Those precious wasted moments…

My fever broke in the night, but I still feel terrible. I threw up my breakfast and have to face the harsh reality that I will not be able to drink coffee today. God save us all.

However, Lavinia is feeling much better and the Korean ginger tea seems to have more effect on Korean DNA than northern European. She still had to cancel her morning rehearsal to save her energy for the television show. The show was in the style of Oprah, with a sincere woman asking personal questions. Lavinia was in her element.

After the show, we came back to the hotel to order more room service. I think my illness (and her recovery) will keep us from going out to any clubs tonight to celebrate the New Year, but we have a big television and we can set the alarm for 5 minutes til midnight, cheer, kiss and go back to sleep. If I had to have the flu anywhere, I think I would want it to be in the Marriott. Room service, huge LCD TV, internet, bath, soft tissues with aloe and a cleaning staff to pick them up off the floor, even.

Rehearsal with the orchestra in the morning followed by a very long mastersclass in the afternoon. The flu is kicking into full gear with me, as I now have a fever to add to my woes. Lavinia isn’t doing much better, but she’s not letting her illness get in the way of her responsibilities. What an amazing woman. She’s sneezing and coughing and has a full-body ache, but she’s still smiling and doing her job.

Tonight we’re going to bed early in hopes of waking up healthy.

Sleep in, we’re both sick now. Lavinia’s immune system finally caved in to our infective persuasion. We woke up at 9:00 but the strict schedule of practice until 12:00, then packing until 13:00, then lunch and then moving to a different hotel was replaced by a drowsy breakfast, a painfully slow packing process, a long hot shower and a nap. Lunch was an afterthought of microwave rice. We moved to the Seoul Marriott hotel just south of the river and much closer to the Seoul Arts Center. A four star hotel in all aspects with six restaurants in the lobby to fit everyone’s needs. We hurriedly dropped our bags, changed into some formal wear and rushed to the Seoul Arts Center for a televised interview on the national news program.

The interview was an act worthy of Fawlty Towers or Funniest Home Videos, depending on whether it was intentional or not. It wasn’t. There was one interviewer, a camera man in a business suit (not very flexible) and three bungling assistants who appeared never to have done this sort of work before, or to have ever seen the camera equipment before, not even in magazines. The amateurism of the film crew was strongly contrasted with the professional, high end camera equipment, including full HD camera’s, extra lenses for close-ups, extra lighting, two tripods, one rolling and even a boom to swing a smaller camera through the air to get shots from above and beneath the harp. The problem was that no one knew what they were doing, so they simply tried everything. Literally, they used every single piece of hardware they had with them, except for the boom, which they were not able to assemble, even with six hands between them. The interview also lasted ridiculously long, almost two hours for a news clip of 90 seconds on the evening news.

After the interview, we were picked up in a luxurious Mercedes by the Korean harpist Jung Kwak, to enjoy a home cooked meal at her mother’s house nearby. Along the way, Jung mentioned that her mother used to have a large house, but sold it and now lives in a small, modest apartment, which she is a bit ashamed of and therefore seldom invites guests for dinner. Well, perhaps the apartment was small, but with two cooks, a nanny, a driver, a doorman/guard and a handy-man the place was anything but modest. The food was wonderful and the hostess was very gracious. This was an experience not easily found in the tourist books.

After dinner, we sat around the couch watching the evening news clip… 10 minutes… 20 minutes… 30 minutes… then sports? Much to our dismay the clip was not aired. Even after ALL THAT time and energy, personel and equipment!!! Perhaps tomorrow?

UPDATE: Lavinia has been wrestling the entire trip with the decision of whether or not to contact her biological father while in Korea. This evening she has decided to go for it and has started by speaking with her parents and brother (also adopted). They sent her copies of the adoption papers, including the name of the father and Lavinia will contact the korean social services tomorrow to initiate communication. This was a major decision, but she seems very positive and intends to invite him to attend the New Year’s concert at the Seoul Arts Center where she is the solo with the orchestra.

Wake up early and catch a bus. Where the bus is going… well, too sleepy to care. Oh yeah, to the DMZ. The heavily guarded border between North and South Korea consists of the Military Demarcation Line and two kilometers on either side making up the De-Militarized Zone. All in all, this was a bizarre experience. We saw the tunnels that North Korea had secretly dug in preparation of a sneak attack on the South. We saw the propaganda villages on the northern side of the DMZ. Villages with picture perfect buildings, the largest flagpole and flag in the world… and no inhabitants. Sound like some insane dictator’s fantasy land? Well, that’s because it IS.

Aside from the creepy military checkpoints and strict rules about photography, it was good to hear and see the history of the North/South situation first hand. It’s a strange place and everyone we’ve talked to clearly hates it, but it’s a part of Korea and the Korean experience. On the bright side, because the DMZ has not been inhabited for more than 50 years, it has become a nature reservation of sorts. Rare plants and animals thrive in the area, despite the thousands of landmines and stretches of razor wire. Go nature!

In the evening, we went to a karaoke bar to unwind. Instead of one big stage for the whole bar, as in Europe, here they offer small, private rooms with individual karaoke installations, similar to a hotel. Each room has disco lights, a huge LCD TV, two microphones and a book of songs. It started off classy, with some Sinatra, but quickly deteriorated to Justin Timberlake and Beyonce. My cough and sore throat quickly became worse and effectively ended my singing carreer, but didn’t prevent the others from exploring the upper ranges of their vocal chords.

I hate being sick when on vacation. If I weren’t on vacation, I could call in sick and get MORE vacation. As it is, I don’t want to call in sick here and LOSE precious vacation hours. More vitamin C, please.

The day of rest and well-being. Today, we slept in for the first time since arriving in Korea. The first lazy day of the vacation. The alarm went off at 8:00, but we didn’t move until 10:00. No plans for today, aside from resting, practicing the harp and having dinner with some friends of friends. This day couldn’t have come at a better time. Lavinia was simply out of energy. She was tired and aching from the physical and emotional strain of the trip. This was also the first day WITHOUT the film crew recording her every movement. Freedom!

Lavinia practiced the harp and then napped a bit, practiced a bit more and then napped a bit more. Truly, a perfect day. My coughing and sneezing prevented her from sleeping, so I spent the day laying on the couch in the living room finishing a good book.  Truly, a perfect day.

In the evening we went to dinner with the man who was responsible for planting the seed that lead to Lavinia’s invitation to play here. Lavinia had tried many avenues to get a concert arranged in Korea, including the Dutch embassy, the Korean ministry of culture, the Korean chamber of commerce and a Korean travel agency, but to no avail. Finally, on a long shot, our good Dutch friend Lida suggested that she might ask someone she knew in Korea. Lida is a member of an international organization of chemists and has been to Korea several times on business. The contact she referred to was the director of that organisation and a resident of Seoul. He made a phone call to the Seoul Arts Center that got the ball rolling and achieved what none of the other inroads could, an invitation to perform in Seoul, at the New Year’s Concert at the Seoul Arts Center.

Aside from the wonderful act of arranging this concert, it turns out that this professor and his wife are also wonderful people, through and through. They treated us to a spectacular dinner full of delicacys like crystalized red ginseng, fermented amonia fish, sea squirt, sea cucumber, raw beef and pear, aged kimchi, spicy prawns, raw octopus and candied anchovies. All washed down with Soju (Korean gin) and herb wine. As it turned out, our hosts had lived in the States for several years and had four children still there, spread out from Texas to Portland, OR. We comfortably discussed politics, history, science, the arts and our own personal stories. Genuine people. Genuinely wonderful people. They even offered that we stay at their home when we return to Korea… so, well… now we HAVE to come back!