K-pop Concert -- Asian Song Fest in Daegu Oct. 15th

On the Saturday of the concert, I planned to meet my friend Laura. We are both English teachers and both like K-pop. I had an idea to bring posters and make a sign for our favorite artists that were playing. It was a good idea because after we got to our seats in the front of our row, we had about two and a half hours till the show started. After we made our signs, some cameramen came up to us and took pictures of our artwork.

It was funny. One guy even interviewed me in Korean, which was also hilarious. One of my Korean friends told me that I might be on TV, newspaper or something like that. I just was excited to see the concert. Laura's favorite artist is B2ST, which was playing somewhere in the middle. I was looking forward to seeing G.NA and Miss A sing.

When the show started, there were light sticks glowing and the crowd went crazy. The first main act was Miss A, which was the voted the best new group of 2011 in Korea. They were very good. The combination of dancing, singing and rapping make them a great girl group.

Also they have variety. Two members are Korean and two are Chinese.

The next major group was U-Kiss a boy group in Korea. After that was G.NA, the artist I wanted to see. Her combination of beauty, talent and great singing makes her a very popular artist. She is also fluent in English which helps her create many fans all around the world.

After I saw G.NA, the crowd went crazy for the next artist which was B2ST. Laura was also screaming which was really funny. Sadly, her pride was broken when a group of schoolgirls outdid her and made a B2st sign out of light sticks which shined brightly in the stadium and even B2st themselves were surprised. B2ST was very good and performed their single, Fiction last which was the best of their songs they performed. With fireworks and flames rising, it was a great performance. After B2st we saw some other artists from other countries like Lee Sung Gi from Korea, AAA from Japan, Bibi Zhou from China, which was actually pretty good. There was also Perfume from Japan, Girls Generation from Korea and Bobby Cho from Taiwan.

It was great experience of seeing some of my favorite K-pop artists. And up close too because I had a VIP ticket for the concert. Unfortunately it started raining and many people stayed but the stadium was outside so others left. We got soaked actually and the wind didn't help as the rain was blowing harder. It was a great concert though even though we didn't stay to watch the final artists like Girls Generation and Super Junior.

Oh well I saw who I wanted to see and it was great. Definitely a highlight of my day. Laura is not from Daegu but I did my best to help her out and show here the way back to her city. Although I was close to Daegu, I don't live in Daegu either. In fact after finding a taxi for her, I just walked home to my apartment. It only took me about 15 minutes to walk home. It was straight all the way to my neighborhood, which was very convenient.

Fireworks Fest in Busan (부산에 불꽃 눌이축제) Oct. 28-30

This past weekend I traveled to Busan for the Fireworks festival. I met some of my friends, who are also English teachers here and we stayed in the same hostel in Haeundae. I arrived on Friday night at Busan station around 8 pm. I found the subway station and traveled to Haeundae Beach. It took me about 45 minutes to get there from the KTX station. I found my way to the hostel pretty easily; the sign was big and in English. The hostel we stayed at was called Pobi House, and the staff was very nice. I met my friends Colin, Rawri, Nina, Kristel and Vince and we went out for dinner. We found a nice place on the 8th story of a building, where we sat down and some delicious food. It was fun cause it was nice to just to relax on the weekend without having to worry about your job. We stayed there for a while and then we headed towards the beach and saw the water but it was nighttime.

I started to remember my time here last year in Haeundae with DY and Yunae and I could hardly believe that I had come back. But it was a great night. We decided to have another snack after looking around the beach a bit at a Japanese fast food restaurant called Lotteria. It’s not bad but I prefer regular food, not fast food, lol. Anyways, afterwards we decided to go to a bar and apparently it was closing because we left pretty quickly. We then headed back to our hostel which was close. We then went to sleep for the night.

On Saturday, we woke up around 10 and started coming up with a plan for the day. We decided to go to Haeundae Beach and see the Aquarium. I’m glad we did because it was very nice. I saw many fish and other interesting things I’ve never seen before. I saw some sharks and big fish up close as well, which was really cool. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel to rest for the upcoming night. We dressed up in Halloween costumes and then we headed out for Haeundae again but this time we met some friends along the way and then we all traveled to the next beach Gwangi in order to get a good seat for the fireworks.

