Warm greetings, everyone!

    I hope you are enjoying the start of the spring thaw as much as we are here. Temperatures rising to over 15 degrees Celsius most afternoons, we are shedding our winter layers and shopping for spring adornments. Lots of sunshine but a little more humidity, thank goodness. No flowers or green shoots here yet, though.

    Because of Isobel's passing (Solidarity Notes Choir member), I delayed this letter. It's good to know that she was well cared for and that she succeeded in making such a fine contribution during her lifetime, but sad that she left us so suddenly and so soon.

    I have been busier with the return to the regular class schedule and some new activities. For one thing, I am shedding winter fat by regular daily visits to a gym near my neighbourhood. For another, I am continuing the Korean studies. I think I  might actually have accomplished what could pass for a real conversation in Korean the other day. My tutors say I'm progressing a lot, but it still seems so awkward and inadequate.

    February 21st was a day of solstice events. Each "dong" (city sector) held a little festival with a huge bonfire to burn winter debris and accompanying music and feasts.

    March 1st is a national holiday. It fell on a Saturday this year. The day is set aside to commemorate a martyr who led the resistance against the Japanese occupiers. Yu Kwan Seun was a young female university student who roused her compatriots into action and was imprisoned and tortured to death for it. A memorial monument was constructed in Pagoda Park in Jongno-dong in Seoul. Every year, there is a marathon race in Seoul on March 1st.

    March 1st is also the day of the annual folk festival in Yeongsan town. Villagers from the area come bringing colourful traditional bands and teams carrying bamboo stems with village banners attached to them to perform the rites. There are mock battles with a costumed "warrior" brandishing a fake sword atop a frame of pine logs and carried by a team in a mock challenge against an opponent team. The wood frame acts as a giant horse. Then there is a kind of jousting event with each of two teams carrying long poles decorated with pheasant plumes on the top ends. This time, one pole fell into the crowd and a fight ensued! At another point, a pole was lowered so that it nearly swiped the mayor and his entourage in the viewing stands.

Such occurrences are no doubt stimulated by the abundant flow of fermented rice and apple drink, "mokoli". Thankfully, no accident occurred during obstacle course event. In that event, teams carry big pine logs cradled in hand made ropes up a ramp to a platform, across poles suspended lengthwise. There was also a series of dances and songs to exorcise bad spirits that might effect the sowing of crops and birth of livestock. My camera ran out of power just as the festivities were beginning.

    My Korean class organized a visit to the Yeongsan Festival. We also toured a site of Gaya dynasty tombs on that day. It's a beautiful area around the town of Changyeong. I did catch photos of the tombs site.

    I missed the March 8 IWD activities. I didn't hear of much going on here, except for an exhibit of paintings in this region. What do you expect from a country where Mothers' Day was turned into Parents' Day so that fathers could be included?

    March 14, dubbed "Compassion Day," is marked for some corporation inspired candy-giving tradition. Boys and men are supposed to give candy to the special women in their lives. I got pocketfuls of candy from girls and boys (most of which I will throw away). The government showed its compassion on that day by holding a civil defense drill. I was waiting for a bus to take me to work at 2:00 when air raid sirens sounded and all traffic was stopped. Jets flew overhead and police rolled by. It is an astounding thing to see traffic here come to a standstill, and for 10 minutes! The incident made me 15 minutes late for work, by the way, which I didn't mind considering that my first class on Fridays is a roomful of little terrors.

    March 15, however, is an important day, especially in Masan. It is 3.15, the anniversary of the uprising against election fraud in Masan in 1960 that gave enough of a boost to the national democracy movement to finally oust dictator Rhee. A ceremony is held annually at the memorial cemetery to pay tribute the 15 individuals killed by the police on that day. I attended it. Only about 2,000 people were there for the event. I think I was the only white foreigner there. When I ask young Koreans about it, few know.

    What else have I been up to? Well, I make my regular trips to Busan. Last month, I visited a gallery of modern art. There is a lot of political art in the country, especially about the occupation, WW2, Koreans in Japan, and hopes for reunification.

    I went to the cinema for the first time. I saw "Atonement". It's not Kiera Knightly's best role, but it makes some points about the horrors of war and its effects on the youth and class attitudes. I also saw "Spiderwick", which is not a bad children's movie, especially for children experiencing family separation.

    I skipped the fish cafe experience. Certain cafes house little flesh eating fish. You sip coffee while soaking your feet in tubs of water full of the little demons who munch on your dead skin.. Sounds delightful? Appetizing? Huh-huh! Get a pumice stone, eh!

    What else? Oh, we're getting wafts of yellow dust, toxic particles from unregulated industry in China. No wonder a friend has an eye infection and I had a little bronchial congestion this past week.

    Happy 3.15, Ides of March, Palm Sunday, premature St. Patty's Day and early spring solstice, etc., wishes to you all.

Barb