Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Bubble Man (and devout Christians) on an Insadong street corner

Ain't this a cool sight?!
 
 Let's hear it for the Bubble Man of Insadong! :)

On both of our two most recent vacation trips taken together, my mother and I have gone to see a cool show.  When we visited Hanoi, we took in a fun as well as creative show at the Thang Long Water Puppetry Theatre.  And on the second evening of our recent Seoul vacation, we took in a performance of the super enjoyable Nanta show at the Myeongdong theater that shared the show's name.
 
On day three of this most recent vacation, I had been hoping to take in street performances at the Wolmido waterfront but that was not to be. Instead, it wasn't until the next day that my mother and I came across some outdoor entertainment -- but when we did, quite a bit of  fun was to be had!
 
The fellow I've come to think of as the Bubble Man of Insadong did (does) his entertaining on an Insadong street corner -- and while part of me reckons that he deserves a better stage, it's also true that he seemed to be very much in his element, roping in the interest of passers-by like my mother and myself whose plans to stroll about the neighborhood he caused to temporarily put on hold.

Male and female, young and old, were mesmerized by his bubble act.  While he went about creating the beautiful -- and at times amazingly big -- bubbles, he also unleashed a patter that many of his fellow Korean speakers found pretty amusing.  
 
For myself, what amused along with the Bubble Man's bubbles was the presence nearby of a group of devout Christians who were alternately singing hymns loudly and stentorianly proclaiming what appeared to be the same message that had been written (in English as well as Korean) on banners they had put up: that people needed to repent and believe in Jesus Christ, or be condemned to a fiery Hell!
 
There are some who might think that society's in a bad way when a Bubble Man attracts more attention and appreciation than a bunch of people concerned about the afterlives of others.  For my part though, I reckon it's a pretty healthy state of affairs -- culturally and otherwise! ;b

4 comments:

Horsoon said...

You see, the afterlife can wait, but bubbles can't ;-)

YTSL said...

Hi Horsoon --

Good point! ;D

Bill said...

Hi Yvonne,

I had previously looked at this particular blog and it kind of haunted me. Your photos do capture an interesting street scene. As for the devoutly religious crowd, well I suspect they might have secretly enjoyed it as much as you!

Bill


YTSL said...

Hi Bill --

Wow, I never thought this blog entry would haunt anyone. It must be the work of that ultra religious group! ;D