Seoul Friendship Fair 2010

The city of Seoul holds an annual “Friendship Fair” to celebrate multiculturalism and allow the expat community to connect with its Korean hosts. The event was held on May 9 and 10 this year. I brought my husband and son there on the 10th. We were there at around 2PM and it was hot!
The fair was held around Seoul City Hall.
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We watched a couple of performances at the Seoul Plaza. We enjoyed most the Sichuan mask dance and the Ainu dance. Thankfully, the Seoul city government provided bamboo mats for the audience to sit on.
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We didn’t stay long to watch the other performance since it was really hot.
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There were cultural booths where different countries displayed their products from traditional clothing to more exotic items like tea and force factor.
The booth of the Philippines showcased costume jewelry and bags.
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I like these sandals from Pakistan, but I don’t have pretty feet.
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Along the way to Cheonggyecheon are food stalls grouped according to region. I only tried the shawarma from Iraq and Turkey. When I visited the Philippine stall, manned by Jaz, there was only “bihon”. The Malaysian booth also had “bihun”.
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I would’ve tried Saigon beer from the Vietnam stall but it was kinda expensive huh!
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One of the longest lines I saw at the fair was at the Japanese stall and yet they only had “takoyaki” on their menu.
I also wanted to try Greek barbecue but again, the line was long…
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I enjoyed watching how this man made “naan” at the Nepalese booth. I live in an area where Nepalese and Indian restaurants abound so I didn’t even try to line up at their booths.
I only tried shawarma from Iraq and Turkey. After that, we went to meet my husband’s family for “ori jeong shik” or “duck dinner”. And that one was one of the best dinners I’ve had in Korea.