Stetsons in Korea

so,

After our delay in Seoul, we moved on to Tokoyo, where the plane waited for usk, but was still delayed. We nade our way through the Vancouver International Airport, and we got held up by a large line at customs and ended up missing our flight to Calgary.

After 3 hours and a lot of work between Stetsons and the good people at JAL (Japan Airlines) we managed to get just about 1/2 of the group onto an 8pm flight to Calgary.

The other 1/2 of the group has a 7am flight, so we are staying the night in the Delta Airport Hotel.

This is a huge step up when compared with our previous sleeping arrangement--not that I'm complaining.

Korea bed:

Vancouver bed:

We were given meal vouchers for the Hotel restaurant. Imagine our surprise when we found out that the restaurant was named the 'Elephant and Castle'--two things we saw in Korea.

We arrive in Calgary at 9:17am tomorrow morning on a Westjet flight.

The hotel is a 5 minute shuttle bus ride from the airport, ,and we are getting up at 4:00am, so I seriously doubt that we could possibly miss this flight. None-the-less, the fingers remain crossed.

If all goes well we'll see y'all very soon

Standard post-Korea care package:

Hello!
Well, we thought it was going to be a tight commute to get to the Incheon airport, ( we flew from Jeju, to Gimpo airport in Seoul, got our stuff, took a bus to Incheon airport)

Any how, got here quicker than expected, and found out our flight to Tokoyo is delayed 4 hours. So we are not leaving until 4:00 pm Seoul time. This will shorten our stop in Japan.

At least we got 13,000 won from the airline each, for lunch.
Everyone was thrilled to see Subway, Burger King and KFC, as we have had rice, pork, fish and eggs 3 times a day since we got here!

Trudy

Just Wanted to say hi and see you soon - Shelby

I'm not hurt, I'm just missing part of my tooth. Don't panic!
-Jocelyn

I don't really think i want to eat any more rice.. for at least a month. -Kelsie

Steak here I come? - Elena

Good day all!
We are at Gimpo International airport in Jeju. We were up really early and are just waiting to board the first flight to Seoul.

A few members standing near me, want to say hello!

Trudy

Hey all, It's been a fun trip but i can't wait to get home. The flights home are going to be grueling but we'll see you all in 24 hours.
Nikki

YAY contact with Family. And friends. Booyah. Thanks for the b-day greetings everyone, it felt awesome. I miss you all so much and I can't wait to see you all again. See you all soon!
Shawna
p.s.
give everyone a big squeeze, and I'm very honoured that you had beef and mushrooms in my place, although for some reason it sounded like I died. hahahahaha JOKING anyways the happy birthday song via cell phone almost made me cry i was so happy. luv you all lots!!! XOXOXOXOXO

Hey guys its braydon. i hope that my family had an amazing time down in the states. dont worry i didnt bring any odd bug home or a bob the spider. tour was amazing and ill tell you more and share the picutres when i get home today. all my animals better be alive and not slowly dieing away on me. by the way make sure the give my tarantulas water.
ps i miss you all

Hi Mom and Dad. I on the other hand have brought home Bob the spider. We're going to need a new cage as I don't think Darla will want a room mate.
See you soon!
Jackie Potter

Hi Mom! See You Soon!!
xoxox Kimberley Lawrence

All right, we see our soggy bent out of shape boxes being loaded on the plane, the humidity got to them, and several flights, we are crossing our fingers that they make it home!!

See you in 24 hours, might have a chance for more to say hello from Tokoyo!

Trudy

Oh, I can hardly believe it... worlds is over and we are planning our return flights back to Calgary.

Stetsons put on a great show and were well received by the audience. Here are some pics from the final run-through of our show.

At the closing ceremonies, Spirit of America from the United States won the competition. Followed closely by Seika, an all girl High School band from Japan. Of the final fourteen ensembles nine received honours. Stetsons were 0.6 points shy from earning that particular type of recognition.

Stetsons placed 11th overall with a score of 89.10
High notes in our judging sheet:
9.30 Artistic music performance
9.20 Technical music performance
9.20 Choreography
9.10 Technical musical repertoire

We came in 2nd among community bands, 2nd in our division (div II harmony), 3rd overall in division II.

We competed against groups of all ages (Spirit of America's age ranged from something like 12 to 65) and did a fine job representing our country. Way to go Stetsons!
'Acres of Dreams' was a tremendous show and will be remembered for years to come.

After the competition many of the groups performed in a street parade that lead to a downtown concert where the groups got the chance to join the audience and watch a few wonderful musical groups on the downtown stage.

The parade was the final performace of the tour and the members took full advantage by putting a lot of energy and enthusiam into the march through downtown Jeju. Walking the parade route you could literally feel the energy. The ensemble was a treat to watch, earning large cheers from the crowd all the way through the parade.

Upon our return to the hostel we packed up our uniforms, equipment, and personal belongings, and the members to bed.

As I sit here typing this final blog entry the staff are barely keeping their eyes open while discussing fine details about our upcoming travels, and sharing stories about the amazing things we've seen over the past 11 days.

Wake up is 4:30am... breakfast at 5:00am.

We are all looking forward to seeing our family members waiting for us at the Calgary International Airport.

See you soon.

Thanks for checking in on us

band staff (and Jeff)

Good morning!
Today is Finals day. We have a very busy day. This morning rehearsal, Finals aroudn 1:20, closing ceremonies and a 3.4 Km street parade and celebration down by an ocean side stage. We will be getting back late, and having to pack all the uniforms and instruments, as we are up at 5 or so to start our 29 hour treck home.

We will try to load some pictures tonight, we will have to see how it goes.

If you don't hear from us, we will see you all real soon!!!

T