2014 장호원 Peach Festival

local trot duo Wink

Our hometown here in Korea is very small, so it should come as no surprise when I say there’s not a whole lot to look forward to there. The only thing we’ve really got going on is yearly festival dedicated to peaches. The whole area has tons and tons of peach orchards and they take the business pretty seriously. I’ve never actually seen a peach hanging off a tree around here. Instead there are these goofy little white bags all over the trees, all year long. The farmers place them over the peaches to keep out bugs or anything else that might harm their precious peaches. When I do finally see them, in the supermarket or at roadside stands, they are the biggest, prettiest peaches I have ever seen. They’re pretty tasty too, though pretty different from what I’m used to back home. I remember peaches being rather squishy and juicy, but here they are much harder. Sadly, though it is the one thing we have in town to look forward to, it’s really not even in our town. It’s by technicality the Janghowan Peach Festival, not the Gamgok Peach Festival, though to all of us that live here those two places are pretty much one and the same. Funny though, since they’re actually in different provinces and everything, but they morph right from one to the other so I claim Janghowan as my own as well as Gamgok. (I highly doubt those in Janghowan would do the same though, as they are the bigger, (slightly) better town. Oh well.)

brand new rookie group stripping in plain sight…. o.O

The festival itself is cute, but not too exciting. There’s tons of different food stalls, a handful of rides and goofy carnival games, and lots of places to buy peaches and peach products. The main draw for us though, is the concert that takes place on Sunday night. We went last year and saw a number of groups, most notably BTS, but there was also a local talent show, some trot singers for the abundance of older people in the town, and a goofy super drunk old man dancing like a fool. (Full post here!) This year, I feel entirely responsible for making it a million times more awesome for us.

Minsu looking pretty badass

I couldn’t help but hope that Boys Republic would be among the acts that came out this year, especially seeing their track record of pretty much performing anywhere that will have them. Also knowing full well how much they read and respond to fan letters and even tweets. I decided to try something. At first I really didn’t have much hope, but I told them about the festival in a letter I sent them. Then later I reminded them in tweets, and even sent them the website and details, continuously telling them they should come. (I also made sure they knew it was my town.)

As the time of the festival neared, a schedule appeared on their monthly schedule. It was listed as tentative and only as a special radio broadcast in Icheon. I couldn’t help but get immediately super excited, though I had to keep reminding myself that it wasn’t confirmed yet, and really could have been a schedule for tons of other things. Icheon isn’t the town, but rather just the county that our town is in, and while the concert would be broadcast on a radio, I’m sure tons of other things would be that day too. The next week or so was pure torture, waiting for the official Peach Festival website to update with a lineup.

hey Sungjun~

But finally it did, with Boys Republic at the top of the list. Not going to lie, I almost cried. (Can’t tell you how disapointed and angry I’d have been if it really had been a different yet so similar schedule.) I had to contain my excitement though since my coteacher was teaching a class a few feet away, and they were taking a test. I immediately took to every media platform I have to express myself instead, including several tweets to them about how awesome they are, and one on their official Daum cafe exclaiming to all the Korean fans that the boys would be coming to me for a change. (It’s not exactly a secret that we live pretty far out from Seoul.) I also made sure to bring it up with a ton of my students, since I mention Boys Republic to them as often as possible anyway. I’m sure some people might think I’m crazy for thinking they came because I asked them to, but really the odds of them finding and coming to such an obscure tiny festival as ours otherwise makes it very likely.

I’m pretty sure this is Sungjun spotting our sign for him ^_^

When the weekend finally came, my excitement was overflowing. (It didn’t help that it had been weeks since I’d last been able to go to a schedule of theirs even though their schedule had been quite full recently.) We didn’t wait until Sunday to check out the festival, but instead headed in a couple of times. Other English teachers in the area would be gathering to check it out, so we met up with them for some food. We also just wandered about, harassing my students about coming to the concert on Sunday, and taking pics of the venue to send to the boys so they knew what to expect. I spent the rest of my weekend time making goofy signs to hold up at the show.

grrrr Suwoong is fierce!!!

