Lilly, one of the Chinese students, poses with the Jack-o-lantern her group made.

There are a couple of topics to touch on for this week's first blog update. Firstly, the sort of odd event that is Halloween in Korea. Obviously Halloween is a very western (American, even) holiday and event, so you'd think it wasn't terribly well known in Korea. Yet did see a handful of stores nowhere near 'foreigner' areas selling Halloween decorations and costumes. The number of these increased in places like Songtan, which is near a US Air Force base, and thus caters to a western crowd.

Primarily Halloween seems to be a reason to party in Korea, at least by what little I've seen of it here. SoonChunHyang University had its own Halloween party which was a mandatory event for students in the Global Village. I had originally planned on being in a student directed play competition, but was told I couldn't because the performance was on the same day as the party. When I arrived at the party I found out there was no way to keep track of who had attended - no attendance sheet or anything. This made me frustrated, as I could have gotten some very good practice with my Korean language skills by being in the play.

As it was, I've heard that many of the Korean students in the Global Village didn't show up for the party - they went home for the weekend instead. Those students that did attend the party had costumes of varying complexity, ranging from just a pair of rabbit ears to a full mascot costme rented from a store or website. While it was a chance to socialize with friends, the party itself many consisted of a costume contest (group and individual categories, both won by Japanese students), voting on Jack-o-lanterns that had been carved earlier in the day, and dancing. I left the party early in order to get enough rest for a planned outing to the National Museum with friends the next day.

In addition, I've seen a few Halloween-related promotions around Korea. Dunkin Donuts (it's everywhere here) had decorations up at every location as part of a Halloween marketing campaign. They even had bat and ghost shaped donuts for sale. More notably I found what I believe is an advertisement for a water park using Halloween as a promotional tool. So what is Halloween in Korea, if anything? For foreigners, for parties and for advertising.

An ad for a water park? This is an example of Halloween related advertising, spotted at Songtan station.

The other thing worth discussing is that the Fall Semester can be a very good time to study in Korea if you want to see student artwork. As the end of the year draws near, art galleries in Seoul regularly display student exhibitions for all kinds of artwork. I'm not sure if all are free or if some require a small entrance fee, but it definitely is worth checking out. Such exhibitions aren't limited to a big city either; there's one going on at SoonChunHyang right now!

Not traditional gallery artwork but animation! Over the past weekend was the 11th annual SoonChunHyang University Anifest, the showcase for projects created by students in the animation department. I missed those showings but there's been another one starting yesterday (Wednesday) and concluding today. Like all of the entertainment on campus it's free for all comers, and it's a great way to see what the Korean students have worked so hard on.

Some of the animation is purely computer generated while other shorts look to be partially drawn by hand. While the posters for the event say that the showings last from 5-8 pm, this means that they occur between those times. Something to keep in mind. The voice acting for the shorts is presumably done by the directors themselves, though sometimes extra voices are heard if there are too many characters who speak. Every program has a number in it, which serves as a raffle number for drawings held periodically during the program. And best of all, the DVD of all the shorts is only 5,000 won - under $5! It makes a much more unique keepsake from Korea than something you could buy at any store with souveniers.

The DVD of Anifest 2011 - only 5,000 Won!

Inside the booklet for the DVD.

A look at the program for Anifest.