Today is an unfortunate day. It's New Year's Eve and my plans with my boyfriend got scraped because he has to go to church with his parents and I can't even come to help him endure the torture (it's a long, messy story... under normal circumstances, he'd have invited me). At least I've made alternate plans with a couple girlfriends here. Otherwise I'd be totally devastated and alone tonight.
Then, after I got to work this morning, an English teacher comes into my office asking for another English teacher with whom I share my office. Unfortunately, she's not in yet. Teacher leaves, then returns to inform me that the vice principal wants me in the main office with the other teachers so as to avoid using the heater unnecessarily. This means I'm now stuck on a computer running only internet explore version 5 or something and so I can't comment on youtube videos or watch hulu (no vpn), I can't really do any serious work because it's weird sitting at some other teacher's desk, nor can I sleep without feeling really guilty or leave early (which I had planned on doing almost every day... only about 15-30 minutes early, which I make up for by always arriving some 15-20 minutes early every single other day of the year). Plus, I can't use facebook chat due to the old verion of ie. And I can't download the new version of ie (I think I can't download anything) and I'm super depressed.
The only good thing that happened today is that my principal and a bunch of other administrators and teachers all agreed that they really love me and that they want me to work at my school forever. Unfortunately, I'm planning on going to Seoul to study Korean for somewhere between four and eight months next year. Also, I may or may not be going home for a few months at the end of 2011.
Oh, Happy New Year. I hope your NYE sucks at least a little less than mine... :-/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
GD T.O.P. High High CD lyrics & Romanizations up!
Hey y'all! Big news: I've officially completed the High High CD Korean and Romanization lyrics over at www.reallykpop.com
This means it's time for the lengthy task of translating. I'm hoping to get at least the Intro and High High up by tomorrow. Now, I know I know, you can find the lyrics anywhere else, but I do this to improve my Korean in the hope that one days I can do a whole album of translations in a day or two, but for now, it's slow. Anyways, I'd really appreciate if you'd check out my hard work so far and check back at www.reallykpop.com from time to time for lyrics references.
So you know, I haven't peeked at my lyrics translations yet. I saw one posted on bigbangupdates, which was translated from Chinese, and I saw that even the Korean lyrics were incorrect, which I imagine might have some impact on the reliability of translations. What I shoot for is not speed of translation, but for translation accuracy and the best English translation I can create. Often i see translations that sound extremely awkward in English, and I'd like to do my best to avoid that on my site.
I just wanna get better at Korean, and this is just one of many ways for me to practice.
xoxo
A
p.s. I'm also thinking of uploading videos with English translations as I do them. It will slow down the overall pace of translation (because I have to insert translations and create a video for each song) but I think it'd be fun and a good way to get www.reallykpop.com out there.
This means it's time for the lengthy task of translating. I'm hoping to get at least the Intro and High High up by tomorrow. Now, I know I know, you can find the lyrics anywhere else, but I do this to improve my Korean in the hope that one days I can do a whole album of translations in a day or two, but for now, it's slow. Anyways, I'd really appreciate if you'd check out my hard work so far and check back at www.reallykpop.com from time to time for lyrics references.
So you know, I haven't peeked at my lyrics translations yet. I saw one posted on bigbangupdates, which was translated from Chinese, and I saw that even the Korean lyrics were incorrect, which I imagine might have some impact on the reliability of translations. What I shoot for is not speed of translation, but for translation accuracy and the best English translation I can create. Often i see translations that sound extremely awkward in English, and I'd like to do my best to avoid that on my site.
I just wanna get better at Korean, and this is just one of many ways for me to practice.
xoxo
A
p.s. I'm also thinking of uploading videos with English translations as I do them. It will slow down the overall pace of translation (because I have to insert translations and create a video for each song) but I think it'd be fun and a good way to get www.reallykpop.com out there.
Monday, December 27, 2010
GD T.O.P. High High CD review
Well, as many of you know, I purchased GD & TOP's full length album on Christmas Day here in Korea. I didn't listen to it until the 26th, but have been listening to it practically nonstop yesterday and today in order to prepare this review for you, the fans. In fact, I'm listening to it right now to make sure I don't miss anything.
The album overall
The album is really nice looking. I think it's much more sophisticated and expensive looking than the 2ne1 album, which was pretty but super flashy. This album manages to combine bling and sophistication. I actually really like the pseudo playboy bunny and the paisley print that was incorporated into the bunny design and the cd itself. But I just really like paisley in general. The pictures are generally pretty good although some of the styling is questionable in my personal opinion (I like animal prints and furs, but the headscarf gd wears, and the ladies fur coat TOP dons in two of the pictures are horrible). I really like the backgrounds of the pictures. Either really really super simple or really really eccentric. Just like GD and TOP. What I hate about the cd itself? Two things. First, there are two separate pages which both contain identical track lists. Why? I mean, the pictures are different, but why put the tracks listed twice? It's weird. Second, the album jacket which contains all the lyrics is glued into the cd case. I HATE THAT. 2ne1's album was the same and it makes me effing crazy.
Track List & Analysis:
1. Intro: The intro, which samples 70s legend Freda Payne's It's Yours to Have, is just enough of a borrowing from the past without copying, and still super super forward thinking. I feel like wearing some big ass earrings and a headscarf and some rollerskates, but at the same time, heading to a club and bouncing around. I also like how the last verse introduces all the songs. It's like an actualy introduction, not just some jibber jabber that starts the cd.
2. High High: We've all heard this song (unless you've been living under a kpop rock for the last month) but it's still awesome. It definitely sounds like something I would hear in a club in Seoul (although unfortunately not in most American university area clubs, with which I'm much familiar with). The hook is SUPER catchy. And the video, well, it's super American. It feels like something I'd watch on t.v. in America, except that some of the western girls aren't video girls at all (which is a true statement, this was just like a big party at the filming and lots of people who are not actually dancers or models attended). There are a couple moments I'd replace in the video to make it look more professional, but otherwise, I like the video a lot too. Also, I don't agree with Eat Your Kimchi's 5 out of 5 for English rating. Ghetto Electro isn't a real word, and their joke wasn't even that funny (don't get me wrong, I'm totally a fan of eatyourkimchi.com but that joke wasn't funny and I think their bias got in the way of the fact that the English in this song was not perfect and maybe deserves a 3.5 or 4 out of 5)
3. Oh Yeah (feat. Park Bom): Into is funky and fun. GD opening the first verse really screams of Heartbreaker to me for some reason. But when TOP steps in, he changes it up a bit. However, I'd say his first verse sounds a little forced and too clean. Part of the beauty of TOP's voice is it's roughness. But Bom KILLS this track. I get chills listening to her sing in this song. Also, you can tell TOP didn't have a part in the production of this video. It's a great song, and it fits GD's style perfect, but it's something TOP seems to need to conform to a bit. He does a good job of it, but it's not his best performance. But, I'm gonna repeat this because it's so true: Park Bom KILLED it.
