Goheung Aerospace Festival (GAF)

Happy last weekend of July to everyone. While most people are hiding indoors trying to avoid the sweltering hot weather, Goheung-goonies threw their 10th annual aerospace festival on the island just to the south of well, our island. It was hot and sticky, and mostly outdoors. But it was also plenty of fun, and very Korean. There were yummy food vendors selling rice bowls, a stage set against an enormous rocket ship, misters (you know, those tubes you can hang that will spray mist to keep you cool), booths for the kids, and it was all set on the grounds of the space museum which you may remember from a previous post. Below are a few of the attractions that tickled me the most.

Kpop dance performances by the local high school students! Girls and boys alike took part in a dance competition that included all of the Goheung county schools (not that many) that allowed them to break the standard Korean dress code which frowns on shoulders, cleavage, and midriffs. The popularity of Kpop dancing abroad, the celebration of youth, and national pride, mean that for all of the tradition that is alive and well here, Korean grandmothers are surprisingly comfortable seeing their grandchildren dress scantily (boys and girls alike, remember) to dance on stage. They do dance well though. The synchronization was impressive, and you could see how much practice they had put in.

Then there was the family robot bumper cars. I mean, not actual bumper cars, since you weren't encouraged to run into each other. But, you did have little laser pointers with which to shoot at each other as parents and children co-piloted life size robots that looked a bit like unhooked carnival rides. Local high school boys in yellow shirts monitored the event to make sure no one tipped over.

There were plenty more things to see, but as I mentioned it was incredibly hot, and I was trying desperately not to sunburn, so we checked out the museum quickly before leaving. I've seen it before, and so have you if you saw that week's post, but I sat in my favorite room again for a while. This particular room shows, on dozens of flat-screens in a curved arrangement, beautiful high resolution photos taken from a Korean satellite orbiting earth. Landmarks are pointed out, and time and place are noted in a banner at the bottom.

As we left, we took a quick look at the ocean, and enjoyed the cool breeze that comes off of it before climbing back in a hot car. It was a lovely way to spend a few hours on a warm weekend.

Have a great week, everyone!
-K