Weekend with a celebrity, eh?
I haven't logged on Facebook, checked my LiveJournal, or even chatted on Skype for almost a week. In fact, last week was one of the busiest periods in my entire life so far! BTS had organized a concert featuring Vienna Teng, so apart from studying for two midterms, I was busy posting advertisements in rainy weather and distributing table-slips during crammed lunch-hours. I felt out of it at the end of each day, but deep down, there was a sense of fulfillment, to be involved in something and to be responsible for it.
So, the big day came on Saturday. We took Vienna Teng out to lunch at 2:00 PM. After hearing her story, I was really impressed. Of Taiwanese descent, she graduated from Stanford with a degree in CompSci, worked in the industry for 2 years, and then quit to pursue her dream in music. This was the first time I was going to meet a "celebrity" face-to-face, so I was very nervous.
Turns out that I didn't need to be. She was just a really cool, down-to-earth person. She wasn't snobbish like Jay Chou, or a pampered ditzy lady like Jolin Tsai. She was a normal person and could join our casual conversation easily. I sat across from her, and naturally, we started talking. I told that I was from Taiwan and asked her if she ever been there. Surprisingly, she said no. We chatted about the education and food in Taiwan, and she asked me if I missed my home. I said yes.
The concert was a greater success than we expected. We sold out all our tickets and even had to add extra rows for more people. The show was opened by two Brown students, a rapper and a pianist/songwriter, who had their own albums. Then, Vienna took over, and it was a blast. People screamed and clapped and hooted and laughed. Her music was soft and had a quality of soft folk pop. Near the end of her performance, she said, "I had a very enjoyable afternoon with the BTS Board today, and one of the fresh-reps, who is actually from Taiwan, told me he really missed his home back there. So, here's a Taiwanese folk song my parents taught me when I was small..." She sang 綠島小歌, and even though the audience did not understand the lyrics, they could undertand the sad feeling of loss and separation that the song reflected. After the concert, a bunch of my friends came over and said, "She was talking about you.. right? RIGHT? There's no one from Taiwan but you!"
Afterwards, we sold some of Vienna's albums, and she was there to autograph it. It lasted from a hour, from 10:30 to 11:30 PM. (Hehe, I got one too!) We then took her out to the local crepery, which previously I had no idea existed ("What?! That's sacrilegous!" one of my senpais said, "We HAVE to take you there!") It was my first time eating a crepe, and it was... interesting. I noticed I only had a meal that day, and my stomach was feeling awkward. We chilled for another hour at the crepery. Then it was 12:30 AM, and Vienna gave us each a hug and bid us goodbye.
The next day, I woke up feeling like cr*p. I've accumulated such an enormous sleep debt, and I got no schoolwork done over the weekend! OMG!
Vienna Teng (center, red shirt) and the BTS Board at Sayles Hall! 9/11/06
So, the big day came on Saturday. We took Vienna Teng out to lunch at 2:00 PM. After hearing her story, I was really impressed. Of Taiwanese descent, she graduated from Stanford with a degree in CompSci, worked in the industry for 2 years, and then quit to pursue her dream in music. This was the first time I was going to meet a "celebrity" face-to-face, so I was very nervous.
Turns out that I didn't need to be. She was just a really cool, down-to-earth person. She wasn't snobbish like Jay Chou, or a pampered ditzy lady like Jolin Tsai. She was a normal person and could join our casual conversation easily. I sat across from her, and naturally, we started talking. I told that I was from Taiwan and asked her if she ever been there. Surprisingly, she said no. We chatted about the education and food in Taiwan, and she asked me if I missed my home. I said yes.
The concert was a greater success than we expected. We sold out all our tickets and even had to add extra rows for more people. The show was opened by two Brown students, a rapper and a pianist/songwriter, who had their own albums. Then, Vienna took over, and it was a blast. People screamed and clapped and hooted and laughed. Her music was soft and had a quality of soft folk pop. Near the end of her performance, she said, "I had a very enjoyable afternoon with the BTS Board today, and one of the fresh-reps, who is actually from Taiwan, told me he really missed his home back there. So, here's a Taiwanese folk song my parents taught me when I was small..." She sang 綠島小歌, and even though the audience did not understand the lyrics, they could undertand the sad feeling of loss and separation that the song reflected. After the concert, a bunch of my friends came over and said, "She was talking about you.. right? RIGHT? There's no one from Taiwan but you!"
Afterwards, we sold some of Vienna's albums, and she was there to autograph it. It lasted from a hour, from 10:30 to 11:30 PM. (Hehe, I got one too!) We then took her out to the local crepery, which previously I had no idea existed ("What?! That's sacrilegous!" one of my senpais said, "We HAVE to take you there!") It was my first time eating a crepe, and it was... interesting. I noticed I only had a meal that day, and my stomach was feeling awkward. We chilled for another hour at the crepery. Then it was 12:30 AM, and Vienna gave us each a hug and bid us goodbye.
The next day, I woke up feeling like cr*p. I've accumulated such an enormous sleep debt, and I got no schoolwork done over the weekend! OMG!
Vienna Teng (center, red shirt) and the BTS Board at Sayles Hall! 9/11/06