One of the things you might get to experience as an employee at Rakuten is the company's annual Group Noukai held in Odaiba before the year-end holiday begins. In fact, all employees who enter the company as new-grads are asked to take part in a Group Noukai dance performance in December.

There are a lot of events being held in Japan during the so-called Golden Week, a series of national holidays usually held in the end of April/beginning of May. Yesterday I went to a place in Tokyo called Haginaka (萩中) where a friend of mine was going to participate in a Samba Carnival.

Japanese samba ladies!

This was the third time that the event was held, and it seemed like it was very popular by the locals. Although Haginaka didn't exactly seem like the most lively place in Tokyo the shōtengai was filled with young and old spectators. Here are some of my photos from the event:

Thanks to Yoshimi-san for inviting me to the event!

Yoshimi has asked me to come join their samba classes starting from next week. If all goes well perhaps I'll get the chance to dress up and dance at the carnival next year.. Would be fun to at least give it a try.. ^^

The GIP peace dove

A little while ago all the GIP students participated in the annually Homecoming Day at school for both current and graduated GIP students. This year the event was held in the main campus in Seoul, where we had an evening of speeches, entertainment and good food.

Ace, the GIP sing-star performing a ballade:)

All of the students (except for the forth semester batch) had to take part in planning for an making the entertainment. However, eventually the speeches of the professors took longer time than planned for, and we had to cut down on the entertainment section with a couple of numbers.

Our youngest batch performing quite a show using cups!

In my batch we ended up with just 2 individual performances. Tanya played the traditional Korean flute, and I participated with a short dance. When I was in high school I was enrolled in a school where we had dance as a part of the curriculum, and back then I was dancing almost every day. It has been many years since I danced regularly though!! This one is just a mix that I created by using some of my old dances^^


The rest of the evening was spent enjoying the delicious buffet, and not to mention 1 1/2 hours of metro and bus to get back to the GIP campus. The trip back to the GIP is always so long and tiring.. Oh well, 어쩔 수 없어..

Anyway, as always, thank you for taking your time to read my blog:) I hope you enjoy the pictures and the short video! (^_^)／

All my posts about Kyung Hee

Today the lady working at the hostel I live at told me about a graduation ceremony taking place in Seongkyunkwan University (성균관대학) right by my hostel. So I took my camera and went over there, and got some nice photos.

The graduating students and the main temple

Students and dancers

Traditional Korean dance

The dancers and the temple in the background

 I also got a couple of video with my iPhone. Please enjoy;)

Hotel Torino's entrance sign

During my stay here in La Paz, me and my friends have been taking salsa lessons in the city center more or less every week at the Hotel Torino. Hotel Torino is easy to find, since it is located close to the Plaza Murillo, and here they offer classes in salsa twice a week on Mondays and Wednesdays at approximately 19:30 to 21:00 (Bolivian time, so it can vary a bit;p). Besides, the classes only costs 15 Bolivianos (or 100 Bolivianos for one month), so it is definately worth the try.!

Also, hotel Torino in itself makes the salsa-classes worth a visit, cause the rooms and architecture of the building is really nice. I was so surprised the first time we went there, cause the lobby looks kind of shabby, and I did not expect the rest of the place to be anything out of the ordinary. But I guess I was wrong..! Hotel Torino was actually founded in 1917, so it is an old and cozy hotel.

From inside Hotel Torino

There is a big courtyard with some statues and a restaurant in the first floor

Some more statues in Hotel Torino

The salsa classes are being held in one big room, and then the dancers are divided into two or three different group depending on the amount of students and their level. So for those who never have danced salsa at all there is a opportunity to learn all the basics from the beginning, as well as an opportunity for those who already has salsa experience to learn even more. There are new students every week, so they always have a course for the beginners where they go through the basics.

The entrance to the dancing room

The room where the salsa courses are being held.

Group picture!

We are definately the biggest group of foreigners in the class.. But there are other tourist taking classes here as well.

Time to practice..!

Related blogposts

Sightseeing in Bolivia: Cycling The Death Road

Sightseeing in Bolivia: Salar de Uyuni

Bolivia's National Day and Sightseeing in La Paz

Hotel Booking:

Hotels in Bolivia
Hotels in La Paz

Beautiful dances and costumes

This Saturday my friend Shirley invited me to come join her family, who was going to watch a parade taking place close to the place she lives.
In La Paz, many of the streets are named after dates, for instance the avenue 16. de Agosto which goes through the city center. And the great thing about the names of these streets, is that they tell you exactly when you can expect to come across great celebrations at these places!

These festivals are a good chance to take a look at both local and more international dance styles, and also a lot of nice costumes. Here you can see everything from dancing devils, girls in mini-skirts (which you never really see here in Bolivia.. I think..) to dancing cholita ladies with costumes that costs thousands of Bolivianos (and which I guess are extremely expensive for an average Bolivian cholita lady..)
The parade started at 12 in the afternoon and lasted until 2 a.m, but I "only" stayed for about 5 hours or so. Though the dancers aren't supposed to stop during the parade this does happen from time to time when family members wants to take pictures, or perhaps help them get their costumes right etc. Also, the family members usually brings beverages to the dancers, and the later it gets the more alcohol is being consumed also among the dancers themselves. I guess it probably gets more entertaining the longer you stay.. :p Anyway, here are some more pictures and movies from the parade:

Some of the more traditional outfits?

Boys dancing with bells on their feet! You bet they made a lot of noice!

Shirley and her sister:)

Some guys with weird masks..!

I was forced to join too.. Haha.. Here with one of Shirley's cousins.

One of the banners representing a new dancing school/a new dancing style

Dancing cholitas!

Some.. Warriors perhaps..?

Some of the musicians in more traditional costumes

One of the dancers getting helped with his costume. He doesn't seem to mind:)

The parade was divided into smaller groups, which all represented different costume- and dancing styles. It was really amazing!

Details from one of the devil costumes..

I also got to try out some local food, and it was great just to be able to enjoy a normal day at a Bolivian festival. Haha..
In the evening we had a hail storm ruining a bit because it became quite cold, but all in all it was a great day.  Thanks, Shirley! ;D

A festival for all ages, and not only for devils.. Here they all dance side by side:p

A car decorated with.. Spoons and plates?!

Fiesta for everyone:)

Related blogposts

Sightseeing in Bolivia: Cycling The Death Road

Sightseeing in Bolivia: Salar de Uyuni

Bolivia's National Day and Sightseeing in La Paz

Hotel Booking:

Hotels in Bolivia
Hotels in La Paz