Spring has almost sprung.

Aside from yesterday which was extremely sad and cold and rainy (it actually snowed in Gangwon-do, which is RIDICULOUS) the weather has been getting nicer and nicer. It's been sunny and warm and bordering on hot. Sunday I work shorts AND a tee-shirt and was perfectly comfortable. AMAZING.

Aside from my ankle (doctor tells me I tore two of the lateral ligaments in my ankle... level 2 ankle sprain), which is still a bit bothersome, everything is looking up.

I saw Big Bang on Sunday in a stroke of pure luck thanks to two co-teachers and some fast ticket buying at the last minute. To make it even better, due to an unfortunate incident involving SNSD's Taeyeon, everyone got full refunds for their tickets. This means I went to LotteWorld Amusement Park and saw Big Bang for FREE!! Gotta love it. Oh, and Park Bom of 2ne1 waved. TO ME!

Anyways,  my birthday is soon, and I'm gearing up for that, but more importantly, this weekend I am going to Jeju for a frisbee tournament that I'm not supposed to play in because of my ankle. I'm playing anyways.

Also, my baby sister, Melly officially got accepted to graduate school, and put in her deposit at Indiana University and she is going to get her master's degree in Water Resource Mangement and I couldn't be more proud of her if I wanted to. She is growing up and she is becoming a lovely, intelligent, well-spoken, beautiful woman. It's so exciting. I miss her so much. Like more than anyone. I just want her in Korea with me. Korea needs to work on all Resource Management, including water, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll come here one day. lol. not likely.

I also got my Dream Concert ticket/invitation. It's really complicated because it's not really a ticket. A student gave it to me, then I had to go to this random website to register my number and then there is a random drawing for 25,000 people to go the concert. I also had to use Hoon's name, not my own because evidently only Korean people can sign up, which is dumb.

That's it for now, I think. I have to make exam questions for my mid-terms today!! I can't wait for midterms. It's the start of a nice little mini vacation for me, and I'm very much looking forward to it. ^^

Dream Concert 2010

So I'm clearly a lot late on this, but you know, better late than never, right?

In a change of pace from my last blog post, which was a relatively serious blog post about the recent development in the North Korea/South Korea dispute, I'll give you a review of last Saturday's (May 22nd) Dream Concert. I have mostly positive things to say, so be prepared for lots of doting on cute k-pop stars.

Me and my k-pop buddy!

The show was hosted by Kim Heechul (of Super Junior stardom), actress Shin SeKyung, and Ok Taecyeon (winner of the reallywally sexy body contest held last weekend at Dream Concert). Frankly, Shin SeKyung sucked ass. She was awful as a host, managing only to laugh uncomfortably at regular intervals and barely keeping up with Taecyeon, let alone the veteran Dream Concert MC (third year running) Heechul. Heechul was funny. This I could tell in spite of my not being able to understand 85% of what he said. Taecyeon did his best and mostly was just a walking, talking, singing image of sexiness embodied.

Hello Taecyeon. What's that? You want me to meet you backstage in an hour? Well, I don't kn... Oh, wow, lookie here, my clothes are already off.

There were a number of virtually unknown kpop acts that "opened" the show. I don't really remember them as being particularly interesting or talented, but who am I to judge (especially since I thought Ring Ding Dong by SHINee was the greatest music work to play on radio speakers since Michael Jackson sang Thriller).

Actually, come to think of it, they have a lot more in common than initially anticipated: red leather, intense hair, great dancing.

Then came the first of the 21 acts headlining the show. Those that are curious the total artists list is: U-Kiss, F.cuz, 4Minute, MBLAQ, SS501, ZE:a, Rainbow, SHINee, Kara, T-ara, After School, Davichi, Beast, F(x), Super Junior, SNSD, Rain, Lee Hyori, Wonder Girls, 2PM.

My friend and I were sitting in the SNSD section.

