Oppa~ Oppa~

International Oppas Donghae & Eunhyuk

Donghae and Eunhyuk from Super Junior recently released a single "Oppa Has Risen (Oppa, Oppa)". I first heard this song a few days ago and immediately downloaded it. It has stuck in my head ever since!

Doesn't this make you want to shout "Oppa~ Oppa!"?


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Blood Types

In the past couple of days my Mom and I have been discussing how common it is in Korea for people to ask you what blood type you are. It's as common as asking someone what their sign is in America. Normally I only read my horoscope for fun and I don't pay much attention to it, but after looking into the different blood type personalities, I've found them to be very accurate! Can you guess what type I am?


Type A~

People who are type A are normally creative, reserved, responsible, conservative, and patient. However, they can also be a bit stubborn and uptight. Type A people are most compatible with other A's, and AB's. Some famous Type A's are--

Leeteuk

Kim Jong Kook

Yong Hwa

Type B~

Type B people are active, passionate, flexible, and strong. Yet they are also selfish, unforgiving, forgetful, and irresponsible. B type people should date other B's and AB's. Some famous type B's are--

Yoo Jae Suk

Hyun Bin

Jang Wooyoung

Type AB~

AB type people are normally sociable, rational, introverted, empathetic, and controlled. They are also critical, forgetful, aloof, and indecisive. AB people match well with all other blood types. Some famous type AB are--

 Lee Hongki

Kim Heechul

Taecyeon

Type O~

People with type O blood are normally optimistic, self-confident, athletic, ambitious, and agreeable. Yet they are also jealous, vain, and arrogant. Type O people should date other O's or AB's. Here are some famous type O people--

 Daeseung

Lee Gwang Soo

Kim Bum

If you couldn't guess, I'm type O! Do you find this to be as accurate as I do?

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Haeundae

Guess who just finished with school for the semester?

G-Dragon and Taeyang are celebrating with me ^_^

Needless to say I am beyond excited and looking forward to some time off of school.

Anyways, a little while ago I mentioned how upset I was at the lack of Korean dramas on netflix. I think I ended up getting to the fourth or fifth episode of Miss Ripley before I decided there was no way I could continue on with that drama. While I enjoyed the supporting cast, the lead female irritated me far more than I could ever express to you.

So instead of watching dramas, I moved on to watching some of the Korean movies netflix offers. Once again, I'm not really too pleased with their selection. It's mainly "guy" movies, but there are a couple of cute movies available. One that I watched this past week was Haeundae (also known as Tidal Wave).

Can you guess what Tidal Wave is about? If you guessed that it is about a monster series of tidal waves hitting Busan, than you are correct! You can probably imagine what happens in the movie. It's a pretty basic natural disaster movie with a touch of romance thrown in for good measure.

The star of Haeundae is the gorgeous Ha Ji Won, who you probably know from Secret Garden. In the movie she is an orphan who is harboring a crush on Sol Kyung-Gu's character.

Sol Kyung-Gu's character was told to look after Ha Ji Won's character as her father's dying wish. He is also fighting his uncle to keep Haeundae a market area for people to sell their goods instead of developing it.

Lee Min-Ki is another one to look out for in Tidal Wave. He plays a lifeguard who develops feelings for a girl he rescues. He is also in the movie Romantic Island that I recently watched.


Overall Haeundae is a solid movie. I would recommend it if you are in the mood for a natural disaster movie (because I know that's a common type of movie to want to watch ^_~) or if you are a fan of Ha Ji Won. Let me know what you think of it ^_^



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Yiruma

I finally got around to getting some Yiruma on my computer this past week and I really love it! Who is Yiruma? He is this man....

Yiruma is a pianist from South Korea who is fairly popular worldwide. He grew up in Korea, and when he was eleven he moved to England to study music. His first album came out in 2001, and he has released six more since then. He had dual citizenship, but gave that up in order to serve in the Korean army a few years ago. And now he is back to creating beautiful music and touring across the world.

