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)
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