Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Official Culture Shock.

     Tonight, the choir had its first concert of the tour series in Gyeongju, South Korea. We sang pieces on our own, as well as along side the Church choir from our performance venue, and the local Chorale, who we also combined with at the end.

     The evening started with a combined rehearsal once we got off of the bullet train and then continued on with dinner and with the performance.  This was really our first interaction with Koreans and with communication difficulties.  In the combined songs that we sang, one was in English, and one was in Korea -both proving to be quite tough for each respective group.  Singing Korean with Koreans was intimidating.  Many of us felt unprepared, and were then unable to ask for help because of the language barrier.  Listening very closely to how they spoke helped when it came time to perform, but whether or not we could do it flying solo is up in the air.  Our tour guide for the trip, Laura (Lara?) Lee gave us a brief lesson on how to say "Hello!" "Nice to meet you!" and "thank you!" but only a few brave souls actually put it into practice.  At the end, things were a little easier with the communicating, because many of the other singers began to speak a little bit of English with us.

     We mostly enjoyed a Korean dinner before the concert; however, being tired made many of us not feel hungry and made the food not seem appetizing.  Once we struggled through using chopsticks and trying new food (Quail eggs, for one) and prayed, we performed in a 2 and a half hour long church service.  Here's where the title come in. Personally, I was experiencing culture trauma.

     I have never been out of the country before, so I hadn't really thought about how I would feel when I couldn't understand anything.  Previously in the trip, we've had translators, and many of the signs and written notifications have English printed as well.  In this service though, it was awkward and a little frustrating to know the hymn, but not the words, or know that we were praying and yet not know what we're praying for.  The congregation would laugh, and we would just sit there and smile, occasionally exchanging glances with one another.

    We took the stage and started out strong, with only a few very minor slip-ups.  The next group to perform was the Chorale. They were, in one word, phenomenal.  The group was lively, and had a full sound that was balanced and really delightful.  The third was the church choir, which produced the most massive sound that I've ever had the pleasure of hearing.  We performed our second set and after two potential dumb-quack nomination opportunities, we sat down to wait until it was time to combine.  What really moved me was when the chorale sang their second set,  because 3/5 pieces that they sang were in English.  I found myself completely inspired and really touched by this group singing in my language. I felt like they could pull off broken English in the very well-known songs that they did, but we might just embarrass ourselves with the little Korean that we've covered.  I found myself wondering if they knew what "Lord I want to be more Christian in my heart" was saying, or if they were just singing the words.  Christus may be familiar with psalm 23, but when we sing Korean, we are completely and 100% focused on the words.

   I really felt what the choir was singing, and I was totally humbled by their talent and by their passion.  While this may not be accurate, I felt like they had learned the English pieces for our sake... because they knew that we were coming and that we are from the states.  They're hosting US, and we sang in just about every language OTHER than Korean (minus the combined piece.)  After this, I realized something that I'd been overlooking in regards to this trip, and that is: There are some things that remain constant, no matter where you are.  Many of us had this strange idea that we would be going to a historic Asia, and forgetting that they are modernized as well.  Not everything is different from home. Two of the most important similarities are the unfailing love of Jesus Christ and a love for music.  The two are things that are unrelated to any one, singular culture.  Getting back on the stage to sing the combined pieces in each language took on a new meaning for me after that.  We were one. We (as a whole) were, are, and continue to be God's people, and together we were sharing something that we love and glorifying God through a talent that he's blessed us with.  Now that we have one performance under our belts, we are ready to (first, sleep) and then take Korea by storm!


Some of the group at the palace we visited this morning.




More of the architecture of the palace, and a glimpse of the beautiful mountains that surround the palace.



1 comment:

  1. What an exciting trip! I'm planning on moving to South Korea. Do you have any advice for an American there?

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