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Korea is Fancy

// August 9th, 2009 // No Comments » // China, Dancing, Harbin, Korea, Travel

Wow did the last few weeks fly by or what! I’m now writing from Korea and I didn’t even have time to mention that I left China! So here’s what happened:

July 25:  Went to the Tiger Park in Harbin – got some great photos of tigers that I’ll post soon.
August 4:  Final exam in Chinese classes, closing ceremonies that afternoon/evening (I somehow got all A’s!).
August 5:  Took a train all day to Beijing, arrive at 7:30 pm and meet up with Josh (swing dancer in Beijing). Hung out with Josh and other dancers, spent the night at Josh’s.
August 6:  Flight to Seoul at 1:45 pm, arrive at 4:45 pm. Took a bus to Hapjeong station and was met by my friend Miyeoung. Stay at her place that night.
August 7:  Train to Pusan, dance in Pusan that night.
August 7 – 9:  Pusan swing festival! Dancing all night, all day.
August 9:  Train back to Seoul, dance that night in Seoul.

Now I’m back in Seoul. Even though I have been in Korea for about 4 days, today is really my first chance to go out and explore the city on my own, and I am about to go do that. So far my first impressions of Korea are that it is incredibly clean, nice, and fancy. The roads are kept in perfect shape and people actually drive inside the lanes. Seoul is one of the cleanest cities I’ve ever been to (for a city of this size). There is not one piece of trash on the road and all the buildings are spotless.
My biggest impression is simply that Korea is fancy. It’s become a running joke with my friends here that whenever I see something that surprises me they always say, “Yeah I know. It’s Korea. It’s fancy.” For example, McDonald’s uses hard plastic cups and washes them to reduce waste – it’s fancy. You can pick up a wireless internet signal just about anywhere – it’s fancy. There was a giant Starcraft gaming competition on the beach in Pusan – it’s fancy. Well, that last one maybe was not “fancy,” but I did witness it. A crowd of at least 2,000 people all sat in chairs watching two computer geeks battle it out in a Starcraft match on the beach. Two huge jumbo-trans projected the game while two announcers called the game play-by-play. It was like a football match but with computer games instead of athletes. Anyway, those are my first impressions of Korea. Now I’m going to go exploring and see what else I can find.

Hong Kong & The First Ever HKLX!

// November 25th, 2008 // No Comments » // China, Dancing

This past weekend I flew to Hong Kong to participate in the first ever HKLX (Hong Kong Lindy Exchange), a full weekend of swing dancing with dancers from all over Asia and the world. We danced at some of the most famous places in Hong Kong, including the Giant Buddha at the Po Lin Monastery, the Avenue of Stars by Victoria Harbor, and “Jumbo,” the world’s largest floating restaurant. In addition to the hours of awesome dancing, I served as a guest DJ for several sets throughout the weekend, including the last one for the whole event. It was quite an honor.

On HKLX:
As the first ever Hong Kong Lindy Exchange, the event as a whole was top notch. Karen, the organizer, did a remarkable job putting the weekend together, and all the local HK dancers were incredibly gracious and welcoming. My host in particular, Owen, was a great sport and super helpful throughout the whole weekend – thanks again for everything Owen. The dancing was fantastic, and the international crowd made it the most diverse exchange I have ever been to. We had dancers from Vietnam, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Xiamen, Taiwan, Beijing, Shanghai, East Timor, America, Canada, England, and Australia. Even the local Hong Kong dancers were a mixed bunch, with nearly half originally from other countries. Everyone had such different dance styles based on where they were from, and each dance was like listening to a different accent. The “it’s a small world” moments were all over the place, as half of us knew the same people in the world of lindy hoppers.

Another thing that really set the event apart from other exchanges is how much of Hong Kong we actually got to experience. Other exchanges focus so much on the dancing that you never really get a feel for the city, but this exchange did an excellent job of fusing the two together. The Giant Buddha, Avenue of Stars, Junk Boat ride, and dim sum brunch really highlighted Hong Kong, which made the dancing even better. I honestly don’t think things could have gone any better (well, ­besides that insane line at the cable cars – ­we’ll remember that one for next time).

On Hong Kong:
The first thing I noticed about Hong Kong was everyone driving on the wrong side of the road. Having belonged to England for 100 years, Hong Kong’s entire infrastructure was developed by the British, including all their backwards driving traditions and double-decker buses.

The second thing I noticed was the weather. Coming from Shanghai where it is getting to around 5°C (40°F) at night, Hong Kong seemed like a paradise at around 25°C (78°F) all weekend. It felt like Florida in the springtime.

The third thing I noticed was how crowded and tiny everything was. 20 million people in Shanghai makes the city feel pretty tight, especially during rush hour, but the streets are still fairly large with a little room for squeezing by cars and buses. Hong Kong has no squeeze room. The cars are inches from each other everywhere, and most roads are either one-way alleys or two-lane suicide paths just begging you to play chicken with the oncoming traffic. Accenting the tightness are vertical spires of apartments and towers surrounding every inch of pavement. Given so many buildings, we were nearly always standing in the shade. Housing seemed to grow out of every structure, like Lego blocks of single rooms soaring into the sky. The city really made Shanghai feel much more spacious than I had ever realized.

In general, Hong Kong seemed like a pretty cool place. The food was amazing (mmm…dim sum) and the unique Anglo-Sino mixture of cultures made for a seriously unique city unlike anywhere else I have ever seen. Walking around felt like a European city (or at least what I imagine a European city to feel like since I’ve never been to Europe). The sound of Cantonese and English on every corner kind of throws you off at first, and there does not really seem to be any single language that everyone speaks. English is your best bet, but you never know who will understand. The foreigners greatly outweigh the locals in many places in the city, and the international culture makes Shanghai look like southwestern China countryside in comparison. And despite its British-ness with the left-sided driving, the city’s infrastructure and metro is unbelievable – arguably one of the best in the world. All in all, I had a fantastic time in Hong Kong, and I hope I can visit again in the future.