Backstreet's Back Alright!
Well the Backstreet Boys concert was quite a hit! Amy and I got there early because we expected to have some trouble getting our tickets. A friend of mine had his co-worker purchase them since you have to have a Korean ID number (similar to our SSN) to do it. But we went straight to the front of the line and had zero questions asked! So we walked around Olympic Park and saw the extremes they had to go through to build this facility. There were several different buildings—most were uniquely shaped, I guess to accommodate the sports that were held inside them. There was an enormous park, where people were walking their sweater-clad dogs, and some artsy décor as large as the stadiums! Once inside the gymnasium where the concert was held, we were seated in front of a huge heater. It was nice to be warm, but we decided to move further down (into the more expensive seats) so we didn’t choke from the heat. You would probably think that behavior at a concert would be standard across cultural lines, but I’m here to tell you that it was quite different. Maybe it had to do with the artists, or maybe it’s audience-based, but nonetheless… these people held these battery-powered glowing light sticks that changed colors when you flick them back and forth, which is what several thousand people did for 2 hours while singing along with five guys on stage. The artists spoke a bit slower and more deliberately when addressing the audience, but still limited their interaction with the crowd and focused on entertaining with their music and dancing. It’s funny to me to see guys being drug to movies and other things girlie, but here, it didn’t seem that way at all. In fact, wearing pastels is not only common here, but seems to be encouraged and sought after by the female population. Feminine is in! The guys at the BSB concert went all out—standing up, flicking their glow sticks, cheering, singing, whooping and hollering when the guys were singing… I don’t know many American men comfortable enough to partake in this type of thing. It was definitely a sight! After the two-hour performance, we headed to Itaewon for dinner. We wound up at Ali Baba. Maybe we shouldn’t support Middle-Eastern food, given the current status of world affairs and the dirty looks I’ve been given by a few, but I hadn’t had hummus since I’ve been here and that appetizer and our meal were both quite wonderful!
The following day, Sam and I went to Gwanghwamun, which is where there was supposed to be a grand display of Christmas lights. It was along the Cheongyecheon, the recently uncovered river in the heart of the city that has been cleaned up and made an attraction for visitors and locals alike. It was no Natchitoches, but the decorations were really pretty and lit up the area very nicely. You could walk along the river and cross to the other side via some large stone steps (something a litigious society in the US would never in a million years permit) and just enjoy the scenery. We got some good pictures but for some reason I can’t seem to upload any more to this blog.
A successful time in Daegu was had yet again. After a whoppingly abundant three hours of sleep, I got up at 4am Saturday so that I could be on the first subway at 5am from my stop to Seoul Station, where the trains leaving the city meet. Little did I know, the weekend subway starts going in the morning later than the weekday ones (makes sense, I’ve just never had to ride the first one out), so I waited until 5:30 for the gates to open. A precious waste of sleep! I caught KTX (bullet train) at Seoul Station and headed down to the city of 3million that those in Seoul consider “the country.” Sam and I spent Saturday evening with some of his co-workers at Hotel Ariana, where we had a full buffet (including foods like “frizzled rice” and other usual and unusual dishes) and a live European band playing many recognizable classics. The four of us then returned to the US Army Post and went to Cookie’s, a popular hangout for the officers, but it was closed. Not wanting our excursion to end, we tried again to extend the evening by heading to the Hilltop, where enlistees usually go and for obvious reasons—this place was hoppin! They had good music (though not the kind your parents would like) and the dancers had plenty of rhythm! We ordered drinks and a deck of cards and decided a game of “Bullshit” would be fun. (I thought booray might be good, but imagine teaching West-coasters a Cajun pastime!) Well, one of our party had a few more beers than everyone else, and was decidedly the world’s worst Bullshit player that any of us had ever seen. He never won a single game, didn’t know when to call people on their crap, and when he did, was regularly wrong. But it made for some great laughs and a lot of cards in his hands!
