The Masquerade

Hello my dears:
Ok, this is a fun one! The Masquerade Party! Let me just say that this was an opportunity that doesn't occur frequently in Korea. The occasions for which you're able to put on a nice dress to go out are scarce to say the least. Not that I had too many chances to do that in the States. It's a bit sad how informal we've become at home. What ever happened to fancy parties where everyone gets to dress up and enjoy a sophisticated evening? So when I was out with some friends and they mentioned that there would soon be a Masquerade held at the Marriott Hotel, well, you can imagine how I jumped at the chance. Literally jumped. Imagine.

BIWA, Busan International Women's Association, was the host to this grand event. Let me say that they're a bit different from my women's group that I told you about earlier (see post below). Their focus is event fundraising for various social welfare organizations in Busan, such as orphanages. The group membership is composed mostly of wives of expats working as engineers, company executives, and the like: the "real jobs" for foreigners here. In other words, they have a bit more money to work with than our group, composed entirely of (what else?) English teachers. So my group is the poor women's group. Pierre joked that we should take them on in a fight. But I said we're a peaceful group, not all about street fighting... still, we could take 'em.

Alright, since I'm a girl, and at times quite a girly one, let me begin by telling you about my dress. For Christmas of '04, my mom sent me a box full of goodies, including this incredible dress from Banana Republic. I mean, yummy. But the trouble was that I had no place to wear it. It's tough to put on a dress and then work with Kindergarteners all day. No, that wouldn't work. And my church simply does not require that level of formality. So it hung in my closet just looking pretty for quite a long time. I must credit my mom with some incredible foresight, however, because I had no other considerations for attire when this event was mentioned. Thanks mom.

The next obstacle was finding a mask. Korea does not celebrate Halloween, especially not in May. So finding a store that carried masks was a daunting task. Altogether, shopping in Korea is difficult. There appears to be no rhyme or reason in the way in which shops are organized. If you want something even slightly out of the ordinary, good luck. My only options were some rather silly looking children's masks (ghouls or dippy super heroes) that I found in Mr. Chun (a dollar store). But Pierre came to the rescue; he knew of a costume store near his work and procured a very fine mask for me. Much better than anything I could have bought or made. Thanks Pierre.

Jess was over one night during the week before she left and we went through the typical high school pre-prom routine of trying on the outfit and figuring out hair and jewelry. Fun, girly stuff. You know.

So I was set. Picture time!
I went with Pierre, Saeyeon, and Richard: good friends of mine here in Korea. I'm guessing that, despite being cleverly hidden beneath the mask, I needn't identify myself; take a guess. I don't know if I've told you anything about these friends. Well, we're all part of the yoga group. So that already makes us exceptionally cool. Pierre is French; given my mild obsession with the culture and language, it immediately endears me to him. Richard is from Britain, which, given our respective countries, provides us both with a great deal of fodder for poking fun of each other. But I like him anyhow. Saeyeon, a Korean girl, I've known of from church since originally coming to Korea, yet did not have the wonderful opportunity to get to know her until returning here. She's an English teacher, too, and one of the most fun, delightful people I know. Aren't we just a great looking group?
This is Saeyeon and I with Anna and Sebastian. She's Spanish, he's Swedish. They are one of the most fun couples I know. Anna actually made their costumes. Not to mention that she made a Batman and Robin costume for some friends of theirs. And she is a part of BIWA, so she played a central role in putting together the event. Anna is incomparable. Actually, she reminds me of you, Trace, with this genuine warmth, an ever-ready sense of fun, and irrepressible energy. You should have seen her in that outfit on the dance floor. Oh, I wish I had a picture. Later, she went around putting her wig on us. I'll post my picture (but my camera's being funny... I'll add it later... these others are all from Saeyeon).

Here are some other fun pictures from the night. I'll probably add more later.

Saeyeon and I dancing together. The mask kept falling down over my eyes and I had a hard time seeing. Thankfully I didn't trip, though.





Me with Liz and Saeyeon. Both are dear friends of mine from church. I think we were trying a Charlie's Angels look or something. I added a little "flair" by doing the Korean "victory" sign. They do it in most photos. I like it.

Me with Richard and Pierre. With such great looking wonderful guys, I'm such a lucky girl. They're sporting beards due to a bet made with other men from their company. Not sure exactly what the bet was, except that they all had to grow facial hair. Boys.


Saeyeon and I again. Isn't she beautiful?

That's it for now. I'll update and maybe add more later when the computer I use is being more camera friendly. It's getting annoyed with me now.

Love you all!
Aub