Our New Fave Korean Rastas

Here I present 우주히피 performing "I'm Sorry", recorded at 12:38 Sunday 29th July, 2008. Enjoy.

Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival 2008

It wasn't Glastonbury (and certainly wasn't supposing to be) but the heavens opening for the first two days of Pentaport was certainly reminiscent of true summer festival weather. Ian and I got ourselves a couple of day tickets for the final day of the weekend where we were graced with blue skies and sunshine ready to enjoy some live music.

I was very impressed with how they'd dealt with post-downpour mud issues, rather rendering all the wellie sellers redundant. The ground actually seemed to be chiefly sand which is always going to be a lot easier to walk on than wet grass, but crates were laid out to step across the particularly muddy areas making the walk from one stage to the other a lot less arduous.

Despite being a small festival, there was a decent amount of advertising going on with various stalls and activities set up. We especially enjoyed the Guitar Hero at the Microsoft stand before we were told to move on due to the queue forming behind us. They had a bit of ingenious cash system set up where you charge the chip on your wrist band, but since you'd still need to carry cash on your person it was a little irritating to have to trudge across the field for a top up when you needed more beer.

It seemed as though all the foreign acts had been called in from the UK with the likes of Travis, Kasabian and The Go! Team playing. I heard that The Vines were pretty patronising towards the Korean stage crew, but otherwise it was good to see the British rock scene being represented across the globe. I was pretty impressed to see the Korean crowds rocking out to the likes of Staines massive Hard Fi, but I guessed here would be one of the few places you'd find people moshing to Feeder.

There were also several Korean bands of varying genres. Oh! Brothers with their rock 'n' roll spin impressed us enough to buy their CD from the cheap Hot Tracks stall, but our favourites were definitely this Korean reggae band. They weren't playing on either of the main stages so weren't well advertised, but I have later found out these Asian Rastas to be called 우주히피 (Space Hippies?). Video to follow.

There wasn't anyone who I was particularly dying to see - apparently they had Muse in last year which would have excited me more - but the sunshine and chilled atmosphere made it a great venue for a few drinks and a few live bands.

Summer rain

After 7 months apart, Ian has finally made it to Korea in time for my summer holidays next week.

As the perfect introduction to the country, Seoul (considerately) decided to pour it down all day. It did alleviate the feared mugginess, however a trip up Seoul Tower for an overview of my new home will have to be postponed. Instead we headed for a meander around the National Museum of Korea. It still contained all the usual findings from the various eras in Korean history, but we managed to catch a 'summer concert' by some K-rock band under cover while it rained in the distance. It was fun.

We also went to the "The Glory of Persia" exhibition there, on until the end of August. Naturally I then proceeded to plan our next trip to (ex-)Persia. So much world to see! The exhibition was actually really good - easy to navigate, English translations, and a video with a load of Persian images.

I took Ian salsa dancing in the evening, but naturally having travelled 5000 miles in the last 24 hours, he's still a little jet-lagged. I hope the weather brightens up a little tomorrow!

Happy Birthday Lauren!

I'm probably always going to harp on about how-fast-the-year-is-going, and today is no exception. It's just a little head spinning to think that it was a whole year ago that we finished our final exams and were planning this little sojourn to the other side of the world. It's only four weeks until our summer holidays - for which I really cannot wait - but then Lauren's off! How different it will be without her.

So, as a reminder of the beauty that is this wonderful country, instead of blogging in the past week I've been making the mother of a mix tape featuring all the wonders of K-Pop that are. With less pleasant reminders of Girls Aloud-esque girl groups, I wasn't exactly a fan of the genre when I first arrived in Korea. However with few alternatives available to me as I walk down the streets of Seoul, I am nothing less than a convert.

Remember Tell Me by the Wonder Girls? Here's their new song. Not exactly the cutesy innocent look they had six months ago. I've chosen to link you here since this version has English subtitles which I feel are a necessary commodity to fully appreciate the delicate nuances of the song. Unfortunately the user disabled embedding, but I urge you to take 3 minutes for a listen.

We had a nice birthday dinner/drinks on Thursday to celebrate Lauren's big 2-2. It was lovely having all our friends in one place, and to meet up with our old co-workers from our old school. It's become a bit of a joke that out of all the ex-teachers, we're the only ones who have continued in the profession - and we don't even necessarily want to be here! Having said that, with no concrete plans post-contract I'm starting to consider staying on...

Popular culture

Last class on a Monday, Wednesday, and most irritatingly, Friday, is a group of nine boys ranging from 11 to 13 years old (Korean age). They are an absolute nightmare to teach: they tip their chairs and tables over by the minute; I'll glance away for one second, look back and find half the class have hidden round the corner, under the piano, in the shelves or behind the whiteboard (I ask them, "How old are you?" They reply, "I'm three years old"); they're constantly leaving the classroom to get water; they shout, they sing, and I have one boy who insists on rapping everything he says with the speed cranked up x1000. As amusing as this is, to exercise any control over them whatsoever is proving somewhat of a challenge, not to mention the fact that the range of their English levels is so vast that it is almost impossible to keep all of them occupied at the same time, give anyone attention without having the others throwing each other out of the windows, and actually give them any kind of education.

However there is one positive side to this group of raucous boys: I do get to keep up with all the latest Korean pop songs. Whether or not this is a blessing (highly debatable as you will see), I certainly cannot escape the tunes of "Tell me, tell me, t-t-t-t-t-tell me" (complete with dance routine), and "I'm so sorry but I love you, blah blah blah blah..." that fill my classroom with untuneful pre-pubescent voices.

Tell Me - Wondergirls


Lies - Big Bang