cucumberoni

While the fifth day was sadly the last fully one of our trip, it was still exciting because of what we did. We started the day by going to Lotte World Adventure, the amusement park in Seoul that some of you may remember from the Taeyeon episode of MTV SNSD. When we got there at around 9:30am, it was pouring rain, so the tour guides suggested we spend most of our time in the indoor section of the park, since Lotte World Adventure is divided up into a large indoor section (that actually has roller coasters in it) and a smaller outdoor section.

Entering Lotte World Adventure



The map of Lotte World Adventure... the larger part is the indoor section

Once we were inside, everybody kind of scattered into their own small groups rather than walking around as a gigantic group of 100 people. The first ride I went on was called the French Revolution, an indoor roller coaster that, at certain points, actually goes down low through the walkways of the park. At the lowest points, the roller coaster cars themselves are probably only 15 feet above the floor of the walkways. It was a pretty fun roller coaster, short but sweet and not overwhelming. It had one loop and a really steep bank, where the cars felt completely sideways as they circled above a water fountain. Also, while we were waiting in line for the French Revolution, there was tons of writing all over the walls, and we contributed to it by letting everyone know that Soshified rode on the roller coaster.

The big line for the French Revolution



We had a tall person write this



The French Revolution

After riding that, myself and some a couple other friends wandered around the indoor area, exploring the park. We got a ticket for another ride, where you can reserve a spot in line for a later time (it works similar to Disneyland, from what I was told). With the ticket in hand, we checked out as much as we could see inside, and we stopped at a big stage in the middle. On the stage, an all-female band performed a selection of K-pop songs, including "Hoot", which they labelled as "Whoot" for some reason on the screen (copyright issues?). They also played 4minute's "Mirror, Mirror" and Wonder Girls' "Nobody". After watching the band perform, the timing was perfect to go redeem our ticket and cut ahead of the line for another ride. Our second ride was a pirate ship that swung back and forth (I don't remember the name of it). It wasn't a very exciting ride, except for the fact that Soshi members rode on it during MTV SNSD.

The band playing.... Whoot



The pirate ship ride

After a little bit more wandering around, my group of friends decided it was finally time for us to see if the rain had stopped. It was completely dry on the ground when we walked out, so it had probably stopped raining for quite some time. Unfortunately, we waited so long that we didn't have much time left for too many rides. The first one we tried outside was the Gyro Drop, which is also another ride that the girls went on during MTV SNSD. It's one of those rides that brings you up REALLY high and then just drops you straight down. While we were waiting in line, we said to each other "You know, it's ok if we die on this ride, because we went to the concert yesterday". The ride itself spins around slowly as it goes up to the top, so we were given a full 360 degree view of Seoul as we went up. Once it gets to the top, there's a little 4-second or so pause before it drops... So it gives you time to wonder why in the heck you got up there in the first place.

Walking outside



The Gyro Drop

The Gyro Drop more or less ended my day at Lotte World Adventure, not because it was too intense for me, but because I started to feel hungry and lightheaded. With the short amount of time that we had left at the park, I wanted to make sure I ate something, since we'd had people feel ill during concert day because they had been out in the heat without food for long periods of time. So I went off on my own to look for food as others continued on to try and get on one more ride before leaving. As we gathered back at the exit of the park, we encountered a few Soshified field trip members who had bought Scream masks and replicated Soshi's pictures throughout Lotte World Adventure.

Aegyo in a Scream mask?


Recreating Soshi in Scream masks. In the pic: cedge, grayfm, mawelli, eatyouramen, jessiesboy (let me know if I messed up your username, and special thanks to jessiesboy for the picture!)

After we finished up at Lotte World Adventure, we were taken to some shops to learn about some Korean specialty products: ginseng and amethyst. Apparently the finest 6-year old ginseng in the world is grown in Korea, and while they export the younger and less-awesome ginseng, the best 6-year old ginseng can only be bought in Korea. Regarding the amethyst, all other types of gemstones have to be imported from other parts of the world, but amethyst is naturally mined in many parts of Korea.

Then, we were taken to the KBS studios for the recording of Immortal Song 2 (where cameras were not allowed, so I has no pictures of the show). I don't know if the show's format is normally like that, but for the recording we were at, all the performances were duets. The first performance was by Sistar's Hyorin and DJ DOC. They were matched up against two people who I did not know at all. The second round featured 4minute's Jiyoon as well as another DJ-rapper (I don't quite remember who). Their second round opponent was Super Junior's Kyuhyun and Son Hoyoung from g.o.d. Finally, the third round kicked off with MBLAQ's G.O and Kan Miyeon, formerly of Baby V.O.X. The second duet from that round was performed by Jay Park and former H.O.T. member Moon Heejoon.