4. 집에 가지마: This song is practically perfect, in my opinion. Bom was gonna feature on this as well, but as much as I love her voice, I'm glad she didn't. I like GD doing those vocals on the chorus. Also, I really like when GD echoes TOP during the first verse. Their voices sound so nice together, deep with the high. TOP is also back to his more voice. Even though this song is really smooth, they don't over auto-tone his voice, which was I think the problem I have on Oh Yeah. Also, I love when GD sings and raps on the same track. His singing voice and rapping voice are totally different, but they blend so nicely on a single track.
5. Baby Good Night: Besides 뻑이가요 this is my favorite song on the album (I think I may like it more than 뻑이가요 but they are so completely different it's hard to compare). When I heard this song on the world premiere, I though I wanna make love to this song. Not make love while this song is playing, but I want to make love with this song. It's so subtly sexy and juxtaposes GD's almost feminine voice with TOP whispering breathy raps. I've heard TOP speak live plenty of times, but I still kind of imagine that the way he raps in this song is the cadence and tone of his real voice. And it makes me love him a little. I don't wanna say goodbye to this song when it ends. Also, the french? HELLO SEX.
6.뻑이가요: The best live song I've perhaps ever seen performed in Korea (at least overally acoustic performance wise). The bass is so intense and hard in live performances and you see TOP shine really bright with his hardness and GD matches the hardness punch for punch with his own quirky version of street. TOP sounds natural here. This isn't exactly the standard GD we're used to, but GD stepped his game up like crazy on this song. My complaint is that this song falls a little flat on the production. No matter how I changed the EQ on my ipod touch, the bass wasn't what it could be. I feel like I have plenty of bass heavy tracks on my ipod (I listen to a lot of American hip hop as well as kpop) but this song is too studio on the album. I wanna record the audio off the YG family concert footage or from the T Social Party minus the audience noise, and I'd bump this song nonstop. Even Turn It Up has better bass than this song and it's on the same album. I don't get it.
7. Oh Mom (TOP Solo): This song is a little strange to me. The transition between 뻑이가요 and this song seems awkward (I feel like it should be place together with GD's 어쩌란 말이냐? which also has the rock influence. That being said, I don't normally like TOP's singing voice, but I'll listen to this song. It's not my favorite on the track, but it's decent. It's a bit depressing, with the rando feedback between the chorus and the second verse, and it's not Big Bang sounding or TOP sounding. Also, I don't understand the title. As far as I can tell preliminary, the song doesn't really directly relate to his mom at all. It's about letters and his fans and telling his fans that they aren't alone. I'm not sure. I'm gonna have to work hard on that translation and I'll get back to you. It reminds me of that Eminem song, Stan. hahahahaha.
8. 악몽 (GD Solo): Dark and intense. GD goes hard on this song. It's super American in the currently popular vain of that Eminem and Rihana song, Love the Way you Lie. It's got enough of GD using what he's comfortable enough (the chorus is super Heartbreaker to me) but the verses push him a little bit outside of what I'd call his comfort zone. This song is the perfect thing for me to push through something when I'm in a bad mood or feeling like I can't endure something. This song also pumps me up in a way I can't explain. I feel like I can work harder and more intensely with this song in the background.
9. 오늘따라 (TOP Solo): I love the sound of this song. It's so intense, but it doesn't have quite the over-the-top swagger of TOP's other really famous solo, Turn It Up. The hook makes me crazy. I could lose my head in a club to this song. It has just the right amount and degree of tempo changes and drums and percussion come in in an epic manner really just adding to the production value of this song. I really enjoy this song and it's kind of just a song that I can play anytime and feel good about it. I love this song.
10. 어쩌란 말이냐 (GD Solo): This song is probably my least favorite on the album. I would maybe like it more if it was put together with TOP's rockish song, because then I could feel the cohesion of the two songs, but they are separate, and I think that hurts the flow of the album. Also, GD's voice is a little fake/forced sounding. Maybe it's just not my style, but I don't like this song. I don't hate it, but I probably skip over it more than not. I pretty much just listen to it when I have my earbuds in and its too cold to take my gloves off to operate my ipod touch... Just not for me.
11. Bonus Track: Turn It Up (TOP): I don't need to review this I think. You've all heard it. You all know it's dope. So yeah.
Last note: props to the boys for writing the lyrics on all the songs (Teddy assisted on High High and Oh Yeah, which you can tell) and participating in production or arranging of all the songs except High High and Oh Yeah (also Teddy... duh).
That's it for me. Comment and lemme know what you think about the album. I'll be posting a video review sometime in the next week hopefully... ^_^
xoxo
A
The album overall
The album is really nice looking. I think it's much more sophisticated and expensive looking than the 2ne1 album, which was pretty but super flashy. This album manages to combine bling and sophistication. I actually really like the pseudo playboy bunny and the paisley print that was incorporated into the bunny design and the cd itself. But I just really like paisley in general. The pictures are generally pretty good although some of the styling is questionable in my personal opinion (I like animal prints and furs, but the headscarf gd wears, and the ladies fur coat TOP dons in two of the pictures are horrible). I really like the backgrounds of the pictures. Either really really super simple or really really eccentric. Just like GD and TOP. What I hate about the cd itself? Two things. First, there are two separate pages which both contain identical track lists. Why? I mean, the pictures are different, but why put the tracks listed twice? It's weird. Second, the album jacket which contains all the lyrics is glued into the cd case. I HATE THAT. 2ne1's album was the same and it makes me effing crazy.
Track List & Analysis:
1. Intro: The intro, which samples 70s legend Freda Payne's It's Yours to Have, is just enough of a borrowing from the past without copying, and still super super forward thinking. I feel like wearing some big ass earrings and a headscarf and some rollerskates, but at the same time, heading to a club and bouncing around. I also like how the last verse introduces all the songs. It's like an actualy introduction, not just some jibber jabber that starts the cd.
2. High High: We've all heard this song (unless you've been living under a kpop rock for the last month) but it's still awesome. It definitely sounds like something I would hear in a club in Seoul (although unfortunately not in most American university area clubs, with which I'm much familiar with). The hook is SUPER catchy. And the video, well, it's super American. It feels like something I'd watch on t.v. in America, except that some of the western girls aren't video girls at all (which is a true statement, this was just like a big party at the filming and lots of people who are not actually dancers or models attended). There are a couple moments I'd replace in the video to make it look more professional, but otherwise, I like the video a lot too. Also, I don't agree with Eat Your Kimchi's 5 out of 5 for English rating. Ghetto Electro isn't a real word, and their joke wasn't even that funny (don't get me wrong, I'm totally a fan of eatyourkimchi.com but that joke wasn't funny and I think their bias got in the way of the fact that the English in this song was not perfect and maybe deserves a 3.5 or 4 out of 5)
3. Oh Yeah (feat. Park Bom): Into is funky and fun. GD opening the first verse really screams of Heartbreaker to me for some reason. But when TOP steps in, he changes it up a bit. However, I'd say his first verse sounds a little forced and too clean. Part of the beauty of TOP's voice is it's roughness. But Bom KILLS this track. I get chills listening to her sing in this song. Also, you can tell TOP didn't have a part in the production of this video. It's a great song, and it fits GD's style perfect, but it's something TOP seems to need to conform to a bit. He does a good job of it, but it's not his best performance. But, I'm gonna repeat this because it's so true: Park Bom KILLED it.