"River Flows in You" is probably his most popular song, and was close to being Bella's Lullaby in Twlight!

I hope you enjoy Yiruma as much as I do, I find his music very relaxing ^_^


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Hangul

As you already know, it's a goal of mine to become fluent in Korean. Since my dongsaeng Shaylah is also trying to start to learn, I thought I would create a post quickly reviewing the Hangul characters in case anyone else is trying to learn ^_^

ㅂ= b/p
ㅈ= j/ can sometimes be pronounced as ch
ㄷ= d/t
ㅅ= s/sh
ㅁ= m
ㄴ= n
ㄱ= g/k
ㄹ= r/l
ㅎ= h
ㅊ= ch

ㅃ= bb/pp
ㅉ= jj
ㄸ= dd/tt
ㅆ= ss
ㄲ= gg/kk

ㅋ= k
ㅌ= t
ㅍ= p

ㅐ= ae
ㅔ= e
ㅗ= o/wo
ㅓ= o
ㅏ= a
ㅣ= i/ee
ㅜ= oo/woo
ㅡ= u/eu

ㅕ= yo
ㅑ= ya
ㅠ= yoo
ㅛ= yo

ㅇ= ng/ when you need to have a vowel take the first sound, you use ㅇ, for example; 언= an

I recommend trying to memorize these first, and then start reading small words that you are already familiar with how they are pronounced. A fun way for me to do this was through the names of various idols and actors. Want to try?

텁

하하

용화

Hope this helps anyone who is wanting to learn!

Fighting~

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Sorry~

Sorry for not posting recently -_- School has proven to be a lot more work this past week than I thought it would. Luckily though, I'll finish one online final tomorrow, and after that the only day I have left of school is next Money ^_^

I can't really post a lot tonight since I have to wake up at 4am tomorrow for work, but I wanted to quickly share some new music that I recently discovered. Shaylah introduced me to him and I'm hooked! Sungha Jung does amazing covers with just his guitar (his version of "My Heart Will Go On" is a must listen). He covers everything, but his K-Pop covers are superb! Take a listen and let me know what you think ^_^

Korean Dramas On Netflix

So I've finally got Netflix streaming for my TV, and I was so excited because I distinctly remember watching an episode of City Hunter through Netflix streaming a few months ago. I knew that they had recently added some Korean Dramas to instant streaming, so I began my search last night and I was thoroughly disappointed, to the point of being crazy! 

This is exactly what I felt like doing

There are multiple lists online from August saying that dramas like City Hunter, My Princess, and Midas were available on instant streaming (and I was beyond excited to watch My Princess again). But searching (and searching, and searching) on Netflix now, I could only find two Korean dramas from the past couple of years; Boys Over Flowers and Miss Ripley.

Really?!

Why do you have multiple dramas on instant streaming and then take them down?

Needless to say I ended up watching the first two episodes of Miss Ripley last night and I plan on watching the rest of the series, but I am completely baffled and upset by this. Hopefully Netflix will add some more titles soon and redeem themselves!  


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YG Family Concert

I cannot believe how epic the YG Family Concert has been this year! Watching the early fancams yesterday morning made me want to scream out of excitement and cry out of pity for myself that I wasn't there.

Without a doubt the thing that made me the happiest was getting to see Big Bang perform together as five ^_^ It's been far too long!

It was also amazing to see Daesung smiling~ His voice is so incredible! Loved, loved, loved his cover of Hurt.


I already know that focusing on school the next couple of days is completely out of the question for me. Instead all I will be doing is stalking the internet for more fan cams and wishing that I could go to the next YG Family concert!

I will also be watching this video another 200 times in addition to the 200 times I have already watched it @_@ I Am The Best is already an amazing song, but seeing T.O.P. like this kills me~

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Bi Bim Bap Recipe

Coming home from my 6am shift at work today, I was wracking my brain to think of something, anything that I could have for my lunch. And then, a magical thought came to me;

"Why not make some Bi Bim Bap?"