If you know the format of the show, the audience votes on who they think put on the best performance in each round, and the winner of each round advances to the final vote, where the audience chooses the best overall out of the remaining three. I thought Hyorin and DJ DOC's performance was the best in round one, as it had a TON of high energy, but they lost. I was pretty conflicted by the second round voting, but I honestly was blown away by the great vocals by Kyuhyun and Son Hoyoung, but they ultimately lost to Jiyoon. I wasn't too upset about that vote, however, since I really like Jiyoon. I was pretty impressed by G.O's duet with Kan Miyeon, and I can't say I'm a big fan (though I'm FAR from being an anti) of Jay Park, but I ended up being 0-3 in picking winners. Jay Park's win over G.O was extremely obvious, though, since there were tons of fangirls screaming for Jay the entire way.

Dinner followed Immortal Song 2, and it was an incredibly tasty (but not quite filling enough) meal of bulgogi. As it was the last night in Korea for many of us, a lot of people were celebrating the wonderful friendships made during the trip by sharing bottles of makgeolli, soju, and beer. The party continued late into the night (and morning) in some peoples' rooms, though I didn't join in on the heavy drinking and partying. I was just too exhausted for all of that.

Mmmm.... bulgogi



Party time!



Final meeting with the whole group in the hotel lobby

The trip finally came to an end, but I wish it could have gone on forever. I met so many wonderful friends while on the trip, and everyone was so nice and so much fun to hang out with. I already know what it's like to hang out with a couple of SONEs, but to hang out with 100 is something else entirely. We all felt like family from the start, because we all had that common bond. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and something I definitely won't forget anytime soon.

I hope you've enjoyed all my fanaccount recaps from the trip! Be on the lookout for something a little more official from Soshified soon!

- fanaccount and photos by [email protected]... Scream mask group picture by [email protected]

Beginning disclaimer: Officially, cameras were not allowed inside the concert venue, and anyone caught taking pictures/videos was going to be removed from the arena. That combined with the fact that I wanted to fully experience the concert with my own eyes rather than looking through a viewfinder or a screen meant that the only pictures I have from concert day are from outside. Anyway, let's begin!

Beginning disclaimer #2: This fanaccount is REALLY long, so I apologize that it may take you forever and a day to read it...

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Finally, the day we had all been waiting had arrived: it's concert day!! Originally we had schedules planned out where we would go sightseeing in the morning and then arrive in the afternoon at Olympic Stadium, where the concert was scheduled to start at 4pm. But, armed with information from Soshified members who attended the previous day's concert, we decided to cancel those schedules so we could arrive as early as possible in order to line up and buy concert merchandise.

Even when we arrived at the concert venue at around 10am, the line for purchasing concert goods seemed impossibly long, as sales were not set to start for another hour. While there were some among us who decided waiting in line was not worth the trouble, most people were willing to let the hours crawl by for the chance to buy precious Soshi goodies.

Ultimately, after hours and hours of waiting, the Soshified group managed to reach the concert goods tent and buy whatever they wanted. When they approached the concert tent itself, Korean news crews filmed and photographed the entire group, and you've probably already seen some the videos and pictures of us online.

JadeFalcon@SSF being interviewed by Korean media

There was also a Vita500 tent set up next to the concert goods tent that had Girls' Generation standees and was giving away promo posters and file folders for people who stood in line and played a simple memory game. Further away from that, one fangroup gave Coway posters and mousepads to myself and a small group of Soshified members who were willing to be on camera for a fanvideo that they were producing.

The Vita500 standees

By the time all the goods had been purchased, it was already time to start lining up for the concert itself and enter the venue. The tickets that Soshified members got were all located in standing section B. Personally, I moved to the corner of section B that was closest to the front stage. For most of the concert, I had about 3-4 "rows" of people in front of me (except the standing area was basically like a mosh pit), though by the end of the concert I had managed to work my way to within about 2 "rows" of the guard railing. There was a large gap in between the guard railing and the stage itself, unlike the SMTOWN in LA concert, where I was told that the standing sections were so close that people in the front could reach out and touch the stage.

