More photographic highlights from the AMDF...

This dude was all over the festival, MCing Jordanian Dance Demonstrations, judging Tae Kwon Do competitions, and so on. If I could make this face and maintain it in perpetuity, I would.

Marie with the Prince of Jordan, his sister, and Kevin Federline

During the Jordanian dance extravaganza, this old man came out from the audience to join them. He later tried to get Marie to dance with him, but the Prince of Jordan wasn't letting go. This man is my hero.

You'd think lawsuits were made for shit like this...

The happiest kid in the world at the second this photo was taken

Andong Mask Dance Festival

This Taiwanese "I-Jhen" troupe gathered quite a crowd simply because of their willingness to pose with Vita-C drinks.

This Vita-C photo is my favorite of the bunch. Vita-C, if I haven't explained before, tastes a lot like Triaminic and is way popular with health-conscious Koreans. It's a little too syrupy for me.

Somehow this part of the Mask Dance Festival came across as inauthentic... maybe it was the clamor of Korean techno-pop. More likely it was the superheroes on stilts doing the Roger Rabbit.

One of my students laughed at me because I thought this was a dog. Apparently it's a tiger, and this segment of the Mask Dance performance was a laugh riot for those that could understand.

Batman and Spiderman ponder why Brett Ratner is directing the next X-Men flick.

So you may have noticed that it's been a while since I've posted... promises are difficult to keep, but I swear to you that I will do my best to make this a banner week for my humble blog. The Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) is starting this weekend, plus Marie and I are going to see a Korean performance of "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". Add to that the fact that I have pictures of my students, a wild norae-bang visit, and the bar with the costumed dancers and it should be clear to you that happy times are here again... as long as I can get around to posting them.

So about the Andong Mask Dance Festival...

Every October, the city of Andong (north of Busan, about a three hour bus ride) holds an international dance festival that does its best to celebrate traditional Korean customs and all of that.

(I'm stopping here right now-- I'll be back to this later on tonight, I swear)