Lee min Ho is in LA for a fan meeting hosted by Toyota. At the legendary Park Plaza Hotel. K-kkonnect’s Cheryl and Jini will keep you updated! (Unless they get swooned away by M. )
New friends Crystal and Briana.
Event Recap
[KKonnect Lost Article] The 2012 SBS KPOP SUPER CONCERT in America: What Popped and Did Not Pop
The 2012 SBS KPOP SUPER CONCERT in America: What Popped and Did Not Pop
PREFACE
The opinions written in this article may not represent the views of KKonnect or most of the world.
-November 10th,2012
It is 11:00 PM on an unusually chilly Southern California night. Tired,bemused, ears ringing from hysterical women screaming at possibly every musician on stage, and nestled in a warm blanket burrito (blanket burrito: being double wrapped in a blanket from your toes to your head), I shall try to comment on the SBS KPop Super Concert in Irvine.
Organizers:
- What Did Not Pop:
- Multiple delays of concert dates
- Lack of advertising.
- Pricing of tickets ($400.00 for premium seating)
- Not having any Korean food available at a KPOP concert
- The dismay of audience members who purchased orchestra seating when crowds of people who paid for $60.00 lawn seats were able to sit next to them
- What Popped:
- Organizing a stellar marquis of artists including: SISTAR,4MINUTE, BEAST, KARA, CNBLUE, 2NE1, GIRLS GENERATION
- Addition of KARMIN who performed respectable covers of American Pop Songs with passion and enthusiasm.
- Choosing a venue that is fair for both Los Angeles and San Diegan fans (Yes, I too can be biased), and located next to the large Irvine Spectrum Center Mall.
- The ebullience of audience members who had lawn seats and were given the opportunity to sit in $400.00 orchestra level seats.
Artists:
- What Did not Pop:
- Poor emceeing. Conversations between artists in Korean left much of the audience perplexed. Californian Native Tiffany from SNSD was neither charismatic nor creative in emceeing the event with her colleagues, obviously reading from a script throughout the event.
- What Popped:
- Electric and flawless performances from all artists, truly displaying why they are the apex artists and consummate professionals in the KPop Genre. Each were excellent, but a few stood out:
- BEAST:
- Not my cup of tea in terms of artists, but no other group received more adulation from the audience than this group. Lady folk apparently have an affinity towards boy bands for some reason.
- 2NE1:
- 2NE1 were master class in their performance, orchestrating fan interaction during songs, had backup dancers, showed unique dance moves, and did a shout-out to the audience.
It’s 11:45 now, Cartoon Network is transitioning from Adult Swim to Toonami, SNL is ending on NBC, and the temperature of the blanket burrito is just right…strained eyes shutting uncontrollably… time to go to sleep… entering dreamland…zzz
(Next Article “A Journey through Dreamland”….just kiddnig)
Korean Traditional Music Orchestra of the Blind
Just this past Tuesday, October 30, San Diego State students had a treat with a concert by the very talented Korean Traditional Music Orchestra of the Blind. It was hosted by the Siloam Center for the Blind, and of course, the big event was open to the community as well!
The performers consisted of Kim Sohee, Park Jisun, Lee Jinyoug, Jung Chul, Lee Hyun-A, and Mun Jongseok. Guest performers for his tour were Choi Soon Hee, Kill Seok Geun, Cho Min Soo, You Hee Jung, and Kim Min Jung. There is also director Choi Dongic and artistic director Byun Jonghyuk.
If you’ve never attended a traditional music concert, it’s quite a different experience. But honestly, I felt a lot of emotion coming from these musicians and i was quite impressed. Especially since many of the performers were blind, I must say, they worked very hard and the show was a big success.
One piece in particular, showcasing the Geomungo (거문고), was very exciting. Looking throughout the packed room, I could see many other audience members getting into it too.
But if you missed out, don’t fret! The group is on its USA Performance tour and will be performing again 7:00PM Thursday November 1, 2012 in Robinson Auditorium at the University of California, San Diego.
Kowin Cultural Camp this past weekend!
코윈 샌디에고가 주최한 ‘한국 문화 캠프’ – by Vong P.
The Korean Women’s International Network, or KOWIN, held its first Cultural Camp here in San Diego this past weekend. The camp itself focused on giving kids, especially Korean adoptees, a better sense of their Korean culture, heritage, and identity.
Siblings of Korean adoptees, children of former adoptees, and first-generation Korean Americans and their children were able to learn a lot too.
KOWIN’s cultural camp also welcomed anyone else who wanted to know more about Korean culture. At the camp, the children learned about Korean history, language, art, dance, martial arts, and food! There were even some live performances focused on the pop culture too!
At the end of the day, the kids were given a treat with a live performance and workshop from the San Diego K-pop flash mob. There are pictures
of the workshop below!
