The Trip to Hahoe Maeul – Take 2

Hay Jin and Sang Min wanted to spend Sunday with me and Chanta. We asked, “Where should we go?” They said it was our choice. I suggested Hahoe Maeul, the Korean folk village from the 16th century. Even though I had been there on my solo road trip, I had been on a weekday. On Saturdays and Sundays, the mask dance, which I had before only read about, is performed. The other gals were excited about the destination suggestion, so we agreed to meet downtown (though not in front of DongA, but in front of Debec, the *other* Daegu department store) Sunday morning.

We drove there, enjoying the more and more progressively rural landscape. Once to the village we inquired about the dance. We had close to 2 hours before the performance began. We began wandering through the village, looking here, peeking there, enjoying the hotness of the sun. We were walking along the riverbank when Hay Jin and Sang Min began chattering animatedly. They ran up to an unusually muscular Korean man in a sleeveless t-shirt. Chanta and I exchanged curious glances. What was going on? The two girls ran back to us, grabbed our hands and pulled us under a “do not cross” plastic tape strung across the road leading up the hill. Where are we going? What’s going on? “Movie. Here. YMCA. Filming, now. Big stars, we’ll see.” We followed them up the hill. Sure enough, there was a movie being filmed there in the folk village. We later learned the name was indeed YMCA, about the first baseball team in Korea. We came to a point where there was another muscled man in our path. He motioned we couldn’t go any farther. At that point Sang Min began talking in the sweetest voice I’ve ever heard, staring up from her 4 1/2 foot figure with the largest, most appealing eyes I’ve ever seen. Who was this? She lowered her voice to a whisper so that the large man had to bend down, obviously enjoying the attention he was getting. I heard her saying “miguk” and motioning to us. We were her excuse to meet the stars! The man agreed and Sang Min and Hay Jin squealed and jumped up and down.Chanta and I, the miguk who supposedly wanted to meet stars, innocently stood there, still not sure what we were in for. According to Sang Min, there were two major stars, one handsome one and one not handsome one, but the latter was a really good actor. As it turned out, the handsome one was on his break and the gals weren’t that excited about meeting the more talented one. So we thanked the muscled men and continued on our way.

We wandered some more through the village until it was time to see the dance. We entered an outdoor amphitheater, already filling up. The host escorted us to a shaded spot and we sat, front row, on the hard, stone benches. The musicians entered, beating drums, playing horns. Everyone sat, entranced, wondering what would come next. Even though it was all in Korean, we understood the majority of it, due not only to my previous research about the play but the exaggerated movements of the dancers. The costumes were beautifully simple, the masks intricately carved. With only a couple of exceptions, the play followed the following format (my previous summary – accuracy not guaranteed):

I – the Bride (seen as a local goddess) enters. Everyone prays for peace and an abundant harvest.

II – A male and female lion fight. The female wins. This is good. The village will have a good harvest.

III – The butcher kills a bull, slicing out its heart and testicles and offering them for sale with these words, “Fancy not knowing the value of a fresh bull heart. How about testicles, then? Surely you must know what they are good for?”

IV – The old widow weaves and dances, asking the audience for donations.

V – The flirtatious young women dances, then relieves herself. The monk walks by. “You have aroused me by showing me your private parts and letting me smell your urine.” They escape to the bushes together. Scandal! The village fool sees them escape.

VI – The aristocrat and scholar argue, trying to outsmart each other. The butcher offers them the testicles. When they learn it will increase their sexual energy, they argue over who will have the honor of purchasing them. The widow mediates. Everyone dances.

Exception number one: during Act III, as the bull entered the amphitheater, it “peed” on various audience members in the front rows, Chanta and I included. The pee was actually water, and felt good, but something about having a large animal lift its leg in front of you….

Exception number two: during Act V, after the village fool sees the monk and flirtatious young woman escape, he dances a drunken dance, then pulls audience members onto the stage to dance as well. Chanta and I resisted as he tugged on our arms, but he was having none of it. He pulled us into the center of the stage; I felt like the lions would be released at any moment. Instead of lions, he pushed two elderly Korean men in front of us, decked out in their fishing hats and photographer vests. We danced for what seemed an eternity, but was probably only a couple of minutes.

After the performance, we walked through the village for a bit longer, enjoying the last few rays of sun. As we walked along the narrow paths, people would smile, point and Chanta and I and giggle. Hay Jin explained they recognized us from the dance. Not that we needed another reason to attract attention….