What a Weekend!

Hi there everybody,

Considering I'm officially on holiday as of today, I should make use of this time to fill you all in... I would say this past week has been the first week to actually feel like work. I was teaching classes in the mornings, called intensives, as well as working in the office in the afternoon. Waking up early was most definitely not a welcome change. However, I survived and now I have an entire week off.

There's a few cool things about teaching these morning classes...First, it's more like a real teaching set-up. I see the kids everyday, and I have them for two hours. It certainly is challenging to stay on top of everything, but I'm getting a taste of just how much is involved in teaching. Secondly, I get paid extra - which can't hurt, right? Anyway, after my one week holiday, I still have two more weeks left of these intensives...so the fun continues.

This weekend was quite epic - at least in my opinion! On Friday night, HJ and I, along with her co-workers, watched the much-hyped movie "The Host" or Gwoemul. I can't even tell you how incredible this movie was! Quite possibly the best "monster" movie ever, and quite easily one of the best Korean movies I've ever seen! Seriously, check...this...movie...out. The premise is not exactly complicated; it involves a monster that rampages through Seoul, but the special effects are simply phenomenal! But it's more than that though...the characters are beautifully crafted, and there is not-so-much as a whiff of Hollywood anywhere!

Saturday was a different kind of adventure. HJ and I bought tickets for this huge rock festival just outside of Seoul, in Incheon. The event was called Pentaport Rock Festival (don't ask me why) and was put on by MTV Korea. This was the first time anything of this size and nature was tried in Korea. I was sincerely surprised with the "hugeness" of some of the bands: The Strokes, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Story of the Year, Franz Ferdinand, Placebo and Black Eyed Peas.

Unfortunately, The Strokes played on the Friday so we missed them... Yet, we were there for the Saturday, which meant we got to see Placebo and Black Eyed Peas, as well as a slew of other Korean and Japanese bands. Now, by far, the craziest thing about the festival was the mud. And when I say mud, I mean lots and lots of mud. Because Seoul is still kinda in the monsoon season, it poured rain on the Friday. That meant one thing: the transformation of miles of dirt to glorious mud. Both Hyejung and I realized after about 15 minutes that our sandals were virtually useless against the pull of the mud. After that, things became much easier and much funner! You can't really beat mud squishing through your toes...

Although the mud did but a little damper on the day, it certainly didn't ruin it. We made do, just like everyone else. Of course, there were some really smart people who thought it would be cool to actually roll around in the mud. Can you guess who they were - crazy westerners!! Do you really think you would catch Korean people doing that!? Not in a million years!!

In terms of the music, there was no complaining here either. One of the highlights was this Japanese band called Dragon Ash, who played the coolest combination of music. In my mind, the closest American band would be Sublime, but that doesn't do Dragon Ash justice. They were much more than a reggae-rock band. In fact, the lead singer actually looked latino, and his English certainly sounded latino-american. So, imagine hugely energetic latino guitar with massive sing-along choruses, laced with Japanese...umm, yeah...the point is...they were great.

That said, Black Eyed Peas easily dominated the competition. Their live show was mind-blowing! So much talent, so much energy, so much creativity.... I mean how can you beat Fergie doing one-handed cartwheels while singing! And what about will.i.am's crazy rapping skills! I swear, he is totally the brother of k-os. Brilliance. Sheer brilliance. Before this concert, I kinda brushed them off as "top 40" material, but I think their artistic credibilty shone through brightly Saturday night.

Placebo ended the night, but had nowhere near the same energy as BEP. It was kinda cool to hear some of their new stuff as it was a little more uplifting than their earlier gloom-rock. More of a straight-forward rock sound. The problem was, I wasn't particularly impressed or inspired...it might have had something to do with spending hours slogging around in the mud. Both Hyejung and I were happy to get on the bus and fall asleep on the bus ride home..

Okay, so, here's that k-os/will.i.am thing again...isn't it creepy? They could very well be the same person....

k-os or will.i.am? You be the judge..

There's still more I'd like to write, so keep your eyes peeled.

Cheers!