I finally got around to sending a few boxes home today. I was relatively cheap and painless. The boxes were sent via Korea Post and there were a ton of English forms at the post office. They are going on a boat so it will take a month and change to get home, but I’ll be in Europe for a bit so it’s ok by me.

On the way home from the post office I passed by a church. Someone came out from inside and introduced himself as I was walking by. He wanted to know if I had ever heard of Jesus. I told him no, that I follow the hawk. He promptly turned around and went back in.

It made my day.

Listening to Matt Costa Whiskey & Wine

I had a week off from work for our summer vacation. Saturday, Crystal and I took off to Busan for the week. Busan is on the south-eastern coast of South Korea and is an awesome beach/port city. It was a super relaxing week that consisted mostly of laying on the beach and hanging out. Here are some pictures.

Listening to Ra Ra Riot Kansai.

What factors come into play when a musical act decides to play in another country? Is it strictly a monetary decision? What other things shift the teeter-totter one way or the other?

Korea will have seen 3 large music festivals during July and August (Pentaport Rock Festival, Jisan Rock Festival and Summer Week & T). Each festival has been minimally promoted and have a mix major acts, and bands that were yesterdays news (more of yesterdays news though). Headliners for the Pentaport Rock Festival were Hoobastank, Stereophonics, and Ian Brown. Jisan Rock Festival saw a tad better lineup featuring Muse, Massive Attack, and Vampire Weekend. They also listed the bands Third Eye Blind, Mutemath, and Pet Shop Boys as pretty high billing. Summer Week & T features the some of the larger acts from the 3 festivals. Headliners for Summer Week & T are Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and Calvin Harris. The only problem is that the festival is being held in a small beach community that is frequented by older Korean couples and families. I get that the idea is to try to emulate a full moon party, but I don’t know if it can.

I understand that this is another country and things are done differently, but it seems like planning and promotion needs to be ironed out a great deal. Musical events almost always miss being promoted to the nearly 1.3 million foreign residents living throughout Korea. Is this on purpose or a continual oversight?

Do promoters such as Yellow 9 or organizers like SK Telecom have no one on staff to address this or are they so wrapped up in their own “Korea” that it never crosses their mind? Isn’t the idea to get people to the event?

In such a small country with such a large population someone has to have some clue as to how to organize things.

Listening to Arcade Fire Wasted Hours.

My time in Korea is finally coming to an end. I’ve got about 1 month left before I hop on a plane and head to Europe.

Next week is 1 of my 2 vacation weeks. The plan is to head down to Busan for the week. Busan is an awesome beach town at the south of Korea. Laying on the beach with an ice chest of beer and a good book sounds amazing. Looking forward to it big time.

Things have been quiet otherwise. I’ve started packing my apartment into a few boxes, that will be sent home through the Korean Post. Last I heard there was an option that is super cheap but takes about a month and a half to get to the US. So if I send them out in August they should be waiting for me back in Los Angeles when I get home in October.

At work we have been preparing for the summer song festival. Each class has to memorize a song and dance, that will be performed in front of the parents. My class will be performing Take the Last Train to Clarksville by The Monkees.

Listening to N.E.R.D She Wants to Move.

I was a bit bummed when I noticed I would be making my way up to Barcelona this summer, thus not having a chance to catch a FC Barcelona game. Their team is one of the best in the world, and includes a collection of some of the best players in the world also. Along with their recent signing David Villa, Barcelona also includes Víctor Valdés, Carles Puyol, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Andrés Iniesta and a little player named Lionel Messi.

I got a random email yesterday afternoon about the Korean League All Stars securing a match against FC Barcelona at the beginning of August. Tickets were a bit on the pricey side, but I picked up a pair. Unlike Manchester United who will be touring the United States, FC Barcelona will be bringing along most of their big guns.

It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a decent live soccer game. Hopefully this one will live up to its promise.

Tickets are still on sale if you are in the Seoul area. You can get them from the Interpark website (That is the English link). Registering for the site was super easy. You can pay for tickets with your Korean card or a card from home. Interpark has the exclusive ticket rights for the event, so you have to book them through the link. There won’t be tickets for sale at the stadium.

Listening to Explosions in the Sky Home.

It was here and then it was gone…. Now it’s back. Taco Bell officially reopens in Korea. Cheap and ouchie on the tummy, Taco Bell will test the waters again this week with a grand opening in the foreigner heavy area of Seoul called Itaewon. The prices look to be dirt cheap and the menu almost the same as home.

Here’s the menu for Taco Bell Korea.

My time in Korea is quickly coming to a close (woo hoo!!!). I have a little less than 2 months left before my contract is officially over. That amounts to 57 days actually in Korea, with only 34 of those being teaching days. I leave Korea bound for Europe for some decent traveling and picture taking. Along the trip I’ll stop in Moscow, Prague, London, Istanbul, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Salzburg, Athens and Munich. I’ve been putting together a Google map of the trip and it is looking cooler and cooler as I fill it up. All of the flights are booked and paid for, while most of the hotels are as well. If you have any suggestions of what to do or what to see while in the above cities it would be awesome if you left a comment about it. I’ve got some things on my list of have to’s but would love to hear other ideas.

After Europe I’ll be stopping in New York (still need to find a hotel), Minneapolis and Austin. I’ll spend about 4 days in New York, 4 days in Minneapolis, and 4 days in Austin.

I’m really excited to check out Austin again. It is probably the only city in Texas worth spending more than 5 minutes in. I’ll be there for the Austin City Limits music festival from October 7th to the 11th. I’m looking forward to seeing The Stokes, Local Natives, Henry Clay People, Silversun Pickups, Broken Bells, Gogol Bordello, The National, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Matt and Kim, and just about a gazillion other bands. I’ll be meeting up with my brother in Austin for 3 days of awesomeness.

The clock is ticking and I’m ready for the alarm to finally ring…..

Listening to Castledoor The Birds and the Fleas.