Led Apple in Bucharest

15.02.2014 will be a date that will remain forever in my mind. Even when I will get old, I will tell my grandchildren about this day. This is so important for me because I went to my very first kpop concert, and, to top it all, it was a Led Apple concert. I know they may not be that famous, but I know this band since they debuted and I know they went through so many changes and when I heard they will come to Romania I was really happy.

I felt sorry I didn't go to the airport to wait for them, even if the airport is 5 minutes away from me, but the concert made me forget about it. While we were waiting to get in, someone from the korean staff came out to take pictures of us and to film us, and we started to yell "Led Apple".

The fun part started when the guys came on the stage. Youngjun playing our anthem on the guitar blew my mind away (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPr0WZr35NI). At first I was like "What is he playing? Is it our anthem?". I just couldn't believe it, because I went to concerts before and even jrock bands didn't do something like that for us, but here he was, on the stage, rocking the hell out of our anthem and I really felt the need to sing my heart out to it.

The screams during the concert were unbelieved high, even I surprised myself with how loud I can scream (I usually do scream a lot at concerts but now I was at my best) and for how long I can let out those screams (I got to the point I couldn't hear myself scream but still feeling the air getting out of my lungs).

I totally loved Kyumin's solo. This guy can express the song so much through his voice, that I could feel myself almost crying (glad I didn't cry because my make-up would have been ruined). It was like he was singing the song to every girl in the room and he wanted that girl to know how much he loves her.

I also loved Hanbyul's and Youngjun's solo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjyPkY2w6sI) It was probably the most emotional moment of the concert. Hanbyul dedicated this song to us, but we couldn't help it and we sang along with him. Our voices can be heard so well, and it was like we dedicated the song back to him.

Also, another great moment was when Youngjun, Gwangyeon and Hyoseok decided to rock the stage. My inner rocker came out, so I enjoyed this moment at maximum as well.

Oh, at the beginning of the concert, Hanbyul told us about his first crush (and the only one as he said) that was romanian (I didn't expect that - this concert was full of surprises) and he also joked about Kyumin not knowing english well and that even his korean pronunciation is wrong. He said he thought Kyumin doesn't know any language at all, but had the surprise of his life, when he heard from the romanian staff that Kyumin pronounces romanian really well. He really did know how to pronounce "Va iubesc", "Multumesc" and I think Hyoseok said "Salut".

The guys said goodbye to us in the end, but we started to scream "Led Apple" and the guys came back on stage again. They sang, I think, one more song and then our surprise came out. On the background there was a video from us and the romanian staff came out with the cake. I think the boys started to cry because Gwangyeon was wiping his eyes with a napkin, and Hanbyul was covering his eyes.

After the concert, the VIP ticket holders were able to get autographs and I was one of the lucky ones to hold that kind of ticket. I got them presents (for each one a drawing of themselves and some heart shaped chocolates) but we weren't able to give them the present personally.

While I was getting my picture with the boys signed I was doing small talk with them. Kyumin said "Thanks!" and I told him "No, I should thank you for the concert.". I asked Hanbyul to give me a hug but he looked around and he saw someone from the korean staff and told me "I can't", BUT (there is a freaking big "but" here) he took my hand in his and kissed it. Really, that was the moment when my heart went BOOM and I was in heaven. I'm telling you, I died and came back to life because of him.

All in all, it was a great experience that I want to be able to have it again, so, God, please, let there be another Led Apple concert in Romania, somewhere in the future.

 

 

EDIT: Ok, maybe our screames during the show were a litle to overboard, but we screamed because we wanted to show them how much we love them. I can not go to a concert to just sing along with the band playing or to respect the fanchants. I want to scream, to make myself heard, to attract the attention on me and to show the band I am there for them, for their music and I want to tell them I don't give a damn about my voice. The boys had a really big interest for Romania, since they have looked up for things related to our country and for Youngjun to learn how to play our national anthem. They sure did had high expectations of us, but we blew their mind away, like they did to us. I love Led Apple ever since they debuted, and I am sorry they went through so many changes, but what I'm not sorry for is that they came to my country in this version and I don't regret going to their concert. 

I bow in front of Led Apple, 90 degrees!

(and I'm sorry I didn't do it at the meeting, but I will remember for sure to so next time, because there will be a next time. Hanbyul, I will make sure you will keep your promise about the concert and, maybe, on that new single called "Va iubesc!")

Sorry for those who feel offended by my words, it's not my intention to do something like that. I just want to express my thoughts, that's all.

St. Patrick's Day in Bucharest

     Hello dear friends, wonderful people of this planet called Earth!

     I'm a little bit back in business, writing another post about something that I love. This time we will have a different subject: parades, and even better, St. Patrick's Day parade.

