The term "reality show" may be unfamiliar to Americans but in Korea, it's a "Konglish" word for programs where celebrities do real-life things like camping or going on a trip and doing various entertaining activities. I guess what Americans may think of when they hear the word "reality show" may be something like 16 and Pregnant.
Of course, Korea does have something like 16 and Pregnant but that is not what Koreans consider a reality show. A reality show is a form of a variety show and in order to understand what a reality show is, you have to first know what a variety show is. A variety show is just a show comprised of music, games, and just such entertainments for the viewers, usually in the form of a talk show. Over the years, variety shows have included a "Real theme" in which the celebrities show their "real" selves, so eating, sleeping, and sometimes even showering (that's the show "1 Night 2 Days" and yes, they keep it clean so they only show male celebrities, hence in "1 Night 2 Days", and they only show shoulders and above). So in these reality shows, the celebrities do not fake anything really, but rather just be themselves and be amusing and funny because after all, a variety show is for entertainment.
The crew in the broadcasting systems also add in amusing captions that definitely play a key role in making the shows entertaining. Jokes are used often; and speech/thought bubbles are also added next to a celebrity.
I wish America would have these variety shows. I get to see my favorite Korean singers and actors be their silly selves on shows, playing games to see who eats dinner first or who gets the best side dish in the dinner and stuff like that, but wouldn't it be great to see, I don't know, Logan Lerman and Jennifer Lawerence on reality shows? It's great that we get to see their stunning selves on the red carpet, but to be able to see them go through obstacles for their team and cooking and maybe even miserably failing at it would double the entertainment of Americans. You probably have no idea what I'm talking about unless you've seen these Korean (and actually, just Asian) variety shows so here's a couple of examples from good ol' YouTube you can look into: Running Man (crazy popular show!), 1 Night, 2 Days (2 Days 1 Night), Shinhwa Broadcast.
So even just glimpsing at some of the reality shows, you can see how loose it is and not so formal. American talk shows are all super formal, I mean look at Oprah and Live! with Kelly, sure, sure they do goof off and everything, but nothing really hands on and there definitely is different air to American talk shows and Korean ones. I mean, I'm not trying to degrade Oprah or Live! with Kelly at all, but some more different styles to American T.V. shows like that of Korean ones would be nice too.
(508)
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Friday, December 20, 2013
Fashion Brands in Korea
Koreans are obsessed with following the latest trends, and when it comes to trends, you can't forget about the role that fashion brands play in Korean culture. Now, I say fashion brand in Korea and you may be expecting some fancy, ridiculously expensive, foreign brand you've never heard of, but actually, Koreans all take up foreign brands. Heck, I hardly even know Korean brand names.
Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, etc. are all loved by Koreans. But, being that these brands are American and they're being sold in another country, these brands are a whole lot more expensive there than it is here in America. So when Koreans visit America, they exclaim about how cheap the big name brand products are (while we Americans just shake our heads) and they crazily buy them up and take them back to their home country. So it's easy to take gifts to America, just get them a big name brand merchandise.
Of course, when it comes to international name brands in Korea, or for that matter, any other foreign countries, there are fakes. People make fake Coaches and what not, and if you have an Asian friend, you may have heard of this.
However, although Koreans are all about taking up trends, unlike in America, not having a name-brand clothing is not necessarily frowned upon. For example, let's say there's a certain winter fashion style that's trending now in Korea (and there always is), and as long as you take up that style, then you're good. It doesn't matter if it's not Calvin Klein or Northface or whatever. Of course, in America, it's not like you're considered living under a rock for not wearing expensive name brand clothing, there are always fashion style trends here too. But I feel like when I go to school, I have to wear something from like American Eagle or Hollister, but not necessarily take up some trend. Of course I do take up trends in general, like that pretty much annual trend of everyone where UGG boots, but it's like the focus is on what store name is stamped across your shirt. But Koreans are more about following the trend itself, not necessarily wearing the brand everyone wears. Am I making that distinction clear? So in "American terms", as long as you take up a trending style, it doesn't matter too much whether you got that trending outfit from Wal-Mart or American Eagle.
So I wish Korean clothing was more prominent in America. One thing I noticed for one is that it's more modest than the majority of the popular clothing worn here. And if I don't have to worry about where I buy my clothes from, as long as it's still cute and accepted by modern-day society, it would make things easier. Anybody else out there agree with me? (Seriously, I appreciate all the views but feel free to leave a nice comment! :D)
But I have to point out the factor that in Korea, you wear uniforms in middle and high schools. And then in elementary schools, it's not about store brands and the same thing can be said about America; most American students don't really care about what they wear to school until middle school.
Although I stated my pretty accurate observation that in Korea it's trending style > name brand, don't get the idea that Koreans absolute don't care about name brands. Like I said, they gobble up them name brands. In my blog post that I linked in the first paragraph, I mentioned how not having a Northface jacket in Korea has caused bullying issues. So yeah, name brands are big deal in Korea. It's not a good factor to have with their crazy obsession with following the trends, so this does put Korea in a bad light, but society can be harsher in Korea than it is in America. But hey, what country out there is perfect? Korea still has it's pros too. I still love So Ko!
(667)
Calvin Klein, Polo Ralph Lauren, Coach, etc. are all loved by Koreans. But, being that these brands are American and they're being sold in another country, these brands are a whole lot more expensive there than it is here in America. So when Koreans visit America, they exclaim about how cheap the big name brand products are (while we Americans just shake our heads) and they crazily buy them up and take them back to their home country. So it's easy to take gifts to America, just get them a big name brand merchandise.
Of course, when it comes to international name brands in Korea, or for that matter, any other foreign countries, there are fakes. People make fake Coaches and what not, and if you have an Asian friend, you may have heard of this.
However, although Koreans are all about taking up trends, unlike in America, not having a name-brand clothing is not necessarily frowned upon. For example, let's say there's a certain winter fashion style that's trending now in Korea (and there always is), and as long as you take up that style, then you're good. It doesn't matter if it's not Calvin Klein or Northface or whatever. Of course, in America, it's not like you're considered living under a rock for not wearing expensive name brand clothing, there are always fashion style trends here too. But I feel like when I go to school, I have to wear something from like American Eagle or Hollister, but not necessarily take up some trend. Of course I do take up trends in general, like that pretty much annual trend of everyone where UGG boots, but it's like the focus is on what store name is stamped across your shirt. But Koreans are more about following the trend itself, not necessarily wearing the brand everyone wears. Am I making that distinction clear? So in "American terms", as long as you take up a trending style, it doesn't matter too much whether you got that trending outfit from Wal-Mart or American Eagle.
So I wish Korean clothing was more prominent in America. One thing I noticed for one is that it's more modest than the majority of the popular clothing worn here. And if I don't have to worry about where I buy my clothes from, as long as it's still cute and accepted by modern-day society, it would make things easier. Anybody else out there agree with me? (Seriously, I appreciate all the views but feel free to leave a nice comment! :D)
But I have to point out the factor that in Korea, you wear uniforms in middle and high schools. And then in elementary schools, it's not about store brands and the same thing can be said about America; most American students don't really care about what they wear to school until middle school.
Although I stated my pretty accurate observation that in Korea it's trending style > name brand, don't get the idea that Koreans absolute don't care about name brands. Like I said, they gobble up them name brands. In my blog post that I linked in the first paragraph, I mentioned how not having a Northface jacket in Korea has caused bullying issues. So yeah, name brands are big deal in Korea. It's not a good factor to have with their crazy obsession with following the trends, so this does put Korea in a bad light, but society can be harsher in Korea than it is in America. But hey, what country out there is perfect? Korea still has it's pros too. I still love So Ko!
(667)
The Fast Movement of Trends in Korea
You think trends in America are irresistible to follow? Well, that's at least doubly magnified in South Korea. One person wears something new to school, and the next day, everyone's wearing it. I hate to admit it, but that is hardly an overstatement.
Earlier this year, my friend in Korea sent me a package of all sorts of gifts and one of them was a dress. At first glance, it looked like a cute dress, but when I took a closer look, I realized it was a style I've never seen before. I guess the best way to describe it in words is that it's a sweater-dress. You can click here for a visual of it, it's similar material to the sweater on the far left, only mine is more of a tan color and it's a dress. Hmm, on second thought, mine's not as furry, but it's the closest picture I could find. I was going to wear that dress the next day upon receiving it, and my mom mentioned something about how this style won't be trending in America until at least a year later, but I still wore it to school the following day. Nothing really happened except for one boy asked me, "What exactly are you wearing?" I mentally answered him with a "Don't make fun of it, your girlfriend will be wearing something like this next year."
So as was evident in the provided example above, it can be difficult at times to wear clothes from Korea in America because America is so behind Korea's trends. Take a look at the clothes trending in South Korea here, and by the way, just because my dress was unusual in the sight of American's (for now), that doesn't mean the rest of the clothes in Korea are like that. I mean it makes sense that new trend-setting items seem foreign at first and then once everyone takes it up does it become normal and accepted. However not all of the trendy clothing in Korea will be strange to Americans, at least, I don't think so.
Back to my point that America is so behind clothing trends, I can point out specific examples. Back in early 2009 Korea, bright, colorful pants/skinny jeans were trendy but if you were to wear them in America then, you would be counted as a weirdo. But now, if you were to wear a pair of bright blue pants to coordinate with your outfit in America, it's no big deal. I mean 2009 and now 2013, that's a pretty big gap isn't it? Then some other time, maybe a year or two ago, I was out shopping with my mom and either myself or my sister (I have horrible memory at times) wanted a certain style of sandals and my mom, who by the way is more Korean than I am, said, "This is now a trend here? This was a trend in Korea long time ago." Hash tag Korean-American probs.
