Yes, I did. I actually performed an Indonesian performance here in Seoul. This is how it happened:

So my friend Ayesh, has connections with the Indonesian embassy here and apparently they give Indonesian transitional dance classes. Most of you should know that I enjoy dancing, so I thought why not get in touch with the Indonesian inside of me. I haven't seen a lot of Indonesian dances in my life though, so I didn't really know what to expect. I did see some Moluccan performances, which in spite of it being part from Indonesia, I've always been taught that it's different. I think everyone from my generation, has been taught that Indonesian is definitely NOT the same as Moluccan. Considering the history, I can understand why. Nonetheless I still have Indonesian blood in me.

Anyways to avoid any discussions or whatever about this, let's move on and get over ourselves. Most of you probably don't get it or care about it anyway, in which I don't blame you. So back to what I wanted to tell. So Ayesh (my dear nationalistic-love-everything-about-Indonesia-especially-Bali friend) invited me, Slawa (My dear German/Russian freund) and Nayeli (my dear Mexican-American amiga) to the dance class. It was new, it was fun and the group welcomed us with open arms.

Yes we didn't understand a lot of the Indonesian talk (including me), but it was a fun experience. So as we finished class they asked us if we wanted to join their performance. Slawa and Nayeli bailed because they expected midterms to be a quite busy season since they both are required to get good grades. And then there is me,  a for-Dminus-setteling student who enjoys dancing: #enjoyinglifeovergoodgrades whuttt whuuuuttt (I confidently put that hashtag there, but don't worry mom and dad, my school really doesn't care - My grade is just transferred into pass or fail). So I thought, why not. I'm never getting this opportunity again in Seoul, and it's quite fun to do and learn more about the culture.

The practices were long, but good. The girls and guys are so welcoming and even though I can't speak Indonesian, they made sure that they would translate when needed. The dance was hard, detailed and unexpected because I thought I'd do the dance that I learned in the first class which was a little bit easier to remember choreography-wise.  Nonetheless I tried my hardest in the 4 rehearsals that we had.

So the performance itself. Make up and dressing up time was the first time I fit my costume which was over the top, colorful and gorgeous. It took a while though to get everything on it's place. Not to mention the car drive to the venue was a pain to my neck because I couldn't sit up straight because my crown was poking the car roof. But hey the headpiece is fabulous. The make up was also a struggle since I have minimum make up skills or experience and there was some gradient smokey eye thing going on on a thick layer of foundation. I definitely did not woke up like this.

I was told we'd dance at some festival. To me "festival" sounds like there will be a lot of stands, and people just walking around choosing whether they want to take their time to watch our performance on a ground floor stage. I think about it as a casual performance thing. LIES I told myself. When arrived at the venue, I found out it was in a theater-ish setting, which meant total silence and all eyes on the performance.. #nostress.

I also found out that it was kind of a competition, with other Asian embassy's showing off their traditional dance. We saw lots of beautiful costumes, dances and performances. After waiting for a while, making pictures with cute asian kid dancers, getting nervous and almost melting off my make up, it was time for us to enter the stage.

Goons

It went great. Yes I'm not saying that out of confidence. At all. But Ayesh and I had amazing friends that came to support, which is so heartwarming. Plus, Indonesia won that dang competition, may I add *does hair flip*.

Ayesh' always happy face with make up better than mine. My aunt asked if I got married when she saw a picture of me wearing these clohtes. I guess this picture makes it seem like I did hahahaha. Just to avoid confusion: No, I didn't.

Oh remember when I talked about the filter thing that my camera has..

Ofcourse you can't end a day like this without friends and good food. And my favorite dessert, Coffee flavoured Solbing.

So with this post I would like to thank Florian, Yuli, and all the boys and girls for their warm welcome and their patience with me. Thank you guys for teaching me the dances and creating a fun time for me at the Indonesian embassy. I'd also like to thank all my dear dear friends who came out to support. I can't express how you guys made my day.

Photo credits: Florian Hutagalung

All the blessings and love,

Nina