4. 집에 가지마: This song is practically perfect, in my opinion. Bom was gonna feature on this as well, but as much as I love her voice, I'm glad she didn't. I like GD doing those vocals on the chorus. Also, I really like when GD echoes TOP during the first verse. Their voices sound so nice together, deep with the high. TOP is also back to his more voice. Even though this song is really smooth, they don't over auto-tone his voice, which was I think the problem I have on Oh Yeah. Also, I love when GD sings and raps on the same track. His singing voice and rapping voice are totally different, but they blend so nicely on a single track.
5. Baby Good Night: Besides 뻑이가요 this is my favorite song on the album (I think I may like it more than 뻑이가요 but they are so completely different it's hard to compare). When I heard this song on the world premiere, I though I wanna make love to this song. Not make love while this song is playing, but I want to make love with this song. It's so subtly sexy and juxtaposes GD's almost feminine voice with TOP whispering breathy raps. I've heard TOP speak live plenty of times, but I still kind of imagine that the way he raps in this song is the cadence and tone of his real voice. And it makes me love him a little. I don't wanna say goodbye to this song when it ends. Also, the french? HELLO SEX.
6.뻑이가요: The best live song I've perhaps ever seen performed in Korea (at least overally acoustic performance wise). The bass is so intense and hard in live performances and you see TOP shine really bright with his hardness and GD matches the hardness punch for punch with his own quirky version of street. TOP sounds natural here. This isn't exactly the standard GD we're used to, but GD stepped his game up like crazy on this song. My complaint is that this song falls a little flat on the production. No matter how I changed the EQ on my ipod touch, the bass wasn't what it could be. I feel like I have plenty of bass heavy tracks on my ipod (I listen to a lot of American hip hop as well as kpop) but this song is too studio on the album. I wanna record the audio off the YG family concert footage or from the T Social Party minus the audience noise, and I'd bump this song nonstop. Even Turn It Up has better bass than this song and it's on the same album. I don't get it.
7. Oh Mom (TOP Solo): This song is a little strange to me. The transition between 뻑이가요 and this song seems awkward (I feel like it should be place together with GD's 어쩌란 말이냐? which also has the rock influence. That being said, I don't normally like TOP's singing voice, but I'll listen to this song. It's not my favorite on the track, but it's decent. It's a bit depressing, with the rando feedback between the chorus and the second verse, and it's not Big Bang sounding or TOP sounding. Also, I don't understand the title. As far as I can tell preliminary, the song doesn't really directly relate to his mom at all. It's about letters and his fans and telling his fans that they aren't alone. I'm not sure. I'm gonna have to work hard on that translation and I'll get back to you. It reminds me of that Eminem song, Stan. hahahahaha.
8. 악몽 (GD Solo): Dark and intense. GD goes hard on this song. It's super American in the currently popular vain of that Eminem and Rihana song, Love the Way you Lie. It's got enough of GD using what he's comfortable enough (the chorus is super Heartbreaker to me) but the verses push him a little bit outside of what I'd call his comfort zone. This song is the perfect thing for me to push through something when I'm in a bad mood or feeling like I can't endure something. This song also pumps me up in a way I can't explain. I feel like I can work harder and more intensely with this song in the background.
9. 오늘따라 (TOP Solo): I love the sound of this song. It's so intense, but it doesn't have quite the over-the-top swagger of TOP's other really famous solo, Turn It Up. The hook makes me crazy. I could lose my head in a club to this song. It has just the right amount and degree of tempo changes and drums and percussion come in in an epic manner really just adding to the production value of this song. I really enjoy this song and it's kind of just a song that I can play anytime and feel good about it. I love this song.
10. 어쩌란 말이냐 (GD Solo): This song is probably my least favorite on the album. I would maybe like it more if it was put together with TOP's rockish song, because then I could feel the cohesion of the two songs, but they are separate, and I think that hurts the flow of the album. Also, GD's voice is a little fake/forced sounding. Maybe it's just not my style, but I don't like this song. I don't hate it, but I probably skip over it more than not. I pretty much just listen to it when I have my earbuds in and its too cold to take my gloves off to operate my ipod touch... Just not for me.
11. Bonus Track: Turn It Up (TOP): I don't need to review this I think. You've all heard it. You all know it's dope. So yeah.
Last note: props to the boys for writing the lyrics on all the songs (Teddy assisted on High High and Oh Yeah, which you can tell) and participating in production or arranging of all the songs except High High and Oh Yeah (also Teddy... duh).
That's it for me. Comment and lemme know what you think about the album. I'll be posting a video review sometime in the next week hopefully... ^_^
xoxo
A
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Korean Christmas 2
Last year I wrote a painfully uninteresting and undetailed account of my Christmas. But this year, don't fret my friends, I had a particularly interesting Christmas, so I'm in a gooooood mood, and I'm ready to share this all with you.
As I had mentioned before I got to attend a bunch of cool events last week, starting with Fever Seoul Live and ending with the T Social Party. I'll review these events and include some pictures and videos for all of you to enjoy.
Fever Seoul Live was interesting. It was much shorter than I anticipated, but it was pretty cool. It was definitely centered upon bboying, which I liked, but I would have liked to see more dumbfoundead and less Jay Park. Don't get my wrong, I like Jay Park, but he seems to me to be just pretty good at everything and not particularly awesome at any one thing. He's a pretty good bboy, he's a pretty good singer, he's an okay rapper, but nothing he does makes me want to jump out of my seat. Korean people like him because he's cute (but his ears are distractingly large) and he speaks Korean and English (wow). Dumbfoundead performed She Don't Care acoustic with David Choi on the guitar, and Manifest beatboxing. He also performed Liquor Store Blues with David Choi, which isn't my favorite but that's okay. And he did Bullets of Truth which is probably my favorite of his old songs (download it y'all! Support him... he's dope). And he did Clouds with Jay Park which has a dope verse by dfd, but Jay Park's verse is kind of lame compared to his other stuff (I actually really like Bestie, which he performed)
I went there with my friend Dre, which was fun. I hadn't hung out with him in a long time.