The final opinion of mine that I would like to conclude with is that I'm not always 100% satisfied with Korea's obsession with trends. Trends start with a snap of two fingers in Korea and it ends almost just as fast. In this blog post as a whole, I only touched based on fashion trends, but the scary sweep of trends in South Korea goes for anything else - hair accessories (when I visited Korea in 2009, hair pins you can find in hair salons were a trend), certain cell phone accessories, catchphrases, 먹방 (muck-bbang) is another trend these days and it's someone who eats a lot, so eating a lot is a trend (don't ask - but hey, I like it, it gives me an excuse to eat away!), etc. Like I touch based on already, trends are weird at first but they become the norm as soon as everyone else around you are a part of it, so muck-bbang may seem extremely mysterious to you but the trend affect has done it's job on my brain - a muck-bbang, someone who eats a lot, seems to be alright by me.
Okay, now this paragraph will be the conclusion (why do I always talk so much?), back to my point about not liking Koreans' obsession with trends. It can be a lot of pressure in America alone to have to be updated with the latest popular thing and what not, but remembering my last visit to Korea, the pressure was way more overwhelming. And what are trends that people obsess over them to the point that those who do not take up those certain trends become outcasts? Seriously, the recent bullying issue of schools in Korea had something to do with owning a Northface jacket. Really?? So one of my disdains I have for South Korea is their superfluous obsession with following trends, and I wish all of society in general, regardless of in which country, would not be so attentive and judgmental regarding trends.
(834)
Earlier this year, my friend in Korea sent me a package of all sorts of gifts and one of them was a dress. At first glance, it looked like a cute dress, but when I took a closer look, I realized it was a style I've never seen before. I guess the best way to describe it in words is that it's a sweater-dress. You can click here for a visual of it, it's similar material to the sweater on the far left, only mine is more of a tan color and it's a dress. Hmm, on second thought, mine's not as furry, but it's the closest picture I could find. I was going to wear that dress the next day upon receiving it, and my mom mentioned something about how this style won't be trending in America until at least a year later, but I still wore it to school the following day. Nothing really happened except for one boy asked me, "What exactly are you wearing?" I mentally answered him with a "Don't make fun of it, your girlfriend will be wearing something like this next year."
So as was evident in the provided example above, it can be difficult at times to wear clothes from Korea in America because America is so behind Korea's trends. Take a look at the clothes trending in South Korea here, and by the way, just because my dress was unusual in the sight of American's (for now), that doesn't mean the rest of the clothes in Korea are like that. I mean it makes sense that new trend-setting items seem foreign at first and then once everyone takes it up does it become normal and accepted. However not all of the trendy clothing in Korea will be strange to Americans, at least, I don't think so.
Back to my point that America is so behind clothing trends, I can point out specific examples. Back in early 2009 Korea, bright, colorful pants/skinny jeans were trendy but if you were to wear them in America then, you would be counted as a weirdo. But now, if you were to wear a pair of bright blue pants to coordinate with your outfit in America, it's no big deal. I mean 2009 and now 2013, that's a pretty big gap isn't it? Then some other time, maybe a year or two ago, I was out shopping with my mom and either myself or my sister (I have horrible memory at times) wanted a certain style of sandals and my mom, who by the way is more Korean than I am, said, "This is now a trend here? This was a trend in Korea long time ago." Hash tag Korean-American probs.
The final opinion of mine that I would like to conclude with is that I'm not always 100% satisfied with Korea's obsession with trends. Trends start with a snap of two fingers in Korea and it ends almost just as fast. In this blog post as a whole, I only touched based on fashion trends, but the scary sweep of trends in South Korea goes for anything else - hair accessories (when I visited Korea in 2009, hair pins you can find in hair salons were a trend), certain cell phone accessories, catchphrases, 먹방 (muck-bbang) is another trend these days and it's someone who eats a lot, so eating a lot is a trend (don't ask - but hey, I like it, it gives me an excuse to eat away!), etc. Like I touch based on already, trends are weird at first but they become the norm as soon as everyone else around you are a part of it, so muck-bbang may seem extremely mysterious to you but the trend affect has done it's job on my brain - a muck-bbang, someone who eats a lot, seems to be alright by me.
Okay, now this paragraph will be the conclusion (why do I always talk so much?), back to my point about not liking Koreans' obsession with trends. It can be a lot of pressure in America alone to have to be updated with the latest popular thing and what not, but remembering my last visit to Korea, the pressure was way more overwhelming. And what are trends that people obsess over them to the point that those who do not take up those certain trends become outcasts? Seriously, the recent bullying issue of schools in Korea had something to do with owning a Northface jacket. Really?? So one of my disdains I have for South Korea is their superfluous obsession with following trends, and I wish all of society in general, regardless of in which country, would not be so attentive and judgmental regarding trends.
(834)
Friday, December 13, 2013
Celebrities in the Military and their Special Privileges
I talked
about mandatory military service in South Korea in my previous blog
post, and now I want to narrow it down to celebrity recruits and the
privilege that they are allowed to have.
Se7en and Mighty Mouth's Sangchu made headlines as they greatly took advantage of their privilege of going out when they're doing service for the country. Needless to say, I was one of all of the people who criticized their actions.
But what confuses me more is, why should celebrities get special privileges in the military? Before a celebrity is a celebrity, they're a human-being. So the likelihood of them getting injured in the military is the same for them too, even if they're stars. But the fact that they're allowed more leisure-times and whatnot because of their careers seem more than unfair to me. What about the men of other professions - aren't they of importance too? I don't know, maybe those other men do get special privileges, but I've only heard about celebrities exploiting their privilege.
Take for example a great model, actor Yoo Seung Ho who rejected enlisting as a special celebrity recruit but rather just another recruit, and now he's risen to be an assistant instructor.
Again, needless to say, there's a clear difference between him and Se7en and Sangchu. And I shouldn't just pick on those two as other celebrities have taken advantage of their special privileges. I'm just glad that the Korean government finally found it necessary to change up their policies.
Any Korean boy's fear or excitement, depending on the individual, is enlisting in the military someday. But I've encountered more Korean boys that are dreading military enlistment than boy that are anticipating it. I briefly talked about how mandatory military service has been part of the Korean culture so long that, theoretically, it could someday be abolished once and for all, but the very thought of it is odd. Korean fathers telling their sons about their time in the military, talks of how to prepare for enlistment, and etc. are all a part of Korean culture and the fact that a celebrity can skimp out on it because you have a lot of fans just sound unjust to me.
(370)
Se7en and Mighty Mouth's Sangchu made headlines as they greatly took advantage of their privilege of going out when they're doing service for the country. Needless to say, I was one of all of the people who criticized their actions.
But what confuses me more is, why should celebrities get special privileges in the military? Before a celebrity is a celebrity, they're a human-being. So the likelihood of them getting injured in the military is the same for them too, even if they're stars. But the fact that they're allowed more leisure-times and whatnot because of their careers seem more than unfair to me. What about the men of other professions - aren't they of importance too? I don't know, maybe those other men do get special privileges, but I've only heard about celebrities exploiting their privilege.
Take for example a great model, actor Yoo Seung Ho who rejected enlisting as a special celebrity recruit but rather just another recruit, and now he's risen to be an assistant instructor.
Again, needless to say, there's a clear difference between him and Se7en and Sangchu. And I shouldn't just pick on those two as other celebrities have taken advantage of their special privileges. I'm just glad that the Korean government finally found it necessary to change up their policies.
Any Korean boy's fear or excitement, depending on the individual, is enlisting in the military someday. But I've encountered more Korean boys that are dreading military enlistment than boy that are anticipating it. I briefly talked about how mandatory military service has been part of the Korean culture so long that, theoretically, it could someday be abolished once and for all, but the very thought of it is odd. Korean fathers telling their sons about their time in the military, talks of how to prepare for enlistment, and etc. are all a part of Korean culture and the fact that a celebrity can skimp out on it because you have a lot of fans just sound unjust to me.
(370)
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Military Enlistment in South Korea
As a fan of Yoo Seung Ho, a charming actor of South Korea who debuted at the age of 8 (Korean age), I miss him so terribly as he is serving the country in the military. South Korea mandates all men age 20 (international age: 18) and up to enlist in the military to do service for 2 years.
When I was just a little child, the idea of military enlistment frightened me. I had recently watched a Korean movie or something involving a woman volunteer and so that gave me the idea that I also had to enlist in the military when I grow up. But then my young-self was relieved when I was told that it was only the boys that were required to enlist and that I'm not born in Korea so even if I was a boy, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
But then my brother said that Korean-Americans are counted as dual citizens, so this means that he, as a Korean-American, needs to go serve in the Korean military sometime after he reaches the age of 20 (Korean age). I'm still skeptical about the authenticity of this, so whoever is not lazy like me, please look this up and let your fellow Korean friend know. :D
I asked my dad a few months ago if the Korean government would continue to mandate military enlistment for males after the two Koreas - North and South - are unified. Because, you know, the big reason military service is required is to train its male citizens in case a full-out war starts up again between North Korea and South Korea. I asked this because, I thought about it, and military enlistment for males have been going on for so long that it's now a Korean tradition for all Korean boys growing up and really, this was all started because of a cease-fire between the two Koreas. So I became a bit sad at the thought that the doom of military enlistment wouldn't have to be hung over the heads of Korean boys if the North and South just unified.
However, my dad answered that military enlistment would probably be still required because the Korean peninsula is attached to China, so Korea would want to keep their guard up. I find this unfortunate - the U.S.A. has Canada to its north and Mexico to its south but military enlistment isn't required here. (Well, my so knowledgeable brother informed me that there is a yearly military draft in the States too and it's random but I suspect the legitimacy of this too).
Regarding mandatory military service in Korea, there's more I want to touch base on but that is to be continued on a later post...