Early on Sunday a friend from Seoul came to visit our town before the show. We spent the tiniest bit of time showing her around and then headed off to the show. Also giggling the whole time at other fans from Seoul that were trying to come to the show, and posting about getting lost or how far away it is and whatnot. Sorry guys, but now you know how we feel all the time. There were of course other things going on at the stage when we arrived, but we had no worries about getting a good spot. Last year everybody was seated way back and those that cared rushed the stage at the appropriate time, returning to their seats if they no longer cared. We noticed almost immediately that the people sitting front and center of the current crowd were actually a handful of Boys Republic fansite managers that we know pretty well. It didn’t take them much longer to notice us and we greeted each other excitedly. Instead of finding a seat, we decided to head towards the back of the stage, where the vans would arrive. We really didn’t expect the boys to arrive for a while, but sitting in the crowd wasn’t much more exciting yet. We staked out a small hill and just goofed off while we waited. The fansites kept coming and going from the area too, waiting for the boys. They made sure to come say hi and exclaim over the fact that I actually lived there, and one of them belatedly wished me a happy birthday, complete with smacking (a tradition here). We in turn crashed a couple of their group selcas.

hi Suwoong! ^_^

There were a handful of groups and singers we saw coming and going while we waited, most went unidentified. Eventually a boy group appeared, and we assumed it to be BeatWin, the only other name on the lineup we knew to be a boy group. It wasn’t until much later that we discovered they were actually a brand new group by the name of ZPZG that hadn’t even technically debuted yet. Either way, as soon as they exited their van, a couple of the members began stripping and changing into their stage clothes. Jeff had even been taking pics at the time, and suddenly felt dirty. I’m not sure they noticed. Eventually the real BeatWin arrived too, and we also saw them stripping. They were in their van, but it was dark out by then, and one of them brilliantly decided to turn on the light. They did in fact notice, gave us some really weird looks, and pointedly turned out the lights.

why you shoot us Sunwoo?

It was getting later and later, and the show was in full swing, while we and the fansites kept waiting and waiting, getting more and more confused and grumbly. It was during one of the times that they had wandered off that the boys finally did appear. We had actually abandoned our mound to watch a bit of the performance, though we were still essentially backstage. We first saw their van parked in the middle of the road, and we weren’t sure it was them, but it was a newly arrived idol van, and as far as we could tell, they were the only group not there yet. We decided to head back to our original position just in case, and they chose then to drive up into the grassy area where the other vans were parked, almost running poor Suzie over in the process. It was then that we decided it must be them; they’ve almost run Suzie over too many times for it to be anybody else. None of us could remember their license plate (unlike some fans) to have more solid proof, but we could just feel that it was them, it was all just too familiar looking. We chose to wave and slowly started slinking closer to where they packed (since that was way behind everybody else’s vans.)

Sungjun strutting his stuff

It was then that the fansites reappeared, and we told them they had arrived. Feeling less awkward with our increased numbers, we did go closer and made ourselves more obvious. Soon enough, random lights began appearing inside the van, finally confirming that the boys were inside it and also that they had seen us. We had also taken out my goofy signs by this point, and the other fans got a huge kick out of them. Other fans (or perhaps just locals) that didn’t know us seemed quite flabbergasted by us being foreigners but also huge fans, and even conversing with the other obviously huge fans. It was amusing.

Eventually Manager Oppa got out of the van, followed by Sungjun (who said hi), and they wandered off to the roped-off areas, presumably looking for the toilet. Suwoong was a little late to join the party, and thus by the time he exited the van, Sungjun and the manager were nowhere to be seen. He seemed worried for a moment before looking around and finding our little cluster. His face lit up and he asked us where they had gone, and then scampered off to join them. It was around this time that we noticed a lot of the locals were being rather grabby. I can’t say I was surprised, I mean they were mostly very young and presumably don’t get to see much in the way of idols. But still, no grabbing guys! Especially with our boys. The Royal Family is always so laid back around the guys that I think it was a bit of a shock for them.

the cutest Suwoong!

Not to worry though, we all noticed, disapproved, and decided to make a shield wall for their future escapades outside the van that day. We all went over and lined up near the barrier making a corridor for the boys to walk through to get (at least partially) back to their van worry-free. When they came back through, a lot of the locals were distracted by the entirety of BeatWin being in the open, so their trip back to the van was much calmer, and they greeted us gladly. We held our positions, and they obviously approved, since the manager decided to pull the van much closer to where we had lined up. I feel like he had every intention of backing it right up to where our little barrier started, but a tree stopped him early. (Along with all of us gesturing and yelling. The tree had support beams that I don’t think he could see from the car, but he very nearly ran into them. You’re welcome Manager Oppa.)

I…ummmm…what?!