Then on Friday after school I basically sprinted home (okay, so I didn't actually run anywhere, I took a taxi) to get ready for the T Social Christmas Party. The party began at 8 p.m. and was all the way in 강남 which is pretty far away. I thought I was really lucky because my co-teacher got invited as well and she would drive me. I got off work at 4:15 (yay sneaking out early!) and she was going to be at my apt at 5:20 so I had to book it home and get ready. I wore this gorgeous new Lanvin <3 H&M black one shoulder dress with exposed zipper and some new heels I got in 이태원. I unfortunately don't have a picture of the whole outfit, which is super unfortunate. I did my make-up blingbling-tastic (that was the dresscode... bling bling). I forgot to put on mascara in my run out the house a full 5 minutes late. I was supposed to meet my boyfriend in Gangnam at 6:45. Unfortunately, we got stuck in some really horrifyingly bad traffic. Basically, it would take about 50 minutes to 1 hour to get to Gangnam from where we live, but since it was rush-hour on a Friday which also just so happened to be Christmas Eve, after one hour, we were still in Incheon, barely to Bupyeong. I was really really upset, because I didn't want to be late, and it was really boring. I could have just taken the train and it would have been easier. We finally got moving only to get stuck in even worse traffic in Youngdeungpo, which is about 10 minutes driving (usually) from Gangnam. After sitting in that traffic until about 7:00, I was like fuck this. I told my co-teacher that I would find the subway and take the subway. I got out of the car in the middle of the street, and crossed through oncoming traffic in -15 degree Celsius weather, hailed a cab and had it take me to the closest subway station. It took me another 30 minutes on the subway (i had to transfer twice), but I still beat my co-teacher by something like 2 hours. She evidently took a wrong turn and got onto a highway headed to Busan (the southernmost point on South Korea basically... not good). I met my boyfriend and we walked to the club (after a minor detour where we got totally lost and I had to call Mina to get directions). Got to the club, with unusable fingers due to the cold, and was really snappy to my boyfriend (Sorry BOOOOO!) but then we were inside! We didn't miss anything except 360 Sounds' DJ set. We saw Leessang (리쌍) and Se7en (세븐) and GD&TOP. Our view wasn't the best, but since we are both really tall, we could see well enough, in spite of being a bit far from the stage. The performance was a little underwhelming, because there were too many people at the club and people were acting really stupid. But Se7en, GD & TOP were all really awesome. Se7en sang Digital Bounce, I'm Going Crazy, Better Together, LaLaLa, and 열정(Passion, my FAVORITE). And GD came out and sang Heartbreaker, and TOP sang Turn It Up and then they both came out and did High High, Oh Yeah and 뻑이가요 (Knock Out). OMG SO FUCKING AWESOME.
Then boo and I took a taxi back home and ate McDonalds.
I will tell you about my actual Christmas more specifically later!
As I had mentioned before I got to attend a bunch of cool events last week, starting with Fever Seoul Live and ending with the T Social Party. I'll review these events and include some pictures and videos for all of you to enjoy.
Fever Seoul Live was interesting. It was much shorter than I anticipated, but it was pretty cool. It was definitely centered upon bboying, which I liked, but I would have liked to see more dumbfoundead and less Jay Park. Don't get my wrong, I like Jay Park, but he seems to me to be just pretty good at everything and not particularly awesome at any one thing. He's a pretty good bboy, he's a pretty good singer, he's an okay rapper, but nothing he does makes me want to jump out of my seat. Korean people like him because he's cute (but his ears are distractingly large) and he speaks Korean and English (wow). Dumbfoundead performed She Don't Care acoustic with David Choi on the guitar, and Manifest beatboxing. He also performed Liquor Store Blues with David Choi, which isn't my favorite but that's okay. And he did Bullets of Truth which is probably my favorite of his old songs (download it y'all! Support him... he's dope). And he did Clouds with Jay Park which has a dope verse by dfd, but Jay Park's verse is kind of lame compared to his other stuff (I actually really like Bestie, which he performed)
DFD (left) and Jay Park (Right)
I went there with my friend Dre, which was fun. I hadn't hung out with him in a long time.
Then on Friday after school I basically sprinted home (okay, so I didn't actually run anywhere, I took a taxi) to get ready for the T Social Christmas Party. The party began at 8 p.m. and was all the way in 강남 which is pretty far away. I thought I was really lucky because my co-teacher got invited as well and she would drive me. I got off work at 4:15 (yay sneaking out early!) and she was going to be at my apt at 5:20 so I had to book it home and get ready. I wore this gorgeous new Lanvin <3 H&M black one shoulder dress with exposed zipper and some new heels I got in 이태원. I unfortunately don't have a picture of the whole outfit, which is super unfortunate. I did my make-up blingbling-tastic (that was the dresscode... bling bling). I forgot to put on mascara in my run out the house a full 5 minutes late. I was supposed to meet my boyfriend in Gangnam at 6:45. Unfortunately, we got stuck in some really horrifyingly bad traffic. Basically, it would take about 50 minutes to 1 hour to get to Gangnam from where we live, but since it was rush-hour on a Friday which also just so happened to be Christmas Eve, after one hour, we were still in Incheon, barely to Bupyeong. I was really really upset, because I didn't want to be late, and it was really boring. I could have just taken the train and it would have been easier. We finally got moving only to get stuck in even worse traffic in Youngdeungpo, which is about 10 minutes driving (usually) from Gangnam. After sitting in that traffic until about 7:00, I was like fuck this. I told my co-teacher that I would find the subway and take the subway. I got out of the car in the middle of the street, and crossed through oncoming traffic in -15 degree Celsius weather, hailed a cab and had it take me to the closest subway station. It took me another 30 minutes on the subway (i had to transfer twice), but I still beat my co-teacher by something like 2 hours. She evidently took a wrong turn and got onto a highway headed to Busan (the southernmost point on South Korea basically... not good). I met my boyfriend and we walked to the club (after a minor detour where we got totally lost and I had to call Mina to get directions). Got to the club, with unusable fingers due to the cold, and was really snappy to my boyfriend (Sorry BOOOOO!) but then we were inside! We didn't miss anything except 360 Sounds' DJ set. We saw Leessang (리쌍) and Se7en (세븐) and GD&TOP. Our view wasn't the best, but since we are both really tall, we could see well enough, in spite of being a bit far from the stage. The performance was a little underwhelming, because there were too many people at the club and people were acting really stupid. But Se7en, GD & TOP were all really awesome. Se7en sang Digital Bounce, I'm Going Crazy, Better Together, LaLaLa, and 열정(Passion, my FAVORITE). And GD came out and sang Heartbreaker, and TOP sang Turn It Up and then they both came out and did High High, Oh Yeah and 뻑이가요 (Knock Out). OMG SO FUCKING AWESOME.
Then boo and I took a taxi back home and ate McDonalds.
I will tell you about my actual Christmas more specifically later!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
New Things
Tonight I'm going to a big b-boy event in Seoul. Also, Dumbfoundead, David Choi, and Jay Park will be performing. I'm really excited about this. The unfortunate thing is that the event starts at 7:00 on the complete opposite side of Seoul from me. I checked the subway distance, and it looks like it's about 100 minutes via train (but it should be less given that I'll be taking the rapid), but that's really far, and I have to be at work until 4:30. So that means, I have to haul ass to the subway station after school is over in order to make it in time to meet my friend. I'm currently looking at time tables and route information to determine if I can go home or if I have to go directly to the concert... hmmm
Anyways, I'll take lots of pictures and videos and post them tomorrow hopefully.
Also, in other big news, my GD/TOP cd giveaway entry period is almost over, and I currently have some 120-something subscribers, so I will be doing the giveaway as planned. Just gotta reserve the cd sometime soon and go pick it up on the 24th or 25th. ^_^ yaaaaaaay! Hopefully I can get two copies at once. idk how that works.
xoxo
A
Anyways, I'll take lots of pictures and videos and post them tomorrow hopefully.
Also, in other big news, my GD/TOP cd giveaway entry period is almost over, and I currently have some 120-something subscribers, so I will be doing the giveaway as planned. Just gotta reserve the cd sometime soon and go pick it up on the 24th or 25th. ^_^ yaaaaaaay! Hopefully I can get two copies at once. idk how that works.
xoxo
A
Monday, December 20, 2010
Take It Slow Spanish
So I just found this:
Also, I want to add that OMG I'm going to a party Friday that will be me and in the same club as Se7en TOP and GD. And I get to wear my gorgeous new dress AND be with my BOYFRIEND!! Merry Christmas to me!
