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Week 28 - Y2 (Sept 10th to Sept 16th) |
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Tuesday Sept 12,
I'm trying to get tickets for the Sergio Mendes
concert on Sept. 24th. Sergio Mendes is a Brazilian
composer/pianist/singer who I've always really
admired, and of course I've never seen him live, so I
was thrilled when I found out that he was coming to
Seoul for the first time. Of course, getting tickets
has proven to be a little more difficult than I
thought--first, the ticket website is all in Korean,
and since my computer is all in English, I can't even
do a search for the concert, because I can't type in
Korean on this computer! Second, it appears that they
only take Korean credit cards, and since I obviously
don't have one of those . . . Fortunately, Saoh (the
drum teacher who is studying conversational English
with me) is going to help me out with getting the
tickets.
Now that Kenji has moved into a new apartment with his
fiance, he has an extra bed that was moved into my
apartment tonight! Finally, no more mattress on the
floor! No more chronic back pain! (hopefully) The
bed was moved by one guy up four flights of stairs
into my apartment. It never ceases to amaze me, the
physical labour that Koreans manage to put themselves
through-- this dude was just a typically skinny short
Korean guy who said "No elevator? No problem!" I
couldn't even manage to move the old mattress out of
my bedroom by myself, and he lugged a mattress and a
bed frame up four flights of stairs BY HIMSELF! |
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Friday Sept. 15th,
Tonight I had a gig with Jae, Ben and WonSool at
Watercock (yeah, I know, the name. No we weren't
background music for an aquatic drag queen show. In
fact, Watercock is one of the most popular jazz clubs
in Seoul, and is owned by one of the bass teachers at
PaekChe). I had invited a lot of my friends in Seoul
(and Daegu for that matter), but I had forgotten that
it was SoundDay, which means that if you pay 15 bucks,
you get a wrist band, and you can go see live music at
a selection of 7 odd clubs. That means that there
were a ton of people there to see us play! I was kind
of nervous, because this was my first real gig in
Seoul (I count last week as kind of a jobbing gig),
and it was also my first time playing with Jae, who is
my boss. But despite my nerves, and despite the
crappy sound (honestly, what's with Korean clubs and
reverb? Is it really necessary to sound like I'm
singing in the shower?) it went over pretty well, and
I definitly relaxed by the second song. All three of
them sounded great, and I would definitly like to do
more stuff with Jae and Ben (Kenji was supposed to be
on the gig too, but he had to go to Singapore this
week for some shows).
On another note, I'm mildly concerned that Saoh may be
developing a little crush on me. He makes an effort
to see me every day at work, and he came to the show
tonight, after his own gig about an hour away by car.
Plus, he is always buying me things, like drinks, and
food, even on non-study days. Since I don't really
know what typical "flirting behaviour" is in Korea, I
don't really know how to diffuse it properly--
something to think about. Maybe he's just trying to
get as much English practise in as possible.
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Saturday Sept. 16th,
I don't know why I'm so exhausted. For some reason,
this week really took it out of me. I may be getting
sick, as this is kind the Korean cold season, and 90%
of my students are sick right now anyway. My plans
for the rest of the weekend-- relax, watch movies,
maybe have dinner with some friends. Nothing taxing!
I'm starting to think more about planning my Southeast
Asia tour for this winter. I need to start working
out dates, travel partners, accomodations, so on.
This week, I got some really cool news from home:
Kevin Mendes, a guy who I was spending a lot of time
with this summer in Toronto, may come on the trip!
He's not sure if he can put together enough money in
time, as he just took a trip to Portugal and Spain
this summer, but at the very least, he'll be coming to
visit me in Seoul, if not doing the big trip with me!
Definitly something to look forward, and good
motivation to start my planning . . .
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