Final blast in Korea

Hung Yut holding the hot herbal drinks that got us through a couple of days in which sleep was pretty scarce and I was feeling compressed by the city - they tasted good and the hot liquid itself was enough to make me feel better, and perhaps the herbs helped because I was on the edge of getting sick the whole time. Maybe the spicey noodle soups helped too.



Yesterday, my last real day in Korea, I gave a DJ seminar starting around 3pm. It went well, with a great translator and keen participants. Towards the end we got moved to a small room with built-in red couches where we crowded in. Everyone was so interested in my insights to DJing that they were all on the edges of their seats. It was a really special, intense 15 minutes. The people here are so attentive and genuinely interested in learning - very touching. The seminar spilled over about 20 minutes past 5pm which created some excitement because I was supposed to DJ in Daijeon at 8pm and it would take at least 2 hours to drive plus I needed to eat. My ride was antsy to say the least. So I was rushed up the stairs and directed into a stylin' black 4-door sedan with leather seats. We drove 140+ kph half the time to Daijeon, weaving in and out of traffic, but the car was so smooth it didn't even phase me. After eating and one wrong turn, I walked into this funky club at 8:20am with 30 eager people already waiting. After being shown yet another DJ stand with unloved audio components, I got a set of tangos running and started to sense that this was going to be an amazing night. It was an all-nighter with attendees from 5 different towns, and the masses had shown up to see the crazy DJ from Anchorage. Short story I DJ'd for about 7 hours to 3:30am and it was a total rockin' blast with a fun, young crowd. I handed the reins over to a local DJ who continued the night and we ducked out to drive back to Seoul. Hung Yut fought sleep deprivation all the way back to Seoul making for a shaky and stressful ride. We got to sleep about 6:45am, with me pretty fed up with the crazy tango lifestyle that is the exact opposite of my view of a healthy life. I'm shocked that I haven't gotten sick.

Bottom line is that I met some very friendly people and feel a strong pull to visit again just to keep those connections despite how much I contrast with the ultra-urban lifestyle. It was a very, very special chapter in my tango life that I feel very fortunate to have experienced.