My favorite acts at the concert were the following:
1. 2PM~ clearly I am biased because I am a little bit in love with Taec, but yeah. They were really great, although I was really disappointed by other fan groups chanting "Park Jaebeom" throughout their performance. If I wasn't so in love with 2PM I'd totally become a hottest (their fan club member name)


2. F(x)~ shit they are good. And I've mentioned before my girl crush on Amber.


3. Rain~ Uh. Hello. You are the sexiest Korean man EVER. EVER. EVER. Oh, and he was really funny. It rained virtually the entire concert with the only break being when Rain performed. After his performance, he said, you know, I'm really sorry that it's raining (in korean it translates directly to the rain comes), but when RAIN (him) comes, the rain goes. kkkkk puns.

4. SNSD~ They were really good, and you know, as much as young girls (read: my students) hate them, they are freakin' gorgeous. Also sitting in their section was super fun and cuuuuute.

5. Super Junior~ A classic. Really, Super Junior is always epic. I love Shindong. Seriously. Love.

It's really unfortunate that he just proposed to his girlfriend and wants to get married asap. I'm hoping that sometime between now and his wedding, he will see me and fall in love with me. I love 통통한(chubby) Shindong. 너무 귀여워요!!

As I mentioned in my list, it rained. A lot. A whole effing lot. It sucked. I bought a poncho at the stadium and still my bag got completely soaked and one of the buttons on my poncho broke and I had to hold it shut for about an hour and a half of the concert. fml.

But, I did get to take about a billion selcas (self-portraits) in the rain and while waiting for the show to begin. It's a traditional Korean artform mastered by 14 year old girls. See below for my pathetic attempts:

(left) new outfit, special for dream concert (yes, I am that lame). (Right) the most popular selca pose these days. I'm not good at it.

My new kicks: Nike Legends in pink!!! *^_^*

boo rain.

still the cutest belles of the concert, even with the rain!

xoxo

A

Dream Concert 2009

This post had to be labeled 2009, because I will inevitably return for another Dream Concert (it's held annually). Ok. So this shall be the epic post about my weekend. And by epic, I mean it's epic only if you love me a lot and care about the things I do or if you are really into kpop. If both statements fit you, this will be a good blogpost.

So Dream Concert was this Saturday, October 10 (HAPPY BIRTHDAY SARAH COMSTOCK! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH). It was probably the most amazing thing that has happened to me in Korea. This is because I love kpop more than I love life itself. I don't know when this happened, but I seriously could listen to kpop only for the rest of my life. Okay, so that's probably not true, but I do love love love kpop. It's like I'm back to being 13 again, and it's fine by me.

SO, without any further ado, my weekend:

Saturday afternoon= Frisbee practice, as per usual, but a bit earlier, 11-1:30 or so. I leave at 1:30, and hope on the subway to World Cup Stadium to meet with Robyn, for whom I had bought an extra ticket so we could sit together. Because I had just finished playing ultimate for 2+ hours, I was sweaty and stinky and needed to shower. However, I HAD to go to the stadium to give Robyn my e-tickets for her to exchange for real tickets (see earlier post). Evidentally, I went up the wrong escalator (the hoards of hundreds of screaming fangirls made it difficult to choose what escalator I wanted to use) and I couldn't find Robyn. Soooo, I'm looking around trying to figure out where to go, when I hear shouting, "Allison Teacher, Allison teacher!!" I turn around and to my utter surprise and elation are 8 of my students, on a simultaneous sugar high and adrenaline rush due to the concert which would begin in a mere 4 hours. I asked them to guide me to where I could get my e-tickets exchanged and they guided me almost directly to Robyn. I love my students. They were so excited to see me. This is the stadium the concert was at, with the concert banners flying. Dream Concert=15 korean artists/singers/groups performing on one stage over the course of 4 hours.

