Culture Vulture

When I was about 11 or 12 I went to a performance by a Korean drum/performance troupe (at least I remember them to be Korean) with my eldest brother who, for the purposes of this story I shall refer to as 'Abang'.

It was held at the ICC and we were lucky to score some pretty good seats. The drama was intense and as a small child I gazed up to the performers in amazement, blinded silly by the bold colours and gestures of the drummers. As with folk dance and stories there was a bad guy, a good guy, and a girl, that is if my memory serves me correctly. At the time I found it difficult to read the intricacies of the music and levels of intensity conveyed by the gesticulation of the main protagonists and had to lean over to Abang and ask him what was happening. He'd then point out the bad guy and tell me how the bad guy was plotting to kill the good guy for instance. At the end of the show I asked Abang, 'Bang, how did you know what was going on?' (I found this intriguing as the play was performed in Korean - maybe Abang knew how to speak Korean?) His reply came as:

'Because I am a Culture Vulture.'

When I grow up, I want to be a Culture Vulture. xxw