AKARAKA!

So it's the day after Akaraka and of course it's raining yet again in Seoul. My friend, Daehan, who used to live in the room next to mine, came up to Seoul from Daejun, a city a couple hours south. My sister also made a short pit stop in Seoul for a night one her way to Incheon airport to go to Guam. So my sister and I met up with Daehan Thursday night to enjoy the pre-Akaraka festivities that had been going on the past couple days. These festivities basically include clubs setting up tents where they make food and have people sit and drink. I had definitely never seen anything like it before. Just a long line of tents along the main road on the Yonsei campus with people just talking and drinking the night away with friends. My sister and I got to meet some of Daehan's friends who were all Economics majors.



In Korean universities, most college students are friends through special interest clubs (called dong-ah-ree/동아리) or by major which is in many ways another type of club. So we sat down and enjoyed some Korean style pancakes and drank some soju and makuli (I think it's a Korean rice wine). The festivities were wrapping up and people began to clean around 2am, we called it a night.

The next day was Akaraka! Akaraka is a very renowned concert in Korea organized by Yonsei University. It also takes place on campus and it is an event where the school invites some the country's biggest names in the K-pop music world and also is an opportunity to promote school spirit through school cheers. I went to 1 class in the morning on Friday and then met up with Daehan again to get some lunch and then go to Akaraka. When I first walked in I was amazed by the sea of blue (Yonsei's school color) and the amount of pride these Yonsei students have in their school.



It was really something to be a part of and special because back at home our school doesn't really put on many events like this where school spirit/pride is really promoted. The single thing that really surprised me the most was how EVERY single student knew all the Yonsei school cheers along with all the dance steps/hand motions to all the songs. Many of the cheers involve students putting an arm around the person next to them (whether you know them or not) and dancing that way. As cheers were going on I would find myself staring into the sea of blue and watching the whole crowd move in unison a certain way/direction after a certain word in a song. It reminded me of when you watch the Discovery channel and see a giant school of fish moving through ocean in unison. As for the concert I had heard of a couple of the groups that were performing (Kara, Super Junior) and it was entertaining to watch them perform some the songs that I hear on repeat walking through the streets of Seoul. I mentioned Super Junior in my last blog about the "Sorry Sorry" song being one of the most popular in Korea. All in all it was an awesome experience to see that even in the rainy conditions, thousands of Yonsei students came out to enjoy some musical performances and just have a good time among fellow university friends.

"'Gainst my window, I cant stand the Rain!"

Just when you think the weather might be getting better, Seoul slaps you in the face with some rain for a few days. Today is no different. After a few days of temperatures in the 60s, we get a dark and dreary day with rain coming down all day. It's all good though, in a couple hours I'll be heading out to Gimpo Airport to pick my sister up. She'll be chillin in Seoul with me and other relatives for about a week. It conveniently worked out that the room right next door to mine is vacant so the 하숙집 lady said it'd be alright for her to stay there for a week. So I'll be showing her what I've been up to the past few months, if anyone has any pointers for what's a can't-miss for a visitor while in Seoul, hit me up!


(here's the view outside of my place on this rainy Saturday)


Among other things, there's also AKARAKA coming up! Akaraka is a yearly held concert organized by Yonsei University for the students to attend. The event attracts the biggest names on the Korean music scene, so all those songs I've been hearing in restaurants, shops, bars, clubs, etc. will most likely be performed on that day. It's a fun event where all the students wear blue t-shirts and all the students raucously chant Yonsei's various school anthems. The concert is only 1 day but the festivities last for 2 or 3 days. I'm not positive but I think it's in about 2 weeks, so I'll definitely be looking forward to posting after that!

For those of you interested in keeping up with the hilariously poppy and ever changing handful of songs that the entire city of Seoul has on repeat, here's a couple...

Sorry, Sorry - Super Junior (about half of Seoul is trying to perfect this dance)
Lollipop - Big Bang (the most popular group right now)