(458)
When I was just a little child, the idea of military enlistment frightened me. I had recently watched a Korean movie or something involving a woman volunteer and so that gave me the idea that I also had to enlist in the military when I grow up. But then my young-self was relieved when I was told that it was only the boys that were required to enlist and that I'm not born in Korea so even if I was a boy, it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
But then my brother said that Korean-Americans are counted as dual citizens, so this means that he, as a Korean-American, needs to go serve in the Korean military sometime after he reaches the age of 20 (Korean age). I'm still skeptical about the authenticity of this, so whoever is not lazy like me, please look this up and let your fellow Korean friend know. :D
I asked my dad a few months ago if the Korean government would continue to mandate military enlistment for males after the two Koreas - North and South - are unified. Because, you know, the big reason military service is required is to train its male citizens in case a full-out war starts up again between North Korea and South Korea. I asked this because, I thought about it, and military enlistment for males have been going on for so long that it's now a Korean tradition for all Korean boys growing up and really, this was all started because of a cease-fire between the two Koreas. So I became a bit sad at the thought that the doom of military enlistment wouldn't have to be hung over the heads of Korean boys if the North and South just unified.
However, my dad answered that military enlistment would probably be still required because the Korean peninsula is attached to China, so Korea would want to keep their guard up. I find this unfortunate - the U.S.A. has Canada to its north and Mexico to its south but military enlistment isn't required here. (Well, my so knowledgeable brother informed me that there is a yearly military draft in the States too and it's random but I suspect the legitimacy of this too).
Regarding mandatory military service in Korea, there's more I want to touch base on but that is to be continued on a later post...
(458)
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Part 2 of The Unfortunate Shift in the K-Pop World
It seems like the busy world of K-pop is moving and evolving almost each second. And by moving and evolving, I mean getting to be more and more inappropriate. I said in the first part of my, well, rant about this issue, and that this is especially more concerning given the fact that a majority of these K-pop fans are young.
These fans -no matter how young or, for this matter, old they are- can have the right to like whichever K-pop group they want to like. So knowing that the young ones are free to like whichever girl group or boy group, shouldn't the producers in the K-pop industry be particularly careful about what they're trying to sell?
What really brought me to write a part 2 about this is that I heard that some girl group released a rated 30+ music video. 30 as in age. In Korean standards, a rated 19+ is like r-rated here in America and so a rated 30+ is huge. I didn't even know there was a 30+ rating! This scandalous music video has gotten just about everyone wondering what could possibly be in that music video that makes it so bad. Is it something sexual? Violence? Only a very limited amount of people will know. Speaking of which, there's my problem: who among that girl group's fans can watch their rated 30+ MV? Where is the aim in all of this scheme? To get people talking about them? How pathetic.
There's too many new groups coming out with similar, sexy concepts to count but never mind them, what about the groups that have been around for a while and are pretty popular? That's a lot of exposure to a lot of fans. And even in the age requirement for a MV or even the original song lyrics isn't as high as 30, even the 19+ ones are super questionable. Elementary students can't even view those music videos, or can they? We can all agree that we have easy access to a lot of things nowadays thanks to the Internet and YouTube is a great way to look up those explicit music videos. What's the point of slapping on a 19+ on a music video when it will be viewed to the general public online anyway? But back to the more popular groups that have taken up sexy concepts - what kind of message are they sending to their many, many fans?
It's makes me cringe to get on news sites that exclusively deliver news relating to K-pop, because a lot of the articles have inappropriate pictures and of course they all include in the title that it's rated 19+. In the midst of all the excitement of following the K-pop flow, meaning listening to all the new hits and checking out a hot new idol group, we all need to slow down, stop and see how sex appeal is being so painfully overused.
(491)
Saturday, December 7, 2013
"Snack" Foods in Korea
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| Click here for picture source |
There are 분식점 that exclusively serve only snack food in Korea, and as I've only lived in America, I've hardly been to one. So it wasn't until my very first visit to Chicago, where there's a large Korean population, when I went to H-Mart and saw that the foods I've been eating as meals my whole life are considered "snacks". I'm talking about 떡볶이 (dduk - bokk - ee), 김밥 (kim bap), 라면 (ramen), 순대 (sun - dae) etc.! You can click on the picture source link above and see more pictures of Korean snack foods.
The first one, 떡볶이 (dduk - bokk - ee), is just a dish of spicy rice cakes. To you who are not Korean/ have never heard of dduk-bokk-ee might think it's gross based on the description, but oh my goodness, you are in the wrong!!! Gag Concert actually did a survey for its Korean viewers (which is basically all of Korea) to see which of the four representative snack foods (listed in the above paragraph) is the most popular, and dduk-bokk-ee held first place! It's actually a wonder, when you think about what a simple dish dukk-bokk-ee is, why it is so enticingly delicious. Excuse me while I go cry and yearn for some dukk-bokk-ee.
김밥 (kim bap) is also one of my favorites. It's also called Korean Sushi, but it's not sushi at all, there's no fish involved but occasional tunas. Think of kim bap this way - it's a California roll but instead the rice being on the outside and dried seaweed on the inside, it's the complete opposite. So kim bap has dried seaweed on the outside with rice and some sort of meat (which meat it is is entirely up to the cook) and vegetables (also different based on the cook's choice). It's delicious. No more questions.
You should know this one - RAMEN! Oh, who can resist some good old ramen noodles? But let me tell you this: Korean ramen is different from the American ones. Personally for me, American ramen is gross - chicken flavor?! Beef flavor?! There's none of that in Korea! They are all spicy, usually kimchi flavor, and I declare that ramen should all be spicy, otherwise it's not ramen. Hey, no hate, just stating my own opinion. Seriously, I grew up with just spicy ramen and when I found out there are such things as non-spicy ramen, it was like finding out that there's a pizza without any cheese out there.
순대 (soon-dae) are blood sausages. Sound gross? Well, can't argue about that with you there. I used to really like soon-dae, until one day, I ate some and got sick and ever since, I can't even stand the smell of it. (What's that psychological term for this case?) Anyway, soon-dae is very popular in Korea and it's like a buddy with dduk-bok-ee and just snack foods in general.
I mentioned something about how I grew up thinking these foods were all for meals and not snacks. It's still odd to me today that these foods are considered as snacks. My parents did not make this distinction and I grew up devouring kim bap and dduk-bok-ee and ramen for meals. I mean, don't they all sound like potential meals to you? It's like eating fries for snack, which, I think some people actually do, but it's still weird. So Korean students eat these snack foods as, well, snacks, like after school and all of that and very recently, one of my younger siblings asked my dad why Korean kids tend to not eat a lot of food during meal times. My dad said it's because they eat a lot of snacks which makes so much sense! They eat something like California rolls (kim bap) as snacks, so it's no wonder they're not that hungry for dinner! But hey, absolutely no hate for Korean snack foods, I heart them all, except for soon-dae.
(688)
The Reason Behind the Nationalism in Korea according to Yours Truly
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| Click here for picture source |
I would say that most countries have some sense of nationalism. The Republic of Korea (대한민국, dae-han-min-guk) is no exception. You can find out more of Koreans' evident nationalism and how they cheer on their country's team by clicking on that picture source link. So it's clear that Korea is one country full of national pride but where does this all come from?
Before I try to answer that question, I want to set a disclaimer: Like in most other countries, there are a significant number of people in South Korea who wish to live in a different country. In other words, just like in most other countries such as the U.S., there are some Koreans who are dissatisfied with their government and what not. So as I talk about Korea's nationalism here, just keep in mind that Koreans are not brainwashed with some propaganda or whatever.
You should know that Korea has a dark history of invasion by another country. So it's true that Koreans are less open to non-Koreans. I'm afraid that the whole world is going to look at one thing I say and misinterpret it and create chaos so let me explain: this doesn't mean Koreans are a bunch of total racists, let's remember that racism is unfortunately in existence in other countries as well, and although I did say Koreans tend to be less open to non-Koreans, modern-day Koreans absolutely love foreigners. Just think of it as how Americans also love Asians (I have a number of friends who are obsessed with Asians). Anyway, back to my point about how Koreans are less open to foreigners, so I have to admit that their racism does stem from that too, but I'm not contradicting myself - this doesn't mean Koreans are complete racist freaks and let's face it, there are racists everywhere in the world. Just like how those Americans who are obsessed with Asians love Asians, none can deny that they've said racist comments about the people group they love; so Koreans love foreigners but there's racism in Korea, too.
So because of Korea's dark history, Koreans are met with sentimental nostalgic books and T.V. programs that stir up nationalistic feelings. There are a whole bunch of shows that just lets you ponder the wonders of Korean culture - food shows, programs that capture the life of the farmers in the countryside, ect. I personally have seen a few of these sort of programs, and honestly it's difficult to not have ever watched them, and they do a good job of making me feel proud of Korea. But I've heard an opinion of a non-Korean couple living in South Korea that Korea just airs a lot of these nationalistic shows, as if Korea doesn't have anything to show off. I feel like that's a bit ignorant. Like I said, Korea's history binds the Koreans in unity together and there's another thing to know about Korean culture. Quite a lot of Koreans living in the urban city, Seoul, are from the countryside, like Busan which is way down south. So I mentioned that Korea airs T.V. shows which fills viewers with nostalgia effectively because those countryside people living in Seoul miss their hometowns.
Korea has a lot of distinguishing features that go otherwise unnoticed, until when shows like Gag Concert mention them and viewers can laugh while being all proud of those components that make up Korea. I've lived my entire life in America, and maybe this is because I grew up very Korean, but I can't really see a huge sense of nationalism here in the United States. I mostly hear a lot of complaints against the government and I don't really see Americans unite when the country's team is up in the World Cup. I know, Americans do care when they're in the Olympics and what not, but I don't really see unity. So in the sense of nationalism, I think there's a clear difference between America and South Korea.