Also, I want to add that OMG I'm going to a party Friday that will be me and in the same club as Se7en TOP and GD. And I get to wear my gorgeous new dress AND be with my BOYFRIEND!! Merry Christmas to me!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Diet
So I've lost 5 kilos!! Well, more like 4.5, but I'm gonna round up because I'm darn excited about it. I'm almost back to my freshman year of university weight. Now if I can just go back a teeeeeeny bit further into high school weight, I'd be practically euphoric.
Anyways, this weekend, I finally get to see my boyfriend, who, due to final exams, has been sadly absent for the last week and a half or so. And this weekend I'm going to be making some Christmas Cards. By some cards, I might mean a card.
I also got some students to participate in my video project. Yay!
Christmas is in a weeeeeeeeek! And it snowed a whole bunch yesterday/today. It was awesome! But it won't snow again for a long while... :-(((((
YAY!
xoxo
A
Anyways, this weekend, I finally get to see my boyfriend, who, due to final exams, has been sadly absent for the last week and a half or so. And this weekend I'm going to be making some Christmas Cards. By some cards, I might mean a card.
I also got some students to participate in my video project. Yay!
Christmas is in a weeeeeeeeek! And it snowed a whole bunch yesterday/today. It was awesome! But it won't snow again for a long while... :-(((((
YAY!
xoxo
A
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Video Project
I'm working on this big video project right now. It's a huge pain in the butt.
However, you may (or may not) be happy to hear that my youtube channel has gotten over 100 subscribers so I will definitely be doing that High High CD giveaway for one lucky subscriber. Don't forget to enter for your chance to win at www.youtube.com/user/reallywally! I'll be doing more give aways soon.
Hopefully I'll post the final project when I finish, but I suspect it will be a while.
Anyways, today I bought a Christmas present for the boo. And I bought myself a pair of nice leather gloves that are really cute. And I attended a mostly boring training session about winter camps. waahoo.
Oh, and I'm hoping that Saturday will be start of a particularly awesomely awesome series of about 8-9 days, which will include Christmas. I CANNOT WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!
Also, I'm really hungry.
xoxo
A
However, you may (or may not) be happy to hear that my youtube channel has gotten over 100 subscribers so I will definitely be doing that High High CD giveaway for one lucky subscriber. Don't forget to enter for your chance to win at www.youtube.com/user/reallywally! I'll be doing more give aways soon.
Hopefully I'll post the final project when I finish, but I suspect it will be a while.
Anyways, today I bought a Christmas present for the boo. And I bought myself a pair of nice leather gloves that are really cute. And I attended a mostly boring training session about winter camps. waahoo.
Oh, and I'm hoping that Saturday will be start of a particularly awesomely awesome series of about 8-9 days, which will include Christmas. I CANNOT WAIT FOR CHRISTMAS!
Also, I'm really hungry.
xoxo
A
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
끝났당~
today is my last day at Haesa Go and I am so effing happy. For about ten seconds at the end of my first class I was a little sad but then I remembered the hell that those students put me through and I thought yeah eff em. I dont mean to be negative but this was a total waste of my time consisting of literally no guidelines, completely no organization of class levels and generall across the board poorly behaved students. I am positively thrilled that its over. I say this with two classes left. But I dont really care. That first one was the tough one.
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G-Dragon and T.O.P. High High CD Giveaway!!
Hey, in an attempt to capitalize on my semi-popularity due to the YG Family Concert Fan Cams, I plan to do a special giveaway for my subscribers. I will be giving away one copy of GD-TOP's High High full-length cd to a lucky subscriber.
See my video for information, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel, rate, and comment on my video!! GOOD LUCK!
xoxo
A
See my video for information, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel, rate, and comment on my video!! GOOD LUCK!
xoxo
A
Sunday, December 12, 2010
A day in the life of a Korean High School Student.
This video is awesome. It's the third most viewed video of the week. Freaking awesome.
The opening screen reads: 고등학생의하루 Which just means High School student's day.
The final screen is 끝 which means finish.
Here's the video:
p.s. my youtube channel is the 89th most viewed Korean channel of the week!!!!!
The opening screen reads: 고등학생의하루 Which just means High School student's day.
The final screen is 끝 which means finish.
Here's the video:
p.s. my youtube channel is the 89th most viewed Korean channel of the week!!!!!
Friday, December 10, 2010
Busy Days
In 5 days I went from roughly 10,000 total video views on 30 total videos to almost 20,000 currently. I also had a mere 9-11 subscribers, and now stand at 56. Yahoo!
Also, today was hella productive. I had a super busy day at school: 5 classes back to back, including the two worst classes at my school. Then I managed to get off work early and hit the bank to pay a bill AND the post office to mail Christmas gifts back home (last year I barely managed to send my gifts before January 30th). Then I took a bus to the 한의원 for acupuncture. Got my acupuncture and discovered I've lost 2.5 kilos so far (YAY). Then I took a cab back to my neighborhood (it was raining) and picked up contact lenses. Then walked home (it stopped raining) and stopped to get some mandarins from the traditional market, and then some granola bars for breakfast this weekend. Now it's 6:30 and I don't really know what to do.
Not eating dinner at all really takes the fun out of evenings.
I'm pretty exhausted though. Hopefully I'll hit the sack early today.
Also, today was hella productive. I had a super busy day at school: 5 classes back to back, including the two worst classes at my school. Then I managed to get off work early and hit the bank to pay a bill AND the post office to mail Christmas gifts back home (last year I barely managed to send my gifts before January 30th). Then I took a bus to the 한의원 for acupuncture. Got my acupuncture and discovered I've lost 2.5 kilos so far (YAY). Then I took a cab back to my neighborhood (it was raining) and picked up contact lenses. Then walked home (it stopped raining) and stopped to get some mandarins from the traditional market, and then some granola bars for breakfast this weekend. Now it's 6:30 and I don't really know what to do.
Not eating dinner at all really takes the fun out of evenings.
I'm pretty exhausted though. Hopefully I'll hit the sack early today.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
YG Family Concert Picture
OH. MY. GOD.
So at the concert, after the encore was finished, Se7en or G-D said, hey, we're gonna take a picture of YG family and the concert goers. I think they only did this for the last concert, but I can't really be sure since I wasn't at the other concerts. Anyways, the picture was just posted on the YG-life Blog, and I pulled up a bigger picture and OMG I am in it. My face is super washed out, but my hand is the one like a whole foot higher than everyone elses. And my boyfriend is next to me (hand also really high and making a peace sign) and you can see him too! It's soooooo cool! Anyways, here's the picture with a convenient circle around each of us. I'm on the left, my boyfriend is to the right. *^____^*
So at the concert, after the encore was finished, Se7en or G-D said, hey, we're gonna take a picture of YG family and the concert goers. I think they only did this for the last concert, but I can't really be sure since I wasn't at the other concerts. Anyways, the picture was just posted on the YG-life Blog, and I pulled up a bigger picture and OMG I am in it. My face is super washed out, but my hand is the one like a whole foot higher than everyone elses. And my boyfriend is next to me (hand also really high and making a peace sign) and you can see him too! It's soooooo cool! Anyways, here's the picture with a convenient circle around each of us. I'm on the left, my boyfriend is to the right. *^____^*
YouTube Videos
My youtube channel is currently ranked at the #46 most viewed South Korean channel of the day. This is a pretty awesome accomplishment. I'd like to thank GMarket for being amazing at finding me really close seats less than one week from the concert date, and YG Family for making an awesome concert.
