Our Gommie and Pop Visit

My parents have headed home after being in the northeast for about a month.  They visited upstate NY with a stop at Niagara Falls (too many tourists!) and time in the Adirondacks (beautiful color) and later northern Maine, including Acadia, and Vermont; no moose though. They were with us two for two long weekends, which we packed full of activities.

(And on the weekends that Gommie and Pop were away, we went to see the Faerie Villages, which were lovely and whimsical as always.)

I already told you about Applepalooza, our annual fall party with lots of tasty treats.  It was great to introduce my parents to all my friends and vice versa; I like to show them all off!   We also saw many of the kids' friends at their induction into the National Junior Honor Society.  The ceremony was short and sweet--our favorite--and it was fun to watch the teens bustle around taking photos, eating, and laughing afterwards.  I'm glad my parents could share in our pride at their academic accomplishments. 

Otherwise, they bounced back and forth between horses and kung fu.  Regular lessons and big events.  There was a big kung fu performance over the weekend.  Bud performed numerous forms, including Tong Bei (a hand form), spear, nine chain, three-staff, group broadsword, and group straight sword.  Twice.  Gommie and Pop enjoyed watching his skill and stamina.  And that evening, we all went out for a celebratory meal at The Place, an outdoor grilled shellfish place.  I picked up extra salads (potato, cole slaw, and a prosciutto pasta salad), some bread, and cookies to go along with the grilled corn, veggie kebabs, clams, mussels, steamers, and chicken we ordered.  A lovely evening together outside.

Gommie made several trips to the barn with Sis, getting to know Patience and the routine.  And Gommie even rode Patience!  She said she hadn't been on a horse since the 1950s.  It was wonderful and very impressive; she looked good. I love how my mom is always up to try anything and is so curious about the world around her.

Sis had her first away schooling show at a farm in central Connecticut, on what turned out to be a very cold day with huge wind gusts and chill below freezing.  It would have been okay, except we didn't quite prepare well enough (I didn't realize it was going to be so windy)--Sis was just in her show coat and shirt, not even winterized!  The day started for Sis at 4 am as she got up to head to the farm to prep her horse.  There were braids to loop, coats to brush, shipping wraps to affix, and all manner of blankets and gear to take (that horse has more blankets than I do--and I crochet them!)  We had a lot to learn and were a step behind (more Mama and me than Sis, who knows what she's doing) and tensions were high.  Not enough sleep or caffeine!  We caravanned to the site, at one point with 7 cars stuck behind the trailer and our 5 cars.  Once the horses were out and warming up, everyone settled.  And we realized the cold wind was only beginning to blow harder.  We braved the weather and saw Sis earn a ribbon in each of her events!  We are so proud of her.  And the horse!  Especially for her ribbon in jumping because this was the highest Sis has ever jumped--2 feet!  I didn't know she could do that.  But together, they did.  When the competition was over, Sis and Mama had to settle the horse at the home barn while Bud, the grandparents, and I took some down time.  And then we celebrated at hibachi.

We managed to do a few other things.  My parents were educated about BTS, watching a documentary on the K-pop phenomenon and seeing several BTS videos.  Bud danced for them and even Pop wiggled a bit!  (We also found a dance class for Bud, cemented by the fact that they were learning a routine to a BTS song while we were there!)  We had a couple of Mario Kart tournaments--it's Pop's favorite computer game.  He's getting better and even routinely placed in single digits.  And I scored my very first First Place, running Cheep Cheep Beach.  It's fun to play together.  And we laugh a lot.  We also took the kids out of school for a day and went for a hike at a local park, one of my favorites.  Except I managed to get us lost!  I made a wrong turn, adding an extra mile to our excursion.  So, not lost-lost, just more than we expected.  Even though the trees were still green, it was a delightful outing.

Pop found the gate post!  We've been to this park several times and have always
looked for the old cedar post mentioned in the didactic label.  Pop found it
a-ways off.

And of course we ate.  We always make time to eat.  Bud made his famous lasagna.  Mama made her delicious garlic chicken.  And we had apple cider doughnuts, Greek food at the diner, Peruvian food, Mexican food, pizza, ice cream, seafood, hibachi, to name a few.

Now it's quiet, less busy.  We probably all need to rest after the vacation!

BTS! BTS! BTS!

I'm listening to BTS right now, and, if you don't know who they are, this post will be hard to understand!  (Visit here and here for more info, videos, and pics from the concert.)  Beware, Lambeth, I think they are headed to England next!