So that's what I did!

First, I started with my bowl of rice. This is about 3/4 cup uncooked rice. It was just a little bit too much for me, which probably means that this is the right amount for a normal person hehe. Season it with 2 teaspoons or so of sesame oil.

Then, I chopped up all of my ingredients. I used what I had on hand, which ended up being bell pepper, carrots, and salmon. The goal is to chop your ingredients so they are about as thick as a matchstick, which is a skill I am still working on. A shredder would really work wonders ^_^

You can use whatever kind of meat you have, like beef, pork, or chicken. The salmon I used is super delicious and from Costco.

Once you have everything chopped, saute each ingredient separately in a pan with a bit of oil. This shouldn't take long, just a few minutes for each one.

 


I also had some spinach left over from some japchae I made last week, so I put that in my Bi Bim Bap also. Put about a handful in a pot of boiling water for about a minute. Rinse the spinach in cold water and then chop it.

Finally my ingredients came to look like this. You can really use any kind of vegetables that you would like in your Bi Bim Bap, but bean sprouts and mushrooms are both very popular ingredients that I didn't have at the time. If you want, you can season your vegetables with soy sauce and sesame oil. Also, if you have spicy chili sauce, that is often eaten with Bi Bim Bap, but once again it was something I didn't have.

Neatly arrange your ingredients on your rice and top it off with an egg. Volia! Bi Bim Bap! Mix it up and enjoy~

A Kim Bum Appreciation Post

Because we all could use some more Kim Bum in our lives, right?

A recent picture, that hair~

Kim Bum is a Korean actor who is most famous for his role as Soh Yi Jung in Boys Over Flowers. He has also been in the dramas East of Eden, Unstoppable High Kick, Dream, and The Woman Who Still Wants To Marry. 

Kim Bum actually has a new drama about to start! The first episode is set to air on December 5th, and it is called Padam Padam: The Sound of His and Her Heartbeats. It looks like it will be a decent drama so I will definitely give it a go ^_^ (It's going to be hard to keep up with all these drama, especially because I'm planning on watching What's Up for Daesung when that starts later this month also!) 

Here is a fun fact about Kim Bum; last year he was given an award proclaiming him to be the Korean real-life equivalent of a Ken doll!

Earlier this year Kim Bum and Lee Min Ho went bike riding along the Han river together. Yay for an F4 reunion! They should call me the next time they are going on a bike ride~ hehe

Even though I think I will have a hard time seeing him as anything other than Soh YiJung (the pottery, the amazing clothes, that saxophone~) I am really anticipating his new drama. Let's all support Kim Bum, I can't wait to see him progress as a actor ^_^


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Leessang

After waiting far too long, I finally got Leessang's most recent album, Asura BalBalTa. I am already in love with it!

Leessang is a hip hop duo composed of two members, Gary and Gil. They debuted in 2002 and so far they have released seven albums.

Kang Gary~ <3

You might already know of my love for Gary because he is a regular member of Running Man. On the show Gary has a slightly clueless image. Despite this he typically puts his best effort into every challenge that he is faced with. He is also known to just go with the flow. The thing I most love about Gary is his status of the "Monday Boyfriend". He and Song Ji Hyo say that they are in a relationship only on Mondays, which is the day that Running Man is filmed on. Gary is normally very sweet and caring towards Ji Hyo which has caused many women to want to take Ji Hyo's place every Monday ^_~

Gil Seong-Joon

Gil is the other member of Leessang. Like Gary, he is also a regular member of a variety program, Infinite Challenge. I haven't seen much of Infinite Challenge but it's a show that I've been meaning to start watching because every episode that I've seen of it so far has been hilarious!

Here is one of their songs from Asura BalBalTa, I Turned Off the TV. This song was recently declared to be the most popular song of 2011! I really enjoy it and I can't wait to hear more from Leessang in the future!

