KCON LA 2017 Day 1 was a crazy day! It all started with me waking my roommates at 3 am, demanding we go to the store for toilet paper. In my defense, I had had a good portion of 3 bottles of soju…but still it was an incident that was talked about long after the trip was over. I think the funny part was that I didn’t even need the tissue, I just wanted to be sure that we had enough for the next few days. *cough*
Anyway, after that early morning wake up, we were up and ready kind of early. Since I didn’t do early check in this year, I

in the Uber with my roommates.

was worried that it would take FOREVER for me to get my panel badges. Thankfully check in was a smooth process. I ran into some familiar faces but like the tater tot that I am, I didn’t take photos right away. *doh*
I spent a few moments in the green room, the place where all the panelists can go and grab a bite to eat, prepare for their panels, or just hang out in general.

There is something magical about KCON (in my opinion) yes you get to see the artists that you love and be able to buy lots of merchandise but the highlight is meeting the friends that you’ve made during your stay in k-pop. I have friends all over the country that I only get to see 1 or 2 a year (most likely during kcon) so I spent the morning of Day 1 running around trying to see everyone to get hugs (but apparently no pictures).

Jump to the afternoon and it’s time for my first panel, All That Drama. My fellow drama lovers Leah Westbrook, Lisa Espinosa, Stephanie Kurze and I spent the hour

during the panel

discussing what dramas were and why they were so gosh darn addicting. Naturally, I had to throw in my love for all things supernatural and crazy which I felt was appropriate because really, we can’t all love rom-coms, right? You can check out the panel (turned into a podcast by the awesome kchat jjigae) here. Let me know what you think about it.

After that world wind of a performance, I had to quickly change (yup, Ajummah had costume changes) and get ready for the Assa, Assa! Awards. For those who don’t know, Assa, Assa! is a fan-focused, fan-driven award that recognizes the efforts of everyday fans who make great strides to promote, share and appreciate the growing phenomenon known as K-pop.  It was created by MACGProductions and this was the first time it was going to be at KCON LA. I had to present the BEST Choreography Award which was really cool. I never had to do that before and honestly felt under-dressed *sigh* MACGProductions has the video on their Youtube channel so definitely check it out to see who won categories like favorite beauty guru, favorite reactor, and favorite team performance.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay for the entire awards performance because I had my first (and only) interview at 6 with Justin Park. Now for those who don’t know him, please check my previous article on him. This young man is so talented and I am happy to have met him. We chatted for a few minutes before getting kicked out by security (boo!) and we headed back downstairs to find our respective people. Walking with him made me realize that as much as I love being in front of the camera, I do enjoy my anonymity. He couldn’t go 2 feet without getting stopped by someone who wanted a hug or a picture. The hugs were particularly cute to see since Justin is 6’3. I wish I were that tall.

I digress.
Anyways after running around a bit more, my roommates and I ended the night with some soju and KBBQ. I mean really, is there any other way to end a night? I think not. I didn’t go wild and go on the hunt for toilet paper during the night (to the thanks of my roommates, I’m sure) but maybe it was because day 2 was hours away and I wanted to be ready.
So tell me, what did you do during Day 1 of KCON LA?