Sports Fest + Dream Concert 2012

Saturday May 12, 2012 marked the 3rd Sports Festival I have attended here at SCH. Unlike the name suggests we did not really play sports. What we had fell more under the relay category and the most athletic event we had was the tug-of-war. 

(My team - C)

This is a compulsory event for the foreign exchange students. If we do not attend this event we actually get marked as absent.  So every semester there isn't too much hype about the even because most people feel like they are forced to go. Although I did not participate in as many events as the past sports festivals, I feel this one was the most fun. 

 (Team huddle)

 Short and sweet is probably what made it that much more awesome than the other ones. The very first semester the all you can eat barbecue party was THE BEST. However, overall Sports Festival feeling wise this one was probably my favourite. It probably helped that our group won...

Part of the reason the Sports Festival ended promptly is because so many people were going to attend the Dream Concert. Even though it took me and Elijah 3 hours of sitting in the lounge refreshing, refreshing and refreshing the webpage we were able to get tickets. If you are ever in Korea around this time of the year this concert is definitely a good one to attend!

Especially if you are an overall Kpop fan and you want to hear all the popular hits of that time. There was an amazing line up of artists and the tickets only cost 5 000won (which in Canadian dollars is around $4.50).

 (The MC's - ZE:A's Siwan, KARA's Seungyeon & 2PM's Taecyeon)

One of the best, if not the best, performances of the night Ailee - Heaven. I fell in love with her voice through the videos, but to hear it live it's even MORE amazing. I really cannot describe it. Kristen and I were definitely even more blown away. If you ever get the chance to hear this girl sing live, DO IT she won't disappoint.

My favourite back drop of the night was 2AM's fish tank, aquarium theme. Some groups didn't put too much effort into their back drop videos. It's probably because many groups are dance groups so most of the audiences attention will be on the people anyway. However, since 2AM is a ballad group this beautiful back drop accompanied one of their songs.

The Dream Concert was probably one of the most unique experiences I've had here in Korea for these various reasons:
1. Korean fan girls: You've heard about them, maybe seen one or two even BUT to see them in crowds, waving balloons and chanting their favourite groups names is pretty amazing. (see video below)

2. Korean Kpop Chart LIVE: Basically the bands that performs at the Dream Concerts are the most popular groups at that time (or groups that have been heavily promoting during that time period). If you are a Kpop fan you will get to hear most of the hits all in once place live. If you have a favourite group, you can watch them perform their latest song live (for a very reasonable price). And if you are new to Korea and just want to see what Kpop is all about for a price that won't break the bank you will get to experience just how crazy Kpop can be. Plus sometimes you just want to hear one song from one certain artist live, but you don't want to attend their entire concert.

3. Concert in a foreign country: When you go to a foreign country it's probably difficult to attend a concert festival with so many bands and artists for such a small fee. This is something to cross off your bucket list while travelling AND maybe you will even make it on TV. The concert aired about a month after on national television and a few of my friends made it onto the small screen. They became mini celebrities here at school for a few days, teacher and students were buzzing about it!

Would love to see 2NE1 live, but I read their concert doesn't start till the end of July...too bad =(