"Just Hatched"

So back when I was working on my acceptance to the TaLK program, which would let me venture to South Korea, I meet a girl in my professor's office. She was also applying at the time to go to Korea through the same program. I remember standing there and seeing a pin on her bag, instantly recognizing the face on the pin to be Daesung of Big Bang, I questioned "Did I had found someone who knew what Kpop was beyond Gangnam style or if she only knew of a few sorts of the Kpop world, as do most stony brook students because of the immense Korean population here?" I piped up and said "nice pin." She upon exiting the professor's office just blew up in a huge rather concise conversation about not only Big Bang and Daesung, but Kpop as a whole. I was taken aback. Never have I ever met another person who was non-Asian who not only enjoyed Kpop as much as myself, but understood it's deeper fabrications and workings of it as a business.

The Kpop Image

So just about a month and a half ago I made my first twitter account. And already I find myself making surprising connections with some of my followers, who in turn I also follow back. But I am noticing this trend among them all, let me add that they are also all K-pop fans such as myself, that they are being too harsh on themselves for not looking like Hyorin, Dara, or one of the girls from SNSD. And this is not something that is subjected to just the girls, guys are also feeling the pressures in this day and age to look and dress like the K-pop idols from SHINee, B2ST, or from a variety of drama studs who flaunt their fashion and amazing good looks. Because I have that  "lean on me/ motherly" character, I feel like I should in my own sake of morality, reach out to these girls (and guys) who I know are probably just a few years younger than me, and help them to realize that K-pop celebrities, just as any celebrity caught in a culture that sells beauty as an image, is an illusion. But who am I to say anything?

Dara (Kiss MV)

Hyorin

I too am caught in this illusion trap. I actually get my sense of style from what I see in Korean dramas and strive to look and be as fashionable as those actresses, such as Han Ga In in 나빤 남자 (Bad Guy). So I have no real right to tell my twitter followers or even my friends that "its an illusion and you should just except yourself this way." I am contradictory to my own advice. But one thing that does separate me from most other girls is I do have a sense of love for myself. I like to dress up nice not because of an insecurity, well not entirely, but because I have a love for myself that makes me want to take care of me. Think about it. If someone is depressed, they will initially spend less time taking care of themselves. Maybe skip out on meals, bathing, and yes... their clothes will turn into a mesh of frumpiness, a wardrobe taken from the laundry hamper. Why? Because they most likely gave up on themselves. 

Help! K-pop Addict Exposure Syndrom?

So the new semester has started here at my University in Long Island. And It's great to see all the returning students come back into the swing of things greeting each other in ample excitement, because for us 3 months of not seeing one another is just too long. We love each other. And while new faces pop up within our residence dorms we upper grads take special interest in getting them feeling like this is their new home.

But with new comers always comes a certain measurement of uncomfortableness, unfamiliarity. Because right now you don't know how each person is going to judge or make opinions based on the things they perceive mixed with their own experience or inexperience. So how would a recently graduated high school boy from the Bronx, whose just been admitted to college, come to a sense of understanding me? A white American K-pop and Korean cultural enthusiast, who makes aims to move to Korea to teach English?  How could I even make someone who is straight out of Korea understand me?

Just got schooled!

So last week I posted an article on PSY's new epidemic song "Gangnam Style". I know I mentioned that Big Bang's Seungri and Daesung were spotted in disguise in the background dressed as two older men. Now the only reason I was able to display this info is not because I was able to recognize them, it was because this info was released to the public about their partaking in the video. As for Hyuna I didn't feel there was any need to mention her... I mean she was in plain view. But something I failed to notice and to look into was the strange man in the yellow suit who has a dance off with PSY.

My Shout out to Bi Rain

I know this is old news... and long over due to even go back to talking about this topic but I can't help myself. One of my favorite k-pop artists of all time and certainly millions of others too, is Bi (Rain/ 비) actual name Jung Ji-hoon, who has been absent from his music and acting occupation due to being enlisted in the Korean Army. Origionally I was looking up information on Kim Nam-Gil's enlistment in the army because I am currently watching Bad Guy (나쁜 남자) which he stars as the main actor. But I get curious in my searches as sometimes more questions then answers come up and when punching in "Korean army" into my browser Bi's headlines pop up everywhere. So I get sucked in. Normal symptoms of a K-pop Addict. ;)

"Fly So High"

Yesterday was the first time I ever flown in a plane. I was so scared! The build up prior to boarding had my heart beating in my head with adrenaline pumping throughout my entire body. I got lost in the terminal and yelled at a few times by security because of a few minor mistakes. :(