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My Life & Jim Jil Bang

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately. I got scheduled like crazy at work over the short Thanksgiving break and I've been trying to finish up a couple of final projects. And guess what? After today I only have one project left to work on and then my homework is done for the semester!

Needless to say I am beyond excited. By this time next week I will be a free woman! In addition to being happy that this semester is coming to a close, my BFF cousin is coming home all the way from Micronesia!

I cannot wait to spend time with her again ^_^ My sister will also be coming home in the near future. She is in college at NYU right now. My parents are going to visit her over the weekend and I have already given them a list of all of my favorite idols so they can buy me lots of Christmas presents when they go to Korea town.

My sister better steal this for me this weekend!

And besides the general joy and spirit of the Christmas season, I am already starting to get excited for my next trip to Orlando in February. I am going with two of my good friends, Christia and Claire. Neither of them have really been before and I cannot wait to show them around!

Not only is it the happiest place on Earth, but it's where my love of Korea began

Ahh.....yes, life is good right now. I've also recently discovered that there is a jjimjilbang near Chicago. A real jjimjilbang! I'm trying to convince my dongsaeng Shaylah to go with me shortly after the new year. What a fun early birthday weekend that would be ^_~

For those of you who are unfamiliar with what a jjimjilbang is, it is a Korean sauna and public bath house. It is very cheap (in Busan I paid about $7, in Seoul about $11) and you can basically stay as long as you want once you get there. In Seoul I ended up staying the night which was so much fun! 

When you get to jjimjilbang, it is separated by gender. You lock up your clothes in the locker that is provided for you and you head to the bath area. All of this is done completely naked. Yes, naked. It is intimidating at first, but you (or at least I did) adjust and get comfortable quickly. You can take a shower, and relax in some of the hot tubs. There are normally a few set at different temperatures so you can choose what feels most comfortable for you. 

You can see some of the people sleeping behind us

Once you are done in the bath area you put on the clothes that they provide for you and head out to the open area where males and females can mingle again. At jjimjilbang there is normally a restaurant, juice bar, TV area, massage room, work out room, and sometimes a PC room and a noraebang! There are also various sauna rooms. I don't know about you, but I love the sauna.

A jjimjilbang must- wearing your lambs ears!

Basically jjimjilbang is all about relaxing (who doesn't love that?). 

Besides a potential trip to jjimjilbang shortly after the new year, I have a decision to make in regards to what I want to do for the summer. I want to go back to Korea so~~~~ bad, and a study abroad program seems like a perfect fit for me. My only problem is deciding what university to go through. I have it narrowed down to two right now, Yonsei and Dankook.

Yonsei University is prestigious and they seem to offer a decent class selection. My friends Henny and Hyemi both want me to go here. However, their program is a bit shorter than what I would like, around a month. It is also a bit expensive.

Dankook University offers a longer summer program, about seven weeks. The first three weeks would involve me teaching three English classes, and the last four weeks I would be taking classes. It would be a great experience as I am planning on being a teacher, and it is cheaper than Yonsei. Also, guess who is currently attending Dankook....

The glorious T.O.P.

The negative thing about Dankook is that it would be a lot more work. So you can see why I am having a bit of trouble making a decision. Wherever I end up this summer, I know one thing to be true....

Sandra and Henny

Getting to spend even two more seconds with these girls would make all of this planning, debating, worry, and frustration completely worth it!

I have a couple quick things left before I end this post. The first is that I've made a tumblr (after some persuasion from Shaylah). If you care to follow me, you are more than welcome to. I readily admit to still having no clue what I am doing, but I promise to do my best to have the best tumblr I can have. Find me here.

The second thing is this; I still have many things that I want to blog about. But if any of you reading have something that you want me to blog about, let me know! If there's a drama, idol, or general question about Korea that you are curious about I will be more than happy to share any information that I have with you ^_^

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