i HATE saying goodbye~~

those of you who know me already know how terrible i am at saying goodbye. i loathe the concept so much that i usually just avoid the entire process.

saying goodbye just seems so...final. especially when it's the kind of goodbye where you know that you'll never see the other person again. in my mind...i feel like if i never actually utter the word "goodbye" that there's still a chance that i'll see the other person again. even when i know beyond the shadow of all doubt that that's not true. i lie to myself.

when i left for korea, i only said goodbye to three people: my mom, my dad, and my brother. but, they're family, so they kind of have to see me again.

this week has been a week of goodbyes. i taught my 6th graders again...for the last time. ever. ever.

before, i was super excited about moving to my new school and starting a new life in seoul. but, now, my students are making it so hard to leave.

it's so hard to say goodbye. especially to my sixth graders. of all my students, i've taught them the most and for the longest time. they're the only students i have that i've taught all 2 years since i've been in korea. i've been on school trips with them, taught them in english camps, and taught them in advanced english clubs.

my hardest goodbye was yesterday. it was the very last time that i will ever teach my favorite class: 6-6. this group includes the students that were my favorites when they were in grades 4 and 5. they always come visit my in my office. many of them were regulars in my english camps. a few of them were in my english club. and this was the class that was always excited to see me...like, they would cheer every single time i walked into their classroom.

yesterday, we played english review games, because their exams are next week. i ended class a few minutes early to say goodbye to the kids. and then, the 2 class leaders--one boy and one girl--came to the front. they had prepared a special card for me...decorated with bigbang stickers^^~~everyone in the class had written a note on it. many of my other classes had made special letters or gifts for me...but this time, it was different.

the boy, who's nickname is california [that's where he's from], thanked me for teaching them, and wished me good luck, etc etc. then, the girl [her english name is stella] was about to hand me the card, when suddenly...she dropped it on the ground and threw her arms around my neck. she started sobbing--literally, sobbing--uncontrollably. in between sobs, she kept repeated "teacher, don't go...teacher, don't go!" over and over and over.

it was at this point that i also started crying. as in, actual tears were streaming down my face. i had no idea that the kids were this attached to me, or that they even liked me that much.

so there i was, trying to say goodbye to my students...standing there, with tears and mascara running all down my face. which was a completely new experience for me. i don't cry in front of people.

and also, i don't cry. EVER. [i'm pretty sure most of my friends and family thought i was completely devoid of emotion.]

and then i cried again 3 times today, just not as much.

and now i have a headache because of it.

and this is why i never say goodbyes.

life and etc.

i realized that my posts have become few and far between. and that i haven't really said anything in any of them.

진짜 미안해요!!

i've been super busy lately, at school...and after school. i teach a bunch of extra classes now--advanced english. which means that i'm grading essays. and trying to make sense of essays. and i'm disappointed with my korean skill. so i've been studying super hardcore. and now i'm trying to go to the gym twice a day [5 days a week] and once on weekends. so i get negative 234869 hours of sleep. which may or may not be a slight exaggeration. and then my poor kitty had to have surgery last week, which was an absolute nightmare. because she screamed [not "cried", not "meowed", not "whined"...screamed is really the only way to describe those horrifying sounds] the entire way there, and the entire way back. and then she escaped from her carrier somehow. but luckily she jumped onto me instead of onto the street.

in other news, i'm in the middle of looking for a new job to start in september. i've applied to private kindergarten/elementary schools in seoul exclusively. i've talked to 4 potential employers, and now i have to go in for face-to-face interviews sometime within the next week or so.

also, during one of my classes this morning, a boy sitting towards the back of the classroom spent about 5 minutes trying on glasses, and taking off glasses, and fixing his hair, and smiling, and puffing his cheeks, and making "cute poses". finally, i called him out and asked him what in the world he was doing...his response: "teacher, i'm practicing cute poses for my selca". only in korea...
[selca=a picture you take of yourself...this practice is infinitely popular in korea, probably because of 얼짱 "ulzzang" (best face)...basically, this is ridiculously cute people who take ridiculously cute pictures of themselves doing different poses. people actually become famous this way.]

kimchi museum

this week, i had monday and tuesday off of work, due to buddha's birthday being on tuesday. even though korea is traditionally buddhist, it seems like a lot of people these days are either christian or not religiously affiliated. since i am not buddhist, and i don't know anyone who is [well, i don't know anyone who is a practicing buddhist], i'm not sure what people traditionally do on this holiday.

