Busan: Beaches, Boys, and Blue Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Finally back in Seoul after a quick two and a half days in Busan. For those of you that do not know, Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and is located on the southernmost part of the peninsula. It is well known for its fresh fish and beautiful beaches. But the reason that we were going there was to see part of the biggest event that happens in the beach town, The Busan International Film Festival.  

So since I like to tell things how they are, even though that makes me a little long winded with the explanations (I know mom that I promised you that they would be shorter posts, but oh well), let me start off at the beginning and work my way to the end.

We were told to get the Seoul Station by 8:20am by our program staff so most of us were down in the lobby of our dorm by 7:30 ready to go. I went with my roommate and a few others by bus and got there by 7:45 am which was great because we were able to grab breakfast at the meeting place which happened to be a McDonalds. There breakfast there was very similar to the ones in the states, but a little bit more variety in what we could order for breakfast. I ended up getting a chicken biscuit sandwich set that came with a can of Tropicana OJ and a hash brown.  Eventually the other people in my group showed up after navigating the subway and or getting a taxi. So even though we were all there by the time that our program wanted us there by, our train was not until 9:20, so we all just hung out around the station until we were allowed to board or train and head off to Busan.

The train was very similar to the train that I took from Paris to Belgium when I did my Rotary exchange a few years back. Pretty much it was like a plane ride on tracks, they dimmed the lights and had a snack trolley that came down periodically to see snacks, and thankfully I had gotten a few munchies before I got to the station from the local convenience store which was way cheaper.  The train ride was pretty uneventful. It was pretty rainy/overcast outside so there was not much to see off in the distance. Korea outside of Seoul is pretty rural, or at least by the train a track is was, so most of what I saw outside of the window was farm land with a few factories dotted here and there. SO since there was not much to see outside of the window, I mostly listened to my ipod and Kakaoed with my mom and sister back home. For those of you that don’t know what Kakao is, it is like the Korean version of Viber back in the states. It is a free app that allows you to chat and call people for free, and the Koreans are obsessed with it!

After about two and a half hours on the train, thirty of those being a human pillow for my friend and seatmate, we finally made it Busan. It was sprinkling and a little overcast, but amazing. As soon as I stepped off the train on to the platform, I was instantly hit with the ever present sea breeze and I was instantly brought back to the AFG (Awful/Awesome Family Gathering, depends on your mindset) that I went to in Jacksonville the week before I flew out to Korea.

We took a VERY crowded bus to Haeyundae Beach area (the main touristy part of Busan) and checked into our hotel and were turned lose on the city by our directors. I went out to lunch with a few of the guys in the program and then went back to the hotel to go see my first movie of the festival after checking out the beach and the main festival pavilion of the make shift boardwalk on the beach across from the hotel. The movie that I wanted to see was Rough Play, Lee Joon’s newest movie for all of you fellow Kpopers. Pretty much it tis a story about an actor and how he slowly goes crazy because of the demand of his job and his ability to shake his characters’ personas off of his own personality. I really wanted to go see if because this would be my only chance to see it with English subs since it is going to be release here in Korea without subs in a few months.  So I was heading out, but a few friends wanted to go as well, so we left a little later than I had wanted but it was still all good, but after not being able to find the subway and with fifteen minutes until the start of the movie, we decided to ditch the movie and get ice cream (I got blue Chocolate mint flavor, so freaking good) and plan our next move.  

We ended up going to the BIFF (Busan Film Festival) Pavillon on the beach and got to see a live interview with the starts for the movie Top Star and were able to see all the fans and paparazzi go crazy when they were trying to leave. Truthfully we were mostly just people watching and creeping on the security guards and the volunteers that were working at the event.