Soshified members waiting in line before the concert



My super awesome diagram of the stage layout which doesn't really include the upper seated levels EDIT: Apparently there's no standing D, and those are all just standing C.

Before the concert actually began, the main center screen showed only the Girls' Generation 2011 Tour logo, while the two side screens showed UFO messages that people had sent in for the concert as well as Vita500 CF videos. Several Soshified members managed to send in UFOs, and a number of them were displayed, drawing tons of cheers from every Soshified member in attendance.

Finally, the lights went out and the intro video started playing. By the time it reached the point where it was time to reveal the girls, everybody had directed their attention to the cube/pyramid/thing in the middle of the front stage. We know from fanaccounts/fancams of the Japan concert how they would be revealed to us, and when the cube opened up, Taeyeon was in the center, and both Sunny and Yoona were seated on the side facing our section. Then "Genie" began, and we all went crazy. It was the same "Genie" remix that many of us have seen fancams of already from previous concerts, and hearing rapper Hwang live was pretty sick.

The "Genie" intro was followed by a block of songs from their Japanese album: "you-aholic", "MR. TAXI", "I'm in Love With the Hero", and "Let it Rain". In what turned out to be a nice surprise (for those who managed to avoid spoilers from the previous night's concert), both "MR. TAXI" and "Let it Rain" were sung in Korean, with versions that we had never heard before. They were interesting and different, but part of me was disappointed, since I couldn't really fully sing along. For most of the first block of songs, the girls stayed on the main stage near the center screen and performed their full dance choreographies.

One of the coolest parts of that particular block of songs, however, happened during "I'm in Love With the Hero". The girls walked from the main stage towards the center stage, and once they all got there, four large dark curtains dropped down from the ceiling and completely covered the girls from the view of the audience. After a few moments of being hidden, the curtains were released, fell to the floor, and four of the girls were suspended on wires and lifted high up into the air. I don't quite remember who all of them were, but I recall that Taeyeon and possibly Jessica remained on the floor in the middle of the center stage and that all the girls that were not lifted up into the air were wearing large wing-like attachments on their outfits.

A break followed with introductions from the girls. They were all incredibly cute, and a Tiffany-trend started early on when she spoke to the audience in English a few times during the intro. She didn't specifically mention Soshified (at least, I never it heard it, though some people said they heard her say it at the end of the concert), but she definitely gave plenty of shoutouts to fans from the USA and around the world in English.

After the intro, the girls hyped us up with a series of high energy songs: "Snowy Wish", "Sweet Talking Baby", "Kissing You", and "Oh!" That particular block of songs was when I started to feel my voice crack from screaming fanchants as loud as I could. "Kissing You" and "Oh!" drew especially loud fanchants, as I expected. During these songs, the girls spent a lot of time moving freely through all the various walkways and gave plenty of fanservice to both the standing sections and the upper seated levels.

After "Oh!" finished, the first of the solo stages started, which was performed by Hyoyeon. The solo stages were all pretty much identical to the Japan tour, and Hyoyeon performed "Please Don't Stop the Music" in the white unitard (leotard?) with one leg covered and one exposed. She absolutely owned the stage with her trademark powerful dancing AND with crisp vocals. Jessica's solo stage was next, and she started "Almost" by playing the piano to accompany her vocals. About a third of the way through the song, she got up from the piano, took the mic, and walked towards the center stage. Jessica's solo stage felt somewhat short, but her absolutely AMAZING vocals made up for it.

As I mentioned before, the solo stages were all pretty much the same as they were during the Japan tour... All except Sunny's. She still performed "3", but her outfit was NOT the shiny black latex (or whatever it is) one-piece that we remembered from the Japan concerts. Instead, she wore what can only be described as the sexiest outfit I've ever seen in my entire life: a see-thru black top, revealing a black bra underneath, matching see-thru black leggings with black short-shorts (or something) over them, and a shiny pink jacket that came down to only about the top of her abs. Towards the beginning of the performance, the jacket was open, if I recall correctly, but shortly after the performance began, she opened up the jacket, revealing the see-thru death by excessive sexiness. The performance itself was much like her "3" performances from the Japan concerts, with the male backup dancers unfairly getting to touch and be touched by her. But the unexpected and jaw-dropping outfit made the entire thing a trillion times sexier and left all of us absolutely stunned. I was told after the concert by a Soshified member that a girl next to him fainted after seeing Sunny, and I can believe it. She was just that hot.

