While I did not get to attend much of the actual IKAA Gathering due to language school, I did go to the closing ceremony/gala dinner hosted at the Grand Hyatt and sponsored by Samsung. Yes, the same Samsung that made your Galaxy S4 and flat-screen TV. IKAA and Samsung go way back (10+ years) and they put on a great gala this year.
They even had an ice sculpture made!!!
[Food]
The menu for the night was western food and it was all very delicious. The grand ballroom at the Grand Hyatt was...grand indeed. They had full lighting and visual effects capabilities along with fog jets and such. First...some food photos. I figure you know what soup looks like (gray-brown liquid) and what a salad looks like so just enjoy the steak and dessert!
If you know anything about an event with food, you know never to have something going on while people are eating. This is because regardless of what is going on up on the stage, people normally prefer to consume delicious catered food and beverage. So, after the eating came the entertainment...and boy did they have a surprise in store for us.
[Entertainment]
We started with a b-boy group (we were told they were crowed number 1 for a number of years). They were pretty good, they did a number of choreographed numbers and got the crowd going.
...but the surprise (at least to me) came after the b-boy group. The MC asked who of us liked K-pop (many cheered), then she said that a group that debuted in 2009 was going to perform! For those that don't know, I listen to quite a bit of K-pop and almost exclusively female groups. The suspense built...and then...AFTER SCHOOL was announced! AHHHHHHHHHHH (*fanboy moment*). Honestly, I don't listen to all that much After School but I might after this performance. Ironically, this is the 2nd time I've seen them during my stint in Korea. The first time was at Inkigayo. They had a 3 song set and it was amazing. Below is a video of one of their songs. Unfortunately my phone ran out of memory during the 2nd song.
Next was a fan dancing group, the coolest thing they did in my opinion was this wave-type motion with all the fans. Sorry for the photo quality, I only had my cell phone on me and it was very low on disk space to due copious filming of After School:
Finally, a drumming group!
Overall it was a lovely evening, people from all over the globe were represented and I got to see many friends who I had not seen in maybe a year or more. After dinner and the entertainment wrapped up, special thanks were given to many and some "see you soons" were exchanged.
My time in Korea is, unfortunately, coming to an end. I should have a few more posts left regarding this trip so stay tuned!
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i love your fanboy moment! :) I would have the same reaction ... only to the b-band group, of course!
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