I think it was a requirement that the festival hired only good looking young men and women to work. All the guys spoke unaccented English and were very cute and were not afraid of coming over to see if you needed help. All of us girls were very grateful for this fact! So yeah… we ended up creeping on them a lot until we tried to go see a movie later that night. We went to the theater and tried to get tickets with the vouchers that we were given, but got confused on how we were supposed to get the tickets. So instead we just walked back to the hotel (it was about 8:30pm by then) and ended up going down a side street that was lined with small stalls selling fish and spices with one or two small family run restaurants dispersed in between.  We ended up eating in a small Mandu (dumpling) shop that was run by a small family.

Oh my gosh, this place was amazing. The food was all made by hands and the dumplings were made right out front of the shop. You could watch them make the filling and shape the mandu by hand. We got the traditional pork dumplings and also the kimchi pork dumplings to split between the three of us. For only 7,000 won (3,500 for one order) we got eighteen dumplings total with banchan (or side dishes).  I really loved this place and ended up eating there for most of my trip! They even had one of my favorite Korean dished Kalguksu (noodles in a beef bone broth) that was simply delicious and could easily be split between two people.

The next day, I went to the mandu place again and got the noodles for breakfast with a few of my friends, and then a girl named Karen and I went to the Busan Aquarium.

The Aquarium is the largest in the country and was so much fun. I got to see them feed both the penguins and the sharks! There was even a touch tank where we were able to pick up starfish and hermit crabs. There was a school group that was there was well, and all the girls were afraid to pic anything up. Since Karan and I were the only westerners in the area at the time, everyone was impressed and curious when we fearlessly picked up things and held them without freaking out. I actually impressed one of the workers that were helping out in the hermit crab tanks, because I was able to hold the hermit crabs without them retreating back in to their shells, so I had all the students around me looking at the hermit crab up close. Karen dubbed me the Hermit crab whisperer!

After the Aquarium, we met up with a few girls form our program and we went up to the festival’s headquarters in downtown Busan (after getting directions form two cute volunteers who popped up out of nowhere like freaking  ninjas that pointed the way to the free bus). 

When we got there, we traded our vouchers for movie tickets, one for an Indy love story called Pascha and one for a  sci-fi post-apocalyptic film called Snowpiercer.  Since our movies were in the area, we went to the mall were the theater was located and just walked around and got lunch in the basement food court. Now let me tell you about the food courts here in Korea. They are actually really high quality dishes and you definitely get your money worth. Even though mall food is expensive in comparison to what we pay for in the States at the mall food courts (think like $5 vs $7-8). After lunch and getting some gourmet cupcakes/muffins (I got a blueberry preserve and a raspberry cream one!) we went up the rooftop garden to eat our cup-muffins and wait the remaining time until our movie. On the roof top there was a play area for kids that included a small petting zoo that had hedgehogs, puppies, flying squirrels, chipmunks, and bunnies.

Pascha was an interesting movie. Now that I think back on I, it seems like a good movie, but while I was watching it, I was not all that into it. For those of you that watched Elizabeth Town with Orlando Bloom, it had a slightly more indie feel to it (the movie synopsis: http://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_view.asp?idx=10415&c_idx=55&sp_idx=&QueryStep=2).  We got out and then got dinner in the other mall in one of the restaurants; I split a mandu dish with Karen, and then made our way to the main center for the festival to go see our final movie for the day, Snowpiecer.

 Now I really liked Snowpiercer (http://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_view.asp?idx=10869&c_idx=51&sp_idx=&QueryStep=2). The movie had actually been out in theatres here in Korean for a few week prior to me going to Busan, but the showing that I went to was the first time that the film was being shown to an international audience. Since it was the first time, the main Korean actor and the Director came out on stage before the showing and introduced the movie and the director stayed afterwards to answer questions about the film and his process that the audience had after watching the film. But this movie was great; there was action, really in depth character development, and even a few surprise endings that I was not expecting at all. The cast for this cast for this was great and many of my favorite actors were in the film like Octavia Spencer (the film was shot in English and was shown with Korean subtitles). Before the film was shown the director told us for English speaking countries like the US, Austrailia, New Zealand, Canada, and South Africa to pay special attention because this was the only time that we would be able to see the film in the was that the director wanted to show it. For the debut in the English speaking countries the producers were going to cut the film and change a few of the scenes to better “fit” the audiences. So I was in for a treat because I have read somewhere that when the film was test viewed in the states, it did not get great reviews because the edits made the film more action driven than plot driven.  For those that can, try to see the film in its original form, it is amazing!

