31 May 2010

quote of the day

this is the part of the blog where i will post a funny/ridiculous/interesting/whatever actual statement said to me by an actual person.

the following was said to me last week by my coteacher. definitely the greatest thing i heard all week/ever.

"many people think that korean men are feminine, but that's wrong. they're elegant. what many people mistake for effeminate behavior is actually them showing their elegance."
example:

personally, i would have chosen the adjectives fabulous or fierce to describe this man.

elegant~~ because that somehow makes it sounds sooooo much better.

24 May 2010

rainism

the dream concert was every bit as amazing as i had expected it to be. 21 of the hottest kpop groups performed in front of an audience more than 40,000 strong.
allison and i sat in the 소녀시대 [SNSD/Girls' Generation] fan club section, which was actually pretty cool. the girls sitting next to us we're sooo excited about the concert, it was cute.

unfortunately, it rained. the ENTIRE time. with an exception of maybe 15 minutes when, ironically, 비/Rain was performing.

rockin' the poncho.

every act was sooo good, in my opinion, that it was easy to get in to all of the performances. [also, it helps when the majority of the performers are incredibly attractive ㅋㅋㅋ].

my favorite performances were, without a doubt, by C.N.Blue, SS501, and Rain. but then again, i absolutely LOVE them [and by "absolutely love" i, of course, mean "am completely obsessed with"] so perhaps i'm just a little biased ^^


C.N.Blue


SS501

Rain


sadly, he did not rip off his shirt.

also, i decided that Rain is a candidate for the position of "my future husband" in the event that things do not work out with t.o.p

i even made a sign to make him aware of my undying love. yeah, it's that crucial~~

Rain~~i love you

also, i was very impressed with the girls' group f(x), and of all the female performers, they were definitely my favorite.

i still have this song stuck in my head:

22 May 2010

dream concert 2010

five hours, forty-six minutes and counting until dream concert 2010 begins!!



dream concert is a yearly event held in seoul, and it features the hottest kpop groups.


i went to dream concert 2009, and it was amazing~~so i fully expect tonight's concert to be BANGIN'!! especially since 21 different groups will be performing. i am most excited about seeing SS501, C.N.Blue, B2st/Beast, U-Kiss, Lee Hyori, Super Junior, and Rain.


sadly, my beloved BIGBANG will not be performing this year. but the dream concert comittee people have more than made up for that by including plentiful other eye candies~~namely one 비 [rain], the sexiest man in the world.





pictured: God's gift to women.



the following eye candies will also be in attendance:



김현중~~kim hyun joong [SS501]




정용화~~jung yong hwa [C.N.Blue]




김희철~~kim heechul [Super Junior]~~also this year's host


and many, many more...


this year, i will go with fellow kpop enthusiasts allison, andre, and coleen. unknowingly, we bought tickets for the Girls' Generation fan club section. so that should be...interesting.


yeah, we'll be sitting with their fanclub...

20 May 2010

fabulous korea

last saturday, christi, chris, lisa, and i went to lotte world~~which i would most definitely recommend because it is awesome!!

while we were there, we saw some fabulous male specimens.
and, as you will see, i mean that in the most sarcastic way possible.
but first, i should state that i absolutely LOVE korea. and koreans. obviously. [i mean, how many posts do i have about bigbang??]
but sometimes, things just get weird. see below:
#1: the purple suit guy and his kpop posse.
this [impeccably dressed] guy [who was also wearing boots with a heel] spent the entire day walking around with two other meticulously dressed men. one of whom had a baby mustache. the other carried a briefcase. FABULOUS!!

evidently, he thinks that he is willy wonka.


#2: the man purse.

actually, quite a few korean men carry the "man purse". but that absolutely does not make it okay. just sayin'. i should probably add that these particular guys did not come to the amusement park with girls. and there's a dude wearing a tiger ear headband. FABULOUS!!


also pictured: a horribly dressed white guy


#3: the hairbow.

why yes, that is a man. wearing a hairbow. FABULOUS!!


his girlfriend had a matching hairbow.


#4: the return of the purple suit guy!

this time, he's riding some sort of mechanical creature. FABULOUS!!

he was probably following us.

17 May 2010

we are BIGBANG!

권지용 동영배 최승현 강대성 이승현 V.I.P. 우린 빅뱅!
[사랑해요~~]

최신 뮤직 비디오~~앗싸 *^__^*

14 May 2010

into the fire

omygosh. i cannot flipping wait for this movie to come out.



it's called 71-into the fire, is based on a true story, and is about student soldiers who were severely outnumbered in a battle during the korean war. also it stars none other than T.O.P~~aka my future husband.

basically, this movie is going to be awesomeness because it combines two of my most favorite things ever: history and T.O.P ummheckyess~~

talk about eye candy~~

ohh, hello future husband

최승현~~화이팅!!

obviously not a photo from the movie...