so, my friend and i decided to go to coex mall and check out the kimchi museum. coex is a ginormous mall, build underground, and it's quite famous in the seoul area. it has tons of stores, an aquarium, casino, kimchi museum, and a large food court with a variety of different restaurants [and a sbarros--heckyess]. the mall is also arranged like a giant maze, and i'm pretty sure that i've never walked around the entire thing before...

jen and i had never visited the kimchi museum before, although we had been curious about it for a while. we decided that it could be something interesting and cultural to do for buddha's birthday.

the museum itself was much smaller than i had anticipated. the displays detailed the history of kimchi, as well as how it is made [then and now]. it also explained the importance of kimchi to korean culture, and how the taste is different between the different regions.

all-in-all, it was an interesting experience. although, i wouldn't recommend travelling all the way to coex just to see the museum...but if you happen to be at the mall already, it's definitely worth checking out.

coex mall is located on seoul subway line 2 [the green line] at 삼성 [samsung] station, exit 6. the museum itself is a bit trickier to find. it's on level B2, but you should look for the signs inside the mall. the museum is closed on mondays, and the entrance fee is 3,000KRW.

hello kitty cafe~

yesterday was children's day, which is apparently a pretty big holiday in korea. i think that children are supposed to get presents and/or money on this day. since i am [shockingly] neither korean nor a child, i received nothing. other than a day off of work, which is a pretty great present.

to celebrate, my friend reallywally and i went to the hello kitty cafe at 대학로 [daehakno]. there are several hello kitty cafes sprinkled around seoul, and last year i went to one in 홍대 [hongdae]. but since this one was brand new, we decided to check it out.

the menu was virtually the same as the other HK cafe, and the interior was very similar. pink, girly, kitty. cuteness overload. [basically, it's like my dream house.]

the cafe had two floors, which looked pretty much the same..and the world's cutest bathroom. there was also a separate room for couples, although i can't imagine dragging my boyfriend there [assuming i had one]...

i enjoyed a delicious iced caramel machiatto, and we shared a choco-banana waffle. [it was shaped like hello kitty!!]

it's definitely worth a visit...especially if you're a kitty fan^^

YGEntertainment

a few weeks ago, i went to the YG building in 합정 [hapjeong--an area of seoul located a covnenient 30 minutes from my apartment]. YG is the record label that produces BIGBANG, 2NE1, SE7EN, Psy, and Gummy. [but most importantly bigbangㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

anyways, i was totally not creeping because bigbang wasn't even there at the time. and i knew that they weren't gonna be there. [they had another concert at that time...and for some reason i didn't goㅠㅠ] and, it's not creeping if they're not there, right??

anyways, i had wanted to drop by the building because i'd heard that it was really cool, architecturally. [ok, and also because i wanted to see bigbang's workplace...i'll admit it...]

there's a convenience store right next to it where fans have written messages for YG artists [although it appeared that most of them were for bigbang]. apparently, fans usually wait outside of the building for the artists to come out, but on the day that i went, there were only 3 [probably middle school aged] girls waiting. my friend and i only hung out for maybe 15 minutes or so...just enough time to enjoy our convenience store ice cream and take a few pictures. and it's possible that we may or may not have also written a message for bigbang.

anyways, it was cool to visit once. and i'd recommend stopping by to see the building [especially if you're a fan of YG]. but i'll probably never go back again unless i have a specific or legit reason to be there. mostly because i don't want my future husband [*cough*T.O.P*cough*] to catch me creeping. because that would be embarassing.

it's spring~!!

spring is finally here!! after weeks of bleak coldness, the sun has come out at last~~the air feels warm, and beautiful flowers are blooming everywhere.

to celebrate spring, i went to the cherry blossom festival at 여의도공원 [yeouido park] in seoul this past weekend. from there, my friend and i walked to 여의나루공원 [yeouinaru park] to relax by the 한강 [han river]. the weather was perfect, and i took entirely too many pictures [mostly of myself...i'm vain, i guessㅋㅋㅋ]. the only downside to our adventure was that approximately 50million people also ventured out to the park on that day.