That night a few of my close friends that I have made in the program and I got together around midnight and went out to the beach to watch the wave and just chill.  We had bought a bottle of rice wine and just played in the surf, I only went up to my knees because the water was a little chilly and I was not in a bathing suit, just a skirt and tank top. But like any beach city in the States, all the young people were out  with their friends just relaxing and watching the surf; but none of them were going in the water and were bundled up, while we foreigners were in short sleeves (let’s just say we got a few stares that night).

On my final day in Busan, I had breakfast at my favorite mandu shop and had the noodles again with one of the large bun like mandu that was so good, I wanted to buy another to eat even though I was full.  I got a green tea frap and a cupcake that was made using real butter (a huge rarity here in Korea) and studies for my Korean Vocab test that I was going to have that Thursday.

Since I did not have any more tickets to go see films and it was slightly raining, I took a taxi with a few friend to the Train station earlier than we needed to so that we could get some homework done in the coffee shop there before we needed to be on the train. Actually a lot of people in the program had that idea, because all twenty of us got to the train station two hours before we needed to meet up and had a group study section in the café there.

The train ride back to Seoul seemed longer than going, even though I slept most of it and only really listened to my ipod the whole way.  But since it was really gloomy and raining for most of the trip, it just seemed longer. I later found out that there was a minor typhoon off the coast of Busan that was the reason for all the bad weather we were having in Busan and later in Seoul for the days following my trip.

            But mostly for me, the trip was far too quick, but it really made me start to miss home. Since I lived in Jacksonville Florida for a while and majority of my family lives there, we tend to spend lot of time at the beach together.  Being back at the beach and because Busan had a very relaxed beach town feel to it, I got caught up in the similarities to how I feel when I am at the beach with my family, I was a little homesick during the trip. But in general, I just want to go back and see more of the city and the beach, because there was so much more that I wanted to see outside of the tourist area that I mostly staid in.

Chillin With Dem AOM Crew

So last night was really fun. I had sent in my RSVP for the AOMG launch party that was being co-hosted by Ben Baller and Jay Park and being run by Tastemakers.   

Mr. Park himself. He was wearing a shirt for the event, but that smirk was still there!

Truthfully I was not really sure that I wanted to go to it; I was tired from classes and had not really slept all that well the night before because I had gotten back to Seoul from Busan. But I mustered up the energy and after finishing my Korean Paper Craft class, went back to the room and got ready.  The party was being hosed at The A (Art Nouveau) in Gangman, so it took a while for us to get there from Sinchon via the subway. But when we got there, we were a little confused, because even though we had gotten a confirmation form Tastemakers, we still needed to download a music app in order to get in. The app was free, and as we later found out, not really needed unless you wanted another free drink once you got inside.  

Inside was really cool, when you first walked down the stairs there was a live art exhibit (topless girls in body paint made up to blend into the painting behind them) and a hallway that had graphic art all along it leading to another set of stairs that went down to the dance floor and General VIP section (my section).  In the general area, there were free games that people could play to win Tastemakers swag. I did a hammer strength game and got a beanie and then also did the claw game to win another hat that I later gave to a friend of mine that I met outside in the line to go into the venue.

  There were a lot of people there when we arrived, but like most Korean clubs that I have been to, no one was really dancing; they were all just standing and king of bopping to the music. I kind of feel bad for the DJ, because he was playing some really good mixes and trying to get the energy up in the club. Since no one was really dancing I went up to get some air to meet up with two of my friends and just chilled outside for a while. As I was heading up the stairs to get outside, I stopped while a group of girls were talking picture with the living art models. As I was about to go past them, Jay Park walked by heading to the dance floor area. We made eye contact and then went back to what we were doing. I vaguely remember my only thoughts were that he seemed shorter in person and that he really did get that nose ring a few months ago.