     As you may all know...or not...yesterday, 17.03.2013, St. Patrick was celebrated and it also marks Ireland's national day. Me being me, thought that this is a great opportunity to take lots and lots of photos and to hear great irish songs (deep inside me lays a small irish girl).

     I got really excited about the parade, and even if no one wanted to go with me I went there all alone. The parade was announced as to be big, with 10 or so floats, step dancers and even cimpoi, aka the Romanian bagpipe. 

     When I got at the intersection between Calea Victoriei and Regina Elisabeta, there were like no people around, and I thought that maybe not so many people were going to come. As I walked towards Piata George Enescu, the starting place of the parade, I started to spot people wearing green and my heart grew a little bigger than before and it started to beat fast again. 

     There were people! Lots of people! People from news said there was 1000 people at the parade and I think they were right. I don't know when time passed because I was amazed by what was going on around me that I lost track of time. I was running around from one side to another to get a taste of the music and the people around me, to take in the green and, of course, to take photos (I have around 167). 

     It was a really awesome experience, to actually take part of something that is so different and that is part of a culture you didn't came across before (I mean in real life).

     I'm going to stop with the writing and let the photos and videos speak for themselves.

 

Academy of Economic Studies aka ASE

     I know it's kind of late for the people that already are accepted to the university, but before applying for the Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, Romania, you should think twice. This is the result of 5 years of studying there (plus 4 more books and other projects I gave to the teachers): 

     If you don't have the heart to go through all of this, then you should choose something different. I have seen many people giving up because it was to hard for them or because it wasn't what they thought it will be like studying here. Just an example, in the first year we were divided into series from A to F, each series having 4 groups (a total of 24 groups), and each group had around 30 students in it. In the second year we were only 19 groups, so you can see the difference.

      I know it's one of the best universities  in Romania when it comes to economic studies and it will help you find a job faster than any other university from the same category (I found one as soon as I finished it and most of my colleagues finished it too), but like I said: you need a freaking strong heart and mind to be able to survive.

Let's talk about: Eurovision

     As you may all know, there is a annual song contest for Europe called Eurovision. The contest was inaugurated in 1956, so many years ago, and it's one of the most important shows on this planet. But, because there's always a "but", the contest changed so so so much over the years and it turned into a really predictable contest. In other words, you know the winner even before the actual night of the contest. I'm watching this contest - show since I was little, so I'm really familiar to it. This year, I finally realized things are going for the worst and that this show is not as fun anymore.

     First thing first, I do want to congratulate the winner, Loreen, and say that her song was really beautiful. But, again the "but", I do believe that were much more beautiful songs and there was a really good singing technique behind those other songs. Those songs I'm referring to are Spain's, Pastora Soler - Quédate Conmigo. and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's, Kaliopi - Crno i Belo. I believe that one of these two songs should have claimed the win last night. A little bit of hope still exists in my heart, that the contest will go back to how it was before, because Serbia's song was really appreciated (it got 3rd place), and the same goes for Albania's and Estonia's song.

     Second thing, the freaking voting system bugs the hell out of me. I'm not talking about the official voting system of the contest, but the one of each country. People usually vote for their neighbors or countries they have a whole history together with. That's why most of the votes were so predictable. Leo, the one that commented the show for Romania, guessed where most of the high points (8, 10 and 12) went because that's how the countries gave points in the last 10 years. I did the same thing as him, and half of the time I was right. I'm sorry to say this, but this contest is about the best song, the best live voice and the best interpretation of a song. Some of the songs that got a good amount of points didn't passed this 3 important key point of the show. This goes for Moldova, that had the name of the song in romanian but the entire song was in english and I couldn't understand a thing, Russia, even if the grannies were cute and brave for singing on a show like this one their song didn't deserve second place, and Romania, because it got a crappy song (I'll explain this right away).

     Third thing, even if I repeat myself, Romania's song was a piece of crap. In my opinion it didn't fit the contest, I hated it that it was in English (I always hate it when our songs are in english because I think it should be in our language when it's a song representing Romania - you can say that my romanian pride makes me say that) and Spanish (why the hell spanish??!!!!), and because the lyrics were totally not making sense (what does Zaleilah mean?). Besides all that, the vocalist of the band was totally unprepared: during the rehearsals she forgot the lyrics, her voice sounded really different when she was singing live and last night she started off the tone and her voice sounded hoarse during some parts. In other words, the perfect combination of a big failure. Costi Ionita, even if you still sustain that this song should have won, I'm sure it's your pride talking and not your mind. Plus, even if I didn't watched the second semi-final, I saw last night that from it came most of the good songs, so it made me realize that if Romania were in the second semi-final it wouldn't have stand a chance against the other bands/singers.

    Anyway, all we have to do is hope that next year the show will be better than this year, regarding the above mentioned problems, and that Romania will be represented next year by a better song (even if I have my doubts that that will happen).