Anyways, here are the videos from YG Family concert:
Share them with your friends, and get me even higher on the most viewed list!! And subscribe to my youtube channel!
Anyways, here are the videos from YG Family concert:
Share them with your friends, and get me even higher on the most viewed list!! And subscribe to my youtube channel!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
YG Family Concert
I had a really great time at the YG Family Concert. Thanks to Miranda, I got a really awesome signed Taeyang cd (they went on sale at 10 a.m. and my concert wasnt till 7... so hells naw).
JH and I headed over to the concert at about 5:30. It was just enough time for us to exchange our tickets, pick up our wristbands, buy him a toast, let me guzzle my disgusting 한약, before we scramble to get in line just as our section was being let in. Thank GOD! It was JH's first concert ever, which is kind of shocking given we're both in our 20s and I've been to perhaps 30-40 concerts (my first being when I was maybe 11). I also had to give him lots of warnings about the crazy-ness of these fans (legit loco) and just before it started, I had to scold him into picking up his backpack off the ground. A good call because maybe 45 seconds later, the house lights dimmed and the intro to fire started playing and the crowd surged forward, pushing us a full 15-20 feet from our original position.
Anyways, the concert was pretty great. I'd have to say Se7en was the best in terms of overall quality of performance. His vocals were completely perfect, in my opinion. He looked amazing, and his voice matched impeccably. He and Gummy are obviously the really singers of the family, but Seven is an all-around performer. Plus, it seemed like his performance didn't have any tech errors, and the dancers he worked with were impeccable.
I was really impressed with Gummy, who displayed a lovely range of songs. Even though I'm not particularly familiar with her (I have maybe 2 Gummy songs), I enjoyed her performance (even though I thought it was too long...)
2ne1 was full of energy and really brought the fun. I used to really really like minji while bom and cl vied for second and dara was way behind. But seeing them perform, I thought they were just so perfect all together. It's hard for me to pick a clear favorite. CL is such a badass, and bom is just so fun, and dara is cute (at first I didn't like her cuteness, but in the show it was engaging), and minji is just this little spitfire. It was really cool to see them perform live.
Psy was fucking awesome. He's by far the oldest YG family member (born in 1977, he's nearly 5 years older than Gummy, the next oldest, and a full 17 years older than Minji, the youngest in YG), but he's also by far the most eccentric and engaging stage performer. His voice, his excitement, his crazy ass dance moves brought every single person in the crowd to a complete, standing roar of excitement. Through all of the songs he sang (4 in total), every single person was singing and screaming and jumping like some extra-human thing entered their bodies and took control. It was awesome. Psy had everyone hanging on his every word, his every movement. It was cool.
Big Bang was, shockingly, not my favorite. I already said Se7en was my favorite, so I guess you know that. But what I mean to say by that is I was a tiny bit disappointed by Big Bang's performance. Some things from Big Bang were really awesome: GD and TOP: 전화본호 in fur coats, 뻑이가요 (holy jesus this song is absolute fucking FIRE), GD/TOP/Taeyang: Hot 뜨거, 마지막인사, but the Daesung solo had a major mic error, which Daesung desperately tried to make funny, but without too much success, and the 승리 solo was way too much talking. Plus the boys looked a little tired. At the end of the encore, Taeyang wipe his face and breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief that the concert's exhausting preparations and execution were finally over. Also, it seemed like a lot of Taeyang's solo vocal belts seemed out of place or strange.
I don't mean to say that the Big Bang performances weren't great, because they were. There just seemed to be an air of tiredness and a sense of rushed organization that usually isn't present in YG performances, especially from Big Bang.
I just hope our boys can get a tiny bit of rest in (especially Taeyang... he's been promoting for Solar since July and now is preparing for the Big Bang comeback) before they come back in February. I know TOP and GD are going to be doing promotions in December, but those guys (esp GD) have been pretty off the map for a while. I just hope that my taeyang can get his rest and charge up for a HUUUUUUUUUUUGE comeback.
Other stuff not kpop related coming soon!
A
Monday, December 6, 2010
Acupuncture pt. 2
Anyways this picture is a good indication of what acupuncture looks like. They dont always hook you up to some sort electrical thing. I mean they always hook me up to some electrical thing but rumor has it that other kinds of acupuncture don't require it.
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Saturday, December 4, 2010
Diet
So I'm on this crazy awful diet. But actually it's not as bad as I had originally thought.
Here are the rules:
1. I'm supposed to do really basic exercise everyday (crunches and demi-squats - sitting in a chair and standing up, st down, stand up, et. al.)
2. I must drink 한약 two times a day, 30 minutes before lunch and around dinner time. 한약 just means Korean medicine. It's always a drink and it's always herb based. It's also always hella bitter. It's like drinking all the shitty herbs in the word and dealing with it.
3. I should do acupuncture 2-3 times/week (this is the tricky one as I usually don't have any time during the week)
4. I cannot drink alcohol, coffee, cola, or any ice beverage. So that means, warm water, and room temp juices.
5. I cannot eat pork or ham of any sort, and I cannot eat chicken unless it's skinless chicken breast.
6. I cannot eat anything that contains flour, so bread, pasta, and most noodle-based soups are out.
7. I cannot drink any liquid while I'm eating meals. This includes broth of any soup I might eat and water.
8. I cannot eat any fried foods or snacks.
9. My breakfast should be regular sized, as long as it follows above rules (fine... fruit, granola, etc).
10. My lunch should be about 60% regular size, still avoiding the above mentioned foods (more tricky since I don't get to choose what I eat my school 5 days a week... but luckily there is almost always some fish and rice both of which are okay).
11. My dinner should 없음. This means... no dinner. I am allowed to snack on cucumbers or cherry tomatoes if the hunger becomes unbearable. Aside from that, not food after lunchtime. This is going to be difficult.
12. My diet (what's left of it) should be heavy on onion, 고추장 (spicy sauce), green onion, and garlic. This means that in addition to eating way less than I normally do, I also am stuck smelling disgusting. The upside of this is that I will smell just like 80% of all adults in Korea, so I should blend in.
So that's it. The 한약 medicine is an appetite suppressant so I drink it before I eat and it helps me feel fuller faster.
I've heard people can lose between 8-10 kilos easily in a month on this diet. I don't think I'll lose 10 kilos, but 6-8 would be swell.
xoxo
Here are the rules:
1. I'm supposed to do really basic exercise everyday (crunches and demi-squats - sitting in a chair and standing up, st down, stand up, et. al.)
