It’s 3:04 AM so I guess I have the right to sound a little bit tired of blogs. My blogs are due tomorrow morning…Blogs? Due? It just doesn’t sound right to me..I think I’ll grow to appreciate blogs a little bit more when they aren’t assigned.
Which brings me to what I want to talk about, isn’t it frustrating that often when you have to do something, you don’t want to do it? That SUCKS. Honestly, I want to do things that make me happy, and how great would it be if I was obliged to do stuff to make myself happy? Wouldn’t that be the perfect life?
If you’re a little slow, think of this. I’ve been playing piano since I was three years old, getting lessons every week, playing classical music, blah blah. Sure, I enjoy piano, I love to play it. Music, I couldn’t live without it. But the fact that practicing piano everyday has become a chore has made it far less attractive to me. It takes me so much to get motivated to sit on that bench, even if I tell myself how important practice is. Imagine if I really wanted to practice everyday, I shudder at the thought of how much better I would be.
…..I guess that is the despicable amount of creativity I can pull out of my butt (or nose, because it’s bigger) at 3:00 in the morning. I’m trying to get better at committing to things lately, so I’m really really going to try to continue blogging (and start vlogging again http://www.youtube.com/mylastnameisJOO) after all these blogs are due.
Well not really, I’ll have to study for next year, and get prepared for piano, so I’ll still be busy. But who isn’t?
P.S. Hi Mr. Stephens, this is my micro blog. I know I shouldn’t resort to microblogging because blogging should be about what I want to write about, butttt since it’s being graded, I’ve had to disappoint myself and write this.
I don’t necessarily like adding titles to my blog posts, because they often make them sound corny. So I went with the simplest approach ^
Anyways, a few weeks ago I attended an event called the Cyon BBoy Championship, an event where many famous bboy crews from Korea come together and compete. I’m not going to explain what bboying is to you, because you probably either know, or have access to wikipedia. It was great. Great bboys, great facility (Olympic Stadium. Bomb!), and LOTS of people.
Now some of you might be wondering why I’m bragging about a BBoy event. I mean, sure, I love bboying, but why should you guys care, right? WRONG. Listen to this, BIG BANG was there. That’s right, the huge idol group Big Bang performed, attracting a huge amount of fans (primarily female). A lot of people at this point would go into a long rant of how stupid Big Bang is, how the fans that were at the CyonBBOY championship should have gone for the bboying, how the leader G-Dragon has a stupid name and looks like a girl, etc. etc.
But honestly, Big Bang ranks an 8 on the cool scale (1 being a loser, 10 being me). So naturally, I didn’t have a problem seeing them perform. I can say it was pretty surreal because I always see them on TV and people go crazy over them. However, being at an event with so many screaming fans made me realize how beserk people can go for something they love.
See, many of these Korean schoolgirls are typically quiet, shy people. Consider this following example. While waiting for the show to happen, there were many activities outside of the stadium. Along with that, posters of the event lined the fences, walls, etc. etc. Naturally, your typical Korean schoolgirl would want a memento of the event, and what better way then to steal it? They quietly tried ripping the posters off the walls and fences, rolling them up, and putting them in the bags.
Now, Kenny and I knew this was not right. And we fight for JUSTICE, so we went up to these thieves and said in our perfect, nearly native Korean tongues, “geh guh gah juh gah myun big bang ee joh wah hal guh ga tae yo? (Do you think Big Bang would like it if you took that?) But they don’t answer! They don’t speak! Even when we just asked them simple questions to try and mingle, they wouldn’t open their mouths.
Us: So, do you like Big Bang?
Them: ……
Us: I am Big Bang!
Them:…..
But then go into the concert arena, and it will sound something like this:
CAN YOU HEAR HOW LOUD THEY ARE? THEY JUST DON’T STOP YELLING (pay attention to 1:25)
In other situations in general, the Korean people can be seen as being quite conservative and quiet. It’s not exactly in our culture to always speak our mind. But I guess when we’re faced with something we really like, we can be incredibly loud. (Honestly, I was pretty loud too. You could make out my manly voice amongst the girl screaming fans).