 When we went back in, we stopped at the VVIP table to see if there was any way that we would be able to “level up” so to speak. Unfortunately there were no more spaces left (I later found out that it was just a place for people to have more space if they paid for it, the stars were in the VVVIP section behind the stage). But while we were about to ask the people at the table, I get a glimpse of a person coming down the stairs who vaguely looked like G-Dragon. My friend, who also got a glimpse, and I looked up and saw that it was in fact G-Dragon. He came down the stairs and stood maybe about a foot or two away from me. He looked slightly confused as to where he needed to go/ if he needed to check in or anything, but then his posse showed up and brought him to where he needed to go.  But much like Jay Park, G-Dragon looked smaller in person than he does through my computer screen…but even in real like that boy knows how to dress!

G-Dragon, Korea's Fashion icon and leader of Big Bang. There is nothing this guys has not done

Since we could not get the tickets, we went back downstairs and I met up with a group from my program that came in after I did right at the front of the stage that had been set up in front of the DJ booth.  I found a spot on the wall right at the stage edge and had a great view of the performance. It started off with the Pastegirls, pretty my burlesque dancers that are part of the Tastemakers party package. After the show, Ben Baller came on stage and started the performances. From my spot, I had a great view of g-Dragon, Dara, CL, and the rest of their crews just chilling by the stage drinking, dancing, and just enjoying the performances. G-dragon was so cute, while Zion T. was performing, he had gotten up on the stage and sat down cross legged and started to film the performances on his phone.  But man, the show was sick. We had performances by Zion T., Illionaire, Jay Park and AOM Crew, Dok2, and Binzino. 

Dok2, one of my favorite rappers form the event. I am actually going to see him in a few hours for MU:CON

While all this was going on,  the crowds were pushing to get a glimpse of the stars and to film the performances, but once the show was over and the stars went back to their area to party it out in their own way, most people left and those of us that staid were able to spread out and actually dance to the guest DJs that were there. One of the DJs was actually Justin Beiber’s concert DJ. I actually liked his set because he would play a mixture of American songs that all of us knew by heart and that were fun to dance along to. The only problem was that at the end of his set, the music went a little too electronic for my taste. But we had fun just dancing and having a good time. 

Around 4 am my group was getting tired and so we decided to head back to the dorms. I truthfully could have stayed out longer, but they had the locker for our bags and I could not find my other group from my program in the crowds. But I am actually glad that we left when we did, because I would not have been able to meet Eli and Kevin form UKISS if I had decided to stay downstairs.  We had walked outside and tried to flag down a cab, when we noticed a group of people standing around speaking English. I thought that I had heard a voice like Kevin’s and thought that there was no way that they would be there. But they proved me wrong.  Kevin was wearing jeans and a shirt under a flannel with a beanie (very hipsterish, but it strangely suited him very well) and Eli was there in just jeans and a t-shirt with a backwards flat bill on.

Eli, aka perfection!

"Oppa" Kevin

 Both seemed do chill and normal that it did not really register that I was talking to them until Eli shook my hand and both of them turned to face us and talk to us. We mostly just told them that we have loved their music and that we were glad that they came back from Japan. Kevin even asked us why we were leaving so early (He joked, asking if we had had enough of the dancing and booze), we just told them that we would like to have staid longer, but my friends had class and a test today. They were shocked and said that we were so young to still be students. We argued that they were only a few years older than we were. We even asked Kevin what line he was (like we did not know) and when he said 91, we just laughed and said that we were 93, so there was only a 2 year difference. He just said that he could still call us young and that we should call him “Oppa” (all three of us gave each other the “did-he-just-say-that” look and then laughed). There was an empty cab and since they were not allowed to take picture (we found that out when a group of freaking out fan girls asked before we came up) and we did not want to interrupt their conversation any longer, we said our goodbye and shook hands again. I told them that I was looking forward to their comeback and they told me that I did not need to wait too long and to keep supporting them. 

