Korea China Japan Youth Friendship Meeting 2012 at HongDae Street in Seoul

On the last July, 28th (it was a very hot day) I accidentally saw some people were setting up a stage on a street in Hong-Dea area. An loutish colored banner with an red-tape title "Korea China Japan Youth Friendship Meeting 2012" hang around on the proscenium wall of the stage. The name said that this event aimed to establish networks among students of three nations via cultural exchanges. 

"What the hell is the absurd event name?" I mumbled and passed out the spot. 

At the time, some students appeared on the stage and began to exercise singing a cappella. 

Wow! Their voice, amateurish but touching, had stopped me. 

And I decided to take a look around the event in spite of its terrible naming and hot weather.

The event looked interesting and exotic to me. See this picture! Some Japanese girls wearing yukata (a traditional clothing of Japan) or serafuku (Japanese high-school uniform) would transport me to Harajuku street. 

Japanese students introduced Japanese manga as one of its major culture. You can see characters of famous manga and Japanimation such as Rurouni Kenshin, Hunter X Hunter, Bleach and so forth. 

Additionally, they suggested other countries' students to try to make-up themselves in Japanese style. Was it 'Gyaru' style? I don't know about that because I didn't see anyone in weird makeup.

   

And also they introduced some Japanese games. Shateki, for instance, is a game to shot a doll by a toy gun. If you knock a doll down from stage, you can get it. But the most popular program of Japan canopy was the Cosplay (costume play). It is a kind of performance in which people wear dresses and accessories to represent a specific manga or game character. And the best cosplayer in this day was ...

YES! Pikachu! So cute!

These three countries had their own canopy tents with a banner printed with its national flag. They seemed to have a common mission that they publicized their traditional culture to students of other nations. You can see two Korean girls explained the Korean folding fan to a Japanese boy.  

Reference site) Click "Korean traditional folding fan"

Korean students had confidence that drinking Korean alcoholic beverage is necessary to understand Korean culture. So, they served 'Makgeoli', a Korean traditional rice wine with commonly 6 ~7 alcohol content, for free. Also they provided 'Jeon' too. It is a traditional Korean style side dish for beverage. You can see it on the fry pan in the picture. Yes! It didn't look good. 

Reference site for Makgeolli 

They also touted on the street by offering a glass of Makgeoli brewed by 'Kooksoondang brand'. The firm is famous for making good quality rice wines in Korea. 

Next!, I browsed canopies with the red flag. 

Like other two nations, Chinese students also served something to eat such as cookies for people. I was curious about their taste but I didn't eat them because I felt full and satisfied.  

Paintings and Peking Opera were also introduced. A guy put on a mask which I saw in a movie 'Farewell My Concubine'.

And photo time. Every student was busy at taking pictures to make the memories of this event. I hope they could look back on this time as they would see these pictures. I took a group photo for Japanese students. Check the board behind them. They asked other students and passersby to write a supportive message for Japanese people suffering from the last disastrous Tsunami. The board was a collection of those messages.  

A group of Japanese students solicited for taking pictures to passersby. They are remembered as young, energetic and positive guys to me with their impressive hearty smile. 

Two girls with wearing yukata smiled on me friendly. Thanks. 

Most students willingly posed for me when I asked for. Thanks a lot!!!

Two girls with wearing cheongsam (qipao) posed for me. Thanks!

Some Japanese students took a group pictures with a Chinese student wearing qipao. 

Next, I will write about performances of that night with movie clips. This photo shows that the first performance team (Korean cheer leading team) members were cooling down on the street before performance time. Yes, they had already been sweaty due to their ill-suited clothing for hot weather.