LG Family Day Festival

Korea is the land of festivals. They have a festival for everything, but I'm a big lover of festivals so I say right on. For example, in Gwangju they had the famous Kimchi festival two weeks ago, and this weekend is the Naju pear festival. We here in Naju love our pears...

I'm not really sure how normal companies work here in Korea, but at LG Chem in Naju, we have a Family Day Festival. To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if it's some wanderlust still left in my eyes, or everything is still new and I'm on that "I live in KOREA" high, but the LGFD Festival made me fall in love with Korea oh so much more.

The day started out with it being extremely obvious that I was the only waygook there. Painfully obvious. More on this later. Tents were set up, endless dishes of strange food put out, soju and beer runnith over, and a painfully loud man with a microphone. Soccer games were played, races were run, and then came the group games. 250+ LG employees and family members were grouped into teams and the relay/unity races began. I was completely content with sitting under a tent nursing a beer, but no. Remember how I said Koreans are so kind? They want to make you feel welcome...accepted...and to embarrass the hell out of you. I joined the six legged relay race where we put a foot in some sort of rubber contraption and set about to run down the field and back. It was when we were doing our "Fighting"* cheer that the man with the mic found me. I saw it in his eyes, the recognition of a stranger. Oh for the love of god man just turn around and please oh please leave me...  I was forced to tell him my name, thus "Jennipa" was famous for the rest of the day.

*Fighting is a chant or source of encouragement for Koreans. They raise a fist to the level of their eye and say, "fighting" with all their might. I joined along and soon was saying "fighting" right along with them the rest of the day. Reason #79 why I love Korea. FIGHTING!

After some relaying it was time to eat. About five different women came up asking me (gesturing with their hands) to join them when finally one of them just grabbed my hand, led me to her table, opened my chopsticks, and kept putting food in front of me. Again, I disobeyed my mother and ate stuff that I didn't recognize. (I would later find out that it was pig feet and squid with veggies). I did recognize chicken and stocked up on that. I have no idea how Koreans stay so thin because they could all out eat me. But the food they eat is super good for you supposedly. At least that's what every Korean has told me and they don't have obesity problems here like in America, so I'm going to listen to them.

I might have been a foreigner, but everyone welcomed me to their table, called my name from across the tent (thanks to the man with the mic). It was as if I really was a part of the "family" in LG Family Day. Love. This. Country.

Then each team in the company had to perform in front of the crowd. I am on the General Affairs team and was asked to join. Hells yeah! What do I have to do? I'm sorry, did you say dance to a song in front of the ENTIRE company? Hmm...how do you say "hell no, I respectfully decline" in Korean?

Reason #80 why I love Korea: dressing up and acting a fool is totally ok. Here are some pictures from other groups so you can get my full meaning.

A family act.

Group of guys whose main objective was to hide their crotch. I think.

Horse, chicken, and black man masks. 

After all the dancing and comedy acts, my team was announced winners and I'm not sure if it was because I was on the team or we were actually that good. We did rock though. Fo reals. White girl can dance.

Everyone went home slightly tipsy, with full bellies and parting gifts. Check out my winnings below.

Travel sized toiletries, ramen, soap, and toothpaste.

LG made toothpaste that is. 

Also, if you followed the link from my Facebook that said something about pictures of me, then do you really know me at all? If you thought I would put up pictures of me dancing in an outfit to a choreographed dance then you are sadly mistaken. Thanks for looking! But I feel kind of bad so here is the dance we did. It's a KPop song by Orange Caramel and the dance you see...I know every step because I rocked it.