Security came and actually joined our barrier we built for the boys, blocking off a lot of the other fans. I’m curious if the fansite managers had talked to them once we started the barrier. I mean, I know they had, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. Perhaps it was something like ‘don’t worry, we’ll help you protect Boys Republic.’ Gotta love Royal Family! How many other fandoms turn themselves into security for their idols? The same grabby and pushy nature that we were scoffing at is actually extremely common around idols, we just won’t be having any of that with our boys. And they very obviously appreciated it. The fans that hadn’t been fully blocked still got some high fives and such from the boys, because well its them and that’s what they do. I’m just glad they didn’t get mobbed, and hey, I still got a hand grab from Suwoong, completely unasked for. I can’t complain.

yup! I’m here Minsu~ ^_^

They had actually gone backstage rather early, and had entered a little tent that was meant to shield them. You could still see them through the flaps, but that was just too creepy. We noticed, waved (without any idea if they could see it), laughed at how awkward it was, and ran off to find some seats. The crowd had pretty seriously creeped up on the stage while we weren’t looking. We had started off by following the fansites into the crowd in search of a space to sit. When they realized that they couldn’t get to their previously saved seats by that route, they turned around to go another way, motioning and calling to us in a way that in the heat of the moment seemed like a ‘follow us.’ Though in hindsight, I’m unsure if that was the case. Either way, we did and joined them in their front and center seats. There was plenty of extra space, though it took some finagling until everybody was happy with where they were and the amount of space they had (mostly just to ensure they could get awesome pictures with their awesome cameras.)

This game is OVER!

We sat through the performances of a trot duo we’re all too familiar with called Wink before it was Boys Republic’s turn. (I think they are from the area, as they have been at every festival we’ve seen nearby.) No matter though, it gave everybody plenty of time to find the proper settings to use with the current lighting. (Oh fancy cameras, how you confuse me.) When the boys did finally come out, there was no doubt that they noticed us immediately. Kind of hard not to though. A big cluster of familiar faces, front and center, most with large cameras, and some with goofy signs or official merchandise. Yeah, we were pretty obvious.

hearts from Sunwoo……

The boys went immediately into Video Game, and while the lighting lagged behind a little bit, our cheers and excitement didn’t. The townies didn’t hold back either, and I like to think that I had some influence on the really good reception they got considering how much I pimp them to my students. The attention we received was through the roof from beginning to end of the show, and we’re almost positive that all members saw all the silly signs I’d made. We had to hold them in our laps so as not to block everybody’s view behind us, but they were still bright and right up front so chances are good. (and well, we saw some of them specifically react to them so…) This would be our first time seeing the Video Game dance without backdancers, and it didn’t disappoint. They had some cute rolling around on the floor bit and made an airplane out of themselves.

When they finished up it was time for a small talk segment with the MC. They said hello to wild cheers and then the MC seemed to ask them something about styles they liked in girls I think. Some of them stuck with their normal answers, where as others played specifically to the crowd. Sunwoo said the style of the audience in general and One Junn, while I think he stated his normal answer, he also went searching the audience for somebody who fit it. The MC also couldn’t help but give Suwoong some grief over saying he liked dresses. It was during this talk that we got very obvious acknowledgment of our signs, including a thumbs up from Sunwoo after tilting his head and squinting at us for an extended amount of time (presumably to read everything), a rather obvious laugh from Sungjun, most likely in response to the sign for him, and a somewhat embarrassed looking giggly face from Suwoong, also probably in response to his sign.

….and hearts from One Junn

As the MC finished up and they announced the next song to be Dress Up, the crowd got even louder. This song definitely got a lot more attention than their earlier songs, so I wasn’t surprised. I was however surprised when the crowd started singing along, mostly to the chorus. The excitement about this was clearly visible on the guys faces, and I couldn’t help but be proud of our little town and the awesome reception they were giving my boys. We had also never seen this song without backdancers, and didn’t even know what to expect. I’m actually still confused at their choice of choreo for it. During the part where Sungjun rides a boat behind the backdancers, they instead had Sungjun just flaunt his stuff in front of the other members, while Suwoong lays on top of Minsu’s back with his feet kicking around in the air. It changes to some more normal choreo after that for Minsu’s part, but as Suwoong finished it looked like he couldn’t believe what he had just been doing, and was clearly laughing at himself.

As this song finished and the crowd went wild, a lot of people started getting up to leave, but they weren’t finished just yet. Sunwoo actually took to the mic and told people to sit back down because they had a final song for them. It worked and they had the crowds full attention once more to perform Party Rock. There wasn’t much singing to this one, but it’s just such a fun song that everyone got into it anyway, and sent them on their way with more loud cheers.

airplane!

Now that they were finished for real, we joined the other Royal Family in heading back to the vans to see them off. They were like lightening though and were already in them when we got there. People were crowding them like crazy though so they didn’t roll down any windows or anything. We stuck around for a minute hoping, but then just waved and sent hearts to the van, before heading out. We had to get Suzie back to the bus terminal in time to get home anyway. We had to go pretty fast, but got there with about 5 minutes to spare, got her tickets and said hi to everyone else waiting for the bus back to Seoul. When it came, they were momentarily confused about us not getting on before remembering we lived there. We said our final goodbyes and started the short walk back home.

More pictures: Boys Republic Other