I then returned to Bekah's in Noksapyeong to shower and get ready for the show. I was in quite a rush because I was nervous we would have problems exchanging the tickets or the lines would be really long and I wouldn't be able to get in. Luckily, this fear was unwarranted as neither situation came true. Hopped back on the subway to World Cup Stadium AGAIN, where I met with Robyn AGAIN and went in. I hadn't eaten much of anything all day, given that I'd been rushing around. I had had one ice cream cone, a bag of potato chips and a bowl of cereal all day, and don't forget, I had practice earlier. I figured the stadium would sell the Korean version of stadium food (idk, ddeokboggi, kimbab ppeppero and whatnot in lieu of popcorn, nachoes and crackerjacks). Unfortunately i was mistaken as all the real food had sold out (WTF, did you not realize thousands of people would be here for this event?) and all that was left was potato chips, soda and coffee. So, I dined on those items throughout the concert. Going in, we saw a cameraperson filming us walking up the stairs so we did a quick pose, waving and peace-signing to the camera. Interestingly, the lady stopped us and we did a quick interview. idk if we made it on air, but I was totally a screaming fangirl the whole time. haha. Basically my interview went: OH MY GOD! BIG BANG IS MY FAVORITE! I'M FROM FLORIDA! I LOVE KPOP! I LOVE TAEYANG! I LOVE BIG BANG! end scene. We sat down in the corner of the stadium in the setting sun, anticipating the start of the concert. The picture to the left is a good indication of where exactly our seats were in relation to the stage.

Waited around in the setting sun. Discovered that we were sitting in the midst of a couple thousand SuperJunior fanclub members. For future reference, the SuperJunior fan club is called E.L.F., which stands for (no I'm not kidding here) EverLasting Friends. Seriously. We sat with the Everlasting Friends. Oh Konglish and your ridiculous English creations. So, we sat with ELF and were given blue SuperJunior ELF balloons (so wonderful, see left) which were used to wave around in excitement the entirety of the concert. I also bought a blue superjunior glowstick (I would have liked a BigBang one, but I think some SuJu fan girls would have slit my throat at the blasphemy). I got yelled at by the girls that sat behind me because I accidentally turned my light-up glow stick on too early. I turned it on, you know, just to check it out, and the girls behind us (in their first words to us of the day) screamed Noooooooooooooooooooo! OFF OFF OFF OFF! No Now, no now! I was very embarassed and apologetic, but they were forgiving (thank goodness).

Luckily, we made friends with these girls and they instructed me precisely when to turn on and turn off my glowstick (there are very strict rules regarding this situation here). I wanted to take a picture with them, but I don't think they would have gone for it. Plus, I forgot. Also, immediately (we are talking seconds) after my glowstick faux pas, Robyn was playing with her balloon and it popped. Naturally, the manner in which it popped was most unfortunate. The balloon burst into several pieces, the largest of which nailed a fangirl in the row in front of us right in the eye. I burst out in laughter, on the verge of tears, while the girl peeled the ripped rubber balloon piece off her face. omg, freakin' waegooks (that's foreigner in korean)

Anyways, so onto to the actual show. IT WAS AMAZING. I was actually this excited to be seeing BigBang. This picture was taken the moment G-D came on. Note the glowstick. I got yelled at again to turn it off during bigbang (I had to keep it fairly quiet that I like big bang better than SuperJunior. I didn't want to lose a limb that night)

My favorite acts? 4minute (They sing Hot issue, one of the catchiest songs I know), 2ne1 (only performed 2 songs, but it was amazing), BIG BANG (omg, G-D did Heartbreaker and I cried a bit, with excitement, it was that good; then Taeyang did My Girl, and I basically had a heartattack, then they all did Lies and it was the most wonderful 3 minutes of my life). Taeyang got a lot of big screen time, and as such, I got LOTS of pictures of my boyfriend-to-be. Also, SuperJunior was amazing, and so was MCMong. He performed this catchy song that I didn't know called Circus. I'm planning on downloading that bad boy asap. Did I mention the pyrotechnics?? Best fireworks I've ever seen at a concert. Ever. It was great.

