"I'm breaking down, and no one understands why I got here."

I just got back from my Rachael Yamagata concert! It was at the Sejong Center. I somehow landed a second row ticket even though I bought my ticket two weeks before the show.






After the show I asked someone from the crew if I could have the setlist. He looked slightly annoyed but he gave it to me anyway. :)



The actual setlist:
Elephants
Over and Over
What If I Leave
Meet Me By the Water
Faster
Worn Me Down
Letter Read
Elephants Instrumental
Even So
Duet
Parade
Accident
Sidedish Friend
Sunday Afternoon
encore:
Be Be Your Love
Reason Why

During What If I Leave one of her vocal cables got screwed up so she stopped toward the end of it. She summed it up when she said, "I'm dressed in all black and I'm supposed to be spooky, dark, and depressed. But I feel goofy because my vocals sound like farting right now." She walked over to the piano and played Meet Me By the Water while techs worked on her mic issues.

I have a video snippet of Faster. I cut it short because I was paranoid that I would get busted.



Duet completely cracked me up because, well, it wasn't a duet. Where the hell is Ray LaMontagne when ya need him? When Rachael and Ray hum at the end, she did her humming and then when it was his part, she hummed really low so she sounded like "a really hairy man." It was cute.

She played Parade after I made a request. Here is how my brief interaction went with Rachael. I usually don't yell at concerts, but I had the feeling I was in the minority of people who understood what she was asking. And I didn't really have to yell since I was pretty close to her.

Rachael: "Does anyone have any requests?" (a few seconds of silence)
Me: "Please do a song from Loose Ends!"
Rachael: "Wow, you HAVE that?!"
Me: "Yes!"
Rachael: "Ok, I barely remember how to play any of those songs so don't get mad at me if I screw up."
Me: "I promise I won't."

She played it perfectly.

Unfortunately, my photos turned out poorly. This one accidentally looks cool.



When she was at the piano this is the view I had since I was way over on the side.



Seoul was the last stop on the tour so her band gave her flowers.



I think the highlight for me was Sunday Afternoon. That song kills me every damn time. She talked about how you should let yourself wallow, obsess, and annoy your friends after a breakup...but only one day out of the week.

I can't believe I got to see Rachael in Seoul. Bliss.

I made it through 8 months of SLP...and also 27 years of life.

Anneyaseo, everyone! ♥

Well, if you don't already know, my last day of work was Thursday, April 2nd. It was supposed to be March 31st but Mr. and Mrs. Yang asked me to help Jen (my replacement) the first couple days. Those last two days of work were reeeeally long. It didn't help that I was battling my fourth sinus infection in eight months. I was glad I could help Jen. She was really stressed out. I'm glad they chose her to take over my classes--I could tell I, along with my students, really needed a change. Anyway, I got a video and some photos from my last days at SLP. So, here ya go!

For our monthly field trip we went to see a ventriloquist. Ventriloquism kind of creeps me out so I was slightly less than thrilled.



Monkey Class:



James, who is quite possibly the cutest kid in Korea:



Daniel:



Elly and Michelle:



And here is my favorite class: Ann and Annie. I love these girls with all my heart.



My birthday fell on Easter Sunday this year. I kind of like it when that happens. A bunch of us went out for brunch at the All-American Diner. Omelettes? Pancakes? French Toast? No rice? We were in heaven.

Then Meredith and I went to Yuido to look at the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, every Korean also went to Yuido to look at the cherry blossoms. We both have a similar distaste/phobia for large crowds so it was a bit more stressful than we thought it would be. So we looked for the humor in the situation. Mullets are pretty funny, aren't they?



A cute baby greeted us.



And here are some photos of the cherry blossoms.





Anyway, my head hurts from thinking about whether or not I want to stay in Korea. I can't seem to find any editing positions. I've applied for about eight but nobody has gotten back to me. I know there are teaching jobs here that would require me to work about half as less as I did at SLP...and I would actually make more money. Part of the problem of working at a full-time hagwon (private language school) is that there are a lot of students, a lot of classes, and a lot of paperwork. Everyone gets so burnt-out there because teaching becomes your life. And you are in the minority if you actually come to Korea to have teaching become your life. And I find myself really missing these novelties that you, my lovely people, are probably taking for granted:

-dill pickles
-Chipotle
-bathtub
-dryer
-GOOD cheese
-Reese's Peanut Butter cups
-English
-grass
-relatively clean air

xo,
Carly