happy black day~~

april 14 is black day in korea…it’s supposed to be a depressing singles’ holiday, following valentine’s day on feb 14 [the boy’s holiday] and white day on march 14 [the girl’s holiday]. so i guess it’s only fair that they should have a holiday for the remaining 5% of the population that is not currently in a relationship. [seriously…i’m pretty sure that everyone in this country is in a relationship…either that, or singles never leave their homes…whatevs.]

anyways, on black day, singles are supposed to gather together in depressed little groups and eat 자장면 [jajangmyeon], which is a black noodle dish. oh, and they’re also supposed to cry bitter tears into their jajangmyeon, as a horrible reminder that their lives apparently suck so much.

will i be celebrating black day? ~only absolutely.

will i be crying bitter tears into my dinner? ~ummheckNOO. and here’s why

1. jajangmyeon is freaking delicious as is.


2. quite frankly, i’m just excited that there’s a korean holiday i can celebrate.


3. OMYGOSH BIGBANG’S NEW MV CAME OUT TODAYYYYY. i’m too busy spazzing about that to be sadㅋㅋㅋ

rain.

it rained today. i'm told that it was radioactive, and that it's bad if it touches you. this morning, i was more concerned with putting in my headphones than putting up my umbrella. so i got rained on. just a little bit. i hope that i wake up with cool superpowers.

doctor webmd

yesterday, while i was sleeping in the office, the 6th grade head teacher came in, asked why i looked like i was dying, and then told me to go home early. [this was at 4:15.] so i got to leave a whole twenty minutes early--yay??

i decided to go to the doctor near my school. [the reason i had been wanting to leave school early to go there is because this particular clinic closes around 5-ish. i normally can't leave work until 4:40, so depending on how many people are waiting in front of me, i can't be guaranteed to get in to see the doctor before closing time. also, since i've been to that doctor twice before, they already have all of my information which makes it a lot easier since i'd have to go alone without a korean speaker.]

i managed to handle the entire ordeal in korean. i'm assuming it was successful because i now have some sort of medicine which may or may not be helping anything.

since this is the only doctor i've been too since arriving in korea, i'm not sure what other korean doctors are like. but after talking to my friends, i feel like he may not be the most legit doctor on the planet.

i like to call him "dr. webmd".

i've seen this doctor on three separate occasions, but every time, the visit goes the exact same. it has never taken more than three minutes. first, he will look at my throat. next, he checks my breathing [only one time] with a stethoscope. finally, he asks me to list my symptoms, which he types into a computer. after i've told him all of the symptoms that i think i have, he'll click a button on his computer which then shows a bunch of various random diseases in list form. [ever used the webmd symptom checker?? it's exactly like that...] everytime, he's had me look at the list of diseases, and he'll point to a few things and ask me which one i think i have. [umm...who's the doctor, here??]

i don't think it really matters which one we select as the final answer, because every single time, i've gotten the same pills from the pharmacy. every time. regardless of the diagnosis. and every time, i've been "diagnosed" with completely different things. [including one illness that i can only assume was either a typo or a make-believe disease called "pharylyngitis". ok, so i've heard of "pharyngitis" and i've heard of "laryngitis". but i'm pretty sure that a weird combination of the 2 doesn't exist. i googled it.]

but, i'm pretty sure that all pharmacies are like that, because even my friends have gotten the same 6 pills that come in little plastic packets. it's kind of sketchy, but since i haven't died yet, i'm gonna go ahead and assume that it's legit.

in other news: yesterday while i was sleeping, my coteacher decided to switch offices, for some reason. [so, i have no idea where she is now...]
operation: FLU GERMS was an epic fail.

happy white day^^

today is white day in korea. which is [yet another] lovey-dovey blahhhh holiday. it's so nice being a single girl and living in a country that's obsessed with coupley-mushy-disgustingly-romantical things.

and i don't even care that this post is going to reek of cynicism. meh.

basically, white day is the opposite of valentine's day, which in korea, is when the girl should give candy//flowers//random tokens of affection to her boyfriend//crush//whatever.

so on white day, it's the boy's job to display disgusting tokens of affection and love.

candy, chocolates, flowers, stuffed animals, etc. are literally EVERYWHERE in the days leading up to white day. so thank you, korea. thank you for rubbing my singleness into my face.

so here's to hoping that someday...maybe someday...i'll get disgusting white day flowers from a guy like this:

i'm just hoping that he won't eat the flowers first...

oops...

i totally forgot that yesterday was valentine's day, lovely readers.

oops.


since i live in korea, and koreans are obsessed with stupid lovey-dovey holidays, they celebrate it much differently people do back home in america.



in korea on valentine's day, the girl should buy candy or chocolates to confess her love to her husband//boyfriend//crush//whatever. blahhhh. [yes, i'm bitter...]



in case you're wondering who i gave chocolates to this year, the answer is...