I fangirled all the way back to school. Dying from Eli feels the whole way (Eli is my bias in UKISS and is one of my ultimates along with Key form SHINee).

This is Key, member of the group SHINee. My Co-Ultimate with Eli

We finished up the night with McDonald’s chicken nuggets. This morning I am still trying to hear everyone else’s’ stories. Some of my friends were able to interact with more celebrities and even got to go to the VVVIP section. They also saw a lot more people than I did. One of my friends saw Justin Beiber, Lim and Min from Miss A, Jo Kwon, same members from Girls Generation and a few members from 2pm.  To say that the Launch Party was the place to be would be an understatement. Even at 4 am, I even missed a lot!

YonkoJeon

I am a big sports fan. I was raised on American football and soccer. Every Sunday at my home we had the game on the TV all afternoon and then watched highlights from the other games that we had not watched. Since my birthday falls around the time of the Super bowl, I am used to being surrounded by fans and cheering for sporting events. I have played soccer and have attended many different types of sporting event imaginable growing up and have had many experiences with fans and the different types of cheering that they do while watching and supporting their teams. But I was not expecting the enthusiasm and passion that came from the cheerleaders and the audience members at both the baseball game on Friday and especially at the Soccer match that was on Saturday. 

Ok, before I get in to my long monologue about how different the cheering styles are, let me divulge into a quick summery of what cheering culture means to me as a college student who hails from the South Eastern part of America. At baseball games, there is not much cheering, mostly what I have seen is that most of the audience members are sitting down and only really stand up to go get food or if there was a passionate play out on the pitch. Same with soccer and football games at my university. There is some standing up to cheer on a particularly interesting or good play, but most of the time people are sitting down in the stands and watching the game more than the cheerleaders or whatever is going on in the sidelines.

But not in Korea, or at least from what I saw at YonkoJeon. From the time that I entered the stadium to the end of the game (with the exception of a brief 15 minutes for the half time show) the other students and I did not sit down in our seats once for the whole entire game. We all were on our feet yelling and cheering our hearts out following our 10 leaders whole where dressed in frilly colorful outfits dancing up on platforms down by the fields. The cheerleaders did not stop bouncing and dancing for the whole game and did not once stop and turn around to watch the game that was going on behind them.

Sure they switched up the members on stage every once and a while. So times it was just the girls and sometimes the guys would be up there dancing a long to EXO’s Growl, but for the whole game they (and us students) did not stop cheering. At times, I even forgot there was a game going on down on the field. I was having too much fun singing and moving along with the huge crowd of blue that I was surrounded by in the stands.

And when I say cheering, what I really mean is dancing and swaying with the person next to you while you cheer and sing until you lose your voice. After two days of this non-stop cheering at the three games that I went to, I was so tired that I passed out around eight at night. I have no idea how the cheerleaders were able to last for all five games, dancing around in their high heeled boots (yes, even the guys had some lift in theirs) and leading the gigantic sea of students in front of them.  And when Yonsei would get a point in the game, oh man, all hell would break loose; there was streamers, fireworks, confetti, big blow up dancing things, and smoke machines going full blast. And obviously there would be another round of singing and cheering, only this time even more louder , if that was even possible!

I had always thought that back in the states we were pretty supportive with our teams; there would be some cheering and celebrating during the game, but in reality now that I think about it, most of the cheering and comradely comes before and after the games in the form of tailgating and after parties, not really in the game itself. In fact I think that that is the only things that I think we Americans are a little better at. We actually watch the games and put our full attention into what is going on the field. At some points in all three games, I had to remind myself to actually watch the game and focus on what the players were doing rather than cheer with the other people in the stands.

