Eat Your Heart Out Disney, My Dreams Came True in Korea

Alright everyone, I have accomplished one of my cheesy, non-life changing goals for Korea. I went to a K-Pop show last night and absolutely loved it! For those of you that don't know, I am a huge fan of Korean Pop music. I know, I know, the eye rolls and the "oh my gosh" comments have been heard repeatedly. I just love this music! When I started looking into coming to Korea almost 2 years ago, I started researching the culture and discovered K-Pop. Now don't get me wrong, this music and the cheesyness do not define Korea. However, these K-Pop Idols are plastered everywhere selling things like clothes, phones, pizza, chicken, etc. This music is comparable to American music, but with a twist. The variety ranges from bubblegum pop to hardcore rapping. Anyway, I was so bummed because at the end of September there was a show by an artist named TaeYang ("tay young"). I really wanted to go, but I didn't have anyone who was interested to go with and the tickets were 90,000 won. I hadn't received my first paycheck so funds were a little low. So that show came and went and I was sad :( TaeYang is like a Usher, Neyo, Chris Brown (minus the jerk factor) in a Korean mans body. He's a hearthrob in Korea!

I happened to hear about a festival called the Seoul Soul Festival and a couple of Korean and American artists would be performing. SE7EN who is also a R&B singer in Korea was performing and Musiq Soulchild from the States was to be there too. Then there was a hidden member revealed a week before the festival and it was TAEYANG! I knew I had to go and didn't care the price, time or place! I spent all week asking people from work if they wanted to go and no one did. I decided that it didn't matter and I was going to go alone! Thankfully, my good friend Alida decided to save my dignity and come with me. Tickets were 88,000 won and it was all standing room only. We waited in line for about 1 hour and then they opened the gates and we ran to get a good spot. We were about 15 feet away from the stage and the view was perfect!

SE7EN performed first. He had such a incredible voice and his range was amazing. This artist is definitely a pretty boy though. He was the most perfectly symmetrical face and everyone wants to look like him. I melted and cried when he sang a ballad about finding your way back home after long journeys. Alida and I held each othered and swayed. By the way, all the songs are mostly in Korean with English words thrown in. Except SE7EN sings some songs in English only. After SE7EN, TaeYang took the stage and thats when things got wild! This boy has stage presence and the moves to be famous worldwide! I couldn't believe how much energy he had and he danced/sang his little heart out. I say "little" because he is so much shorter in person! Oh well, I didn't care and was 15 feet away from him! We shared a few moments were I swear he winked or smiled at me haha. I'm hard to miss in a sea of Korean girls.

Throughout the performance, TaeYang kept removing his tops and throwing them into the audience. When he left the stage I made the comment that he can't do an encore because he has no more clothing to give away unless he takes off his pants! Speaking of the word "encore", all the Korean girls (and a few boys) were screaming "Acorn acorn acorn." I could not figure out what they were chanting, maybe something in Korean. Then it hit me that they were saying "encore." Hahaha I chuckled to myself about that one. After the concert, I could have easily died a happy girl haha. I will definitely be going to more K-Pop shows and I have Alida convinced too! She loved it as well and asked when the next one is! Ahhhh there are more people like me in the world hehe :)