Pictures:

1. Taeyang, my boyfriend, singing LIES
2. Fireworks during Girls' Generation
3. 4minute singing Hot Issue
4. 2ne1 signing I Don't Care

After the show, I met up with frisbee people near Hongdae, at Sinchon. Everyone was hanging outside this little bar (because there were babies and the music was too loud inside the bar. This was convenient because it made it easy to find them, and it made it possible to go to the 7-11 and get some Ramyeon since I hadn't eaten anything all day. Went to the bar, had some beers, played a few rounds of flip cup, drank some more beers, danced, did a shot of tequila with anthony, danced some more. I was trying to get people to go home and get something more to eat (ramyeon didn't fully satiate my hunger) when I got tricked into doing a shot with yong. By that I mean, I go to the bar, and he's like, listen, do this shot of rum, it's not bad, and you get this orange to suck on after and it tastes pretty good. So I was like, fine fine. And then the bartender comes over with a bottle of 151, no joke, and I'm like, wait, you didn't say it was 151, and Yong was like, uh, it wasn't last time. But it was too late, the shots were poured, so I had my first ever shot of 151, and it was DISGUSTING. But, it did make me wonderfully warm and spectacularly drunk very quickly. Left the bar as a group, but everyone splintered, and I ended up at KFC with Tweezy. Perhaps this only because I was drunk, but I firmly believe that KFC in Korea is significantly better than it is in the States. had a sandwich and a soda, and then we took a cab back to Noksapyeong station and stumbled up the hill (because we didn't know bekah's actual address). Spent the night on the hardwood floor at bekahs. That was unfortunate, because I later found out there was an open bed spot.... gaaah.

Waffle Factory (again) Sunday morning for breakfast with bekah adam and tweezy (nothing like pancakes, bacon, ham and eggs to get you ready for an ultimate game). Rocked league. Had fried chicken and dominoes for dinner at the fields. Headed home.

AWESOME WEEKEND.

Inefficiencies and oddities.

So, from my experiences thus far, Korea is an extremely efficient and advanced society. By this I mean, everything seems to be done in a manner that cuts down on waste, promotes well-being, and saves time. Additionally, everything is super tech'ed out. For example, instant texts for every debit purchase, paying bills at atms, paying for taxis with a transit card, delivery of every food item imaginable, huge touch-sensitive t.v.s in English classrooms.

However, there are something that just seem silly, inefficient or way behind. These are a few examples:

1. E-tickets. For Dream Concert, you had to order your tickets a certain amount of time in advance to get actual traditional looking tickets. Otherwise, you were issued an e-ticket. This is something we have in the United States. For many concerts you can order your tickets online and have them e-mailed to you. You just get it scanned or show it at the entrance to the venue, be it a small club, or a huge stadium. For dream concert, there were e-tickets issued, but you had to exchange them for the real thing at the stadium on the day of the concert. This wouldn't be so terrible if there were 50,000+ people at the concert. The sheer number of people as compared to the number of ticket exchange booths (two) seemed simply insufficient. People began exchanging tickets as early as 11 a.m. and had to wait more than an hour in line. Then, they had nothing to do for several hours, waiting for the concert to begin at 6:30. I had a friend exchange my tickets for me. I got to the stadium to drop off my e-tickets with her at about 2:30. I went back to Bekahs to change and get ready and I headed off back to the stadium. By the time I got back our tickets were exchanged, but that was an hour and a half. It was a ridiculous ridiculous ordeal, and it seemed so hectic. In a nation where you can pay for anything with a chip in your cell phone, I feel almost certain there is a better way.