So the quest to keep my family and friends (and self) entertained with what I’m doing has not ended. I’ve found a “Seoul’s Best 100” information book that lists and talks about lots of things a visitor shouldn’t miss while in this part of the world. I’ve combed through the book and made notations of “must sees,” “possibilities,” and “what the hecks?” I am only sure that I won’t have Saturday classes through February, so I’d like to get as much culture under my belt while I have the time. I also have a friend or three coming to Seoul in February with high expectations. Hopefully the racecourse, pottery making, Han River cruise, and a few other priorities won’t be far away. Sam is also trying to fulfill his promise that Daegu has plenty of entertainment, so we shall see what that part of the country will bring. Next weekend is Lunar New Year (the Chinese New Year), so we will get Monday off and have our last, painful Winter Intensive class moved from Tuesday to Thursday. The original plan was to go down to Busan, a popular city on the coast. But apparently everyone in Seoul chooses this weekend to leave the city, so as exciting as fighting 12million outward-bound people sounds, I think that doing some touring around this city would be well-advisable with a much smaller than usual crowd. Stay tuned!
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
The following day, Sam and I went to Gwanghwamun, which is where there was supposed to be a grand display of Christmas lights. It was along the Cheongyecheon, the recently uncovered river in the heart of the city that has been cleaned up and made an attraction for visitors and locals alike. It was no Natchitoches, but the decorations were really pretty and lit up the area very nicely. You could walk along the river and cross to the other side via some large stone steps (something a litigious society in the US would never in a million years permit) and just enjoy the scenery. We got some good pictures but for some reason I can’t seem to upload any more to this blog.
A successful time in Daegu was had yet again. After a whoppingly abundant three hours of sleep, I got up at 4am Saturday so that I could be on the first subway at 5am from my stop to Seoul Station, where the trains leaving the city meet. Little did I know, the weekend subway starts going in the morning later than the weekday ones (makes sense, I’ve just never had to ride the first one out), so I waited until 5:30 for the gates to open. A precious waste of sleep! I caught KTX (bullet train) at Seoul Station and headed down to the city of 3million that those in Seoul consider “the country.” Sam and I spent Saturday evening with some of his co-workers at Hotel Ariana, where we had a full buffet (including foods like “frizzled rice” and other usual and unusual dishes) and a live European band playing many recognizable classics. The four of us then returned to the US Army Post and went to Cookie’s, a popular hangout for the officers, but it was closed. Not wanting our excursion to end, we tried again to extend the evening by heading to the Hilltop, where enlistees usually go and for obvious reasons—this place was hoppin! They had good music (though not the kind your parents would like) and the dancers had plenty of rhythm! We ordered drinks and a deck of cards and decided a game of “Bullshit” would be fun. (I thought booray might be good, but imagine teaching West-coasters a Cajun pastime!) Well, one of our party had a few more beers than everyone else, and was decidedly the world’s worst Bullshit player that any of us had ever seen. He never won a single game, didn’t know when to call people on their crap, and when he did, was regularly wrong. But it made for some great laughs and a lot of cards in his hands!
So the quest to keep my family and friends (and self) entertained with what I’m doing has not ended. I’ve found a “Seoul’s Best 100” information book that lists and talks about lots of things a visitor shouldn’t miss while in this part of the world. I’ve combed through the book and made notations of “must sees,” “possibilities,” and “what the hecks?” I am only sure that I won’t have Saturday classes through February, so I’d like to get as much culture under my belt while I have the time. I also have a friend or three coming to Seoul in February with high expectations. Hopefully the racecourse, pottery making, Han River cruise, and a few other priorities won’t be far away. Sam is also trying to fulfill his promise that Daegu has plenty of entertainment, so we shall see what that part of the country will bring. Next weekend is Lunar New Year (the Chinese New Year), so we will get Monday off and have our last, painful Winter Intensive class moved from Tuesday to Thursday. The original plan was to go down to Busan, a popular city on the coast. But apparently everyone in Seoul chooses this weekend to leave the city, so as exciting as fighting 12million outward-bound people sounds, I think that doing some touring around this city would be well-advisable with a much smaller than usual crowd. Stay tuned!
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
posted by LSULiv | 5:02 PM
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