But the feeling on unity that was in the stands was unreal. Everyone was together, cheering the same cheers and doing the same motions; it was so surreal. Added to the fact that Korea University was doing the same thing to different cheers, it really was like two oceans were meeting in voice and motion in the stands. Truthfully out cheering the other school was almost as important, if more so, than the game that was being played out on the field.

at the baseball game

so many students!

our fearless leaders

cheering Yonsei on the victory

fireworks for one of the goals during the Rugby game

full stands at the Olympic Stadium for the Rugby game

the Medical Science dept had their own flag

our fearless leaders leading us in the cheers for the soccer game

the packed stands for the soccer game. The two big banners were eventually taken down and the seats filled in during half time for the soccer game

final celebration for the soccer game.

Loved being part of the big blue cheering ocean!

Idols, Chick-fil-a, and Charades

So fun news, yesterday I was able to go to a live filming for Arirang's After School Club's Chuseok special live with BTOB. I  had applied a week ago and was selected to attend. I was ever selected to go on stage and play games with the members. So when the people at Arirang called me, they told me to be at the studio by 1:20 pm so I left the dorms at 11:30 and with my Seoul subway map and the hand drawn map of the area around Arirang (so I would have less of a chance of getting lost) and arrived at 1:10. After signing in and being told to come back at 2, another Melody (BTOB's fan group) and I went to a near by coffee shop/cafe and got iced drinks, because man it is so hot here in the city again. But the cool thing was we tried to go into the studio via the main doors to find the cafe, but as we were walking up the steps, we saw that the members of BTOB were having a Q&A/ Photo session on the lobby floor! So mid step, we turned and went back down to the street and looked somewhere else for drinks. We got back to the studio around 1:30ish so we waited with the other fans for them to call us back to head up to the rehearsal room.

Around 1:50ish, a lady who worked as one of the stage managers came down to call the next group of "gamers" to the stage. She only needed five, even thought there was about eight to ten of us there who were told we would be able to participate in the day's games. Yep, that is right there were going to be only ten out of the twenty people that had applies that were actually going to be able to participate in the games for the shows! So the remaining group members quickly got into a circle to play rock,-paper-scissors to see who would be the remaining four members to the last group (there was a guys there, and since fanboys are such a rarity, we decided to let him go). I threw rock, as well as two other girls, while the others all threw scissors, so we were able to get into the group. The last girl to join our group came three rounds later, so finally we were a big happy 5 member team!

Once inside the building we were made to wait in the hallway outside of the studio/waiting room for BTOB. We all got to know each other and started talking about the band. We decided to take a group picture in front of one of the signs in the lobby we were at, but as we walked by the door that lead to the waiting room/studio, we saw that the boys were there and that all of them (esp Peniel who is form the States and thus can understand English VERY well) were in there and not on the stage, so they were able to hear everything we were talking about; everything from our classes to who our biases in the group were and the reasons why.

Eventually we were brought into the studio to do a run through of the program and our cues. We we entered, the first star that we meet was Hanbyul, one of the hosts of the show and also the lead singer of LEDApple, and Tia form the group Chocolat.

Tia never really talked to us, so I don;t really have much to say about her, other than she is really pretty and extremely young ( I think she was born in 1997/1996!!). But Hanbyul did not seem real to me. He was so hyper and 4D  that it was almost like he was an animation come to life. As soon as we walked in and were seated behind the host seats, he turned around and started to ask us questions about where we were from and what we were doing here in Korea.

Eric Nam, the other host and a wonderful solo singer, came in a few minutes after we were seated and started asking us the same questions that Hanbyul did. When he heard that I was from North Carolina, he was super excited to have another Southerner there with him (he is from ATL) and we started talking about how much we missed Chick-fil-a and I started to tell him the wonders of Cheerwine. And guess what, he even know about Sewanee and even had friend who had gone there. He is the second person who know about my university that I have met here in Korea; who knew my little liberal arts school on top of a mountain would be so well know on the other side of the world! Plus I was able to talk and connect with him! All this was taking place while Hanbyul was talking with his cousin through the Google hangout, while the other gamers were just looking around the studio and taking everything in (anyway, I need to move on before I start letting my inner fangirl take over...).