...no one!! [surprise, surprise]



ohh, and in the spirit of valentine's day, here's a picture of T.O.P wearing pink*^^*

i'd give chocolates to him...

prepare to be SUPER jealous~

i'm literally dying here. my thoughts are completely incoherent, and i'm shaking...

with EXCITEMENT!!

all last week, there was this contest that i competed in like a crazy psycho maniac. it was on facebook, and basically you had to follow the fan page of the sponsoring korean cell phone company, like all of their posts during the week, and comment on them.

of course, i'm all about trying to be impressive so i only commented in korean:

저는 외국인니기때문에 가족과 함께 크리스마스 보낼 수 없어요ㅜ_ㅜ그래서 슬퍼요ㅠ_ㅠ파티에 너무너무 싶어요~~티켓좀 주시면 아될까요??>_<
"because i am a foreigner i can't spend Christmas with my familyㅜ_ㅜso sadㅠ_ㅠi really really want to go to the party~~can't i please have a ticket??>_<"

지디앤탑와 함께 파티에 가고 싶은데요!
"i want to go to a party with GD and T.O.P!"

저를 꼭 선택해주세요~!!>_<
"please choose me~!!>_<"

anyways, my comments were pretty popular on the forum [a crap ton of random people were liking them]. i really didn't think i was going to win, but i decided to give it a shot.

anyways, today the guest list was posted.

and.

I'M FREAKING ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh yeah, did i mention that freaking G-DRAGON ANNDDD T.O.P are also guests at this party????

HECKYESSSSSSS.

best Christmas ever?? why yes, yes it is.

grade 6~~

today was my last day teaching my 6th graders, which is legitimately sad.

the korean school calendar is set up much differently than that in the united states. the school year begins in march, has a 5 week summer vacation from july-august, and then a long winter break beginning after christmas and lasting until february. the students then return for a week and a half of school before going on a 2 week spring break [crazy, i know]. even though there are still about 2 weeks left of the school year, my 6th graders have already finished their english books and taken their final exams so they won't have english class any more until they reach middle school.

anyways, i've been a little sad about it all week because i really love teaching my grade 6 students. honestly, there's not a single student or class that i don't like. [they were my favorites last year as 5th graders, so it's no surprise that they're still my favs.]

last year, my 6th graders were like little holy terrors. probably because i came in halfway through the year and they'd never had a foreign english teacher before. and also probably because my coteacher couldn't speak english. i literally hated 90% of them. but my 5th graders were like a breath of fresh air. they were always excited when i'd walk in to their classroom, and they were always prepared for class and ready to learn. they actually paid attention.

i was worried that my precious fifth graders would magically change when they moved on into the 6th grade. but, they didn't--for the most part. they still act so excited to see me [even though they've been seeing me for the past year and a half], and even when we don't play games or even do anything fun, they still listen and pay attention. it's amazing.

that being said, i'm really going to miss my students. they've been really awesome all year, and my 6th graders were actually part of the reason why i decided to stay at my school for another year instead of moving elsewhere. when i wasn't feeling well, or was having a bad day they'd always cheer me up--coming to visit me in my office or bringing me small presents [pictures of bigbang!!]; the boys would always sing "hello" by g-dragon or "hello" by shinee when they'd see me in the hall [not entirely appropriate, but funny nonetheless]. and then of course there were the puns on my name [a mispronunciation of my name sounds like "i don't know" in korean]. ahh, i will miss it!!

so to whoever gets my 6th graders as grade 1 in middle school: i envy you. these kids are awesome.

YG countdown

i spent my afternoon eating ramen and watching bigbang concert dvds, because apparently i am a fifteen-year-old korean girl.

i'm currently watching the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards [MAMAs]. 2PM just won an award for their dance in their video "I'll Be Back", which is completely ridiculous because it's essentially them doing the running man for three and a half minutes. clearly the judges are on crack. or just saw the name "2PM" without actually watching the video.

anyways, i'm mostly just trying to waste time until 12am, when YG's countdown is finished. i'm positively dying to know what it's for!! no hints at all, just wild speculation. i'm hoping it's something bigbang related...like a new music video, song, official date for their korean comeback, T.O.P's phone number, etc. etc. etc.

in other news, i hate surprises.