We arrived at the beach and it was crowded. We found a seat on the very end of the beach and fairly close to the front. So it was a good spot to watch the fireworks. The only problem was that we thought the fireworks started at 7 and it didn’t really start at 8. But I didn’t really mind though because the fireworks were amazing. Such bright colors and in different shapes as well. It was definitely worth the wait. It started raining about one hour until the show started but people didn’t mind and came prepared with umbrellas. I on the other hand, did not I purchased mats to sit on so when it started raining I used it to cover myself up, lol. It worked very well but it was difficult to take pictures with one hand. I still had a great time.

After the fireworks, it was the most hectic time. Everyone was determined to leave all at the same time. With the rain coming down and all the people surrounding me it felt like the large crowds were just a sea of faces. We met up with many of our friends from orientation and we tried to stay together but many of us got lost in the crowd. I stayed with a group of four people and we all managed to stay together and we reached the subway to go back to Haeundae. The line for tickets was really long so we all used our check cards and passed through with ease.

Next, we all met up with some friends from orientation and then went out to a club. However, we were kicked out because they said it was too full. So then we ended up finding another place and we stayed there a bit. It was like a bar/dance club, people at their tables were dancing. It was ok but not really my thing. My friends seemed to enjoy it though. Afterwards, I walked back to my hostel and on the way I stopped for some tteokbeokki and fried food, tempura. I found a place but it was raining so I decided to eat inside. The server there started talking to me so I introduced myself in Korean. From there, he introduced himself and we started to have a conversation. He told me that he wanted to see fireworks but he was always busy with the restaurant so he couldn’t. He then showed me some his drawings online he had created which were very good. He said had an interest in animation and drawing. I was surprised so we continued to talk and he said he wants to learn English very much. I showed him some of my interests such as Kpop and animation as well. I showed him some pictures from the Asian song festival I went to which he liked very much. He was very cool but then had to get back to work so I had to leave as well. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my Korean. After that I headed back to my hostel and went to bed. The next morning we all went to the station to go back home. It was an awesome trip and it was great to spend some time with some friends and watch fireworks.

Weekend in Seoul

After two weeks after Chuseok, I decided to take a weekend trip to Seoul because Monday was a holiday. I planned to meet up with some friends. Well on Saturday afternoon I arrived at Seoul station and met up with my friend from orientation, Heewon. She brought along with her one of her friends and we all walked around Seoul together. First we went to café and sat down and talked. This is very common here as girls enjoy sitting down and talking to their friends. It was interesting and I tried to talk to Heewon’s friends since she didn’t speak much English.

After going to the café, we headed to Insadong, an area in Seoul that is all traditional Korean shops and restaurants. I noticed even American places like Starbucks were all in Korean. The sign said, 스타박스. After looking around for a bit, we then went to Jongro, a very interesting spot in Seoul. This place reminded me of Shinjuku in Japan, especially at night, with all the lights and lanterns and bright colors. We went to a Korean restaurant where we ate traditional Korean pizza or jeon (전). We also drank makgeoli with jeon which was delicious. Like makgeoli, jeon has a variety of types. We had two different types of jeon. One I remember was kimchi jeon (김치전) and the other I don’t remember. But both were very tasty.


After eating and drinking, it was quite dark so we had to call it a night because I was staying with my friend in Incheon. Incheon is on the Seoul subway line but it takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to my station and that’s if they are no delays or if I don’t get lost. So we said our farewells and were thankful for such a great night. I arrived at my friend’s apartment in Incheon about 1 hour and 30 minutes later so it was a good idea that I left a little early.

The next day I my friend from Incheon and I went to Jongro and met his girlfriend. We ate a little American food, such as pasta and pizza but it was restaurant style so very nice. Afterwards, we walked toward Cheonggyecheon, also known as “Seoul Forest.” It is a popular stream that runs along the city and the president of Korea is said to have restored the area as part of his term as mayor. It is a popular tourist spot and it was beautiful during the day. Then we went to the most crowded area in Seoul for shopping in Myeongdong. I have never been to Myeongdong on the weekend so I had no idea how crowded it could get. The only way to describe it was a continuous crowd of people. It seemed like the crowds never stopped. It was fun though we stopped a place where we got a sticker picture, which is just a photo with writing on it. It is something friends and couples like to do. However, it is Japanese culture not Korean. So Korea has many Japanese influences like karaoke and even animation. It was good afternoon and it was just another day in Seoul. I stayed in Seoul last summer so I had experienced the life in Seoul but it was great to spend time with friends.

