Suzanne's K-pop Academy

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

We all have made it through to the sixth week of the k-pop academy, which is the last week before the easter break and therefore it's time to celebrate.

We sure know how to party!

Meeting Ambassador Choo

Last saturday our group was very generously invited to his excellency ambassador Choo's house we were treated to an amazing lunch and had a chance to talk to him and his wife. They are both one of the friendliest people you could ever meet and I just can't say how thankful I am to KCCUK for giving us this opportunity. I will always remember it.

After the lunch and the press conference, we got taught how to take a traditional bow which is called the 'Jeol' (절)*. This came in very handy for this weeks creative content (you can find out why further down).

*I'll tell more about this later on

This week's project

I chose for this week's assignment I chose for c: write a letter to his excellency ambassador Choo reviewing your thoughts and opinions about week six of k-pop academy at the ambassadorial residence.

My only problem with this assignment was that I already wrote a letter before, to Bi Rain. It may not have been a standard letter, but it still counted. I didn't want to repeat myself, because you can only be seen with a cardboard so many times before people will start to think you're homeless. On the other hand, writing a simple, plain letter to the Ambassador, when I sent something much more complicated to Rain, seemed to send out the wrong message. Almost like I couldn't be bothered. Luckily brainstorming with my friends Amy and Alice gave me an idea that changed everything.

The other people who were there last saturday might remember that the ambassador talked about him turning sixty soon. He then went on to mention that he was saddened by the fact that he probably won't be able to celebrate this big event called Hwangap (환갑) with his family as lives in the UK while his children are studying in America and the rest of his family lives in Korea.

Hwangap (환갑)
"The hwan-gap, or 60th birthday, has also been considered an especially important birthday celebration, for this is the day when one has completed the zodiacal cycle. It was even more important in the past, because back them very few people lived long enough to turn 60 years old. So if someone did turn 60 it was considered special and celebrated with a big party thrown by the children.
Source: Asianinfo.org

So, for this week Alice, Amy and I teamed up to throw a 60th birthday party in honour of his Excellency and also make him what I like to call a 'Birthday Basket' to hopefully cheer him up, or at least make him smile.

I looked up at information about the customs and traditions of a traditional Korean 60th birthday party and drew inspiration from there.

In the end we decided that our basket should include:
- Food: Two different birthday cakes (just because we can), Yakgwa (Korean kind fried cookie), Pepero (because everybody loves to receive those), rice cakes (the ones we had at the Ambassador's house), fresh fruit and dried fruit.
- Drinks: Soju & beer (a classic Korean mix), Rice cakes
- Relaxing gifts (his Excellency stressed the importance of a good night of rest many times)
- Flowers
- Individual letters
- Photos of us in Hanbok*
- DVD of our Videos in Hanbok*

* Hanboks were borrowed from the KCCUK. Explanation why we wore them you can find further down.

Food

More food

Dried and fresh fruit

Flowers (Daffodils for Amy, who is obsessed with them)

Gifts (I wanted to keep that bear so bad... )

Basket (Do you like my drawing? I really tried...)

During Hwangap (환갑) the parents seated at the main banquet table as the sons and daughters take a bow, which is called Jeol (절), in order of age and offer wine to their parents, which is called Hunsu according to Lifeinkorea.com. During this ritual traditional music is usually played and professional entertainers sing songs, urging people to drink.

"Family members and relatives indulge in various activities to make the parents feel young, often dressing like small children and dancing and singing songs. In the old days, guests would compete in composing poetry or songs in celebration of the occasion."

Source: Asianinfo.org

And so it became clear to us that we had no choice but to dress up as children and bow and sing.

First, Alice Unni~

Second, Amy Unni~

And lastly me, being the maknae of this group

My hairstyle is inspired on Sandara Park's 'palm tree' hairstyle (which she sports in for example the 'Lollipop' Music Video), because if anybody looks young for her age, it's her. Yet friends latest nicknames for me are 'Dragon Lady' and 'General' thanks to look. ㅋㅋㅋ

Amy doing a jeol

And specially for your viewing pleasure, we got the ceremonial offering of the alcohol on video. Please also pay attention to the traditional Kayagum background music, even though it's hard to concentrate with us looking so dashing in our Hanbok. ㅋㅋㅋ

(Click on the title to watch the video on Youtube, where the quality is 1.726.385 times better)

Hunsu

And what is a birthday party without singing Happy Birthday? A very lousy party. We couldn't let that happen. And to make it even more challenging, here we are singing it in Korean.

(Click on the title to watch the video on Youtube, where the quality is 1.726.385 times better)

Happy Birthday

Party

Of course, we had cake and soju afterwards. Any excuse for cake is a good excuse if you ask me.

Letter

As for the actual assignment of this week, the writing a letter part. Of course we were all going to thank him for welcoming us to his home last Saturday. However, Amy found out that we also should wish him many more birthdays to come. It seems very obvious, but yet I hadn't thought of it myself, so it's good she told me.

Letters, cards, photo album filled with party pics & a DVD with the videos on it

My letter to the Ambassador reads the following:

"Your Excellency,

On behalf of all 30 members of the k-pop academy you met last week, please accept my warmest thanks for receiving in your lovely home. It was an absolute honour to meet you and Madam Ambassador. I truly appreciated the opportunity to have candid conversation with you. Thank you for making it such a successful event and reaching out to the hearts of us international the K-Pop fans.

As you told us that you would not be able to celebrate your 60th birthday party with your family, I felt saddened for you. Especially after learning that this is a very important birthday in the Korean Culture. That is why Alice, Amy and I decided to send you this 'Birthday Basket'. We tried hard to make it as authentic as possible (though we will probably never be able to rival Tony's cooking) and we hope it will bring you joy, or at least show how much we respect Your Excellency.

I hope your Excellency will have many more birthdays to come, enabling you to pass on your wisdom and life experiences to others, like myself.

Thank you again for an unforgettable day. I do not wish to trade the pleasant memories I have of it for anything else.

Yours sincerely,

Suzanne Broodbakker"

Alice, Amy & Me with chef Tony

You can find Amy's letter to the Ambassador <here> and Alice's <here>.

Final product

It took me a lot of planning, stress, lots of money, and several years of my life to get this thing done in time, but I have to say the result looks amazing. Or at least I think so. I almost wanted to keep the basket myself (the only thing stopping me was that Alice and Amy would probably have killed me if I did).