SO before I get to into the story, let me give you a run down of the boys so you know what I'll be talking about:

The whole group: BTOB, under the CUBE Entertainment Label

Eunkwang; Leader; vocalist; extremely nice and interacted with our group the most

 

Minhyuk; vocalist; looks smaller in person; self proclaimed "sexy member"

Ilhoon; main rapper; BEAUTIFUL EYES OMG; very cute and childish, yet mature at the same time

Changsub; vocalist; so 4D (weird and random) out of the whole group; kept making faces that would make us laugh, idk if he was goofing around or he did that to cover up the fact that he had a limited idea of what we were all talking about; beautiful voice; super nice and really interacted with he fans; super fit and has a really cool tattoo on his inner arm and back

Hyunsik; vocalist and writer of most of their song off newest album; always smiling and has the best smile that I have ever seen; super nice

Sungjae; main vocalist; youngest member; usually pretty goofy & 4D, but was kind of reserved for the show, I think it was b/c he did not really know what was going on because of all the English; tallest member and was about 3 to 4 inches taller than me

Peniel;  rapper; my bias in BTOB; grew up in Chicago, so speaks English better than Korean; Was host for another show on Arirang; usually pretty quiet of television, so I though he would be very shy, but really his is a gigantic sassy fool. He was always creaking jokes and for us native English speakers, we could tell that a lot of what he said could have been taken in a different light (so sassy!)

BTOB the joined us for a full run through of the show. As soon was the boys got in we all just stared. They were dressed in their black leather costumes from their Thriller MV and looked REALLY nice (*wink~). During the breaks for videos, they would wave at us and interact with us through gestures; at one point the three in the front (Eunkwang, Ilhoon, Peniel, and Hyunsik) started to wave at us. Eunkwang started off waving both hands at us and after we all waved back stopped, but as soon as he stopped, Ilhoon started to wave to us and once again as soon as we waved back stopped, but then Peniel waved at us and then Hyunsik. So we just went down the line waving at each other and making eye contact. When we came to the game part, we were placed on Hanbyul's team with Peniel, Eunkwang, Hyunsik, and Ilhoon. Because it was rehearsals, we were given a random sketch book that had random things on it like:  #BTOBASC, (Hanbyul's) Butt, USTEAM, Insoles, etc. Well we went through the words ( I actually got insoles and guessed right! It was pretty cute, because it was Hyunsik who was acting it out for me and he pointed to his foot and then at Eunkwang!!) and then went back to our seats after only guessing 2 words right. As we were walking back to our seats, Eunkwang gave us all thumbs us in a 'good job, at least you did your best, so well get them next time' kind of way. OMG I felt so bad that we lost.

When it was the other team's turn to go, we all sat back and watched Sungjae, Minhyuk, and Changsub act out the things on the sketch book.  At one point, Sungjae got the word insoles and took off his boot to mime the shoe lift, but of course he did not have any in his shoe because of his height, but when he had to go to the back of the line, he hopped around trying to get his shoe back on.
When we got to the next game, a traditional Korean game played during Chuseok (pretty much like hakky sack but the ball has streamers all around it). The boys were then asked to pick one of us who they though would be a good person to play. Eunkwang came over to pick form our team, asking if any of us wanted to try and choose the only guy there ( and the only other person from the states in our group), David, and brought him over to the center of the stage. As they were standing next to each other, Eunkwang only came up to David's shoulders (Eunkwang is about the same height as me) so the other members in the back were laughing and making fun of their leader for being so short.