I have more to say on the subject of these Korean Idol groups, but this blog is getting a bit long. For the sake of your eyes and your attention span, I’ll compile the other parts into another blog.
This is another short one, but I just realized something while reading Daniel Lee’s blog. (Yes Daniel, I am feeling horrible thanks to you :])
I realized how bad it feels when you’re suddenly reminded that you have something to do. However, that thing is a huge workload, something almost impossible. Something you would never want to finish up.
For example, I was just reminded that I have 5 or so AP Bio broad topic essay outlines to upload by the end of the year. Along with a few labs that I completely forgot about. (So much for AP Bio being over).
Or the fact that I have an impossible math test to study for, and my grade literally depends on it.
Or the fact that my finals are in a week…
Don’t you guys hate that feeling? Or perhaps I just made you realize the same thing…
If you’re like me, the weather probably affects your mood a lot. When it’s sunny and bright, you feel a little bit more awake and happy. When it’s cloudy and cold, you’ll feel a bit less energetic, maybe even slightly depressed. Many of us can attest to the fact that we’re happier in the summertime. Added to the fact that there’s no school, the sun gives us more vitamin D, which somehow makes us happier (something mother Joo told me). So a lot of us accept the cycle of seasons as a natural thing, and don’t mind the little emotional dip we get in the winter time (because the high we get in the summer is worth it right?)
If you agree with the above statement, you’re lucky. I am however, convinced that the weather hates me. In the winter, it envelops me in an envelope of black envelopes…making me really really sad.
It tries to be more clever in the summertime, disgusing itself as a smiling sunshine, then proceeding to suck out my life force like Dracula (the book, not the vampire).
THIS IS A LIE..THE SUN IS NOT NICE
The weather really took its toll on me this year. I’m not used to such dramatic winters back in my hometown of Oregon..it just rains a lot there. However, Korea got cold…like I can feel it under my pants cold. Something about the winter made me depressed; lazy; irritable. I was dead 50 % of the time and tired the other 50 %. I stopped talking to people and just….did my winter thing.
Then the summer weather began to creep in. It was great, I was like “YESSSS”. The weather was warm, nice breeze, birds singing, dogs dancing, etc. etc. But due to my genetic make-up, I have pretty bad allergies. Father Joo told me recently that allergies don’t only make your eyes itch or your nose run. It also makes you depressed; lazy; irritable (AKA winter). Now some of you guys might be saying: “ALBERT U COULD JUST TAKE ALLERGY MEDICINE AND IT WOULD BE OKAY LOL!!!”
Shut up.
THIS IS A LIE…CLARITIN DOES NOT WORK (that well anyway..)
So in conclusion, the weather hates me, or is mad at me. And it is full of lies and deception. Maybe I should live underground.
P.S. Please don’t be angry with me that I told you to shut up. I apologize. That was merely my depressed; lazy; irritable self coming out.
I think we can all agree that there is no feeling better than waking up and taking a nice, warm, shower. It wakes us up, warms us from the inside out, and makes us feel refreshed and clean. You can’t beat that right?
Ironically, I think there’s no feeling worse than drying off with a wet towel. The feeling of getting out of the shower is bad enough. You feel cold and vulnerable, and wrapping a freezing, saturated piece of cloth around your body makes it feel like you’ve fallen into a forest of seaweed (is that correct? seaweed forests?).
On top of that, a wet towel smells realllly bad. My old math teacher smelled exactly like that, and she was a crazy world of warcraft player. I doubt she even bothered to shower.
Anyways, when I get out of the shower, and find that the towel is wet, I know it’s going to be a bad day.
