The Solutions in Cologne

Oh, wow, it has been some time again. Can't believe how fast time passes by.

On December 14th I went to Cologne again for a concert but this time the location was the MTC. And I can tell you that it's just a small venue. But I wasn't surprised at all.

The Solutions are a rather unknown band in the European K-music fan scene. When I was talking to my colleagues about them they were like "Wait, you didn't know about them either? But you know every Korean band". (Yes, that might be what they think about me and it's true I do know a lot of Korean bands and groups but definitely not all of them.)
When I was talking to some of my friends I figured out that none of them ever heard of the Solutions before. Plus, the concert was announced three weeks before. That was the moment when I thought my boss completely lost his mind. However, since he's thinking about economy and probably calculated everything before I decided to join them.
Arriving at the venue we had to prepare everything in about one and a half hours. However, it did work out somehow. But I was really surprised about the band, the duo The Solutions plus their support drummer and bassist, not changing their outfits before the VIP meeting and photos. That's something I personally found a little odd for Korean musicians but it's none of my business, they're old enough to do whatever they want to do.
When the concert started there were roughly 70 people in the club. And I noticed there were many Korean exchange students. Maybe it was about the ticket prices, maybe it was just that obvious because there weren't many people.
Actually the concert was fun. I started listening to their albums a lot when I came back home on Monday. The songs are good for partying but also working on essays. But dancing in a club with the fans and the musicians on stage is a good thing to do.
I think everyone enjoyed it. It wasn't to stuffed, you know. A rather small venue might have negative aspects but at the same time it was kinda.. private. The fans and the band could just have fun together and enjoy their night and if you've ever felt the difference between a small and a huge venue you'll get what I mean.

After the concert it was basically the usual stuff - except for my boss telling Naru, the guitarist, to take of his shirt once again. Somehow I really had to laugh about it. Anyone wants to make a guess about what happened to the tour shirt..? It's too small for my boss, just hinting.

Anyways, we carried everything upstairs and into the vans. Sad thing was two of the staff members had to leave early and then there was me carrying some heavy parts of the drum set upstairs because my boss hurt his elbow before and no one else could do it. Yes, thank you, actually I'm there to deal with languages and the people around but I think I shouldn't complain about it - I never would, it was too much fun.

However, the most randomly cute and adorable moment was after the concert. Since I am a Korean studies major I DO know Korean. And that's something I kept to myself listening to what the band was saying. In the end, shortly before leaving, I started to complain about the cold temperatures in Korean. Park Sol, the vocalist, just agreed with a shy laugh and I had to quietly laugh myself because this "What the..?"-look people always give you is actually amazing. The reason why I'll never tell a Korean band or group that I actually do understand what they're saying right away. They'll find out once they're joking around and I can't hold back anymore and laugh like crazy.

Yes, I know it's not a detailed report. But after all it was fun and I've talked to some people who started listening to The Solutions (thanks to me) the week after the concert. We'll welcome them anytime again. But only when my boss' "Drummer take put your T-shirt off!" will be successful. ;) (Jokin', I'm still curious about the tattoos but I'd welcome them anyway. :D)

Still Alive

*singing 'I'm Still Alive' thanks to Big Bang*

Well, at least for now I'm still alive but I'm busy with studying for my final exams.
I'm going to write my Geography exam tomorrow and English and German exams in early May so I'm studying and hanging out in a weird changing cycle.

However, AstanMagazin will announce some new concerts on the 15th! Be prepared everyone, we've got awesome news.

About me by now.. I'm like really excited because I'm going to join ASC's hangout on Tuesday with Boys Republic. I already started to scream this morning but I have no idea how to survive this month.
Boys Republic hangout.
Block B Comeback.
And, what's even more important than Block B's Comeback: Mr.Mr Comeback!!!
My babies will be back after everything they had to go through! 💕

For now, that's pretty much everything. Maybe you'll see me on TV haha~
See you all some time.

Love y'all~

LEDApple in Cologne

Before opening this blog I went to Cologne for LEDApple's concert but not only as a fan - I don't think I would've gone to Cologne by train for six hours for LEDApple - but more as a member of the promoter's staff.

Yes, I'm telling the truth, I became a member of the promoter's staff and I'm more like an 'insider'. When my boss wasn't sure if it would be a good idea, he asked me what I think about LEDApple in Germany. But that's something else. I wanted to write a belated report about the concert.