Sunny was followed by the TaeNy "Lady Marmalade" stage. Everything about this performance matched the stage from the Japan tour, but seeing it live was another matter altogether. I was blown away by how powerful their vocals were live and how perfectly they harmonized together. Despite the outfits not being a total sexy surprise like Sunny's, they still looked amazingly beautiful. From where I stood, it was difficult to get a completely clear view of the girls during all the solo stages, since they always started on the main stage and walked down towards the center stage by the end. None of the girls ever strayed onto the pathways leading sideways.

After a short video break, the girls grouped together again to perform more of their Japanese songs. It was a relatively short block of group songs, however, as they sang "The Great Escape" and "Bad Girl". I remember at this point "resting" a bit and not screaming at full volume, since those two are not particularly my favorite songs from the Japanese album. Plus, I found myself feeling somewhat drained from the awesomeness of the first batch of solo stages.

The resting period didn't last long, however, because after "Bad Girl" and another video break, Taeyeon suddenly appeared by herself on the main stage. She was dressed all in black, with frilly black feathers surrounding basically her entire top, and matching black boots. A heavy guitar riff blared through the speakers as Kid Leader Taengoo transformed into Rocker Taeng. She belted out the most amazing, powerful, and breathtaking vocals I've ever heard in my entire life, and I say that with no exaggeration. Imagine the strongest vocals from Taeyeon in any of Girls' Generation's songs, and multipy that by at least 100, and that's how incredible Rocker Taeng was.

The heavy rock track turned out to be an intro to "Run Devil Run", and the rest of the girls joined Taeyeon on the main stage after she completed her moment in the spotlight as Rocker Taeng. The bass was thumping like mad for "Run Devil Run", and after Rocker Taeng's intro, I was fully energized again to fanchant like mad. "Beautiful Stranger" followed, which I don't remember too much of.

Then the girls transitioned into "Hoot", and that song took an interesting turn about halfway through. The girls walked from the main stage to the center stage, and a few moments later, four of the girls (One of them was Seohyun for sure, I can't quite remember who the others were) were again lifted into the air by wires and suspended about 30-40 feet above our heads. At that point, the normal "Hoot" track had been put aside and a new rock interlude for the second half of "Hoot" was playing instead. I was surprised by the rock intro to "Run Devil Run" as well as the rock interlude to "Hoot", but I found both of them to be completely awesome, and I'm hoping for more rock tracks from the girls in the future.

After the rockin' version of "Hoot", the solo stages started up again, with Yuri's "If" being first. The YulAbs were on FULL display during "If", and she actually looked as if she had put on some weight after the Japan concerts. There were a number of SONEs who thought she looked too skinny during those concerts, but this time she looked sort of halfway in between that skinny Yuri and the curvy Yuri tht we remember. Yuri's solo stage felt somewhat short to me, but it was still incredibly hot.

Sooyoung was next, and she performed "Sway" in a frilly black and blue dress that showed off a ton of her legs (well.... basically all of her legs). She had a male dancing partner, and she danced very close to him for much of the performance, drawing jealousy from pretty much everybody in the audience (especially from Sooyoungsters). Even with my partially-blocked view, I could see the charisma oozing from Sooyoung as she performed the energetic stage.

Then it was time for maknae Seohyun to take center stage, and as with the Japan concerts, she pulled off the Audrey Hepburn look to perfection, with the black dress, black gloves, and elegant jewelry. As she sang "Stuff Like That There" with her usual beautifully smooth voice, I found eagerly anticipating the tap dance break. Seohyun definitely didn't disappoint, as her tap dancing skills had me thinking "How on Earth is one person so incredibly multi-talented?"

And finally, the perfect closer to the solo stages: Yoona's "4 Minute". With two horizontal poles set up, one on the main stage and one on the center stage, we all knew what we were in for. As with most of the solo stages, I struggled to see what was going on over the taller people in front of me. I could see that what was happening was sexy and beyond impressive, but I just couldn't quite get a consistently good view. As she moved from the main stage towards the center stage, I knew I'd have to do something if I wanted to see the key moment that everybody was anticipating. For the entire time she was in the center stage area, I was more or less completely unable to fully see her and what she was doing. And then, at the EXACT moment that I found a gap in between the taller heads in front of me, it happened: the male backup dancers ripped her pants off. I may have missed almost everything else, but I caught that moment with my own eyes, so I was satisfied.