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Thursday, December 5, 2013
International Recognition for Girls' Generation, NOT Hate, Please and Thank You
If you know K-pop, then there’s no way for you to not know
who Girls’ Generation (GG) is. Girls’ Generation not only stunned the audience to
silence by winning the first-ever YouTube Music Awards but they also made 5th
place on the list of ‘Top 10 songs of 2013’ by Time Entertainment. As a S♡ne
myself, I am very pleased with the many accomplishments of GG. Well, then my
feeling of Korean pride nearly vanishes when haters comment things like, “I've never even heard of Girls’ Generation before.”
Okay,
let me set things clear – it’s not a crime itself to have had never heard of
Girls’ Generation when you live in America. But wouldn't it be great for Americans who have never heard of them react positively when GG wins a big award like the YTMA? Unfortunately, we don't live in a world like that. I have to admit, I've had the whole "But I've never heard of them before"-type of complaint myself too. However, here's my argument: Girls' Generation have been on the "David Letterman Show" AND "Live! With Kelly", so it's not like Americans were just thrown in their face this unexpected Asian girl group taking home the prize, GG has attempted to make themselves be known in America. But I'm holding true to my word - I'm not pointing fingers at anyone for not knowing who Girls' Generation is. My point is, why can't we accept that not everyone can win?
Oh, sweetie Tiffany, the GG member that came to America to represent her group, made it sound like as if GG only won because of their fans. She was being humble, not being all pompous and flat out saying they won because they're awesome. Oh, yes, fans did play a key part in their victory but to the haters that are sitting around grumbling that they only won because of their fans and are degrading GG's many talents - think about this: Why do you think Girls' Generation even has a lot of fans? No, not just Korean fans. Not just Asian fans. All around the world. Girls' Generation deserved the award. I have to say that I Got a Boy is not my personal favorite, but check out their other music videos - they can sing and dance. Now, Psy's Gentleman was also a nominee and I want to say that I think it's because he had a ridiculous video go viral before Gentleman, gaining him immediate international recognition. Girls' Generation's music video for Gee actually was the most viewed Korean music video until Gangnam Style rolled around.
My regret is that SM Entertainment, GG's company, would have pulled a JYP, Wonder Girls' company, and had GG's American debut song, "The Boys" be played on the radio and all of that. But it's not like SM just sat around doing nothing - in the big screen in Times Square played the preview for Girls' Generation and like I said, GG were on a couple of American T.V. shows. Plus at the same time, I understand why SM didn't pull a JYP, that would mean sacrificing a lot of time spent on promotions in the home country Korea and Japan for Girls' Generation. Can't win them all.
Okay, let me pause trying to sound all professional and rant real quickly - the audience was HORRIBLE as Tiffany went up for the award and deliver her word of thanks, no one even clapped. To the audience that had the case of frogs being stuck on their throat, who cares if you're clueless on who Girls' Generation is, the least you can do is slam your two hands together! Check out other videos of places where Girls' Generation has won awards (that shouldn't be difficult at all since they've won countless numbers of awards, so you've got plenty to choose from) and see how the audience goes crazy for GG because we all know that as long as GG is on the list, that's just a 99% guarantee that they will win. This is the superiority of Girls' Generation whether you like it or not.
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Oh, sweetie Tiffany, the GG member that came to America to represent her group, made it sound like as if GG only won because of their fans. She was being humble, not being all pompous and flat out saying they won because they're awesome. Oh, yes, fans did play a key part in their victory but to the haters that are sitting around grumbling that they only won because of their fans and are degrading GG's many talents - think about this: Why do you think Girls' Generation even has a lot of fans? No, not just Korean fans. Not just Asian fans. All around the world. Girls' Generation deserved the award. I have to say that I Got a Boy is not my personal favorite, but check out their other music videos - they can sing and dance. Now, Psy's Gentleman was also a nominee and I want to say that I think it's because he had a ridiculous video go viral before Gentleman, gaining him immediate international recognition. Girls' Generation's music video for Gee actually was the most viewed Korean music video until Gangnam Style rolled around.
My regret is that SM Entertainment, GG's company, would have pulled a JYP, Wonder Girls' company, and had GG's American debut song, "The Boys" be played on the radio and all of that. But it's not like SM just sat around doing nothing - in the big screen in Times Square played the preview for Girls' Generation and like I said, GG were on a couple of American T.V. shows. Plus at the same time, I understand why SM didn't pull a JYP, that would mean sacrificing a lot of time spent on promotions in the home country Korea and Japan for Girls' Generation. Can't win them all.
Okay, let me pause trying to sound all professional and rant real quickly - the audience was HORRIBLE as Tiffany went up for the award and deliver her word of thanks, no one even clapped. To the audience that had the case of frogs being stuck on their throat, who cares if you're clueless on who Girls' Generation is, the least you can do is slam your two hands together! Check out other videos of places where Girls' Generation has won awards (that shouldn't be difficult at all since they've won countless numbers of awards, so you've got plenty to choose from) and see how the audience goes crazy for GG because we all know that as long as GG is on the list, that's just a 99% guarantee that they will win. This is the superiority of Girls' Generation whether you like it or not.
(692)
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Korean Celebrities and Dating
Another star couple has emerged in Korea and it's Kim Bum and Moon Geun-Young. I was surprised at this news, even more when I saw that Kim Bum is younger, but I'm also happy for them. I mean, it's their time to date, looking at their age. Plus it was pretty courageous of them to come out all public.
What do I mean? I heard that it's difficult especially for female Korean celebrities to date publicly because apparently, the number of fans go down. Male fans all have this fantasy of their favorite star possibly being their girlfriends and then all of a sudden their noona has a boyfriend, then to their shame, they disloyally leave them. Or something like that. Plus, it's imaginable that it's the same for male Korean stars. So you can see that it's not an easy decision to make whether you're going to go public about your dating life or not as a celebrity.
But this doesn't mean that celebrities all end up forcefully being forever alone. There are considerable numbers of married celebrities. However, it's harder for K-pop idols to date. Okay, instead of sounding all neutral I have to pitch in my own voice in this - I, too, cringe at the thought of one of my favorite boy group members dating someone. So it's not like I'm unsympathetic to K-poppers but at the same time, it's sad to me that their freedom is already virtually deprived from them but the fact that they can't freely have a love life without the consent of their agency is worse.
Unlike many SHINee fans, I was actually happy for Jonghyun when he was dating actress Shin Se Kyung, I thought they looked good together (and, I must admit, Jonghyun is not my favorite member sooooo yeah). Plus I'm happy for Wonder Girls' Sun, who is now married and very recently gave birth to her first child, for making such a big step as a K-pop idol and of course, we can't forget her agency that allowed this huge irrevocable thing. In fact, she's the first K-pop group idol to get married in this generation which brings light to what upsets me. We have older idols, for example, SHINHWA, who are all in their 30s and yet none of them are married yet. Maybe it's not their agency and status preventing them from having a love life, but that's what it seems like and it makes me feel bad for them.
Also, there are K-pop idols who've said they want to get married early. It's a common desire, I also want to get married early. But it's harder for K-pop idols to achieve this dream because, K-pop idols have the reputation of being young, so it's mighty difficult for them to be finding their significant other while busily holding concerts and promoting their next album. Plus think in the view of the fans, they want their oppas to be with them forever, not eventually quitting their job to make their own families.
So there have been gradual increase in celebrity couples or celebrities with boyfriends/girlfriends but not so much in the K-pop world. But sticking to my point, I like that more celebrities are breaking out of their shells and dating, and I'm torn when it comes to K-pop idols. It really always depends on who's dating who for me to decide how I feel about them.
(572)
What do I mean? I heard that it's difficult especially for female Korean celebrities to date publicly because apparently, the number of fans go down. Male fans all have this fantasy of their favorite star possibly being their girlfriends and then all of a sudden their noona has a boyfriend, then to their shame, they disloyally leave them. Or something like that. Plus, it's imaginable that it's the same for male Korean stars. So you can see that it's not an easy decision to make whether you're going to go public about your dating life or not as a celebrity.
But this doesn't mean that celebrities all end up forcefully being forever alone. There are considerable numbers of married celebrities. However, it's harder for K-pop idols to date. Okay, instead of sounding all neutral I have to pitch in my own voice in this - I, too, cringe at the thought of one of my favorite boy group members dating someone. So it's not like I'm unsympathetic to K-poppers but at the same time, it's sad to me that their freedom is already virtually deprived from them but the fact that they can't freely have a love life without the consent of their agency is worse.
Unlike many SHINee fans, I was actually happy for Jonghyun when he was dating actress Shin Se Kyung, I thought they looked good together (and, I must admit, Jonghyun is not my favorite member sooooo yeah). Plus I'm happy for Wonder Girls' Sun, who is now married and very recently gave birth to her first child, for making such a big step as a K-pop idol and of course, we can't forget her agency that allowed this huge irrevocable thing. In fact, she's the first K-pop group idol to get married in this generation which brings light to what upsets me. We have older idols, for example, SHINHWA, who are all in their 30s and yet none of them are married yet. Maybe it's not their agency and status preventing them from having a love life, but that's what it seems like and it makes me feel bad for them.
Also, there are K-pop idols who've said they want to get married early. It's a common desire, I also want to get married early. But it's harder for K-pop idols to achieve this dream because, K-pop idols have the reputation of being young, so it's mighty difficult for them to be finding their significant other while busily holding concerts and promoting their next album. Plus think in the view of the fans, they want their oppas to be with them forever, not eventually quitting their job to make their own families.
So there have been gradual increase in celebrity couples or celebrities with boyfriends/girlfriends but not so much in the K-pop world. But sticking to my point, I like that more celebrities are breaking out of their shells and dating, and I'm torn when it comes to K-pop idols. It really always depends on who's dating who for me to decide how I feel about them.
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Korean Innovations that Should Exist in America
Living as a Korean-American in America, I am met with frustrations at times because some systems will be a lot smoother for some cases. Woah. That was a vague statement. Okay, here's what I mean, there are some things in Korea that really need to be brought to America. I will talk about my personal opinions but you can also check out this video, since I agree with what they mention.