I woke up at 4AM so I could take the train at 5 and go to Cologne. When I arrived at the Central station it was 11AM, so still pretty early and I was tired back then already but I had to wait for a friend. I knew I had to be at the venue at 3PM so my friend and I spent some time at the Central station.
When I arrived at the venue only a few other staff members were there. It took some time until my boss arrived and I saw the venue for the first time. 'Die Kantine' is actually a really nice club not too small with nice acoustics. But the whole staff had to wait for two hours until someone told us what we should do. And then everything became frantically busy. We had about one hour left but there were some difficulties I don't need to talk about, so after some time we figured out we would be late.
We never wanted this to happen but there was nothing we could do about it so we had to deal with it and the fans had to wait anyways.
When the doors opened it was more like: "Heeeell, how many people are there?! It doesn't seem like it's going to end soon." But it's actually good for a promoter. The more people come, the more money you earn.
I can't tell anything about the Meet&Greet for the VIP's. But because we hadn't had enough time I heard that it was fast-paced. The reason? Well, we actually planned a K-Pop-Party but shortly before the concert began we got to know there were some problems with the venue so there'll be another party starting at 10PM. we had to finish everything before.

When the concert started we had some time to relax. I went to the front and helped some other staff members check whether someone's filming or not but because of these cheap lightsticks it was really hard to see something. But standing in the very first row actually.. it was nice and though we had to work we enjoyed the time being. Me and the other staff members ended up dancing and partying from time to time and my boss faked a fangirl attack in front of Hanbyul so Hanbyul wasn't able to sing for a moment because he had to laugh.
I don't know the setlist or anything else and I heard some people already uploaded it so you could try to find it on other blogs. When the concert was over we went upstairs and had 'pizza party', at least the staff members because the band and management had had dinner before.
After the band left the venue we cleaned up and then left.

I met my friend again and told her about a lot of experiences I don't even want to write about, plus, I don't know if I would be allowed to but it was a really special event.
I met many amazing people and I really enjoyed the time being though it was busy and stressful and when I stood in front of the stage the fans were screaming really loud, I thought I wouldn't be able hear anything for the next days.

My friend and I had to wait at the Central station then, we arrived shortly before midnight and our trains were departing at 4.30AM. I almost fell asleep when we we're sitting in the McCafé at 3AM (well, we spent the whole night there) but I wasn't able to sleep in the train.
When I arrived at home about 10AM Saturday morning I wasn't tired anymore but I wanted to go home so badly. However, I still had to carry the newspapers (yes, that's what I'm earning my money with!).
When I got home after working I remember my legs and my back hurt really bad and I just wanted to lay down and do nothing anymore.

Anyways, it was a really interesting weekend and I enjoyed my time. I feel like I've found a job I really love (and I think I'd still love it in a few years) so I'm planning to improve my Korean skills. Promoters are always looking for people who are able to translate Korean-English and English-Korean. Though I can communicate somehow I want to improve now and I hope working at concerts will help me to earn some money besides going to university in the future.

I don't know when something interesting will happen again in my life but I hope soon, I really want to work again (hell, isn't this weird?!) and I promise to do my best.
The next thing that might be interesting is me graduating in less than four weeks but it's nothing others really care about, it's just really important to me.

See you all some time and always be prepared for amazing concerts!

Intro [a new world]

Good morning/ noon/ evening, guys!

I'm Jia, still younger than 20 years, and no one should care about where I'm living but I'll tell you that I'm from Europe. (That's a rather good hint, isn't it?)

Actually I'm a high school student graduating this year after 13 years (yes, that could be also a hint because most countries use a system with 12 years) and then planning to go to university. My future plan is to become a translator for Japanese and Korean which I've been studying for the past two and a half years.

When I'm not in school or studying languages, I'm listening to music, basically all the time. (Well, I'm listening to music playing in my head in school because it's boring to listen to my teachers.) But when it comes to music and concerts, money is a huge problem, so I'm carrying the newspapers.

And there's my second part time job.. with working for a promoter in my country. (I think you can't even imagine how amazing it feels to walk around with a staff ID~ /cough/)
I mean, I love my job but sometimes it's really stressful and sometimes you just want to sleep because you're waiting for instructions. But I'll tell you more about that with the next entry.
Don't expect me to post photos, maybe you'll see some someday but definitely not many.

If there's anything you want to know, feel free to leave me a comment. If you want some contact sites, there's Facebook (it's my admin page, don't expect me to give you a direct link to my account) or Twitter (ask , if you want a link.).

I think that's pretty much everything interesting about me. There are some basic things about K-Pop and my biases you'll find out soon enough, for example my fandoms. You might notice that I actually love sweets (and sometimes I regret it q_q) and I really enjoy travelling, that's why I have another blog.

Jia~