2. I must drink 한약 two times a day, 30 minutes before lunch and around dinner time. 한약 just means Korean medicine. It's always a drink and it's always herb based. It's also always hella bitter. It's like drinking all the shitty herbs in the word and dealing with it.
3. I should do acupuncture 2-3 times/week (this is the tricky one as I usually don't have any time during the week)
4. I cannot drink alcohol, coffee, cola, or any ice beverage. So that means, warm water, and room temp juices.
5. I cannot eat pork or ham of any sort, and I cannot eat chicken unless it's skinless chicken breast.
6. I cannot eat anything that contains flour, so bread, pasta, and most noodle-based soups are out.
7. I cannot drink any liquid while I'm eating meals. This includes broth of any soup I might eat and water.
8. I cannot eat any fried foods or snacks.
9. My breakfast should be regular sized, as long as it follows above rules (fine... fruit, granola, etc).
10. My lunch should be about 60% regular size, still avoiding the above mentioned foods (more tricky since I don't get to choose what I eat my school 5 days a week... but luckily there is almost always some fish and rice both of which are okay).
11. My dinner should 없음. This means... no dinner. I am allowed to snack on cucumbers or cherry tomatoes if the hunger becomes unbearable. Aside from that, not food after lunchtime. This is going to be difficult.
12. My diet (what's left of it) should be heavy on onion, 고추장 (spicy sauce), green onion, and garlic. This means that in addition to eating way less than I normally do, I also am stuck smelling disgusting. The upside of this is that I will smell just like 80% of all adults in Korea, so I should blend in.
So that's it. The 한약 medicine is an appetite suppressant so I drink it before I eat and it helps me feel fuller faster.
I've heard people can lose between 8-10 kilos easily in a month on this diet. I don't think I'll lose 10 kilos, but 6-8 would be swell.
xoxo
Thursday, December 2, 2010
한의사
Well, my non-kpop fans, this post is for you. Also, to my k-pop fans, this could be for you too. A dose of Korean culture of the non-pop-music variety.
I know, these kinds of posts come few and far between, but this is definitely something I would consider worth blogging about because it's kind of interesting. It was for me at least.
Today, after school I went to the doctor. But I didn't go to just any doctor, I went to the 한의원, a traditional Korean doctor's office. These kinds of doctors offices are pretty common, and are usually just tucked into the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th floors of buildings throughout the city. The only things that I think are more common than the 한의원 are 학원 and 약국, academies and pharmacies respectively. In fact, in the building where my 한의원 was located, there was one academy and two pharmacies. So yeah.
Anyhow, a traditional Korean doctor is a certified medical professional (not a crazy had with a cabinet full of herbs) that specializes in traditional oriental healing practices. The two most common reasons to go to a traditional doctor are general aches and pains or weight loss. However, people also go to traditional doctors for an array of other reasons including general sickness, constipation, sprained ankles and insomnia. I won't tell you why I went, because hey, that's my business, but I went regardless.
At a traditional Korean doctor you usually get two kinds of treatments: traditional medicine (usually in the drink form and I don't mean a syrup I mean a poach of tea-like liquid that is herbal and gross) or acupuncture. You can choose to do one or both, depending on the severity of the case and such.
Anyways, I got both, and I will supposedly be attending biweekly acupuncture sessions through the end of december.
It was my first acupuncture experience and though I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, the actually experience was not how I'd thought it'd be.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
First I'd like to brag that except for a small sprinkling of English from the doctor, and my co-teacher doing the check-in and helping me with payment options (one time or in installments is evidently a phrase I should have learned by now...) my whole visit was performed entirely in Korean. I walked in to the consultation room and after his first question (are you a teacher) I was sure to warn: "한국말 잘 못 해요~" Which translates to I don't speak Korean well. He replied that it would be fine (in Korean) and proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions about my health practices, exercising habits, treatment options, acupuncture session availability and the like. My biggest communication issues came over the discussion of weight and my height, and then later in the Korean word for aerobic exercise (which I totally didn't know). But everything worked out, and i understood his instructions pretty thoroughly. I don't mean to show off, but I must say I'm a bit proud that I could speak to the doctor and more importantly understand his treatment advice in Korean with only very little difficulty.
Then, it was off to the acupuncture room. I laid down a bed and they had me roll my shirt up just a bit to revel my belly. That's the only place they would be doing acupuncture today, and an assistant pulled over a machine and called the doctor over. The doctor then told me not to worry as it wouldn't hurt. And he speedily (and pretty much painlessly) inserted 10 or 12 needles into my stomach area (I can't remember exactly the number, except to say it was even and higher than 8). I wasn't really watching as I was laying down, but it seemed like he would line it up and then kind of tap the top into my skin. It was almost completely painless, with only the tiniest discomfort as he adjusted the third or fourth needle. Then he attached what appeared to be clamps to each needle. The clamps had wires leading to some machine near my bed, and as he turned the machine on there was a sudden strange vibrating sensation sweeping across my abdomen. Again, not painful, but as he adjusted the levels to greater intensity, he told me, if/when it begins to hurt (the korean word for if and when is sometimes the same... you can emphasize if-ness with an additional word, but otherwise it's the same) I should tell him. So he increased the intensity and it began to be only a tiny bit painful (kind of like a much more mild tattoo... in a nonpainful area) and I told him and he adjusted the intensity down just enough to alleviate the pain and then he left the room.
I didn't know exactly how long the acupuncture would last (I didn't think to ask, which seems foolish). It ended up being in the ballpark of 20 to 30 minutes and it wasn't so bad. After the doctor left, the assistant came back in and turned on a heat lamp which she directed at my belly so I was comfortably warm with just a general vibration through my abdomen. Then it was all over, and I was done.
I'll be going back on Saturday or next Monday for my next session so that should be interesting. Next time I will try to take a picture of it in progress for you guys.
That's it!
xoxo
A
I know, these kinds of posts come few and far between, but this is definitely something I would consider worth blogging about because it's kind of interesting. It was for me at least.
Today, after school I went to the doctor. But I didn't go to just any doctor, I went to the 한의원, a traditional Korean doctor's office. These kinds of doctors offices are pretty common, and are usually just tucked into the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th floors of buildings throughout the city. The only things that I think are more common than the 한의원 are 학원 and 약국, academies and pharmacies respectively. In fact, in the building where my 한의원 was located, there was one academy and two pharmacies. So yeah.
Anyhow, a traditional Korean doctor is a certified medical professional (not a crazy had with a cabinet full of herbs) that specializes in traditional oriental healing practices. The two most common reasons to go to a traditional doctor are general aches and pains or weight loss. However, people also go to traditional doctors for an array of other reasons including general sickness, constipation, sprained ankles and insomnia. I won't tell you why I went, because hey, that's my business, but I went regardless.
At a traditional Korean doctor you usually get two kinds of treatments: traditional medicine (usually in the drink form and I don't mean a syrup I mean a poach of tea-like liquid that is herbal and gross) or acupuncture. You can choose to do one or both, depending on the severity of the case and such.
Anyways, I got both, and I will supposedly be attending biweekly acupuncture sessions through the end of december.