In addition to the table-bells, there's something else in Korean restaurants, where you have to go pick up the food, is this buzzer-thing that you hold on to and when it lights up and buzzes, that means you're food is ready and you should go pick it up. I have yet to see one of these in an American restaurant, I've only used these at Korean restaurants in America! *angry face* But then again to be fair, I don't know a lot of American food places where you would order and then stand around waiting for your food... Because well, the place I've been to is H-Mart, a Korean super-market in urban cities of America, where they have a food court. Wait, I've thought of an instance where these buzzer-things would come in handy!! At malls, there are food courts right? Well, you can order and pay and then sit down with your buzzer and get up when your food is ready. Hmm, but that wouldn't be efficient since food courts are full of fast food places... (Guys, I'm actually thinking of all of this as I go, sorry). I don't know, but anyway, I find these buzzer-things to be cool.
Another thing that I agree with that was mentioned in the video is the new ways of locking your doors! Seriously, when you go to Korea and see that metal keys are only used for cars, then you feel pretty outdated back at America. And it gets me wondering - how is it that Korea seems to be more technologically advanced at times?
The video mentions bank cards that can be used to pay any public transportation system, right? Here's the problem in America: public transportation itself is not widely available. Seriously, only the big cities like Chicago and New York City have taxis, buses, and subways (wait, does Chicago even have subways?), otherwise you must have a car to get to places. Maybe the dangers of teenage driving can be significantly eliminated if public transportation was brought! Okay, put down your tomatoes, I'm just saying and I know that I'm being unfair because our economy can't afford something like this and ya-di-ya-di-yadda.
(435)
In addition to the table-bells, there's something else in Korean restaurants, where you have to go pick up the food, is this buzzer-thing that you hold on to and when it lights up and buzzes, that means you're food is ready and you should go pick it up. I have yet to see one of these in an American restaurant, I've only used these at Korean restaurants in America! *angry face* But then again to be fair, I don't know a lot of American food places where you would order and then stand around waiting for your food... Because well, the place I've been to is H-Mart, a Korean super-market in urban cities of America, where they have a food court. Wait, I've thought of an instance where these buzzer-things would come in handy!! At malls, there are food courts right? Well, you can order and pay and then sit down with your buzzer and get up when your food is ready. Hmm, but that wouldn't be efficient since food courts are full of fast food places... (Guys, I'm actually thinking of all of this as I go, sorry). I don't know, but anyway, I find these buzzer-things to be cool.
Another thing that I agree with that was mentioned in the video is the new ways of locking your doors! Seriously, when you go to Korea and see that metal keys are only used for cars, then you feel pretty outdated back at America. And it gets me wondering - how is it that Korea seems to be more technologically advanced at times?
The video mentions bank cards that can be used to pay any public transportation system, right? Here's the problem in America: public transportation itself is not widely available. Seriously, only the big cities like Chicago and New York City have taxis, buses, and subways (wait, does Chicago even have subways?), otherwise you must have a car to get to places. Maybe the dangers of teenage driving can be significantly eliminated if public transportation was brought! Okay, put down your tomatoes, I'm just saying and I know that I'm being unfair because our economy can't afford something like this and ya-di-ya-di-yadda.
(435)
Thursday, October 31, 2013
The Life of a Korean-American
I want to talk about something that doesn't require me to do any research because I have sufficient knowledge on it: the life of a Korean-American. To be more specific, I'm talking about those with Korean parents but were born in America.
First off, over the years of my life, I've noticed that Koreans in Korea and Koreans in America look different. I've only lived in America but I've seen plenty of native-born Koreans both on TV and real life to know the difference. So if you put two Koreans in front of me, one native-born and the other American-born, I could probably tell you which is which. How? First off the clothes are different - Korean fashion always sets the trend for American fashion so there's going to be a difference there. Plus the skin color, for the most part, is going to be different: Korean-Americans are tanner. Actually that just goes for all Asian Americans. The last key difference is that the eyes are different, many of you are probably shocked, because you move your eyes more and put more stress to your eyes when you speak English so that shapes your eyes differently. I'm not kidding, this is a fact.
So all of the main differences above tell you this: Korean-Americans are bi-cultural and it's not easy being bi-cultural; they are different from "Korean-Koreans" and from "American-Americans". Their Korean-American parents tell them one thing while their American friends at school tell them another. They're not quite 100% alike with their people in South Korea but they're far from being alike with American-Americans.
I've seen some Korean-Americans who think they're completely American, and I've coined a term for this condition called "white-washed" (no stealing, I'm the one who made it up). Now in the previous paragraph, I'm not saying Korean-Americans are these aliens who don't belong anywhere. Oh no, that's not it at all. But what I'm trying to get across is that as a Korean-American myself, sometimes I face a kind of identity-crisis, and get a sense of loneliness. Based on my experience, you wouldn't know what I mean unless you're also bi-cultural (or perhaps even multi-cultural).
So my whole point of this excessively long blog post is that beyond all the splendor of being Korean-American, there's this sense of loneliness. Unless you're one of those lucky ones who live in a big city overflowing with Koreans. I personally know who I am and Who I belong to, but when enclosed in this world in my life, I look around and wonder how my life would be like if my parents had never come to America. Would I sit around wishing for an exciting life in a place like America or would my life be less complicated with only one culture surrounding my life? So there you have it, the more exclusive details of a life of a Korean-American, or any American-born ethnic minority.
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First off, over the years of my life, I've noticed that Koreans in Korea and Koreans in America look different. I've only lived in America but I've seen plenty of native-born Koreans both on TV and real life to know the difference. So if you put two Koreans in front of me, one native-born and the other American-born, I could probably tell you which is which. How? First off the clothes are different - Korean fashion always sets the trend for American fashion so there's going to be a difference there. Plus the skin color, for the most part, is going to be different: Korean-Americans are tanner. Actually that just goes for all Asian Americans. The last key difference is that the eyes are different, many of you are probably shocked, because you move your eyes more and put more stress to your eyes when you speak English so that shapes your eyes differently. I'm not kidding, this is a fact.
So all of the main differences above tell you this: Korean-Americans are bi-cultural and it's not easy being bi-cultural; they are different from "Korean-Koreans" and from "American-Americans". Their Korean-American parents tell them one thing while their American friends at school tell them another. They're not quite 100% alike with their people in South Korea but they're far from being alike with American-Americans.
I've seen some Korean-Americans who think they're completely American, and I've coined a term for this condition called "white-washed" (no stealing, I'm the one who made it up). Now in the previous paragraph, I'm not saying Korean-Americans are these aliens who don't belong anywhere. Oh no, that's not it at all. But what I'm trying to get across is that as a Korean-American myself, sometimes I face a kind of identity-crisis, and get a sense of loneliness. Based on my experience, you wouldn't know what I mean unless you're also bi-cultural (or perhaps even multi-cultural).
So my whole point of this excessively long blog post is that beyond all the splendor of being Korean-American, there's this sense of loneliness. Unless you're one of those lucky ones who live in a big city overflowing with Koreans. I personally know who I am and Who I belong to, but when enclosed in this world in my life, I look around and wonder how my life would be like if my parents had never come to America. Would I sit around wishing for an exciting life in a place like America or would my life be less complicated with only one culture surrounding my life? So there you have it, the more exclusive details of a life of a Korean-American, or any American-born ethnic minority.
(487)
Saturday, October 26, 2013
How Koreans View America and Vice Versa
With this blog post, I would like to bring light to fellow Americans how highly praised they are by Koreans. The subject that is required for students to learn is English and that is what they study like crazy. America is the land that's wide and spacious and with so many wonders to see while Korea is the small, dense country.
I guess a way for fellow Americans to see it is this - most of us would marvel when someone says they're going to study abroad in a place like, Paris or London, right? Well, America is there up on the list of Paris and London to Koreans. Also, I don't think not many Americans realize this, but, speaking English fluently is such a great privilege because it is an international language. So I just want to shake some Americans and shout at them, "Do you know how blessed you are to speak fluent English?!?!"
Now how do Americans view Korea, as I see it? On a large scale, I think Americans immediately think of North Korea and aren't informed about how they might just have Korean products in their house. (Click here to learn more). But there is a minority group of Americans who enjoy K-pop and/or K-dramas or just the Korean culture itself and to them, Korea is the dreamland. Which is weird because I know how Koreans view America.
I got my friend this cool, colored pencil set for her birthday and the others at her birthday party were asking if it was an Asian product and I'm thinking, "Uhh...No..." And I told my dad this and he said that back in the olden days in Korea, it was cool whenever someone had a product from America but now it's the other way around. Which I know it's very true since I have experience as evidence of it, even back in elementary school, my fellow classmates were amused by my Korean hanboks and explanation of food and what not. So this shift delights me since I love Korea and although it's not every American (yet), there are my friends who are interested in Korea and daydream about their future life in Korea and it makes me very proud to be Korean. I've even met people who freaked out on me because I was the first Korean they've ever met and they loved Koreans. So Koreans as a whole all view America greatly for the most part and Americans are slowly starting to do so for Korea as well.
(422)
I guess a way for fellow Americans to see it is this - most of us would marvel when someone says they're going to study abroad in a place like, Paris or London, right? Well, America is there up on the list of Paris and London to Koreans. Also, I don't think not many Americans realize this, but, speaking English fluently is such a great privilege because it is an international language. So I just want to shake some Americans and shout at them, "Do you know how blessed you are to speak fluent English?!?!"
Now how do Americans view Korea, as I see it? On a large scale, I think Americans immediately think of North Korea and aren't informed about how they might just have Korean products in their house. (Click here to learn more). But there is a minority group of Americans who enjoy K-pop and/or K-dramas or just the Korean culture itself and to them, Korea is the dreamland. Which is weird because I know how Koreans view America.
