But I also enjoyed many of the other little things: attempting a dance workshop (out in the heat, I only lasted 30 minutes but I tried!), attending panels, trying on a hanbok, eating Korean foods (not as many as I would have liked!), talking to people while standing in line, even being able to pick and choose which cds to purchase (I usually have to find all of my Korean favorites on line!) but to see them at booths!
The other group that I truly wanted to see was Highlight (formerly Beast and now missing one member). They changed agencies and the entertainment company insisted on keeping their name. That doesn't make Doo Joon any less delightful than he is as a performer! It did, however, make people perceive them as a rookie group when in fact they debuted at the same time as CNBLUE in 2009. (Doo Joon and Yong Hwa are good friends). I was thrilled by their performance. My friend had no desire to attend the audience for them with me and I ended up meeting two lovely girls who I spent time with on the following day. "Is that JaeJoong on your phone?" How many people would know that he is most definitely on my phone? That's all it took while we discussed K-dramas and K-pop. We have the same "Ultimate Bias"!
Of the other performances, I must say that I enjoyed all of the groups at the concerts but I am truly only following KNK now. Their songs are more mellow and much more to my liking. However, due to the different venues, I have now become a fan of YouTuber JuNCurryAhn. Wow, he can play the violin beautifully and is also a talented singer and dancer. He is based out of L.A. and I've subscribed to his channel and even gotten his autograph (twice!). The other person that I will now be following is Kevin Woo, formerly of U-Kiss (a group that I have never followed). He proved himself to be an entertaining and adorable emcee and is hoping to launch a solo career (I will be cheering him on!). Also, the dance workshop that I attended was run by professional dancers called 1Million. You can also see some of their dances on YouTube but they run a professional studio back in Korea designed to teach K-pop dances to even the klutziest of people, like me! I don't normally watch Kcon.tv but I should do so more often: Matt was the interviewer who impressed me the most. He should have his own fan club.
Another wonderful thing that came out of this experience, I got to meet my longtime online friend in person. We had so much fun running around New York City - totally getting lost and looking absolutely like we've never been in a big city before (and she's from L.A.! - apparently no one does public transit in L.A. - you just drive your own car). We stayed up late - telling our life stories to one another - and enjoying the commonality of enjoying the same favorite band. It turns out that she really isn't a k-popper - she just has her one band that she follows. I think I did convince her to at least like Highlight, too!
So, here are some photos of some of my memories:
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