I know that I was going to talk about the other aspect of my performing this past weekend, but things changed a little bit. I had planned a nice, long blog post on the subject, but couldn’t end up following through because of one thing..my lack of sleep.
It’s getting to the busiest point of the year; I have APs, SAT IIs, finals, and piano competitions to worry about. That means studying for numerous subjects, as well as finding time to practice at least two hours a day. Dancing and other hobbies have been put on hold for now, except for lunchtimes when I’m feeling especially energetic.
I come to a dilemma almost every night these days. What’s more important? Sleeping at 12, or catching up on some studying and sleeping at 1-2? I find that if I choose the latter, it’s hard to focus, and I don’t get much studying done anyways. But is a little studying better than no studying at all?
On the other hand, according to Mr. Loewer, and my mother, we can’t retain information we study about if we don’t sleep. So either way, no matter which decision I choose, it won’t help all that much. So I’m thinking I’m going to have to work like crazy on the weekends, and set some priorities.
Studying and piano would have to go first. I’ll retain my information better when it’s earlier in the day. Also, studying and piano are things that I have a choice to do or not to do, so if I have the choice to do it at 11 PM, after I finish all of my homework, I will most likely decline. But homework is something I have to do; it’s basically just practice and busywork, so I can most likely do it later at night.
But I really have to start changing things; I fell asleep in all my classes today (including PE), as well as hagwon, which is 1-on-1. I also tutor a 7th grader from GSIS from 7:30-9. But after my hagwon, I took a nap, woke up at 7:35, and decided I was too tired (aka “sick) and called to tell him I couldn’t come. I think he was happy; when I called him, he was faking sick so I wouldn’t come.
This past weekend was incredibly busy. I’m pretty exhausted, due to the fact that I had two dances, onstyle performance, and a band performance in the course of two days. Let’s talk about the dance aspect today, something that I started at the beginning of this year.
When I first came to KIS, the first group of friends I made were part of the sophomore Bboy (what i knew as breakdancing) crew. I had always found breaking really impressive and cool, especially loving the swagger that Bboys carried when they danced. So I tagged along to a few practices, and basically did my own thing. Back in America, I had always seen my school’s bboys and wished I could do the crazy things that they did.
Before coming to KIS, I had gotten a little bit into a dance style called popping. Basically it’s an illusion in which you isolate, pop, and wave the muscles in your body. Here’s a clip, it’s one of my friends from back home:
I decided that starting up bboying would be too hard, plus my parents didn’t want me to get hurt. So I officially became the crew’s popper and just practiced handstands every once in a while (it’s good for your back). But as time went on, I realized that if you want to be the crew’s exclusive popper, you have to be REALLY good at popping. I was lacking in that area, and bboying was becoming more appealing. I kept doing handstand, and picked up shoulder freeze, then six step, basic freeze, and some others followed.
All in all, I found myself turning into a bboy, and became a real part of the crew. There was no rush compared to performing; I really enjoyed it. Not only that, dancing helped bring the crew together, and I have made some of my best friends this year through dancing. Our final showcase was on April 10th, and I can safely say, all the hard work paid off. We worked incredibly tirelessly to create an intricate and creative show. I found that some of the members will be on an indefinite hiatus, and while that makes me sad, I’ll never forget the times we’ve had so far this year.
In terms of dancing, I’ll still be practicing for fun, I mean, who DOESN’T want to do this kind of stuff?
Of course, I can’t do anything like this, the guy above is world famous. But as long as I’m having fun while dancing, I’m good.
I tend to get inspiration for my blogs randomly, while I’m just walking around the house. But I figured that any writing is good writing, so I might as well go with the flow.
Today, like every other day, my mom got home from work, and turned on the TV. To watch what? Dramas of course. Countless stories of heartwarming romance, sacrifice, and love. Stories that are also incredibly unrealistic.
