Love me like… :S

More K-Pop… kinda!

So this song has been in my head non-stop and I HATE IT! I hate it so much I need to write about it just so I can get it off my chest.

At first I was like ZOMG Wonder Girls and AKON!? A song in complete English!? Does this even count as K-Pop??? Well considering WG is from Korea, I guess it counts but it really doesn’t sound K-poppy. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds good! I really like the beat and I could see myself LOVING this song at the bar but…. for listening pleasure purposes it SUCKS. Let me tell you why…

Love me like money. Love me like cars.

Can everyone just stop for a second and think about what they are saying here!?

…. thank you.

Now hopefully you have come up with the same complaint as I have because these lyrics irk me to my very core. Basically, I believe the love you have for a person and the love you have for material possessions should not be the same kind of love. By saying they want to be loved the same way one loves money, the Wonder Girls are basically saying they want to be loved (and thus treated) as material possessions. In two simple lines, these women have thrown 100 years of women’s movement down the drain and threaten to take their whole fan base down with them.

Love me like, Love me like
Hundred dollar bills, brand new wheels.
Love me like, Love me like
Fresh new haircut, boy I need you.
Love me like, Love me like
New pair of kicks, ice on your wrist.

WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!???!?!

Maybe I should stick to songs I don’t understand the lyrics to.

I also want to rant about the video. The beginning is AMAZING and the whole concept is so cool. “Perfectly designed for complete domination”… I was like wooooaaahh they’re gonna do something spiffy! But no… the only thing these girls ‘dominate’ in this video is their cute dance moves and bejewelled nails. This concept had SO much potential but I was so disappointed that there was no storyline whatsoever.

Anyhoo… sorry about the random angry post but I hope it made some people (meaning you Mom, since you’re probably the only one who’s going to read this :P) think about the lyrics.

I’ll leave you with a happy, simple Wonder Girls song that I love… and it goes a little somethin’ like this!

BEST CITY EVER :)

Click here to read a great article about Seoul and why it’s so awesome.

I loved this article… please please read it! Then maybe some people will actually come visit me 😉 haha! I especially liked:

– #30 – G-Dragon. I never use to get all the hype about this skinny, nasally-voiced guy but have grown to ADORE him and of course his fashion is just amazing.

-#19 – because I know the answer to the first question! What’s the best transgender bar in Itaewon? Queen of course, on Hooker Hill. Fun place!

-#14 – ‘A bang for every occasion’ – now that’s just funny!

-#1 – Galbi definitely earned first place. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t want to leave Korea :P!

Promise Promise

I have posted several videos on facebook lately and I’ve noticed that they’re all quite ridiculous vids. For example, Gangnam Style by Psy is UNreal, Baby Goodnight by B1A4 is super cutsey, and Wingardium Leviosa by Jo Kwan is… well it’s a Harry Potter spell, let’s just leave it at that. I feel like I haven’t given a good representation of what K-Pop is because there are some really beautiful songs out there. This is one that I haven’t been able to get out of my head and if you read the lyrics it is a really gorgeous song.

Koreaversary!

I know I have been all over facebook with this, but today is my one year anniversary of being in Korea!!!  I guess what I’ve been thinking about recently is what have I accomplished in a year? How have I changed? What have I learned?

Well for starters I really don’t think I’ve changed that much per se. My personality and values are very much the same, but I have definitely changed in some ways.

I’ve learned some useful skills such as how to use chopsticks (like a BOSS) and I’ve learned quite a bit of Korean. Well… I guess ‘quite a bit’ is a relative term. I can’t really say that much in Korean but from my experience I’ve learned more than a lot of other English teachers. Speaking of teaching… I have definitely grown as a teacher. The obstacles and challenges I have had to face at school have made me adapt to situations so much.

Now with all the good that has come from this year there is obviously going to be some bad. I have developed a few bad habits that are going to be difficult to kick. Firstly, I have developed a shopping addiction. The shopping is just so unbelievable here, and it’s been the first year of my life when I’m not a student so… yep, new wardrobe for Gracie. Second, I never cook. Lunch is provided at school and food is just sooo convenient, cheap and delicious that I barely ever use the kitchen. Finally, probably the worst habit I’ve picked up is not being able to say ‘no’ to somek! Somek is a drink made from mixing soju with beer (mekju) and it is a KILLER! It makes for a killer fun night, but a killer hangover the next day.

I love Korea so so much, but I am super excited to go home in August! It’ll be wonderful to see my family and friends, but I am definitely happy that I extended my contract. I am so not ready to leave Korea yet as fell like I have just started to take full advantage of living here.