After that incredible moment where fortune smiled upon me, there was another video break. If I recall, this video break was quite slow-moving, and involved a story of a couple of young siblings whose mother had passed away. The emotional video was a lead-in to the ballads that followed: "Danny Boy" and "Complete". For "Danny Boy", there were five girls seated on a set of stairs on the main stage: Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, and Seohyun. When "Complete" started, the rest of the girls joined those first five on the stairs, and K-SONEs started a project that had been discussed before the concert began. Audience members in certain sections of the upper seated areas were given green lightsticks in addition to the traditional pink ones. Once "Complete" began, the audience members who were given the green lightsticks turned them on and began waving them. From what I understand, the pattern of where the green lightsticks had been positioned spelled out "So Nyuh Shi Dae" in hangul, but I couldn't quite see all of them from where I was.

Whatever the green lightsticks said, it apparently worked in getting the girls emotional, because soon after, Sunny began to cry. With the emotions that are already associated with "Complete", Sunny's tears pushed me over the top, and I began to cry myself. More members began crying, but I'm not sure if all of them cried during "Complete".

Once "Complete" finished, the girls took a break from singing to talk to all of us. They thanked us, gave us 90-degree bows, and walked off stage. They returned in two boats that were pushed around the side walkways by staff members. At that point, the girls had changed into red and white tops with gold trim and black skirts. The teary-eyed mood from "Complete" gave way to simple happiness as the girls sang "My Child" from the boats. Once the boats reached the center stage, the girls stepped out and began to work the crowd.

After "My Child" finished, the video from the Japan tour with SHINee's Key played. It was pretty funny to see it for real (I hadn't watched the whole thing before), and it was also funny that nobody anywhere in the audience really cheered for Key, but there were lots of cheers for Taemin when he showed up on screen at the very end.

The next three songs drew progressively louder and louder cheers and fanchants: "Naengmyun", "HaHaHa", and "Gee". Once "Naengmyun" started playing, the entire standing section was jumping and full of energy. By the time we got to "Gee", I was screaming the fanchants louder than I had ever screamed in my life.

The last official song of the night was "Forever", and we sang along as the girls walked around greeting everyone they could within the crowd. After "Forever" finished, the girls said their goodbyes and left the stage, but we knew it wasn't over. Cheers for an encore started building up, and anytime people's voices broke or we found ourselves off-beat, a SONE in our standing section began blowing a whistle to get the encore cheers back on track.

For the encore, the girls changed into the official concert t-shirt that many of us had bought outside. The encore itself kicked off perfectly, as the girls performed "Into The New World". At that point, my voice was almost completely gone, but I fanchanted and sang along anyway. "Himnae" followed, and the girls' energy still seemed high, as they ran around every part of the stage.

Finally, we reached the end of the concert. With a final performance of "Mabinogi (It's Fantastic)", the girls closed an incredible concert for the SONEs in attendance. Nearly every member was in tears by the time the song finished. Seeing the tears on the girls' faces brought me to the edge of crying again. Near the end of the song, confetti began streaming down from the ceiling. In an incredibly cute moment, Jessica picked up two pieces of confetti and stuck them under her eyes rather than letting everybody in the audience see how much she was really crying.

After the last song was completed, the girls gathered together on the main stage and said their final goodbyes. Nearly every member spoke to the crowd, and they even thanked the audience in multiple languages. Tiffany spoke quite a bit in English, and the girls tried to thank every country they could possibly think of that had fans in attendance: Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, and of course the USA, among others.

After the girls left the stage, the crowd started to file out. I waited around the corner of our standing area to talk about my favorite moments of the concert with other Soshified members (though I was also waiting there because my knees hurt EXTREMELY bad from standing for long, and it was difficult to move). Sadly, it was finally time to leave.

Thinking back on all the various special moments that happened, it's hard to remember all of them and to remember when they happened within the concert. Many of the precious memories that I have involve the members walking past our section and providing fanservice. Whenever a member would walk along the side pathway closest to us, I'd be within probably 8-10 feet of them. I felt as if Sooyoung didn't visit our section very much, but it was definitely precious whenever she did. I felt as if Sunny and Taeyeon came to our section quite a few times, but that they never lingered for very long, and always passed through fairly quickly. It seemed like we just caught them at bad times, where they had to quickly get back to the center stage for the ending of songs.

