As plans were made and decided, I quickly discovered that there was very little free time on the agenda. Apart from the rehearsals and actual performance, I had figured there'd be at least a little do-what-you-want time. I'm not sure whether it's just how our group does things, or if this is representative of groups of Japanese travelers in general, but every hour of every day was planned ahead of time. Moreover, the group was sticking together almost the whole time. I'm sure I could have politely told them I'd catch up with them later and roamed on my own, but I felt bad about ditching them. Plus, despite my best efforts, I had only managed to become halfway literate in Korean, and couldn't translate most of what I could read anyway.
Noguchi, the conductor, wanted to attend as many chorus performances as possible, so he spent all of Friday morning at the Culture Center. Mrs. Abiru, Kazumi, Bara, and I met with Kim and went to the Lotte department store. There wasn't anything remarkable about it from the outside--just a huge shopping mall, identical to all the others, except for the lack of parking, which is typical of malls outside of America. We got there just prior to opening, and had about fifteen minutes to kill. At the basement entrance to the mall, like a neon-illuminated beacon of deliciousness, stood a Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.Krispy Kreme falls in the same category for me as lots of other junk food, like McDonald's and Mountain Dew. When I live around it, and it's everywhere I go, I consume it very sparingly. However, when I live halfway around the world from home, where those items aren't ubiquitous, I jump on every chance to consume them. That's why I'm a compulsive Mountain Dew drinker in Japan. That's why I go to McDonald's every chance I get when I leave Tsushima. That's why I made such a big deal about finding Krispy Kreme in Jakarta.
Unlike my fascination with Mountain Dew and McDonald's, my fondness for Krispy Kreme seems to be shared by Japanese people. I hear that one does exist in Japan, but it's in Tokyo. Kazumi had tried them before and loved them, and Bara and Abiru wanted to try, so we went in. The layout was, of course, identical to the one in Jakarta and shops in America. I don't go into Krispy Kremes back home often enough to know if this happens there as well, but there was a worker handing out one free glazed donut to each customer. That was all I wanted in the first place, but I would've felt bad for turning around and walking out after scarfing the freebie, so I bought another. Bara bought a cup of coffee that turned out to be gargantuan. We sat and talked until the mall opened.
Once in the mall, we decided to split up and do our own thing for about an hour. The ladies made a beeline for the clothing and apparel floors, and Bara went omiyage shopping. I did a little bit of browsing in the omiyage section, then rode the escalator up all ten floors. (The mall was about the same size as American malls in terms of floor space, but this one was stacked on floors instead of sprawled out on one big lot.) The tip-top floor was a movie theater, but I didn't have enough time to see Quantum of Solace, which had just recently come out in Asia. The clothing floors were identical to American department stores, with the possible exception of the ridiculously large sections devoted to blue jeans.
I ended up spending my time in the food court. At first, it was innocent sightseeing: noodle shops, Italian restaurants, Baskin Robbins, McDonald's, etc. As I rounded a corner, however, I found what I'd heard whispers about ever since arriving: a Pizza Hut.
As I've explained before, I love Pizza Hut. Just like with Krispy Kreme and Mountain Dew, I only occasionally have it back home, but it's so rare here that I gobble it up every chance I get. I went straight in, hoping against hope that they had a lunch buffet. I only wanted a slice or two, because a) it was only 10:30 in the morning, b) I had just eaten two donuts, and c) we were meeting up with the group for lunch anyway. They didn't have a buffet, though, so I hatched a scheme to order a small, eat a slice or two then, and take the rest with me. The waitress gave me a strange look when I explained this (though that could have been because of the drool), but it was no problem. I ordered a Mountain Dew, too, which came in a very American-sized 32oz cup. I got the pan-crust pepperoni pizza, munched on a slice (burning my mouth and tongue in the process, naturally), boxed the rest up, said goodbye to my remaining 29 ounces of Dew (alas, no to-go cups), and rushed downstairs to meet the others, 5 minutes late.When I explained my jubilation to the group, they all laughed at me, as I had told them before leaving Tsushima about it being my favorite food. Kim, who had given me phone numbers for delivery the night before, was a little confused. When she explained that there are Pizza Huts everywhere in Busan, I nearly wet my pants. Seriously? Fifty miles from my apartment is a city full of Pizza Hut, Krispy Kreme, and Mountain Dew? Based on this and this alone, I declared Busan to be an awesome city.
We walked to a nearby Korean restaurant, and with Kim's help we ordered a bunch of food. I wasn't very hungry, what with my stomach full of breakfast, donuts, Mountain Dew, and pizza, so I nibbled on a few things. What I tried was great, though I can't remember the names of everything. Jeon, a dish resembling okonomiyaki, was very good.After lunch, we walked to TTL, the cafe we'd be singing at the next evening. Along the way, true to Kim's word, there were several Pizza Huts.
After this, the group broke up again, with the newcomers wanting to do some shopping. Noguchi wanted to go back for the afternoon performances, so I joined him. We planned to reconvene for dinner at the buffet that evening.
As I passed by a group in the hall, I made sure to read nametags to make sure they were from Indonesia, and greeted them and thanked them in what I hoped was passable Bahasa Indonesia. They seemed pleased, more in the wow-he-almost-speaks-our-language way than in a look-at-the-foreigner-butcher-our-language way, so I guess it worked. Everyone we saw in the hall spoke English very well, and were happy to make conversation, two qualities very hard to find among Japanese people. Indeed, I noticed as time went on that Chorus D was just about the only group whose members didn't speak English. (We didn't hear Northern Kentucky University perform that afternoon, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.)
The competing groups we saw were amazing. First up was a Malay mixed ensemble called the Dithyrambic Singers. Their competition set was awesome, ending with a disturbing song that I think was in Mandarin. What made it disturbing was the choreography and acting: I got the feeling it was a song about death and retribution for sins. At one point, members of the group stepped out around the soloist and, in turn, portrayed some kind of suffering: one man doubled over and retched repeatedly, a woman sobbed uncontrollably, another man cackled maniacally at the audience, and a third man slowly lost the use of his legs.
Next was the Haneul Sori Choir, a mixed ensemble from Busan. Their songs were pretty, but lacked the flair of the group before. They were followed by the Cebu Chamber Singers (from Cebu, in the Philippines), and all I remember from their set is their amazing sopranos.
The fourth group on the roster was the Angelic Voices of Nigeria. Noguchi and I were very excited about seeing them perform. After the Cebu Chamber Singers left the stage, and after a few minutes of nothing happening, an announcement was given: the Angelic Voices of Nigeria had to withdraw from the competition at the last minute.
Manado State University performed next, followed by a local group called Busan Harmony. Manado was as awesome as they had been the night before. Busan Harmony was somewhat of a letdown. It felt as though they weren't singing with anywhere near the soul that the other groups were.
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