I got my friend this cool, colored pencil set for her birthday and the others at her birthday party were asking if it was an Asian product and I'm thinking, "Uhh...No..." And I told my dad this and he said that back in the olden days in Korea, it was cool whenever someone had a product from America but now it's the other way around. Which I know it's very true since I have experience as evidence of it, even back in elementary school, my fellow classmates were amused by my Korean hanboks and explanation of food and what not. So this shift delights me since I love Korea and although it's not every American (yet), there are my friends who are interested in Korea and daydream about their future life in Korea and it makes me very proud to be Korean. I've even met people who freaked out on me because I was the first Korean they've ever met and they loved Koreans. So Koreans as a whole all view America greatly for the most part and Americans are slowly starting to do so for Korea as well.
(422)
South Korean Gag -men and -women
In my previous blog post, I talked about Korean comedy - "gag". I also talked about 'Gag Concert', but I did not tell you specific gag -men and -women.
South Korea actually has a pretty long history of its gag -men and -women, who has always been popular. But 'Gag Concert' has definitely been popularly loved these days and the gag -men and -women of 'Gag Concert' can show off fame not too unlike that of K-pop idols.
These Gag -men and -women, just like your Korean artists, have all undergone audition processes to be accepted into an agency. Just like how Korean idols are referred to as "rookies" immediately after they debut, it's the same with these comedians.
I talk about Korean Gag because it's a large part of Korean culture. The genius comedians come up with hit catchphrases or trendy items that they use on stage (such as Brownie). These catchphrases or the latest fad set by the Gag -men and -women shape the modern Korean society. But these do not just spring out of the comedians, they are formed through hours of brainstorming late into the night. I've heard of an instance when the rookie gagman of a certain corner would come up with all the jokes and ideas and then all the senior gagmen would be the ones relaying them on stage. So either way, the gag -men and -women all work hard to come up with the best performance to put on.
I don't think I explained well enough how these corners are really like in my other blog post on Korean gag. Most of the time, they are like segments of just any regular show, and this is where the gagwomen could convey the clingy girlfriend to the gagmen who is playing the role of her boyfriend. And the other rare times, a couple of them stand and tell jokes, not like, knock-knock jokes, but they also do a little acting. For example, in a corner that has recently started on 'Gag Concert' is these two men who haven't had girlfriends in the past 20 years or so and one would ask the other, "Have you worn a couple ring before?" and the other would say the "punchline" by saying, "What's a couple ring?"
So obviously, these gag -men and -women need to be able to act. Very different from the comedians on your American comedy shows like 'Comedy Central', right? At least from my very little knowledge of it. Anyway, so because these gag -men and -women are also acting, they sometimes get to play the cameos of a funny character on K-dramas. For example, maybe there's an attractive girl walking along the street and all the boys are gaping over her and these boys would be played by gagmen since they can make the most hilarious facial expressions.
I also am a fan of a number of gag -men and -women and let me spazz - they are awesome. I have to say, I like them almost as much as I like my Korean singers. These gag -men and -women have to sacrifice their image by doing silly, embarrassing things to bring laughter to Korea and I respect that. And because they do these things, they're so humble. So there you have it - how Korean gag -men and -women are.
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South Korea actually has a pretty long history of its gag -men and -women, who has always been popular. But 'Gag Concert' has definitely been popularly loved these days and the gag -men and -women of 'Gag Concert' can show off fame not too unlike that of K-pop idols.
These Gag -men and -women, just like your Korean artists, have all undergone audition processes to be accepted into an agency. Just like how Korean idols are referred to as "rookies" immediately after they debut, it's the same with these comedians.
I talk about Korean Gag because it's a large part of Korean culture. The genius comedians come up with hit catchphrases or trendy items that they use on stage (such as Brownie). These catchphrases or the latest fad set by the Gag -men and -women shape the modern Korean society. But these do not just spring out of the comedians, they are formed through hours of brainstorming late into the night. I've heard of an instance when the rookie gagman of a certain corner would come up with all the jokes and ideas and then all the senior gagmen would be the ones relaying them on stage. So either way, the gag -men and -women all work hard to come up with the best performance to put on.
I don't think I explained well enough how these corners are really like in my other blog post on Korean gag. Most of the time, they are like segments of just any regular show, and this is where the gagwomen could convey the clingy girlfriend to the gagmen who is playing the role of her boyfriend. And the other rare times, a couple of them stand and tell jokes, not like, knock-knock jokes, but they also do a little acting. For example, in a corner that has recently started on 'Gag Concert' is these two men who haven't had girlfriends in the past 20 years or so and one would ask the other, "Have you worn a couple ring before?" and the other would say the "punchline" by saying, "What's a couple ring?"
So obviously, these gag -men and -women need to be able to act. Very different from the comedians on your American comedy shows like 'Comedy Central', right? At least from my very little knowledge of it. Anyway, so because these gag -men and -women are also acting, they sometimes get to play the cameos of a funny character on K-dramas. For example, maybe there's an attractive girl walking along the street and all the boys are gaping over her and these boys would be played by gagmen since they can make the most hilarious facial expressions.
I also am a fan of a number of gag -men and -women and let me spazz - they are awesome. I have to say, I like them almost as much as I like my Korean singers. These gag -men and -women have to sacrifice their image by doing silly, embarrassing things to bring laughter to Korea and I respect that. And because they do these things, they're so humble. So there you have it - how Korean gag -men and -women are.
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Thursday, October 24, 2013
Korean Comedy - "Gag"
South Koreans love comedy. But the American comedy that you may be used to is way different from Korean comedy. First off, we Americans call comedians, well, comedians but Korean comedians are actually called Gag Man/Woman.
In America, there are comedy shows such as Comedy Central and there are similar shows like these in Korea as well, the most noticeable one called 'Gag Concert (개그 콘서트)'. (What does "gag" mean here? I'm assuming it's Konglish for "comedy".) Unlike Comedy Central, gag men and -women get into groups and form corners for 'Gag Concert' which is minimum 5 minutes long and they perform on stage with a live audience and it is broadcast each week on television. These corners have created numerous catchphrases and trends for Koreans to use in everyday life (of course, once the "season" of that corner is over, than the usage of whatever catchphrases that corner generated also goes away) and gag men and -women have a star status almost as much as that of K-pop stars.
I'm a weekly viewer and a huge fan of 'Gag Concert', but it is actually a fact, and not an opinion, that 'Gag Concert' is the most popular gag show out there in South Korea. There has been times weekly charts of Korean television programs showed that 'Gag Concert' was the #1 most viewed program of the week, trampling over popular K-dramas and variety shows. So do you get that 'Gag Concert' is the most popular one out there? I've seen 'People Looking for Laughter (웃찾사)' and although some of their corners were humorous, even the most humorous ones didn't quite meet the humor level of the corners in 'Gag Concert'. Well, 'People Looking for Laughter' has altogether ended the show a couple of times due to the fact that they couldn't beat the popularity of 'Gag Concert'. And now it's back again! Which I'm happy about, even though I never really watch it anymore, just because I felt bad for them. So anyway, I personally prefer 'Gag Concert' to 'People Looking for Laughter'.
Another one of these comedy shows that I've seen once - and thank goodness just once - is called 'Comic Big League (코믹빅리그)'. Oh my goodness. It was horrible. It was just a rip off of 'Gag Concert'. Seriously, can't the gag -men/-women there come up with something of their own? Even if they did, they weren't that funny. Not only that, it was more... indecent. Like, there would be too much kissing and it's like, hello, I would've watched some romance movie if I wanted to see kissing. My opinion is that 'Gag Concert' is probably most popular because they (as in the comedians there and crew) know that stuff that makes you cringe ain't funny. If the director or boss or whoever is in charge of 'Gag Concert' did allow some scandalous new corner to be showcased (and it has before), then that risqué corner would be shot down immediately and would be never seen again. Very wise of them. But although I despise 'Comic Big League', it (for some reason) must still have considerable amount of viewers because last time I check, it still exists.
Now, let's get on Korean humor: Until last year, it never dawned on me that Koreans are kind of mean when it comes to looks. A notable amount of the jokes on gag shows (plus variety shows) are fat jokes. It's not that Koreans actually make fun of fat people every time during their everyday life, but it's prominent on T.V. And honestly, we human beings have a tendency to make fun of stuff like that, so it's not just that the Koreans are cruel. But my white friend last year told me that she and her friends were watching a Korean show and they were miffed about all the jokes on appearances of this one particular gag woman that was on the show. I grew up watching this so it never bothered me, I guess, but when I heard that, my eyes were opened. Ugh, that makes me sound like it's as if I've been brain-washed to be insulting to others or something, but that's not the case! Let's not twist Grace's words, shall we?
But it's not only fat jokes that are made on these gag shows, they (well, at least 'Gag Concert') also relate to the common people by sometimes poking fun on the government (which they still have to be careful about), silly trends that have taken place, how clingy girlfriends act to their boyfriends, and stuff like that.
Now, I've never really seen 'Comedy Central' or anything like that before, but when I watch the news in the mornings, sometimes they'll show little clips of them, right? So I get a gist about what they're like. One clear difference I've picked up between American comedy shows and Korean ones is that Koreans do not swear on their gag shows. Which I like. Plus Korean gag -men/-women do a good job of steering away from sexual innuendos, especially because there are so many young viewers, even more nowadays. I'm not 100% sure if American comedy shows make a bunch of sex jokes, but it's one thing about Korean comedy shows.
(876)
In America, there are comedy shows such as Comedy Central and there are similar shows like these in Korea as well, the most noticeable one called 'Gag Concert (개그 콘서트)'. (What does "gag" mean here? I'm assuming it's Konglish for "comedy".) Unlike Comedy Central, gag men and -women get into groups and form corners for 'Gag Concert' which is minimum 5 minutes long and they perform on stage with a live audience and it is broadcast each week on television. These corners have created numerous catchphrases and trends for Koreans to use in everyday life (of course, once the "season" of that corner is over, than the usage of whatever catchphrases that corner generated also goes away) and gag men and -women have a star status almost as much as that of K-pop stars.
