Hello again!
How've you all been? I hope this finds you well. I've had some interesting adventures with our very own, harmless warrior, Sara Davidson. ^^
This weekend, I figuratively called Sara up (because I don't yet have my F4 visa and thus my alien registration card, which would enable me to buy a phone...) and proposed that we hang out for the weekend instead of just on Sunday, as previously planned.
Now, I previously had an inkling of what her life had been like for the last week or two she'd been in Korea. Nevertheless, I still managed to be blindsided when I lost my footing and found myself hurtling down the rabbit hole of Korean fangirl culture.
We began the weekend with me taking the wrong direction at one of my three transfers on the subway, after having woken up and left my house twenty minutes later than I'd intended and meeting up about an hour later than originally planned. Despite this, we had a good time taking the subway to NamDaeMun, one of the big marketplaces in Seoul and both a large tourist attraction as well as a local frequent. All of our subway adventures seemed to overshoot by a stop this weekend. -_-; We wandered around the marketplace (NamDaeMun is all street market for about a 5-block radius) and had KalGookSoo, yummy noodles in a warm soup, and HoDhuk, a warm, fried, honey-filled pastry-type thing.
Then, including subway mishap, we went off to InsaDong, the traditional district in Seoul, and there were lots of Buhddist temples, gates, and shrines to visit, as well as the traditional palace (which we didn't end up having time to go to), -- and InsaDong Street. There were lots of little stores and stands that sold traditional tea wards and other ceramics, and Buddhist merchandise. The place was lined with traditional souvenirs of fans, tableware, lacquered boxes and utensils, and all kinds of historic memoirs you could imagine! There were entire stores of traditional papers, brushes, signature stamps, and inkwells. In addition to all of this madness, there was street food that contributed to the air of tradition and nostalgia: traditional taffy-like candy in pumpkin, rice and ginger flavors as well as a sort of toffee-like snack made from sugar and baking soda. After picking up some of the street food, it was about time to run off to our first time check.
Now, the time check was at 8:30, but we were going to stop by Sara's hostel room/tent first and then head over to Gayang and the SBS studio. We had a hilarious subway ordeal trying to get to said time check and were almost late, but we ran and made it just in time! XD
What is a time check, you ask? I really should let Sara explain, but on her behalf...
A time check is a part of the process fangirls go through to get into the pre-recording session their favourite idol group/star will perform before an actual music show, in this case SBS's Inkigayo. There is a list one must sign up on, hosted by the fan club of that group, in Sara's case ELF for Super Junior, as early as possible. This sign-up list is run-through at each of the different time checks. The ELF representative/volunteer will call each name on the list (in order, so you must remember your number) beginning from the time the time check is scheduled to be. If you are late at all and do not respond when your name is called, they cross you off the list and you have lost your place and must join back at the end of the line. There are three or four time checks until the time SBS will let fans in to see the pre-recording. Only ELF has time checks throughout the night and wee hours of the morning. Why? Your guess is as good as mine, perhaps to prove just how hardcore you are?
Our time checks were at 8:30pm, 4:00am, and 7:30am and then people would begin to enter a few hours later.
This, if you can imagine, would result in crowds of fangirls sleeping outside the SBS studio on cardboard boxes, newspapers, and picnic mats all Saturday night and well into Sunday morning. Sara, a new friend we met, and I ended up hanging out and napping at the nearby 24-hour HomePlus, a large grocery store chain. Talk about feeling like a homeless bum, haha.
I parted ways with the girls briefly to visit a nearby church for a couple of hours and then met back up with them a bit later for the real show. Sara finally met back up with me (getting around without a cell phone is painfully difficult, by the by) and we stood in MORE lines by ticket number to get into the show. We ended up being separated because of our ticket number, much to my dismay, I'd kind of wanted to see Sara in her fangirl state of mind, but alas! It was not to be~ When we finally got in, I ended up being at the very top in the very back and without a real seat. Nonetheless, the seat was still pretty decent because the studio was tiny! The place was packed with something like just over 500 people, but I was still within decent distance of the stage and could see faces and see what was going on.
The show itself was rather interesting, despite the screaming fangirls and fanboys and...fan-ahjusshis (middle-aged men). It was kind of wild to see, directly in front of me, people and the live version of a show that I'd only seen bits and pieces of on my little computer screen in an even smaller window on Youtube. I wasn't utterly blown away like some of the people were, but it was definitely an experience I'll remember. Also, as a side note, Kim Heechul of Super Junior was having his last performance before going off to mandatory military service and by the time SuJu came on stage to perform, there were all matter of screaming, sobbing fangirls filling the room. It was mildly intimidating.
Post-show, hordes of fangirls/fanboys lined the street and entrance to the parking lot to see the vans of their favourite stars as they passed by. Also, the wealthier Japanese and Chinese (foreign and consequently more desperate) fans line taxis up ready to tail after the vans. Something like 80% of all these people were ELFs waiting to see SuJu off. Idol stars, knowing this, customarily roll their window down half-way to wave or stick their heads out. They also drive about three lanes into the road, off of the sidewalk, to avoid getting totally mobbed by rabid fangirls. Today, however, probably because it was Kim Heechul's last live performance, they mobbed the van at the red light anyway, running into the road and around stopped cars.
After this roller coaster of a journey, Sara and I headed back to her hostel and I had the intent to hang out with her, but she was entirely too exhausted and we ended up taking a short nap. Then I went on my way home, which took an inordinately long time. The subway was inexplicably delayed and the trip took something like an hour to an hour and a half. Once I returned to my home station, I walked out of the station only to realise that I didn't remember the directions back to my residence! I ended up wandering around, carrying all my stuff, for another half-hour or so on the streets of Ilsan. I definitely passed out pretty much as soon as I got home.
Since then, I've mostly been staying at home and going to my workplace for continued training. Oh! I'm teaching my first class tomorrow and I'm a bit nervous, but I hope it goes alright. Also my first "company dinner," which has its own connotations and meanings here in Korea. Namely, people get wasted and it's generally rowdy and crazy. I'm more nervous about that than the class. -_-; I hope I get through this without making terrible social mistakes, like refuse alcohol too much to the point of offending a superior or something. Oy vey, wish me luck!
I hope my lovelies have a wonderful day/night, wherever you are! I love you muchly.
Sincerely,
Seoul Searching
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