 마음), Ji Eun Jung - Kayagum, Guitar
:As is well known, Korea has been divided into North and South for more than 60 years. In the face of such geographical and ideological division, the most important thing is to continue to love the people who are suffering. So this composition is called 'Heart for the people'.

7. "The Narrow Way"(좁은길), composition and text by Ji Eun Jung - Kayagum & singing, Guitar

8. "Ch’ŏng"(청), Taesŏng Kim - Taegŭm, Piano
:The powerfully passionate music combines with the calmness and contemplation of ‘Ch’ŏngsŏnggok’ to bind the piece together.

9. "Arirang", Traditional music - Kayagum, Guitar, Taegum, Piano
:'Arirang', is the most representative Korean traditional folk song. 'Arirang' is an ancient native Korean word. 'Ari' means 'beautiful' and 'rang' can mean 'dear'.

10. "Hubava si, moya goro", Bulgarian folk song, transcript by Ji Eun Jung -Kayagum, Guitar, Taegum, Piano

---

We recorded parts of the concert to share the feeling of being there.You're welcome!


Let It Be

Heart For The People

The Narrow Way (lyrics in Bulgarian and Korean)

Arirang

Hubava Si, Moya Goro

As a last surprise, there was a small buffet waiting for us at the exit. And all this for free. You Koreans are spoiling us!

A January day in Sofia

January 20th was another winter day in Sofia.

You would have been excused, however, if you had been here and had thought that, instead of Sofia, it was a winter day in Athens or the south of Spain: wunderground says it was the warmest January 20th in the recorded history of January 20ths, with the thermometer reaching a max of 18°C. Every Sofian we've talked to has expressed his or her surpise at this unusual weather. I did not sign up for this, Bulgaria! The first days we were here, thick fog and all, were much closer to what I imagined you to be like. If I wanted a warm winter I'd have stayed in Athens! I'm only joking of course but I have to make sure it's clear because of Poe's Law.

Vicente: "I would have never expected I'd be eating ice cream in January. In Bulgaria."

After our Bulgarian class for the day and checking in at the library, we had a free afternoon and decided to take advantage of it by visiting the art galleries in the city centre. It was a Monday, so I'll let you guess what happened... All was far from lost, however. For a start, the ArtHall of Telefonna Palata was open and luckily there was an exhibition of famous photographer Harry Benson.

The exhibition had officially ended but the Balkan tradition of having a relaxed attitude
towards deadlines turned out well for us - this time!

Jack Nicholson portraits

Pop glamour

Since we couldn't actually get in the galleries, we fooled around the pieces they had outside. Here we are outside the Gradska Galeriya.

The nice afternoon at the galleries became a nice afternoon on Vitosha Blvd where we took the picture at the top of this post. We bought the ice-cream there (you should definitely try the zachar flavour with the chocolate cake and jam - not sure about the name, must check!) and went down it to reach the plaza of the NDK, the National Palace of Culture. We didn't expect such a large complex to be there and were certainly taken by surprise by the monuments and the open space. This monument in particular, pictured below, made a distinct impression on us, but we have no idea what it is yet or why (and whether?) construction on it was halted.

Boryana has told us that we can expect snow the following days but after all these sunny ones I find that rather hard to believe. Still, even if they are unnatural and de facto prove that climate change is already a reality, such sunny and warm days are the perfect opportunity to explore this city that keeps piling up the surprises.