I cannot believe I have managed to recap most of the fun and packed trip I had last October. It was so overwhelming to me when I thought about condensing the activities into blog posts and sorting out which picture had to be left out—there was like over 500 photos guys!. We are now on day 7 which means there's only one full day left to recap :( This is just like saying goodbye all over again to the amazing people I met on the trip and the experience I had.
I have noticed the my memory has been a little fuzzy as is expected, but it is amazing to me how much I have been able to remember seeing as how everything felt like I was in a whirlwind!!
After the hectic weekend we had and all that traveling, we were all exhausted so we got a late start to the day, kinda like extra time to rest. We did the usual morning routine—shower, breakfast and get ready for the day. The four teams all headed to their respective practice venues and my team headed to The National Gugak Centre for our Samulnori lesson. This was going to be our last rehearsal as we were performing the next day so we all felt the pressure to learn it well.—in case you have forgotten, I mention in day 1 that the lessons we were taking was for a recital at the closing ceremony. you can refresh your memory by clicking the links above for each day :)
As this was the last practice, our teacher divided into groups and each group had an instrument to play—so 4 groups for the 4 instruments that comprises Samulnori. The toughest one was the Jjangu but I find it the most fun to play so I chose it. The teacher arranged the music for us in the order that we will perform and we spent the rest of the morning rehearsing. The photos below show the final piece we played, it may look like a lot of scribble to you all but every stroke had a sound :)
After the session, we headed to lunch at the Hyundai greenfood Cafeteria. Then we went ahead for the afternoon activities. Our first stop was the Twosun company. It was at this business district with tall skyscrapers all fancy and stuff, the streets and everything else were massive and generally the neighborhood was fancy. The company had a magazine publishing branch "K-Wave" which had a K-wave museum, displaying pictures, magazine covers and memorabilia of celebrities—actors and singers making waves in the international scene. We all got a copy of the magazine, which was written in Korean and English. There was an interview of Lee Seung Gi which I loved reading!! This particular picture of the street view below was taken by James, see how massive it is!!!
This is an Ad by Ok Taecyeon of 2PM and the original sunglasses he wore!!
We got to see some of this jewelries etc that appeared in commercials
and dramas which was very exciting. After that, we were taken to one of
the studios for a mini photoshoot to kinda get a feel of what the
celebrities get to do during one of those. To be honest it was all
exciting for me, and whilst we were there, in the room next door, a
celebrity was being interviewed. For the life of me I cannot remember who
it was.
Well that was that, and onto the most exciting part of the day......
drum roll please.....
We went back to Arirang studio to watch the filming of Simply Kpop. Now I don't watch Simply Kpop, but I learnt it is a music show with performances from bands and singers so it meant we would be up close with the celebrities. The filming we were scheduled to watch was Monsta X and Homme—which is a duo group made up ofn Lee Hyu of 8eight and Lee Chang Min of 2AM. The experience was as surreal as you can ever imagine. The guys of Monsta X were all sooo cuute!! Especially Wonho, I had noona googly eyes! The episode below was the one we sat in on in case you wanna check it out. Just imagine a bunch of foreigners on the other side of the stage oohing and aahing.
For me it was extra exciting because I am a Media student so seeing behind the scene of how a show is filmed was priceless! This was like a learning trip for me in so many ways. Another fascinating thing that I forgot to mention in my past posts was how much my Korean improved from one week of constantly using it, I didn't magically become fluent but the massive change was noteworthy!!
We are almost at the end. I am nostalgic from writing this one but I am also excited to get back into writing about Korean culture. I am also getting back into making youtube videos, check my channel out by clicking here :)
See you on my next adventures!
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안녕,
meera
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