YG, you're killing me!!

variety tv

i really love korean variety television shows. [i usually watch them at night when i'm trying to fall asleep...] now that i'm learning korean, i can usually understand [or figure out] most of what's going on. and it's usually reallyreally funny. a lot of programs parody popular songs, music videos, singers, tv shows, etc. hilarious

something unique about korean variety/reality programs is that it's usually only famous singers/actors that appear on the shows. there are very few programs [that i've seen] that have ordinary people on them.

anyways, infinity challenge is one variety show that i'll watch when i can because i think that the comedians on the show are absolutely hilarious. last week, i saw an episode where they parodied bigbang's "haru haru" [my fave bigbang song^^] sooo funny:


annddd, here's another one they did of girls' generation's "gee".
only in korea...

S.M.O.G.

yesterday was probably one of the greatest days ever. i met a S.M.O.G. *swoons*

[S.M.O.G.=Sexy Man Of God...according to me and my college friends haha^^]

i met my friend jen, and went to church as per usual on sunday afternoons. this past weekend, there was some kind of festival going on at the korean part of my church, but we didn't really know what it was all about. there were posters up, but they just said that some local singers/choirs would be performing, and that sunday's event would start at 4.

normally, i'm long gone from church by 4, since the english service starts at 1:30. but yesterday, i had to go to a meeting afterwards since i am now a greeter. the meeting ended at 3:45, so jen and i decided to stay just to see what the concert was all about.

best decision i've ever made in my life. [or it's at least on my top 10 list.]

they introduced the performer as a famous kpop singer named "brian". my heart started to race, and i looked at jen and said "holy crap, i think it's brain joo!!" and it most definitely was.

brian joo is famous for being a member of fly to the sky, an older kpop group that is no longer active. [but amazing nonetheless.] currently, he's been pursuing solo activities, having [relatively] recently been asked to record the korean version of jason derulo's "in my head". he's also working on releasing a christian music cd along with super junior member choi siwon [another S.M.O.G.].

anyways, he sang 5 songs, and 4 were in English [he's korean american]. and then when he finished, the pastor came out to preach. i suggested to jen that we should leave and try to meet brian, since we wouldn't understand 75% of what the korean pastor was saying anyways.

yet another good decision.

we walked around to the back door and waited there with a small crowd of maybe 30 people. brian did come out there, but he was quickly whisked away to his SUV, so no one was able to talk to/meet him.

not easily discouraged, jen and i left church and noticed a group of about 15 korean girls on the opposite side of the street. we crossed just as his SUV pulled out onto the street. we waved enthusiastically as his car passed by...and then...it stopped. brian rolled down the window, and out of everyone who was there...he talked to ME. well, and jen too.

he asked us if we went to church there, and i said yes. and then jen told him he was amazing and i agreed that his performance was really great. so he thanked us for coming. and then his light turned green and his car drove off and eventually vanished from sight.

sigh.

also, i've recently decided that brian joo is my perfect man: korean, speaks english, incredibly attractive, talented, successful, excellent singer, and he loves Jesus. 앗싸~

everything about this man is HOTT.

enjoy*^___^*

SeoulLand

this past sunday, i had the chance to go to seoulland, because my neighbor [a high school english teacher] got free tickets when his school took a trip there a few weeks ago.

seoulland is an amusement park, but personally, i found it to be much less exciting than the other parks i've visited in korea: lotteworld and everland.

i went with my neighbor [jayme] and three of our korean friends. jayme and i had to go to a wedding that afternoon, so we weren't able to get to seoulland until very late--almost 6:00!!

since we were entering with free tickets, we were only allowed to ride 3 rides. luckily, one of the ride attendants didn't punch our card so we got to ride a fourth for free^^

the first roller coaster we went on was [or at least, appeared to be] the biggest ride in the park. it was the most exciting thing that we rode~~it went in upside-down loops and had a bunch of twists and turns. next, we rode something that looked like a free fall drop. but, it dropped really slow, and the most exciting part of the ride was the ascent [because that was super fast]. our third ride was a log flume water ride. we didn't get very wet [luckily...it was freezing that night!] and for the last ride, we went on this horrible thing that spins you around, upside down, super fast, and makes you feel like you are dying.