That night I met with another friend in Incheon. She was also another friend I had made at Ball State University. Her name was Boram. We became pretty close friends a couple of years ago so it was great to hang out with her again. We ate some songyeop sal (송겹살) which consists of thick, fatty slices of pork belly meat. It is similar to bacon in America. It was nice to talk since we haven’t seen each other in awhile. We walked around the city a little and then ate some ice cream at McDonalds. McDonalds here in Korea is very different than in America. Everything is smaller, lol. But on the plus side, not as big means it’s not as greasy or fat so it’s better for you. The time we met felt longer than it was because we haven’t sat down and talked in ages so when we said goodbye, I was satisfied.

I met with Sangwon that night and went to downtown in Incheon and we had some more food and drinks. We just hung out together and talked about our lives. It was a great weekend. But Monday came too soon and I had to leave for Daegu the next morning. I took a bus from Incheon terminal and I slept most of the way. It was very nice and peaceful. The KTX train may be faster but the bus was peaceful and quiet. Everyone seemed to be tired.

Korean family and Chuseok (추석)

On Sunday morning I woke up after a good night sleep. I was staying in Sangwon's room which had a bar across the top of the door. I remember seeing it the night before but in the morning I must have forgotten cause I walked right into it. lol One disadvantage for me here in Korea is that everything is shorter than me. Girls, doors and some gates in the subways. lol Sometimes it is nice being tall but other times it's annoying. The good thing is I can see everything around me sometimes from very far away cause there's nobody in the way, lol.

After spending a day with Sangwon and his family in Dangjin, we drove to Incheon to visit their relatives. (추석) Chuseok is similar to Thanksgiving in America. However, there are many differences. The reason I say it is similar is because it is a time for getting together with family and eating lots of food. Thanksgiving is about remembering the feast of the Pilgrims and Indians shared in 1621. It is also about giving thanks to God for having a good harvest for the year.
However, Chuseok is about remembering and honoring your ancestors. A feast usually consists of several dishes. The one side dish always served at Chuseok is songpyeon. I got to experience being in Sangwon’s family for a weekend so I made songpyeon. It was very interesting. Songpyeon is a type of rice cake. There is a proverb in Korea, that if you make songpyeon beautifully, you will have a beautiful daughter. Sangwon’s father or aboji (아보지) showed me how to make rice cake which was great. It wasn’t too hard after I got some practice.

Chuseok consisted of what it seemed like one meal after another, which I loved. First we had a great feast at a restaurant which we had many Korean delicacies. Then after we visited Sangwon’s uncle on his father’s side in Songdo, it’s the international business district. He was very nice and had a huge apartment in the center of the city. There was a city view from his apartment window. And there was a fridge that went almost to the ceiling which I’ve never seen before, lol.

Anyways, after visiting them, we headed to his father’s parents house. We of course had another meal but this time with traditional dishes. All were delicious. I’m still trying to remember all of the dish names. After eating at his grandparent’s house, we relaxed a bit and then went to his uncle’s house on his mother’s side. This time it was more snacks that we ate but we also ate songpyeon. I met a couple of his cousins and we drank makgeoli together. Makgeoli (막걸리) is a traditional Korean wine (alcohol) made from rice. There are some variations to this like the honey makgeoli which has honey added to the original taste for more flavor.

Now you’re probably wondering where I slept right? Well the truth is I stayed with my friend in his tiny apartment in Incheon next to the subway station. Now this is a one room apartment, for one person. So this is a small room that has everything jammed into one. I mean the bathroom is so small there is no room to take shower it’s basically the sink, lol. It was interesting nonetheless. I seemed to enjoy being cramped in his apartment though. He offered me his bed so I didn’t sleep on the floor. The last day in Incheon we all drove to a few islands located on the coast of Incheon. One was called Muuido and the other was Shilmido. I didn’t know this but Shilmido used to be a place for military training. It’s what my friend told me. It was great though to see something new and exciting.

After a day on the islands, Sangwon and I met a friend in Incheon. It was a friend I had met at Ball State, Milal. We met and went to a traditional Korean drinking room. Now these are really neat if you get the chance to go because it’s basically a private room for you and your friends to talk,drink and eat food. The rooms are separate and have a door to each which was a little different than I was used to but very interesting. It was cool to visit some friends I had met in Muncie the previous year. It was definitely great weekend. I got a chance to experience a traditional Korean holiday with a family. Now that’s what I call immersing oneself in a culture.