Yuri, Jessica, Seohyun, and Tiffany visited our section a few times, and they lingered a fair amount. One of my Soshified friends said that he sent Yuri a heart when she walked by and that she sent him one back. I tried to get Tiffany to notice our Soshified towels, but it was hard to tell if she recognized it. I did get to glimpse Fany's famous eye smile as she passed by, however, and it's just as killer in person as you could possibly imagine. There was a point towards the end of the concert where Seohyun came by and made a few cute expressions. As cheesy as it sounds, when that moment with Seohyun happened, I almost felt like crying because she was so beautiful (that sounds even cheesier than I thought).

Yoona and Hyoyeon came to our section the most and definitely lingered the most. Yoona didn't really give all that much in terms of varied expressions, but she didn't really need to. In person, you can tell just how real her beauty really is. Simple smiles from Yoona were enough to get us pumped up.

But as far as I'm concerned, Hyoyeon was the absolute star of our section. Not only did she linger in our section the most out of any of the girls, but she provided the most fanservice. Smiles, winks, and waves were all given out to us like candy. But she took it multiple steps further: at one point she gave a thumbs-up to someone in our section, and late in the concert, she blew a kiss to someone who was probably only 5 people away from me. I'm a SONE first, a Sunshiner second, but on concert day, I was converted into a full-fledged Hyohunnie.

After the concert was over, we were all taken to a restaurant to eat barbeque duck for dinner. It was certainly delicious, but were all still buzzing about the concert. That's about all I have to say about that.

Duck: the before picture



Duck: the after picture

The concert was an absolutely incredible experience, though I can objectively say that it wasn't perfect: the lines for concert goods was ridiculously long, the standing area was uncomfortably crowded, and I wish they had performed more of their Korean songs in place of a few of the Japanese songs. But these are all relatively minor complaints. It was still the best thing I've ever been a part of, and an unforgettable experience.

That about wraps up the concert day, leaving only one full day left with some more incredible events: visiting Lotte World and going to the recording of Immortal Song 2.

Day 0/1 recap here

Day 2 recap here

Day 3 recap here


- fanaccount and pictures by [email protected]

Despite today being one of the less jam-packed days on the schedule in terms of number of total things to be done, it ended up being one of the most exciting and memorable. After breakfast, we visited the Namsan Hanok Village, which had old-style traditional Korean houses. It also contained a time capsule that was buried in 1994 and is set to be opened in the year 2394 for the 1000-year anniversary of Seoul becoming the capital of South Korea. Many items reflecting the state of Korea's lifestyle, living environment, science and technological advancement, etc. during 1994 were placed inside the time capsule.

Kimchi jars


Anybody recognize this? A similar one was used on Invincible Youth


Viewing the time capsule location

Following the visit to Namsan Hanok Village, we visited nearby Namsan Park. One of the interesting features of the park was a set of exercise machines which utilized only the user's own body weight.

Exercise machine at Namsan Park


Exercise machine at Namsan Park


Winding road out of the park

Then, we departed for one of the most exciting parts of the entire trip: a visit to MBC's studio in Ilsan for the live recording of Music Core. Once we were seated in the studio, we got to see the final rehearsals of artists such as Kim Hyun Joong, MBLAQ, Hyunah, and T-ara. We remained in our seats during the live recording and screamed our support for those artists plus others such as CSJH - Dana & Sunday, After School Blue & Red, miss A, INFINITE, and 2PM (though some of those performances were pre-recorded, so the artists just came out and lip-synced and danced for the benefit of the fans). Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside, so I have no pictures from Music Core to show you, however we were lucky enough to get an extremely special opportunity after the show.

We were allowed to stay after the recording ended and take two group pictures on stage, one with 2PM and one with T-ara. With nearly 100 people standing on the stage, we were told not to move, otherwise the stage might break. So when 2PM (and later T-ara) came out to greet us, we were not allowed to do anything more than stay where we were and say hello. I was kneeling in the front of the group, though, so I managed to shake hands with Chansung, Wooyoung, and Taecyeon from 2PM as well as with Hyomin of T-ara. Also, after 2PM took their picture with us and they got up to leave, I got a double-handed high five from Chansung, so I was pretty psyched about that... and I'm not even a 2PM fan.

....... I may have trolled 2PM just a little bit during rehearsals/recording by screaming out "Taecyeon-oppa saranghaeyo!!!!"

