Korea: First Gala Concert

After dinner, we moved to the main hall of the Culture Center. The first group to perform was Manado State University Choir, from Manado, the capital of the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia. I can't remember much about their performance; they didn't sing anything I recognized, so it fell under the 'beautiful music I wish I understood' category. Next up was the Yeonje Female Choir, an all-female ensemble from Busan. Unfortunately, their set falls in the same grouping as Manado's.

After them came Group 'Rojdestvo,' from Khabarovsk, Russia. (After doing some digging, I think 'Rojdestvo' means something like 'merry' or 'merriment.' I base this on the fact that "Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo" is apparently a way to say "Merry Christmas" in Bulgarian.) They came out in beautiful costumes and performed lively and pretty songs, none of which I understood. I tried snapping pictures of each group, but an usher asked me not to, in surprisingly good English.

The last group of the night was the University of the Philippines Vocal Ensemble. According to the program, they're a joint venture of the UPVE and the Santa Isabel College Singers. They did a great job, and I actually found videos of them on YouTube. This one is a song they sang in Busan, though the recording wasn't made there.

After the concert, we made our way to our hotel, a Toyoko Inn. Toyoko is a Japanese hotel chain, and the accommodations were identical to those I've found in Nagasaki and Fukuoka. Kim helped us get things sorted out, and asked us what we wanted to do the next day. After some planning, we agreed to meet first thing the next morning to do some shopping. Noguchi, our conductor, wanted to check out the performances, so he would be spending as much of the day as possible at the Culture Center.

I had heard from Aaron and Evelyn that there was a Pizza Hut in Busan. When I'd mentioned my excitement to the rest of the group, they'd all laughed at me. Undeterred, I asked Kim about it. She did some searching on her phone, and came up with the numbers of two nearby Pizza Huts, in case I'd like to get it delivered. Pizza Hut! Delivery! I wanted to hug her.

Noguchi and I roomed together. We got our stuff situated, and I was fully prepared to go to bed, it being 10pm and our plan being to meet in the lobby at 8:30. Not long after we got settled, though, Mrs. Abiru knocked on the door. She, Kazumi, and Bara came in, and we threw an impromptu party in the room. This went on for a couple of hours, and we got so loud at one point that the front desk had to call us regarding a noise complaint. I was fascinated that four adult Japanese had done something I would have considered completely out of character.

Once the revelry ended (after we ran out of beverages), everyone retreated to their rooms. Noguchi was hungry, and wanted to go to the Lawson's next door to the hotel. Not wanting to change clothes, we made the trip in pajamas and tennis shoes, laughing the whole way at how silly we looked.