2. Toilet Paper. Many places don't have any. I don't mean the occasional shithole club that has run out by 2 a.m. I'm talking the subway station at any given day or time. I'm talking about most restaurants (except the largest chains or the fanciest places). I'm talking about my school's bathrooms (except the teacher's bathroom, they always have toilet paper). It's so weird. You seriously have to carry your own everywhere because many places won't have it.

3. Schedule changes at school. I know that there is a lot going on at any given time within a school. However, giving me a 10 minute advance notice that my class is no longer at the time I thought, but an hour earlier or later, or that I have to go to their classroom, which does not have powerpoint 2007, nor a whiteboard, nor a properly functioning computer is NOT helpful. In fact, it's just plain annoying. Or when, one day before the class your teacher informs you that you have to alter your already perfectly planned out lesson because of the exams that are going on which require near absolute silence. They don't even make copies in the copy area because it might distract the students. SILENCE IS REQUIRED. in my speaking class. Right. Good. No problem. Thanks for not only creating a predicament that fully contradicts the concept of a speaking class, but only informing me half a day before said classes begin.

4. Toilets. Some are really nice, and have bidets and butt dryers and all that, but others are not toilets. And by that I mean they are squatters. No, they are not Slumdog Millionaire squatters with no plumbing, but they are the kind that are porcelain holes in the floor that you cannot flush paper down and are extremely difficult to use while wearing pants, tights, skirts, shorts, or, frankly, anything on the bottom half of your body. Most subways stations have these as the primary toilet, with perhaps two regular western style toilets, which are never available. The flusher is on the floor and you just step on it (NEVER TOUCH WITH HANDS) which is convenient, but squatting down on bad knees or really sore legs and trying to aim into a narrow, shallow bowl is counterintuitive given that immediately outside the bathroom there are people hawking cellphones that play local t.v., browse the internet and have I mentioned that they act as debit cards? SERIOUSLY.

Those are the big ones right now. Honestly, Korea is amazing, I love it. I just thought I would let you guys know about the other side a bit.

Next post will be a much happier one: DREAM CONCERT and the rest of my weekend (Korean KFC, dancing till 4 a.m., sleeping on hardwood floors, chicken and pizza)

xoxo,
A

DREAM CONCERT!!!!

I got an outfit to wear to Dream concert this weekend. So it's only moderately embarrassing and lame that I got a brand new outfit to wear for this concert. I decided that for the concert, which is the 15 biggest Korean groups/singers right now, it is only appropriate that I get Korea'd out. As such, I got a new oversized plaid shirt (3/4 length rolled up sleeves, blues and browns, hits below the hips). I am going to get some khaki colored converses tomorrow to rock, and hopefully a pair of brown leggings to top it off. The brown leggings seem like a sretch because I'm so tall, and it will be difficult to find a good length. I'm thinking an x-large might do the trick. Anyways, I have to figure out a sweet hair pin to wear, and I got a necklace this weekend at Forever 21 that will be PERFECT!!! *^__^*

Additionally, I really wanted a plaid shirt. Plus I really wanted to buy some clothing from the underground. Success on all fronts! The shirt was from the underground in Dongincheon. It was a bit pricey (20,000won) but it's because it was made in Korea (that's what the lady said). It's moderately warm, which is clutch because if it's cool Saturday night (likely) I'm gonna have to keep warm somehow. Taeyang will keep me warm after the show, but for the actually couple hours the show lasts, I'll need something.

I got to talk to the whole fam via skype tonight, which was LOVELY. Tomorrow I have to pack my things for the concert/frisbee and get ready to go to Seoul.

Reading a Bill Bryson book I borrowed from Beth. Pretty good so far. Recommend.

Got a massive gas and electricity bill today. That was a bummer. Good news is I officially turned off my a/c for the rest of the calendar year (hopefully). If everything goes according to plan, that will save me a few bucks on gas/electric, which is mad expensive here.

FUEL goes to Itchfest this weekend. First season I'm not there. SO SAD. T.T I am cheering for everyone. I hope I get updates often.

xoxo,
A