Cards from my students… each with a little love message <3<3<3

Typical….. I LOVE KOREA!!!!

thinking about boys… who does that!?

So recently I’ve been posting about my personal behaviours and preferences that have changed over the past year, but there are a lot of cultural differences that I haven’t talked about… specifically to do with the male species.

Thus, I have taken upon the arduous task of stalking hot Korean men analyzing the Korean male psyche in order to better understand our cultural differences. “,)

I don’t want to sound like I’m stereotyping Canadian men and Korean men into two categories. Everyone is a unique individual after all, and there are so many Korean-Canadians that it’s impossible to segregate them by origin. However, the following observations are based on behaviours that I have rarely witnessed in Canada and witness ALL THE TIME here in Korea.

1. Man-love. One thing I didn’t realize when I came to Korea is how much Korean men are into each other. I don’t mean they’re gay, and I made the mistake of assuming that several times, they’re just very comfortable holding each others’ hands or having their arms around each other. It occurs more often after several drinks, but it just seems to be a part of the culture. Even my students love to hold hands, sit on each others’ laps and kiss on occasion.

…no joke.

2. Fashion. Korean men seem to be extremely fashion-conscious. And the fashion choices they make are very different from Canadians. For example, bowties and thick-framed glasses are not just for hipsters. Also, over the course of this year I have seen more men wearing white pants than I have seen ever. Basically they all look like models and it’s intimidating because they’re all so much better dressed than I am.

Just your average guy…

3. Murses and Purses. One thing that I noticed when I first got here that was very foreign to me is Korean men’s willingness to carry their girlfriend’s purses. You will see man after man with a beautiful handbag at their sides and it’s not always their girlfriend’s… Korean men tend to carry murses (man purses) that can be similar in style to women’s purses. In Canada most men would only carry my purse if it came with a sign that says “I’m not gay!” So naturally I was very curious when a guy offered to carry mine. When I asked why he just shrugged and said “it looked heavy”.

4. Couple attire. Couple culture is HUGE in Korea. There are couple cafes, couple key rings, couple everything and the most apparent and wide-spread is couple clothing. Basically many couples will wear a matching piece of clothing to tell the world that they’re dating. If they’re really into couple clothes, they will dress head-to-toe in matching outfits. I have seen matching shoes, winter jackets, bunny-ear-headbands, bathing suits, mittens, glasses, you name it! This is definitely a behaviour that I have never ever witnessed in Canada.

Couple shirts done right!

5. Dancing. Oh my… where to begin. Koreans. Know. How. To. Dance. Seriously, my friends and I go to clubs every weekend just to watch them dance. They love to shuffle and I’d say 90% of guys are amazing at it. We have gone to a few music festivals as well and we always remark on how guys (and girls) just LOVE to party. They don’t need tons of booze or other drugs, they are just so into the music and love spending time with their buddies (see #1) that they just have a blast.

<3<3<3 big bang big bang big bang…. oh yeah… cool dancing!

6. Slender is sexy. Body-types in general are slightly more slender in Korea and the ideal is much more slender than what we are used to in North America. Being curvy doesn’t appear to be the ideal for women and for men being big and buff isn’t as revered as it is back home. Many famous men that Korean women go CRAZY for are actually very very slender and quite feminine (in my eyes). The one place that I have seen really really buff Korean men is at Hamilton Hotel pool! It is a whoooole other side of Korea at that place! Also the gyms are a good place to spot some muscles ;)!

girlie or hot? or both?

7. Family ties. Korea in general is very family-oriented. Usually people live with their parents until they get married and grandparents quite often will live with the family. Korean men seem to take this for granted and won’t hesitate to tell you that they spent the weekend making kimchi with their grandmother. It’s adorable, but a bit intimidating when you want to start a relationship with someone. Especially because many (not all!) Korean families want their sons to marry Korean women only.

8. Considerateness. I have often remarked on how chivalrous Korean men are. The dating culture here is reminiscent of the 50’s in Canada… the men pay for everything, open doors, and are generally very romantic. They seem to want to take care of their girlfriends, and they’ll do this in small gestures like getting their gfs snacks during their ‘time of the month’ or doing some impromptu reflexology. Not being used to this, I find these little considerations really sweet but unnecessary, whereas Korean women demand expect this kind of behaviour from their boyfriends.

Overall, Korean men are more fashion-forward, sweet and – let’s face it – feminine than Canadian men and when one first arrives in Korea there can be a lot of misconceptions about them if you don’t know the culture. Again, I’m not saying that all Korean men are flower boys or that all Canadian guys are burly bush lads or stoner snowboarders, I’m just telling it like I see.

Daesung from BB… just for fun! ^^

Please comment to add more ‘observations’ ;)!