I'm a weekly viewer and a huge fan of 'Gag Concert', but it is actually a fact, and not an opinion, that 'Gag Concert' is the most popular gag show out there in South Korea. There has been times weekly charts of Korean television programs showed that 'Gag Concert' was the #1 most viewed program of the week, trampling over popular K-dramas and variety shows. So do you get that 'Gag Concert' is the most popular one out there? I've seen 'People Looking for Laughter (웃찾사)' and although some of their corners were humorous, even the most humorous ones didn't quite meet the humor level of the corners in 'Gag Concert'. Well, 'People Looking for Laughter' has altogether ended the show a couple of times due to the fact that they couldn't beat the popularity of 'Gag Concert'. And now it's back again! Which I'm happy about, even though I never really watch it anymore, just because I felt bad for them. So anyway, I personally prefer 'Gag Concert' to 'People Looking for Laughter'.
Another one of these comedy shows that I've seen once - and thank goodness just once - is called 'Comic Big League (코믹빅리그)'. Oh my goodness. It was horrible. It was just a rip off of 'Gag Concert'. Seriously, can't the gag -men/-women there come up with something of their own? Even if they did, they weren't that funny. Not only that, it was more... indecent. Like, there would be too much kissing and it's like, hello, I would've watched some romance movie if I wanted to see kissing. My opinion is that 'Gag Concert' is probably most popular because they (as in the comedians there and crew) know that stuff that makes you cringe ain't funny. If the director or boss or whoever is in charge of 'Gag Concert' did allow some scandalous new corner to be showcased (and it has before), then that risqué corner would be shot down immediately and would be never seen again. Very wise of them. But although I despise 'Comic Big League', it (for some reason) must still have considerable amount of viewers because last time I check, it still exists.
Now, let's get on Korean humor: Until last year, it never dawned on me that Koreans are kind of mean when it comes to looks. A notable amount of the jokes on gag shows (plus variety shows) are fat jokes. It's not that Koreans actually make fun of fat people every time during their everyday life, but it's prominent on T.V. And honestly, we human beings have a tendency to make fun of stuff like that, so it's not just that the Koreans are cruel. But my white friend last year told me that she and her friends were watching a Korean show and they were miffed about all the jokes on appearances of this one particular gag woman that was on the show. I grew up watching this so it never bothered me, I guess, but when I heard that, my eyes were opened. Ugh, that makes me sound like it's as if I've been brain-washed to be insulting to others or something, but that's not the case! Let's not twist Grace's words, shall we?
But it's not only fat jokes that are made on these gag shows, they (well, at least 'Gag Concert') also relate to the common people by sometimes poking fun on the government (which they still have to be careful about), silly trends that have taken place, how clingy girlfriends act to their boyfriends, and stuff like that.
Now, I've never really seen 'Comedy Central' or anything like that before, but when I watch the news in the mornings, sometimes they'll show little clips of them, right? So I get a gist about what they're like. One clear difference I've picked up between American comedy shows and Korean ones is that Koreans do not swear on their gag shows. Which I like. Plus Korean gag -men/-women do a good job of steering away from sexual innuendos, especially because there are so many young viewers, even more nowadays. I'm not 100% sure if American comedy shows make a bunch of sex jokes, but it's one thing about Korean comedy shows.
(876)
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Korean Expressions (Figures of Speech and Proverbs)
One of my goals for this blog is that I'll let the rest of the world know the cool things of the country I love. I'm not sure if I've been doing that well so for this blog post I want to talk about Korean expressions.
Like most countries, Korea has it's own old sayings or proverbs. These proverbs are taught to Korean students as young as those in elementary school. Unlike just regular figures of speech, these it's hard to determine the meaning of most of these proverbs which is why they're taught in schools. For example, a worm wiggles even when it's stepped on (지렁이도 밟으면 꿈틀한다) means even a nice person can snap if you push their buttons too much. You wouldn't have been able to get that meaning out of just the proverb itself, could you?
I'm not quite sure if this one is also a proverb or just an expression, I think it's the second one, but it's one of my favorite sayings - "you're pouring gasoline to a house on fire" (불난 집에 기름 붓는다) which means that you're making an angry person even angrier. I've used this saying in English and people laugh because the meaning of this one is more obvious, especially in context, even though it's not really said in English.
In a previous blog post, I talked about how I don't like how grown ups and elderly people basically have absolute authority in Korea but I do have a soft spot for the old people who would still wear their Hanboks in modern day Korea and use these brilliant old sayings and so that all Koreans, regardless of age, use them as well. Okay, I don't have sources to really back this up but at least that's what I think. What I'm trying to say is that I respect those ancestors who've really set up Korean culture and society. I want to talk more about Korean culture by also incorporating its history and just gush about the country that I love in future blog posts.
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Like most countries, Korea has it's own old sayings or proverbs. These proverbs are taught to Korean students as young as those in elementary school. Unlike just regular figures of speech, these it's hard to determine the meaning of most of these proverbs which is why they're taught in schools. For example, a worm wiggles even when it's stepped on (지렁이도 밟으면 꿈틀한다) means even a nice person can snap if you push their buttons too much. You wouldn't have been able to get that meaning out of just the proverb itself, could you?
I'm not quite sure if this one is also a proverb or just an expression, I think it's the second one, but it's one of my favorite sayings - "you're pouring gasoline to a house on fire" (불난 집에 기름 붓는다) which means that you're making an angry person even angrier. I've used this saying in English and people laugh because the meaning of this one is more obvious, especially in context, even though it's not really said in English.
In a previous blog post, I talked about how I don't like how grown ups and elderly people basically have absolute authority in Korea but I do have a soft spot for the old people who would still wear their Hanboks in modern day Korea and use these brilliant old sayings and so that all Koreans, regardless of age, use them as well. Okay, I don't have sources to really back this up but at least that's what I think. What I'm trying to say is that I respect those ancestors who've really set up Korean culture and society. I want to talk more about Korean culture by also incorporating its history and just gush about the country that I love in future blog posts.
(345)
Friday, October 18, 2013
DMNT Daniel's Sentence for Marijuana Case - Is this Fair?
Okay, so I know that I've been posting a lot on K-pop related stuff lately but I want to talk about this. I'm a fan of Daniel but I gotta admit, I was and still am pretty disappointed with his poor decisions. But I'm not dedicating this blog post to only criticize Daniel but also the court's decision.
I don't understand why they're going all easy on this Cha No Ah person, who has smoked marijuana 2-3 times. And the articles says it seems the reason for this lighter punishment is because his offense wasn't as harsh - WHAT?! I'm not the one to judge who committed more crime than the other but I think they both deserve to be punished equally to each other at least.
It seemed to me that Daniel's fans are upset and have been stating their opinions on the comments about how they're meaner to Daniel because he's from America and how it's as if smoking marijuana isn't wrong 'cause they let Cha No Ah off easily, and etc... But I want to remind everyone that unfortunately, Daniel has been tested for smoking marijuana and the result was positive. Plus about the part about discriminating him because he's American does not have enough support.
I've read some comments saying how marijuana doesn't kill you and that cigarettes are more hazardous and blah blah but it's still illegal. Shouldn't that mean anything to anyone? Yes, I get that your oppa has made some mistakes but those mistakes have to be met with consequences. Although I think the court's decision isn't quite fair, the fact that those involved are facing consequences is fair itself. Plus the Daniel's defense about how he's from America so he's not accustomed to marijuana being illegal or something doesn't make much sense to me. That just might get the judge to be harsher to Daniel for being "American". Who knows.
I agree with those who are voicing their opinions that Daniel has not only made his own days -to-come tough but also those of his fellow group members. I'm honestly curious about how his group members are coping. But I'm not (and don't want to be) one of those overly critical Korean "netizens" so I want to make it clear that my support goes out to Daniel and the rest of the DMNT members.
----
I heard something about how Korea's strict about defamation so I hope stating my personal opinions about this here won't get me in any trouble! Just doing my school assignment and freedom rings in America :)
(429)
I don't understand why they're going all easy on this Cha No Ah person, who has smoked marijuana 2-3 times. And the articles says it seems the reason for this lighter punishment is because his offense wasn't as harsh - WHAT?! I'm not the one to judge who committed more crime than the other but I think they both deserve to be punished equally to each other at least.
It seemed to me that Daniel's fans are upset and have been stating their opinions on the comments about how they're meaner to Daniel because he's from America and how it's as if smoking marijuana isn't wrong 'cause they let Cha No Ah off easily, and etc... But I want to remind everyone that unfortunately, Daniel has been tested for smoking marijuana and the result was positive. Plus about the part about discriminating him because he's American does not have enough support.
I've read some comments saying how marijuana doesn't kill you and that cigarettes are more hazardous and blah blah but it's still illegal. Shouldn't that mean anything to anyone? Yes, I get that your oppa has made some mistakes but those mistakes have to be met with consequences. Although I think the court's decision isn't quite fair, the fact that those involved are facing consequences is fair itself. Plus the Daniel's defense about how he's from America so he's not accustomed to marijuana being illegal or something doesn't make much sense to me. That just might get the judge to be harsher to Daniel for being "American". Who knows.
I agree with those who are voicing their opinions that Daniel has not only made his own days -to-come tough but also those of his fellow group members. I'm honestly curious about how his group members are coping. But I'm not (and don't want to be) one of those overly critical Korean "netizens" so I want to make it clear that my support goes out to Daniel and the rest of the DMNT members.
----
I heard something about how Korea's strict about defamation so I hope stating my personal opinions about this here won't get me in any trouble! Just doing my school assignment and freedom rings in America :)
(429)
Thursday, October 17, 2013
The Future of K-pop Groups
K-pop
fans both in Korea and all over the world are buzzing about Dongho's
departure from the boy group, U-KISS, which you can read more about
in here. Fans' (at least the Kissmes in Korea) reaction is that
they've kind of seen it coming, rather than downright freaked out.