we left when the park closed at 9. overall, it was a good time~~i always enjoy hanging out with friends. the park was fun...but, i still definitely prefer lotteworld.

seoul soul festival 2010

this past weekend was the seoul soul festival, which was held at the korean war memorial in yongsan.

since the tickets were really expensive [88,000 KRW], i could only afford to see the show on saturday. totally ok, because that was the only day that SE7EN and 태양 [taeyang] were performing anyways.

i think i have officialy reached crazy fangirl status, because even though it was only my second time seeing SE7EN live, it was my fifth time to see taeyang live. unless you count the times i've seen him performing with bigbang, in which case it was my eighth time. [luckily--for taeyang and kpop singers everywhere--i will be taking a short hiatus from concert-going.]

anyways~~i went with al and col [my regular concert buddies]. we had to wait in lines for-freaking-ever. the event did not seem to be very well organized. the website stated that we had to be in line at 4pm to pick up our tickets. they didn't even open the eticket-trade-in booth until 4:45, and THEN there were supposed to be different lines depending on where you purchased the ticket, but the lines weren't labelled! it was a confusing mess. also, everyone was assigned a ticket number for their gate. the point was to line up in number order. this proved to be a task much too difficult for anyone to do. we all were like a huge, jumbled mass. also, the gates did NOT open at 5:30, as promised by the website. they didn't let my gate enter until almost 6:45!

but things settled down once we finally were able to go through the gate. col and i ended up having pretty amazing spots. we were about 4 people away from the stage [and by "stage" i mean "hottness"]. OH.MY.GOSH sooooo close!!

the concert itself was pretty amazing. SE7EN went on first, and he sang some songs off of his newest mini album [digital bounce*^^*...minus T.O.P ㅠ.ㅠ], as well as old favorites. he is an absolutely incredible performer. i mean, you can tell he's a good singer from listening to his recordings...but, to hear him live...you realize just how extremely talented he is. wow.

next was taeyang, who was incredible as always. he sang mostly just his brand new stuff, with the exception of 기도 and 나만 바라봐. [my favorites, so i was pleased.] obviously, this was not on as grand a scale as his solo concert, but he's still impressive nonetheless. fantastic vocals, fantastic choreography--he really knows how to engage a crowd. added bonus: he ripped his shirt off during his encore. sigh.

also, col and i were pretty much the only people with bigbang light sticks, and we're pretty sure that taeyang saw us.

after taeyang was the intermission, and i left during that because musiq soulchild was next and i have no idea who that is...

now it's time for YAYY pictures~!

SE7EN--ack! sooo close!!

ohh man...he looks like he's looking straight at my camera~~EEEEKKK~!

너무 멋있어요 *^^*

AHH-MAY-ZING

adventures in desk warming [part two]

games.

it takes me twenty minutes to walk to work. usually, the walk is quite dull, and even though i listen to music i often get bored. sometimes, to keep myself aware of my surroundings, i play games.

my favorite is a guessing game that i like to call "guy or girl?" sometimes, especially from a distance, people can appear to be androgynous. i attribute that to the fact that many of the styles here are unisex [this sometimes extends even to hairstyle]. also, a shockingly large number of men wear makeup.

the rules for my game are simple: i see someone from a distance, guess whether they are a guy or a girl, and then when they get close enough for me to tell i am awarded a point. if i guess correctly, it's +1 point, a wrong guess is -1 point, and if i still can't tell even when the individual is right in front of me, it's -2 points.

today's score: -2.

music.

F.T Island. 사랑 사랑 사랑 [love love love].
this song is not new, but i really like it. [actually, F.T Island has recently found their way onto my "top 5 favorite male kpop groups" list.]

eye candy.

F.T Island's spot in my top 5 may or may not have anything to do with my kind-of crush on lead singer, 이홍기 [lee hong ki].

