Seoul Salsa Congress 2008

My feet ache. No wait, let me amend that. Every cell in my body aches. Or it feels that way. But it's the good kind of ache -- the kind where I know I've had one hell of a weekend and I only have to catch up on lost sleep at work. And as a lot of us know, hyper-active children are very conducive to such situations. Not.

Anyway. The Congress. Three days of workshops from world class salsa professionals learning a mix of On 1 steps, On 2 shines (it seems all the cool kids are dancing on 2 these days, making that year's worth of on 1 experience a little frustrating), Columbian-style salsa (those Swing Latinos were just AMAZING, and so damn fast!), and Afro-Fusion moves (whatever the hell that is).

Performances from said professionals in the evenings helped ease the aching feet before all night parties ensued, but getting a bit of social dancing in at two previously un-attended salsa bars in town was definitely worth it, even if it meant lacking in sleep before a full day of dancing the next day. Had to skip out on Sunday evening's activities in lieu of sleep to prepare for aforementioned hyper-active children today, and given all the dancing I had no choice to put my sweaty suede and satin shoes in the washer. I write with baited breath for a pair of utterly ruined dance shoes. A good excuse for a new pair.

Anyway, I couldn't have asked for a more fun weekend.

...and I didn't, but I got one anyway. This weekend was also the Seoul Fireworks Festival, and following a bet with Sebastian that it wouldn't happen, Jaideep (salsa friends -- not that that really needs clarifying these days) hired a private yacht to take a bunch of us on the Han river to watch the fireworks. OK, so we were quite far away and they didn't look all too spectacular anyway, but the weather was perfect and the company was even better. These opportunities just don't come along very often, and I guess drinks will be on Sebastian next time...