I've
noticed a change in Dongho as well, but I didn't think it would all
come down to this. I numbly went to the Korean portal site, Naver,
upon hearing the shocking news (Dongho was -oh the past tense...- my
favorite member in U-KISS!) and came across an interesting article.
All other related articles were pretty much the same, announcing his
departure and why, but this one was different in that it went beyond
just Dongho's departure. Unless you speak Korean, this article won't
give you any clue about it's content so I'll briefly summarize it.
Kara
fans were devastated with the recent news of member Nicole's
departure and when you list all of the other former group members of
K-pop history, there's quite a lot of them. Dongho is not the only
K-pop idol to be overwhelmed with the life of a celebrity.
We
are still in the midst of a “K-pop boom” but the aforementioned
article talks about how more and more idols will quit. In fact, there
has been a lot of unnoticed departures in unrecognized groups for
various reasons such as they couldn't gain any more popularity,
they've realized their true dreams, etc. So we're in a K-pop boom but
this may all just crash.
My
say in this is that its' about time! K-pop fans – wave away the
impulse to inflict harm on me and listen to what I have to say: for
those of you who are “veterans” to the K-pop world, you have to
agree that you've been annoyed with the K-pop boom as well, right?
I'm not saying all rookie groups have no talent and that they
shouldn't be recognized for their hard work. But you have to wonder –
where is this K-pop boom headed? The competition in the music
industry has gotten to be so tough that it's impossible for you to
compete unless you're from the “Big 4” agencies: SM, JYP, YG,
or Cube Entertainments.
So
the article also talks about whether this will be just an
“organizational end” to K-pop groups or a “collapse”? And
then it concludes by saying that looking at how 50 idol groups were
promoting in one year, it's closer to a “collapse” to K-pop idol
groups. It's easy to say that the article is jumping to conclusions
because it's just Dongho they're talking about, but like I said,
there has been considerable amount of departures. Plus Dongho has
been pretty popular so the fact that he not only left the group
U-KISS but quit his career altogether seems to be a “signal” (as
the article is titled) that this could be the collapse of idol
groups. The life of a K-pop idol group is tough, really
tough, so we'll see where the K-pop industry will go to.
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Friday, October 11, 2013
Child Actors: The Popular Wave in Modern Day Korea
I want to talk
about another fun subject! Korean child actors (아역배우)! Korean is well-known for
its dramas (TV shows) and a lot of Korean dramas start off with the childhood
days of the main characters – which calls for child actors! Not only that,
there were children’s dramas – TV shows for children, which called for all the
main characters to be acted by child actors. Don’t get me started about
children’s dramas, the super popular ones are my childhood! They stopped making
children’s dramas a long time ago, but now they’re starting up another one
after many years again but I may post my personal opinions on this new children’s
drama on a separate blog post in the near future.
Anyway, of course, child actors have
always existed in Korea but nowadays, they receive as much love as grown up
actors. I guess there are more acting academies now and they teach well or
something, because there are many talented child actors out there. Not that
child actors in the olden days were bad at acting, in fact, many of them have
grown up to be active as grown up actors, but there were less child actors
then. Child actors these days are also good-looking, and there the more popular
ones.
I’ve always had interest in Korean
child actors, probably because I was about the age of most child actors growing
up watching K-dramas and I took interest in them. So the fact that now Koreans
are obsessing over them is an old thing for me, you know?
Let’s look into specific child
actors, picked out by yours truly, starting with the ones who’ve grown up to
shed the label “child actor/actress”. (Before we start, the last name goes
first in Korea but that doesn’t mean you call them by their last name).
Yoo Seung Ho <First name is Seung Ho> (유승호)
Birth date: 1993.08.17
 |
| Click here for second picture source |
Oh, Yoo Seung Ho. One of my absolute favorites.
I saw him first in a movie called "The Way Home" (2002) when I was 7-ish years old.
He is super popular - in fact, he was in most of the dramas I've seen.
He's dubbed as Korea's Child Actor but now he's been stepping out of acting for the younger version of a character.
He's doing his service in the army right now, way to go!
Lee Se Young (이세영)
Birth date: 1992.12.20
 |
| First Picture Source / Second Picture Source |
Lee Se Young was also has a nice filmography and she was in a lot of the dramas and movies I've watched.
Lee Minho (이민호)
Birth date: 1993.06.28
 |
| Second picture source |
No, this is not the other actor named Lee Minho. It's the used to be child actor, Lee Minho!
This guy is also a big part of my childhood, he was in a kids' show equivalent to Sesame Street that I watched, in a popular sitcom back in the late 90s and in the children drama with Yoo Seung Ho (first picture)!
He's been really popular as well, especially because he was in the hit drama, "The Moon Embracing the Sun" <해를 품은 달>
Although he's in his 20s now, he still plays roles of the younger version of main characters.
Popular Child Actors Today...
Yeo Jin Gu (여진구)
Birth date: 1997.08.13
 |
| First Picture Source / Second Picture Source |
Yeo Jin Gu, Yeo Jin Gu... Before the world noticed him, I did (haha;;).
He is now a first year high school student, but he's got plenty of nuna fans.
Maybe it's weird to the American perspective that he is considered a child actor, but in Korea, that's how it is.
Maybe it's weird to the American perspective that he is considered a child actor, but in Korea, that's how it is.
Kim Yoo Jung (김유정)
Birth date: 1999.09.22
 |
| Picture source |
To be very honest, I'm not too familiar with Kim Yoo Jung - I mean, I know who she is because she's that popular now but I haven't seen her in any flicks or shows, well, I don't know of any that I've watched.
I'm reminded about another point about the modern child actors in Korea - even though they're young and they take up younger versions of the main character in dramas, they still do "mature" acting, in which they get lovey dovey or rebellious. I guess it goes along with the rest of the world today...?
And this is a personal opinion, but a lot of child actors today look older than their actual age. It wasn't like that in the olden days, so the "senior" child actors (a few of them introduced above) constantly reminds us of their childhood appearance because it's stuck in our minds.
Kim So Hyun (김소현)
Birth date: 1999.06.04
 |
| Picture Source |
Again, not too familiar with this chica, but she has been rising in popularity as well.
I know she played the younger version of actress Yoon Eun Hye's character in the drama "I Miss You", and I think this was a wise choice by the director since they do look alike.
(759, not counting names and birth dates)
The (Crazy) School System in Korea
Korean students are expected to choose
their major right before entering high school. You think there’s too much
pressure in America with all the “What are you majoring in?” questions? Well,
in Korea, you need to decide by the time you’re finished with middle school.
Why do Korean students have to choose
so early? Well because high schools are divided into two main departments: natural sciences (이과) and liberal arts (문과). So even if you are not clear on which major you’ll choose by high
school, you should at least know which side you’re better in. I would say that
it’s easy to tell by the time you graduate middle school.
What else is
different about schools in Korea and schools in America? For one, instead of
the students moving from class to class, the teachers do. But there is still
passing time – I guess it’s “passing time” for the teachers who are moving –
and this is actually called break time and it’s 10 minutes. The students can go
to the restroom, chat with their friends, and rest their minds after studying. Now
in America, the students move from class to class, hence we need that passing
time and at least for my school, we only get 5 minutes. Not that it’s not
enough time, but 10 minutes would be better. I mean 5 minutes to shuffle to
your next class is hardly break time, your brain can’t settle down during that
short amount of time.
Another difference
is that in Korean high schools, there is work make-up time (보충시간). It may vary from school to school, but at least for
the school of my friend in Korea, students are to be at the school by 8 AM and
from that time until 8:30 is the make-up time. 8:30 is when classes actually
start. However, students are still to be there at 8 o’clock sharp, otherwise,
it’s a tardy. I think this make-up time is a great idea and it would be nice to
have American schools to have this because in middle school and high school,
lots of students have make-up work to do and it’s stressful to only have before
and after school as your options. But the one thing that I find weird is that
all students are required to come at 8, even when they don’t have any make-up
work to do and all the students do is talk with their friends.
Of course, the key
difference between Korean schools and American schools is that the students are
required for independent study time at night (야간자습 – ya gahn ja
seup or 야자 ya ja for short). It’s just as it sounds, students
stay at school until 9~11 o’clock PM (depending on which school you go to) and
during that “ya ja” time, you study on your own. I thought it was only the high schools that do ya ja but I
recently heard from another Korean that she did ya ja in middle school! The
thing about ya ja that I can’t nit pick about is that even without this ya ja
time, students will still stay up late on their own to study anyway. This is
not because of the stereotype that Asians are smart but because of the high
competitions, expectations, and pressure in South Korea. So I can’t criticize
anyone for the fact that Korean schools serve ya ja but I can rant about the
insanity of it all. The majority of the Korean students do not end with ya ja,
but go on to another academy. So by the time they’re released from ya ja,
usually around 10 PM, they go straight to an academy and so they get home
around midnight or later. Then they have to wake up early the next day for
school again.
But on the plus
side, Korean students do not get a lot of homework. We American students get to
have the fun of that. I guess it’s fair though, since they get homework during
break. Oh man, I remember growing up and it would be summer vacation and the
fellow Korean ah-jummas (아줌마s – old ladies)
would tell me how they always had homework during break when they were in
school. Still, overall, they get way less homework than us. But it evens out
again because Korean students’ freedom is taken away by ya ja and we American
students have our freedom taken away by homework, yay! Like I always tell my
friend in Korea, if Korea has ya ja, America has homework.
We American
students have our own heavy load of stress, but it’s a difficult academic road
for the Koreans for sure. It’s necessary that Korea pushes their students
academically for the purpose of establishing great future leaders of the
country, but every time I think of their school life, I am ever so grateful for
living in America (for the most part).
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