ARKK No. 2

Date: 10/27/2010

I know this ARKK is dated about a week ago--but that is when this event occurred.

I need to get some more passport photos for the meeting with the Immigration off--which I was going to that evening.  I brought 4 over with me, but the Jeonju Board of Education took two and the school needed another, and finally my last one went to ... um...someone.  I can't remember.  But the point is, I needed more passport pictures.

So during an Off period that Ms Kim and I shared, we headed off to B&B Photography.  At least, that's what I'm calling it.  I know it had BB in the name--because it was on BB street and had a big BB in the front window.

We enter and Ms Kim tells him that I need some photos.  All middle schoolers, when applying for high school, need to get passport-like photos for their application--so this is a familiar process. We are led upstairs.  I was expecting him to just pull down a screen behind me and use a digital camera to snap a shot of me--but that was America.  This is a professional photographer!  It reminded me a little big like a school photo day.  He had a couple different backgrounds, which he automatically rolled up and left just a dappled gray screen hanging.  I sat in a chair and he moved around a couple of those big flashing umbrellas around to maximum lighting.  He takes his super fancy camera, adjusts the height, and shows me with his finger he wants me to look straight on *SNAP* or slightly to the left *SNAP* or lower my chin *SNAP!*

As he finishes up the work on the computer, I get to look around his studio.  Every four feet the walls change, so that there are bunch of backdrops, I guess.  Scattered around are different Korean traditional outfits for little boys and girls in different colors.  A rack of clothes is by the stairs with adult sizes.  One wall is completely inaccessible with little chaises, chairs, tables, and bonsai trees (I guess as table center pieces).

The photographer gets done working on his computer and we head back down stairs.  He yells out suddenly, while descending, and Ms Kim turns around and stops me.  She points to the ceiling (which is low already) and cautions me about the ledge that I was about to bonk my head into.

We make it safely down the stairs and I get out my camera to snap a couple pictures.  I hope I don't offend him--taking pictures of his shop--but I thought they were really neat.

Sorry this one is blurry--but this is a picture of an entire family--usually before a marriage.  I find it very interesting that the oldest male and younger males are in traditional clothes, but that the middle aged generation men are in business suits.  All women are in traditional garb.

I liked this photo because the parents are very dressed up, but the kids--not so much.  The girl has a Colorado University hoodie on and the boy actually has a playboy bunny logo on his jacket.  I burst out laughing when I saw that.  Can you image going to get a professional family photograph and your brother tries to pull off wearing a Hugh Hefner shirt?   

There were a bunch of these types of pictures with the baby's celebrating their first New Years.  Culture note: the 1st birthday of a child is most cherish in the life because it is thought that the dangers of being so young are mostly past once you celebrate your first birthday.   After that, you sort of lose your birthday, and everyone celebrates the New Years as a big birthday bash.

Only second to cute baby pictures were wedding pictures.  Weddings are HUGE in Korea--obsessively so.  You might think that wedding in America are big, but they have no rival to their Asian counterparts.  Especially for the females family.  While in America there is a tend to try and be modest about the money aspect, in Korea a wedding is a time to go all out--waaaayyyy all out.  An average persons wedding should cost AT LEAST $20,000 (USD!).

Anyway, so after my pictures printed out, the man gave them to Ms Kim and said, "No charge-i".  For Free!  In my head I did a mental "yes!" but outside, I bowed, said, "gahmsamnedah" (Korea for thank you) and waved good bye.

It is this kind of kindness and just hospitality that I have been greeted with time and time again with the Koreans.  This was just one example.

And I think the picture turned out pretty good. I couldn't show any teeth, and I had to show my ears--which I thought was interesting.  But I guess they are calculating the proportions of my features--angles and slopes so they need the ears for those.  Anyway: here's the finished product!