Eunice Lee, the coordinator for this event, told me how happy she was about the event.
“We wanted to help adoptees learn about their Korean culture and heritage. I was a bit worried because this was the first time we held a cultural camp. But it turned out great!”
If you’d like more information on the Korean Women’s International Network here in San Diego, check out the link below!
Korean language exchange meetup in San Diego !
한국어 대화 나누는 자리.
The cafe was filled with people! Great meeting new people, learning Korean, sharing interests… And Get ready to see more photos at the next months issue!
Email kkonnectmedia@gmail.com or leave a reply to be added to our mailing list for related info!
San Diego Kpop Flashmob (샌디에이고 Kpop 플래시몹) Kicks Off New Summer Season!
The San Diego Kpop Flashmob (샌디에이고 Kpop 플래시몹) met today at Mission Beach to kick off their new summer season!
If you don’t know who they are, the San Diego Kpop Flashmob consists of a group of dancers who simply love Korean pop culture. After hard work practicing and learning the dance moves of famous Korean stars and singers, the group reveals the fruits of their labor and perform publicly.
This talented group of young dancers have performed at venues such as Balboa Park, Anime Conji, CIBU, and SDSU’s Korean Culture Night.
But keep in mind, we are talking about a flash mob. So who knows? Perhaps one of these days, you’ll randomly run into one of their public performances by surprise!
Today’s event was a bonfire where the group discussed future plans for the summer and beyond. It was also a great way to introduce new members to the rest of the SDKFM family.
Miles Abbott, one of the main dancers of the group said, “This next season is going to be really fun. We’re going to do a lot of new and interesting things. We’re going to have a break down. It’s going to be a lot of fun for everyone and hope people in can come out to watch or just join in and dance!”
If you’d like to know more about the group, you can go to: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoKpopFlashMob
OR if you’re interested in joining, you can go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/213785262005192/
KKonnect on Korea Daily Newspaper
San Diego Asian Cultural Festival 2012
I Had a great time at the 3rd Annual San Diego Asian Cultural Festival at Liberty Station this last Saturday! We had a strong contingent representing Korean culture. The San Diego Korean Daily and our own kkonnect.net had a booth and was busy throughout the day spreading the word about Korean culture and offering select items like the unique tee shirts you can see people sporting in the photos below.
There were Korean martial artists, a Korean cooking class with Cathlyn Choi, and the colorful and impressive San Diego Korean Pungmui School. And that was just the Korean part! And I must say that everyone was respectful and pleasant throughout the day.
Be sure to put this on your calendar for next year!!
Asian Cultural Festival 2012
This last Saturday, May 12, in Point Loma, fellow “KKonnectors” and myself shook some hands and had some fun at San Diego’s 3rd annual Asian Cultural festival. Hopefully, my fellow readers, you had a chance to experience the fun for yourselves. Jini, Vong, and myself were sporting the mut-jin-sa-ram shirts (멋진사람) and some of you cool kids were able to get your hands on them as well. (If you didn’t get a chance to buy a shirt, we should be selling them online pretty soon). KKonnect shared a tent with KOWIN and The Korea Daily.
If you were able to stop by and say hi, or get a free sticker, you may have been lucky enough to play Korean Trivia with Jini and I. Questions included “What Korean food is this” or “How many members are in this K-Pop group” – pretty easy questions for lovers of K-culture. Winners of the game would get a free $10 gift certificate to “Fuze,” a new Mira Mesa based Korean fusion restaraunt (with a full bar, I might add). Losers, well there weren’t any losers really, we made sure that everyone got to have a good time playing trivia or just hanging out with us.
Even though I was hanging out at our tent most of the day, I was able to catch a glimpse of some great performances of various asian cultures. Unforunately, I can’t name them all. I really enjoyed the Japanese Taiko drumming, and the Tae-Kwon-Do (and other martial arts) demonstrations the most. I even got a chance to have some Lao noodles at one of the many food trucks that bordered the event.
If you didn’t have a chance to go this year, definitely get your butt out there next year. You will be rewarded with a lot of food, music, and cool performances that you don’t get to see in one place. It was free after all, so there is no excuse not to go (unless you don’t have gas money).
AAJA Event – 저널리스트가 되는 방법 – 멘토쉽 이벤트 Mentorship Event
@ 10 News station. Hosted by AAJA San Diego branch.
아시안계 미국인 저널리스트 협회 샌디에고 지부에서 마련한 멘토쉽 자리였습니다. Dorothy Tran, Hoa Quach, Candice Nguyen 등의 샌디에고 미디어 인들이 모여 자신의 직업과 이 직업에 몸담을 수 있는지 이야기를 나누는 자리였습니다.
Team Sejong! 