It was my first acupuncture experience and though I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, the actually experience was not how I'd thought it'd be.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
First I'd like to brag that except for a small sprinkling of English from the doctor, and my co-teacher doing the check-in and helping me with payment options (one time or in installments is evidently a phrase I should have learned by now...) my whole visit was performed entirely in Korean. I walked in to the consultation room and after his first question (are you a teacher) I was sure to warn: "한국말 잘 못 해요~" Which translates to I don't speak Korean well. He replied that it would be fine (in Korean) and proceeded to ask me a bunch of questions about my health practices, exercising habits, treatment options, acupuncture session availability and the like. My biggest communication issues came over the discussion of weight and my height, and then later in the Korean word for aerobic exercise (which I totally didn't know). But everything worked out, and i understood his instructions pretty thoroughly. I don't mean to show off, but I must say I'm a bit proud that I could speak to the doctor and more importantly understand his treatment advice in Korean with only very little difficulty.
Then, it was off to the acupuncture room. I laid down a bed and they had me roll my shirt up just a bit to revel my belly. That's the only place they would be doing acupuncture today, and an assistant pulled over a machine and called the doctor over. The doctor then told me not to worry as it wouldn't hurt. And he speedily (and pretty much painlessly) inserted 10 or 12 needles into my stomach area (I can't remember exactly the number, except to say it was even and higher than 8). I wasn't really watching as I was laying down, but it seemed like he would line it up and then kind of tap the top into my skin. It was almost completely painless, with only the tiniest discomfort as he adjusted the third or fourth needle. Then he attached what appeared to be clamps to each needle. The clamps had wires leading to some machine near my bed, and as he turned the machine on there was a sudden strange vibrating sensation sweeping across my abdomen. Again, not painful, but as he adjusted the levels to greater intensity, he told me, if/when it begins to hurt (the korean word for if and when is sometimes the same... you can emphasize if-ness with an additional word, but otherwise it's the same) I should tell him. So he increased the intensity and it began to be only a tiny bit painful (kind of like a much more mild tattoo... in a nonpainful area) and I told him and he adjusted the intensity down just enough to alleviate the pain and then he left the room.
I didn't know exactly how long the acupuncture would last (I didn't think to ask, which seems foolish). It ended up being in the ballpark of 20 to 30 minutes and it wasn't so bad. After the doctor left, the assistant came back in and turned on a heat lamp which she directed at my belly so I was comfortably warm with just a general vibration through my abdomen. Then it was all over, and I was done.
I'll be going back on Saturday or next Monday for my next session so that should be interesting. Next time I will try to take a picture of it in progress for you guys.
That's it!
xoxo
A
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Hot List December
The hottest things of this winter!
1. Kanye West: My beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Holy Jeezus Yeezy, you killed it on this one. It's getting unbelievably high ratings from every review site out there (pitchfork gave it a perfect 10? now that's impressive). This album is an epic. It's a story and it's an apology and its a huge fuck you with love from Kanye. Packed with anthems about douchebaggery, throbbing lines from Bon Iver, top notch featured artists (see: Jay-Z, RZA, Kid Cudi, John Legend, Nicki Minaj and more), a closing track by Cornel West, and a Chris Rock comedy bit interspersed with a woman voice breathily saying "Yeezy taught me," this cd has all the heartbreak of 808s with only 10% of the autotune, all the bling of graduation, and so much more. Buy it if you haven't already. It's pure fire.
2. SNOW
It had snowed only once so far here (Twice, but one was at 2 a.m. for 10 minutes and I don't count that) but I am anticipating snow and the hope for snowmen and snow fights and cute moments with my boyfriend. Also, trying to go skiing this break.
3. Haesa Go finished!
Like I mentioned before I've got only one more week. Tonight is a movie. Two weeks from now I have final prep, final exam administration and a last day party or celebration of some sort. Thank God.
4. Angry Birds
This ipod app is seriously addicting. I'm gonna download the paid version tonight and I just can't wait!!! It's so simple, but it's so fun. Good for passing time.
5. YG FAMILY CONCERT
Sunday!! Today I managed to snag tickets for a MUCH better set of tickets than I had before. My old tickets were standing, but towards the back. Now I'm in the front-most section just right of center. I just logged onto gmarket randomly and discovered it, and was sooooo happy! Now I just need to sell the old tickets and get to the concert venue hella early on Saturday to snag some concert goods!
6. prank vs. prank youtube channel
This maybe too early for me to definitively say, but this youtube channel seemed hella awesome last night while I was watching videos. The premise is this couple lives together and constantly plays pranks on each other. It was really funny.
7. Bangs
I forgot how much I liked them. Currently I have them sideswept, but I'm thinking about going full Korean and doing some blunt cut bangs. I always imagined them as being super horrible, but the more I think about it, the more I could see it being really cute. Also, when I style my bangs in the morning I get a glimpse of what they'd look like blunt and slightly curled (since essentially thats what they are, except at the end I sweep them to the side).
Welp, that's all folks
xoxo
A
1. Kanye West: My beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Holy Jeezus Yeezy, you killed it on this one. It's getting unbelievably high ratings from every review site out there (pitchfork gave it a perfect 10? now that's impressive). This album is an epic. It's a story and it's an apology and its a huge fuck you with love from Kanye. Packed with anthems about douchebaggery, throbbing lines from Bon Iver, top notch featured artists (see: Jay-Z, RZA, Kid Cudi, John Legend, Nicki Minaj and more), a closing track by Cornel West, and a Chris Rock comedy bit interspersed with a woman voice breathily saying "Yeezy taught me," this cd has all the heartbreak of 808s with only 10% of the autotune, all the bling of graduation, and so much more. Buy it if you haven't already. It's pure fire.
2. SNOW
It had snowed only once so far here (Twice, but one was at 2 a.m. for 10 minutes and I don't count that) but I am anticipating snow and the hope for snowmen and snow fights and cute moments with my boyfriend. Also, trying to go skiing this break.
3. Haesa Go finished!
Like I mentioned before I've got only one more week. Tonight is a movie. Two weeks from now I have final prep, final exam administration and a last day party or celebration of some sort. Thank God.
4. Angry Birds
This ipod app is seriously addicting. I'm gonna download the paid version tonight and I just can't wait!!! It's so simple, but it's so fun. Good for passing time.
5. YG FAMILY CONCERT
Sunday!! Today I managed to snag tickets for a MUCH better set of tickets than I had before. My old tickets were standing, but towards the back. Now I'm in the front-most section just right of center. I just logged onto gmarket randomly and discovered it, and was sooooo happy! Now I just need to sell the old tickets and get to the concert venue hella early on Saturday to snag some concert goods!
6. prank vs. prank youtube channel
This maybe too early for me to definitively say, but this youtube channel seemed hella awesome last night while I was watching videos. The premise is this couple lives together and constantly plays pranks on each other. It was really funny.
7. Bangs
I forgot how much I liked them. Currently I have them sideswept, but I'm thinking about going full Korean and doing some blunt cut bangs. I always imagined them as being super horrible, but the more I think about it, the more I could see it being really cute. Also, when I style my bangs in the morning I get a glimpse of what they'd look like blunt and slightly curled (since essentially thats what they are, except at the end I sweep them to the side).
Welp, that's all folks
xoxo
A
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