They are a seven-member, K-Pop boy band from South Korean, which means they perform in a mix of rap and song, Korean and English, with very complicated dance routines and coordinated outfits.  They have been together for 7+ years and are popular the world over but are only now making a relatively big splash in the US.  They have their own lingo--fans are called ARMY, their are specific chants for each song, fans have preferences of favored members which are called "bias" or "stans" (I'm sure I don't have that quite right.) Still, most people I know don't know them, despite topping several Billboard charts, winning at the Video Music Awards, selling out stadium concert venues, and appearing on "Good Morning America" and "Tonight Show" this week.

Bud loves their music and their dance routines, knowing all the lyrics (which he sings in Korean and English, having read the phonetics and the translations!) and the moves.  When we heard they were coming to the Prudential Center in NJ, Mama managed to get tickets in the upper balcony.  (For reference, they sold out the 42,000+ Citi Field in 10 minutes, with some seats going for $5K or more.  And that's not the scalpers' price.)  And so, on Saturday, the three of us (Sis stayed home to do horse things) trekked down to Newark, of which we'd only visited the airport before, early.  See, BTS fans are rabid--they known for screaming and dancing and buying up merchandise.  Even though we got to the venue about 6 hours early, we couldn't buy t-shirts or hats or hoodies or bandanas; they were all sold out.  (Oddly, they sell the concert merch outside the venue not inside and don't restrict it to ticket holders; they could've sold so much more stuff if they'd had it.)  Bud was bummed, so I snagged him a bootleg shirt from a guy with a full backpack.  He got the official light bomb, which officials programmed to his seat location so it can blink and flash based on the show, with colors and patterns determined by the house.  He also managed to get the last poster of the band!  Our cashier rushed to the table and grabbed it before the other cashier making a beeline for it could take it away; when they posted "sold out" on the sign, there were a hundred audible groans behind us!  Craziness.

We spent the rest of the afternoon milling with the other ARMY.  Mainly, Bud danced.  See, each song has a specific choreography which people learn.  So, some of the fan club people had brought a speaker and music and were playing the songs or just the choruses.  If you knew the song, you rushed into the open space with others and danced while everyone sang.  It was a beautiful flash mob!  And Bud danced his heart out.  He's got great moves, especially being one of the youngest there.

See, I thought there would be more young teens, but it was a lot of women in their early to mid-20s instead, some from as far away as Germany and Australia!  And of all races, not just Korean.  I saw Orthodox Jewish women, Muslim women in hijab, African Americans, Latinas, SE Asians (eg India, Pakistan), Caucasians, etc etc etc.  There was even a palpable lesbian presence (though not a discernible gay male one, which surprised me, given the relative androgyny, even femininity, by US standards, of the group.) BTS has a very wide appeal--they aren't vulgar or overly sexualized or violent or aggressive; their music speaks of emotions(albeit some hard ones)--the arc of three albums is entitled "Love Yourself," a major theme of their recent speech to the United Nations--and they are beautiful, talented young men (all between about 21-25.)

The talent was definitely on show on Saturday night.  They danced and sang for three solid hours (with no opening act, beyond their own videos, which the audience used for karaoke), taking turns with solos, in an elaborately produced show.  As far as I know, they sing live, not recorded, and they have vocal chops, which is not always noticeable on the heavily-produced recordings.  And they can all move!  Then, at the very end, they took 10 minutes to thank fans and express their gratitude, excitement, etc. Yep, I was very impressed.  And had a great time.  I don't know the lyrics or the fan chants, much less the dance moves, but it doesn't really matter.  I loved watching Bud have such a great time.  I think he screamed and sang the whole time, but it was so loud that, even though I was next to him, I couldn't hear him!  I'm glad he has some worthy Asian, male, celebrity role models, which Mama definitely didn't have growing up.  They have talent and work hard, talk about feelings and challenges, and work with UNICEF.  It makes a difference to see people who look like you succeed and be popular.  (Even as a white girl, I knew this at a very early age--I preferred Snow White and later Princess Leia because they were the rare heroines with dark hair! )

And they're just fun.  I'd go to their concerts again.  Yep, I'm a proud ARMY mom!

-=-=-=-=-=-

Setlist:

"Idol"

"Save Me"

"I'm Fine"

"Magic Shop"

"Trivia: Just Dance"

"Euphoria"

"I Need U"

"Run"

"Serendipity"

"Trivia: Love"

"DNA"

Medley: "Boyz With Fun / "Attack on Bangtan" / "Fire" / "Bapsae" / "Dope"

"Airplane Pt. 2"

"Singularity"

"Fake Love"

"Trivia: Seesaw"

"Epiphany"

"The Truth Untold"

"Outro: Tear"

"Mic Drop"

Encore:

"So What"

"Anpanman"

"Answer: Love"