TAEYANG CONCERT [round two]

it is a well-established fact that i am a crazy person, somewhat fangirlish, and kinda obsessed with bigbang. therefore, i fully support the solo efforts of each of the five members of bigbang. so when it was announced that taeyang would be giving TWO performances of his first full-length solo concert [he had a mini solo concert maybe 2-ish years ago when his mini-album, HOT, was released], i knew that attending both would be a necessity to my life.

on sunday, i went to the second and last performance of taeyang's solar concert.

my seats were located on the third floor, sixth row, right side. the previous night, i sat on the left side of the first floor; it was good to get a different view of the concert. since the concert hall was very small, the third floor seats weren't bad at all--i actually had a really good view.

the second concert was amazing and perfect in every way, just like the first performance. there were a few minor differences, and two major differences between the two. the minor differences included slightly different dances and lyrics.

the concert began with the intro track from solar playing, along with a video showing taeyang entering the concert hall. the lights dimmed. the fangirls screamed. and then, slowly, a white circle was lowered down onto the center of the stage. taeyang, dressed in a quite bling-y white outfit with his signature aviators, was standing in the circle. he stepped onto the stage and the band began to play the opening notes of 기도 [prayer]. i screamed enthusiastically--기도 is my favorite taeyang song.

every song was perfection [or at least, near-perfection]. i was amazed at how the band was able to transition seamlessly from song to song. and at how perfectly the song order had been chosen. he sang songs from all three of his albums: mini-album HOT, solar, and solar international.

my one criticism is that he sang the song "you're my" which i absolutely and utterly despise because it is pretty much the worst song ever [ok, so maybe not...but it's not good]. although, i will admit that hearing it live is approximatly one million times better than hearing the recording. also, when taeyang sang "you're my" he was looking pretty spiffy [and by "spiffy" i mean "hott"] in a suit.

the best outfits [worn by taeyang and his backup dancers] were, in my opinion, the ones worn during the songs "superstar" and "breakdown" [<--my favorite song from solar]. they looked like part of a drum line: red military style jackets with white pants worn by the guys, and the girls wore the red jackets with red miniskirts, white boots, and red hats with a white poofy feather on the front. sooo cool.

actually, "breakdown" was probably my favorite performance during the show. i lovelovelove the song, the outfits were amazing, and the choreography was excellent. also, taeyang just looked like he was having a lot of fun during that song.

IU was there as a guest performer both nights. [she's so cute.] she and taeyang sang a duet, and then she sang a solo song. both songs were in english. [taeyang sang 2 other songs in english as well during the concert.] it was quite impressive.

he ended the concert with a remixed version of 나만 바라봐 [only look at me]. sooo amazing. after finishing the song, he walked off the stage and the lights dimmed. but the audience wanted more, screaming for an encore for several minutes. suddenly, the band began to play once again, and taeyang came back [as we all knew he would]! he sang "where u at" and "take it slow"--a perfect encore. "take it slow" is a song written by taeyang himself, and is absolutely gorgeous live; it suits his voice so perfectly [and that boy can sing].

both the saturday and sunday show were like that...but, on sunday...

...OH.MY.GOSH. 2NE1 was there!! they are definitely my favorite of the kpop girl groups, and they sang 2 songs off of their new album: "can't nobody" and "go away".

also on sunday...

TAEYANG GAVE A SECOND ENCORE.

it was much, much later. the house lights came on, and EVERYONE started to leave. myself included. i was waiting in the lobby on the first floor when suddenly, i heard screaming. i wasn't about to wait and see what was going on, and instead, i immediately took action.

i went running back into the concert hall. some security people said something to me, but i didn't listen. i didn't care. all i knew was that taeyang was walking back onto the stage and i was absolutely going to be there to see it. due to my quickness and stealth, i found myself FREAKING EIGHT FEET from the stage and from taeyang himself. OH.MY.GOSH. i nearly died.

also--and importantly--i'm pretty sure that taeyang saw the sign i made. [결혼하고 싶어요 "i want to marry you".] me and my sign also [briefly] made it onto the screen during the second encore ANNDDD, before the concert, me and my sign were filmed by someone from some tv show. which means that my plan of making bigbang aware of my existence is moving along quite nicely. excellent.

during the second encore, taeyang sang 나만 바라봐 and "take it slow". during 나만 바라봐, he let the audience sing the chorus, and it was beautiful and wonderful and amazing and perfect. i really didn't want it to end.

sigh.

the concert hall at kyunghee university.

me and my famous sign...with taeyang ^^

coleen, allison, and me...sooo ready for the saturday night performance

at the sunday night show...the crown headband is totally legit [it's bigbang's symbol]

i was THAT close during the second encore on sunday--EEEEKKKK~!

OH.MY.GOSHHHHH. [i stole this picture from coleen ㅋㅋㅋ]