I’ve found that Korean dramas take the most stereotypical situations and make it the most emotional thing on Earth. I have never felt so sorry for a character as when I watched a Korean drama. For example:
So it’s a drama, so there obviously has to be the main guy: Handsome, tall, considerate, rich, a gentleman. The ideal guy right? We’ll call this guy Albert, and he would look something like this:
Now for some unknown reason, this man, although he is basically perfect, makes one mistake and breaks up with his girlfriend, who also happens to be perfect, and looks something like this. We’ll call her Yoona. (We are kind of dating in real life).
And then follows the typical Korean drama story. A story that makes you feel an unmatchable amount of pity for the main character; here’s how it would go.
So the girl has been dumped after doing absolutely nothing wrong. Of course, it’s late at night and it has to start raining. Yoona sobs as she gets soaked by the precipitation. Somewhere in the distance you hear a baby cry. Why? The situation is so sad of course. Then, Yoona receives a call. Her mother has had an accident and is in critical condition at the hospital. She runs around the street she’s on, looking for some mode of transportation, even though it’s utterly deserted. (Seriously, where does everyone go when you get dumped?)
And then, out of absolutely no where, a rogue car comes out of no where. Yoona, in her rush is struck by the vehicle. She’s taken to the hospital, and when she wakes up, sees Albert by her side. He then proceeds to confess that the reason that they broke up was because he “loved her too much” (or some other bs that no one would believe). They hug, marry, and live a happy life. THE END
And on top of the predictable story, the acting is usually sub par and unnatural. So why do we end up watching these dramas? Sure, they’re romantic, but Korea’s recent popular drama, Boys Over Flowers, was watched by girls for mostly one reason. These three men:
(I say “these three” because no one seems to really care about the guy on the far left. He is obviously not Albert material).
Two more blogs to go; I will definitely run out of things to talk about.
So I’m sitting in the Caffe Pascucci (Yes, the Cafe is spelled with two ‘f’s’) on a beautiful Saturday. Of course, I’m doing whatever any other educated Korean child would be doing in a cafe: studying. To people who don’t know, along with my school, AP, SAT II’s, etc. I’m also studying Korean.
Granted, I may look Korean, but my speaking, writing, and reading level is at that of a second grader. Literally…they tested me on it. After trying to get out of buying anything to eat (the prices are ridiculous), the waitress finally shoved a menu in my face, implying that I had to buy something. Although I’ve gotten used to it, I hate ordering food. The waiter always has to say something that I can’t completely make out, leading to a moment of awkwardness. Somewhere between this inability to order food, studying of second-grade Korean, and the fact that all my friends make fun of my handicap, I decided that I am a victim of a language barrier.
I can’t even answer my home phone anymore, because the conversation usually goes something like this (the following conversation would be in Korean):
Me: Hello? Korean Telemarketer: Hello! We were wondering if you were satisfied with your cell phone service, what provider do you use? Me: Excuse me? Korean Telemarketer: We were wondering what cell phone provider you use. Me: Uh….Yes Korean Telemarketer: -Confused pause- So what cell phone provider do you- Me: -Imitates static noises with mouth and hangs up-
No joke, I tend to panic over the phone and just hang up. So if you need to reach me, never call my home phone. I never pick up.
What’s even more difficult is that I look like any other dashing, handsome Korean boy. Therefore, confusion ensues when I have conversation with a stranger, because by my looks, they would think I’m good at Korean. But it’s mostly alright. When I have the chance, the first thing I say to a stranger is that I’m an international student from America, and therefore, my Korean is sub-par. Then, in case they think I’m stupid or uneducated, I bust out some English to hopefully impress them. Hopefully, studying second grade Korean will eventually make me an expert.
P.S. Due to this language barrier, my best phrase in Korean is “I’m not very good at Korean” because I say it to basically everyone I meet. However, because I got so used to saying this phrase, the pronunciation and accent all sound native. Therefore, people don’t usually believe me right off the bat.
I talk about a similar subject in the following videoCulture Shock
