Super Concert

Friday night John and I headed to the beach to enjoy our first K-POP (Korean Pop) concert. To say that K-POP is big here would be an understatement. John once asked one of his students with her headphones in, what she was listening to. He got a strange look and she replied, "K-POP" and couldn't fathom why he would ask such a stupid question.

Saturday night was the Busan Fireworks festival so all the popular bands were in town for a free concert on the beach. My new favorite band name is "Sistar" and my new favorite performer is "T.O.P". T.O.P has more of an edge to him, if only so slightly.

Although I had reserved tickets online, we got there late because of a dentist appointment so we were in the back.

No expense was spared.

Each band had matching outfits and coordinated dance moves.

This is the band "Sistar" performing their song, "So Cool".

I really enjoy the background for this song.

Here is T.O.P. You can't tell but he is slightly edgier.

The middle school students that I sometimes teach on Saturdays are huge fans of Shinee (pronounced Shiny).

Grandad

If you are one of the few people in my life who has not seen my Grandad's viral YouTube video, I strongly suggest you check it out. It will make your day. He's already appeared on two local television stations on the California central coast, and has fielded an "exploratory call" from the Rosie O'Donnell show. My mom says, the distribution has been predominantly through Yahoo mail, and not through social media, and it's number on in the U.S among 50-65 year-olds.

Would You Help Me

For some reason I just remembered this ridiculous song/video I made for a lesson on the phrase "Would you help me..." The lesson was kind of a flop, but I think the song stands up to the test of time.

Allergy Warning: This product contains trace elements of auto-tune.

It's the little things

Sometimes it's the little things that I try to take advantage of and appreciate about living in a different country. Often times when I am faced with a choice of things to buy I try to think to myself, what would I not be able to get in America. Sometimes that results in me having a persimmon smoothie instead of strawberry. Sometimes that's buying Aloe dish-soap instead of lemon. Last week I bought "Tiger Herb with bamboo salt" toothpaste instead of mint. It mostly tastes like baking soda.

Lantern Festival

Last Sunday John and I went to Jinju for their annual lantern festival. Our intention was to camp, but alas we were foiled by the bazillions of people there. Thankfully we were able to catch a bus home and sleep in our quiet, peaceful, warm (but not too warm) apartment.

Large lanterns floating on the river.

Cute kids posing in front of a lantern.

This photo was taken from I think the nicest park I've been to in Korea. It was an old fortress that has been restored into a lovely park.

Releasing lanterns into the water.

The lanterns were by far the coolest at night.

John just happened to catch the firework in this photo. Nice.

Tongyeong Part 2: Geoje

Upon saying goodbye to our church companions, John and I took a walk along the beach and enjoyed our snacks while watching the sunset. When the sun went down we went in search of dinner. We had resigned ourselves to a meal of expensive raw fish when one restaurant owner invited us in and asked if we wanted kimchi soup.  Yes!  I will be happy to eat cheap kimchi soup over expensive raw fish any day.  Success!

In the morning we played a quick game of badmitton and then took to the open road, taking a bus, and then a ferry back to the mainland where we saw some art, took artsy photos, and enjoyed decent cups of espresso.  From Tongyeong we took a 20 minute bus ride to Geoje and toured the site of a former POW camp.  It was much bigger and more impressive than I anticipated. I hope we go back soon because Geoje is supposed to have great beaches and hiking trails.

Crazy spider!

Watching the sunset.

Eating snacks.

The light on the water was awesome. No photoshopping.

Looking down on the town we eat dinner in.

Waiting for the bus.

This cat is having a good day.

Geoje outdoor sculpture garden.

POW camp.

They had special parking spots for pregnant women!

Tongyeong

Last Saturday John and I went on another excursion with his co-worker's church. We ended up parting from the group and spending the night on a beach (totally planned), but I'll share those photos a little later. I'm not feeling inspired to write, so I'll let the photos and the captions do the heavy lifting.

Here was our first of many group photos, taken at a rest stop.

The first stop was a "cable car" (gondola) ride up to the top of a mountain.

At the top in true Korea style they had "improved" the natural scenery.  This is a fake rock that I am knocking on.

Can you tell which one is real?

View from the top of the mountain.

On our way down we treated ourselves to a mountain berry/persimmon/vinegar drink.  

Lunch was a very famous regional specialty.  Seaweed, rice, and kimchi.  Very special...

Then we took a lovely ferry ride to the sight of a famous naval battle between Korea and Japan.

This was John and my final destination.  I'm not sure why there is a black strip across my chest.

We said goodbye to our fellow passengers (and our bus) reassuring them that we would survive.  And we did!