Well, we lost that game too, but Eunkwang just smiled and told David to keep the ball and practice. As the rehearsal went on, I really go to see how normal the boys were. When Peniel was talking, he was completely different form how he was on the past shows that I had seen him on. IN the past he never really talked all that much because of the limits in his Korea, but here in the all English show, he was a great big ball of sass; making jokes with the hosts and slightly loading his responses with sarcasm. He did this to some extent during the live filming (See part where girl is eating him in the bread) but I feel that it was more prominent during the practice. Hyunsik was also different from the live filming, while during the interview about his writing the songs for the new album he was asked why he decided to make the songs, he was talking about how he really wanted to get more involved with their music, but at the end of his response, he made the Korean hand sign for money (upside down ok gesture) and smiled at Hanbyul (who had asked the question). You could tell he was joking, but what was really funny was that Hanbyul turned around and did the same hand sign to us and smirked (he turned around to interact with us a lot--almost to the point that the PD had to tall him to stop and focus). But that was how the rehearsal went. Everyone was just relaxed and being them selves, and Hanbyul and Eric were being very hyper and borderline ADD at some points. They were hyper during the show, but they were even more so during the practice that we had.

After the rehearsal, all ten of us "gamers" were brought outside to hand over our bags and cell phones to be stored until the end of the filming and to get our name tags. We were then brought back into the studio, were the BTOB boys were back in the side room resting and the hosts were also there getting ready. The other live studio audience was brought in  and told to take there seats. When the hosts came in to take their starting positions and the BTOB boys were off standing just behind the cameras to wait for their cues, the other people started to get a little starstruck and started to slightly freak out. Those of us "gamers" were actually really calm. It may have been because we had been with them for about and hour and a half with just us in the room and had freaked out then. And so with a minute and a half until filming started I just took in the audience and giggled when 30 seconds till, Hanbyul was yelled at by the PD to stop standing on his chair talking to us on the left side and to get to his place in center stage.

I am not gong to go into much detail about the actual filming, because 1) it is all online  here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4ClMwbkdns  and 2) it passes in such a blur that the whole 90 minutes felt like only 20 minutes maximum! But even during the filming (when the camera was not on him or there was a video playing) Hanbyul would make comments to us about whatever was going on at the time.And just for the record, the other members of team A/ Hanbyul's losers/team Awesome and I are in full agreement that it was rigged and that the other team was given the easier set of words!

My fellow group of "losers". Loved getting to know everyone and had such a fun time!

The really fun part was once the filming ended and the ending music video was rolling, the BTOB members and the hosts came around to all of us and gave us all high fives and started passing out the food from the set. I got a high five form all three hosts and all the members! The cool thing was that because I was part of the show because of the games, all the members and the host told me thanks and that I had done a good job. Eric was passing out the rice cakes and brought the basket over to our side so we could grab some. Changsub showed us his tattoo and attempted to talk to us. But the coolest thing was that as we were being led out of the studio, Hanbyul gave me a hug and shook my hand again while he was walking in the opposite direction to the waiting room.

We were lined up in the hallway outside and told to wait. Thankfully they took the gamers and the three VIPs were taken out and given our bags and gifts first then let go (the gift was a really nice three pocket card holder).  A few of us went down stairs and waited by the elevator trying to figure out what we wanted to do next. While we were waiting, BTOB stepped out of the elevator and transferred to another one. When they stepped out, they thanked us again and waved. Changsub even wished us a 'Merry Chuseok' and bowed a little while thanking us. They were so normal looking compared to what we had seen in the studio. Even though I had said they were normal before, this was very normal in comparison: they were just in their shirts and pants (no fancy jackets and vests), they were hanging off each other and just appeared to be a group of very close friends that were just hanging out (very attractive and talented friends to say the least). If I had been made to wait with the other audience members this would not have happen, so that God that I was able to be let out early.

The day ended with us waiting on the street to wave goodbye to the hosts and BTOB members while the drove away. Hanbyul passed right by us and waved and thanked us again, while Eric and BTOB went the other direction.

So that was my first kpop experience here in Korea and it was AMAZING!! Really looking forward to want might happen in the future!