On Friday night, Jon, Laura (one of the Korean teachers at our school) and I went to Deep In, one of the foreigner hangout bars in Jeonju. We hung out there for a while, but then decided we were hungry (well, mostly Jon was), so we left in search of something to eat. The area around Deep In isn't really a bar neighborhood, it's the downtown area where there's a lot of shops and restaurants, but nothing's really open late. So as we wandered the empty streets looking for food, I heard salsa music coming from down the street. When we got closer to the source, we realized the music was coming down some stairs from what looked like a restaurant that seemed to be open. Yes! Finally, food. And the added bonus, and mystery, of salsa music at a Korean restaurant in Jeonju.
We went upstairs and ascertained that they were, in fact, still open. Laura ordered for us, and after a few minutes of sitting the music was too much for me. I had to dance. So Jon and I salsa danced for a song. Then the other, large party across the restaurant started clapping. When we looked their way, we realized that some of them were dancing too. Then one guy came and asked me to dance...he was really good. Laura went over and talked to them, to find out why they randomly knew salsa and what they were doing there. It turned out they were the Jeonju Salsa Club, and they were having a celebratory dinner after a workshop with a salsa teacher/events planner from Seoul.
It turned out the teacher/planner was the only one among them who could speak English. He came over and spoke with us about the club, and what he was doing there. He told us he was organizing a World Salsa Congress in Seoul in October! Crazy! He was really nice, and talked to us for a while about salsa, and life. His name was Spin, and he used to dance but he got hurt, so now he teaches and plans. He gave us his number and told us to call him when we go to the Salsa Congress, which we definitely will. There are going to be dancers from all over the world, including Columbia.
All in all, it was a really random experience. The restaurant wasn't even normally a salsa-playing establishment. The Club had just asked them to play the music that night, for their dinner. There is a salsa club down the street, that we saw one night but haven't gone to yet. Now I'm especially excited to.
It's really a good thing I have salsa radar. :)
2 comments:
lol... leave it to you guys. :)
interesting........
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