The excitement that we felt after Music Core didn't go away, however, as we traveled to Myeongdong after dinner. Myeongdong is where the SPAO and Everysing stores are located, so nearly everyone went crazy buying up all kinds of clothes and Soshi goodies. The words "I think I spent too much money" were frequently spoken by many people after we left SPAO and Everysing.

Dinner


Walking towards SPAO/Everysing in Myeongdong


Felix the Cat shirts


A large wall of Soshi inside SPAO


Inside Everysing


Soshi standees inside Everysing

Another long day in terms of the amount of time that we spent out and about, and another incredibly eventful day. Meeting 2PM and T-ara at Music Core and shopping our hearts out at SPAO/Everysing were wonderful memories, but the most memorable day is still on the horizon, because tomorrow, we will attend the Girls' Generation concert!!

Just so you all know, the official field trip schedule includes only tomorrow's second-day concert. A handful of field trip participants bought extra tickets on their own for the first-day concert which concluded earlier tonight. I was not one of those people, so I have nothing to recap about that.

Tomorrow's recap might be late (next day?) in the event that I'm dead tired from the concert.... or just dead from excessive happiness.

Day 0/1 recap here

Day 2 recap here

-fanaccount and photos by [email protected]

After a wild and crazy Day 0 and a relatively slow Day 1, Day 2 was jam-packed with a completely FULL schedule of sightseeing.

We began by visiting the Korean Tourism Organization, which is full of useful information for tourists... Useful information, such as a section dedicated to K-pop Stars. Posters, bios, and life-size cutouts of various K-pop stars made that section of the KTO a treat for all of us, but the main attraction were the life-size cutouts of Taeyeon, Jessica, and Yuri. Most everyone took an opportunity to take photos next to cutouts. The recently released "All About Girls' Generation" DVDs were also playing on several TVs inside the KTO.

Walking into the KTO


Posing with TaengSicYul


Sunny on the telly

After spazzing about Soshi inside the KTO, everyone was ushered outside where media crews from SBS, MBC, KBS, etc. were waiting to film, photograph, and interview us about our trip. The president of the KTO (whose name I unfortunately can't remember right now because I'm so tired) also personally greeted us and spoke to us about Korean culture. Several Soshified members were interviewed on camera about Girls' Generation, K-pop, and Korean culture in general. The meeting with the press was capped off by a quick and impromptu dance performance by several Soshified members.

The group posing with a banner


The large media presence


Dancing to Genie

After the surreal experience with the Korean media, we walked from the KTO to the nearby Cheonggye Stream for the true tourist activity: picture-taking. Everyone walked around the Cheonggye Stream for roughly 45 minutes taking pictures, and once that was finished, we left to visit Gyeongbok Palace, the ancient residence of the Korean royalty. After learning more about Korea's history and seeing the beautiful man-made and natural scenery of the Gyeongbok Palace, we also stopped by the Blue House, which is the South Korean Presidential Residence.

Cheonggye Stream


Cheonggye Stream


Changing of the guards ceremony in Gyeongbok Palace


Royal Banquet Hall


Fountain and phoenix statue near the Blue House

We had an hour-and-a-half lunch break in the Insadong area, and before we ate, most of us managed to find an Innisfree store where, of course, Yoona's picture was everywhere inside. Luck was in our favor as that particular Innisfree store had a large amount of promotional goods in the back, so many of us walked our with Yoona posters, stickers, and the green Innisfree handkerchief (I made sure to buy some lotion for myself so that I wouldn't just be asking for free stuff). Lunch for myself and a handful of other SONE friends consisted of wonderfully cold naengmyun, which we ate to try and fight the heat and humidity of summer.

Yoona's face is everywhere inside Innisfree


Yoona's face is everywhere inside Innisfree


My bowl of naengmyun

After our lunch break ended, we boarded the buses yet again to travel to Kimchi School, where we learned about the ingredients involved and the process of making kimchi. After the kimchi-making class, we also tried on traditional Korean hanboks.

Entering the Kimchi School


My completed kimchi


Trying on the hanboks

Once we finished up at Kimchi School, we made an unscheduled stop at a cosmetics store (the name of which I forgot). The tour guides were enthusiastically telling us about the benefits of Korean BB Creme, and quite a few people walked out with bags of skincare products. Then we left for dinner, where we ate samgetang (spelling?), a type of chicken noodle soup that is traditionally eaten in the summer. Dinner was followed by a trip to see a Jump performance, a non-verbal musical comedy performance based on martial arts. I didn't quite know what to expect from the Jump show, but I found it very entertaining and hilarious, so I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Seoul.

The chicken noodle soup

The official tour activities concluded, and we all returned to the hotel after the Jump show. A small group of about 10 of us went to Dongdaemun night market for some late night shopping. We haggled for cheap prices and ate some street food, but we struggled to catch a cab to take us back once we finished. Filled with frustration, we decided to go eat some patbingsoo (shaved ice) and try again later. Finally, we returned to the hotel and we have another long day ahead of us tomorrow, as we're going to attend the rehearsal AND recording of Music Core, followed by shopping in Myeongdong.

Dongdaemun


Dongdaemun


Patbingsoo

I'll talk to you all again tomorrow, after we go to see MuCore!!

- fanaccount and photos by [email protected]

- Day 0/1 fanaccount here

The 2011 Soshified Field Trip is officially underway, and at least for myself personally, it's been a CRAZY first day.

The plan was originally to fly out from where I live in Texas to Denver, Colorado, and from there get on a connecting flight to Francisco, California. I would spend the night in San Francisco and, along with approximately 40 other members of the Field Trip's Group A, which was all going to fly together to Korea.

I was travelling with a fellow Soshified member who I am close friends with in real life. While we were on the first flight from Texas to Denver, my friend passed out and, according to witnesses sitting around him, had a seizure. With no family history of seizures, the paramedics who met us in Denver recommended that he be taken to the hospital to determine the cause of the seizure.

I accompanied him to a hospital in Denver, at which point we both knew that we would miss our scheduled flight to San Francisco. With my friend in the emergency room being checked out by the doctors, and with myself calling the trip coordinators to figure out the best course of action, I suddenly found myself afraid that we would miss the trip altogether.

The doctors determined that there was nothing medically wrong with my friend, but given the fact that he has a history of anxiety relating to airplane travel, he elected to skip the trip. It was an extremely difficult decision and a most unfortunate turn of events, but he was worried that if it were to happen again while on the 11 hour flight to Seoul, that there would be no medical assistance on the plane. This left me scrambling to figure out how to get myself to San Francisco in time to make the 11am flight to Korea.

Ultimately, I took the earliest flight from Denver to San Francisco, which arrived at 10am. International flights have greater security measures to deal with, and they tend to close the gate and stop boarding sooner than flights that do not travel outside of the country. As a result, I found myself literally running through the airport to try and reach the Korea flight on time. I heard the airline representative on the intercom saying "final boarding call" for my flight. Luckily, I managed to BARELY make it to the flight, saving my trip.

Once we arrived in Korea, it was already nearly 4pm, so the rest of the day was spent going through immigration and customs, checking into the hotel, and having our welcome dinner.

Arriving at Incheon International Airport


Arriving at Incheon International Airport

Perhaps the strangest part of the entire experience of going through Incheon International Airport was the fact that there was a large group of Korean media there waiting for us. The Korean media has posted several news articles about the Soshified Field Trip in the past month, but we didn't expect to see TV camera crews, photographers, and reporters waiting for us. Strangely enough, we experienced, on a small level, what Girls' Generation themselves must experience at airports, with camera flash bulbs popping in our direction at a feverish pace.

After that unusual and unexpected event, we got on a bus to take us to our hotel, where we found the Charming Asia Tours company representatives waiting for us with Soshified-branded pamphlets detailing our trip itinerary.

The welcoming sign at the hotel from Charming Asia Tours


The view from my room


The pamphlet given to us along with our Global Generation t-shirt

Finally, the night ended with a welcoming dinner, where all of the nearly 100 total people attending the field trip gathered together for the first time. Friends were reunited or were able to meet in person for the first time, and it was a wonderful get-together for everyone, even as most (including me) were feeling the exhaustion of the overseas flight. Some are heading off to a night market to enjoy some late night shopping, but after the crazy events of yesterday and today, I'm getting some good old-fashioned sleep to prepare myself for the full schedule of the rest of the trip.

Gathering together at the welcoming dinner


Yum


More yum


Good times together with SONEs

Stay tuned for more daily updates (I hope I will have time and energy to consistently do them) from the trip!!

- Fanaccount and photos by [email protected]

Day 2 fan account here.
Day 3 fan account here.
Day 4 fan account here.
Day 5 fan account here.

MoonSoshi9's fan account here.