12 May 2010

my students are better than your students


probably.

i cannot emphasize enough just how fantastic the 6th grade field trip was. we left buwon elementary school early monday morning and spent the past three days soaking up korean history in gyeongju.

since i rode in the 6-10 class bus, i spent most of my time hanging with them~~totally ok with me, because this would be my favorite class if i was allowed to have a favorite ^__^

we did so so so many fabulous things on the trip: touring buddhist temples, palaces, parks, and museums. i learned a lot about korean history, but the trip was so amazing because it really gave me the chance to get closer to my students and the other teachers. i teach approximately 1,200 students, and i only see each grade once every month, making it virtually impossible for me to really get to know my students. i have to admit that i was very nervous about this trip...but all of my students were eager to practice their english, grab my hand, and drag me after them to tell me something that they had learned or teach me new korean words.

this trip also gave me a really great opportunity to become closer with the other teachers. i work in the 6th grade office since i no longer have an english classroom, but many of the teachers are afraid to talk to me because they aren't confident with their english [and i am too scared to practice my korean]. this trip seemed to break down these barriers--i was speaking korean, they were speaking english...it was really great. last night, some of the teachers even invited me to a game party that they were having. [and apparently, i am really bad at all korean games.] but it was an awesome time, and we all stayed up talking until lateeee.

it was just a really great trip. i don't think i can express it in words. also that might be because i got negative two hours of sleep last night.

so many fantastic things happened: ju sun and ji sung, two of my favorite girls, decided to keep my company on the 4.5 hour long ride to gyeongju. they also decided to follow me around the entire time~~sooo cute. the girls from class 6-1 spent two hours walking with me around a park, teaching me korean history. min ju, another of my favorites, taught me a kpop dance [sign by brown eyed girls]~~and it also turns out that her cousin is minzy from 2NE1. awesome. on the bus ride back today, songhee sat next to me and talked to me for 4 hours. straight. in amazing english. at the talent show last night, three of my boys danced to a song by kara. which was pretty much the funniest thing i have seen. ever. class 6-1 invited me to their "cookie party"~~and they wrote me really sweet notes. i also spent a lot of time with the 6-10 teacher, gyu-ri. turns out, she's pretty awesome. and speaks near-perfect english.

i almost can't believe i'm saying this, but i'm really looking forward to going to school tomorrow. i have the best job EVERRRRR.
also my students are freaking adorable:
class 6-1 girls~~at millenium park

silly boys~~

songhee, gyu-ri, me, min ju, min young, songee, and ju sun

09 May 2010

fun in the sun ^^

since last wednesday was children's day, and i therefore had a three day break from school, i decided to go to jeju-do with my friends andre and coleen. [for those of you who don't know, jeju-do is a small island off the southern coast of korea.]

jeju day 1: thursday~~public transportation SUCKS.

we arrived in jeju city fairly early thursday morning. [i would not recommend staying in jeju city, we spent most of our time on the southern part of the island near seogwipo~~but yeha guesthouse, where we stayed, was pretty nice.]

since that day was cloudy and drizzly, we decided to hit up some museums and parks that the weather wouldn't really effect. first, we went to hallim park which is a botanical garden. it was pretty cool; the highlight was the bird that screamed "hello" in korean.

and this is when we learned that the public transportation system in jeju absolutely sucks. our taxi driver had promised to wait for us while we were at the park. [that's what allllll of the other taxi drivers were doing...] so, when we left the park, we were shocked to learn that he was nowhere in sight. in fact, he was close to ONE HOUR away [we called him]. luckily, another taxi driver [who was waiting] offered to call his company to send another cab.

our next stop was the chocolate museum/factory. or, more accurately "museum of random trinkets and knick-knacks that some pathetic person has hoarded for way too long". seriously. also, the fudge that they let us sample had entirely too much cocoa powder and not enough evaporated milk.

our final destination for the day was the soingook miniatures theme park, which featured miniature statues of many of the world's most famous landmarks. it was pretty cool.
but, once again, the jeju public transportation system failed us. first of all the public buses. the bus driver seemed to have no idea where we were going, or where we should get off of his bus. also, apparently the bus system is one way. because we were unable to catch a return bus. instead, the workers at the theme park told us to ride home with them in their work van. it was...interesting. to say the least.
at soingook theme park~~omygosh I LOVE SMURFS!!

jeju day 2: friday~~dolphins juseyo!

friday morning, we caught the bus to mount halla, korea's tallest mountian which also happens to be a dormant volcano. we had planned to hike to the summit, because the view is supposed to be spectacular. unbeknowst to us, it was a four hour hike--one way. sooo yeah. we didn't exactly make it very far. to be exact, we hiked 3.2 km. [out of the approximate 4 million it would have taken us to reach the top.]

that afternoon, we decided to go to pacific land. it's supposed to be a large aquarium with penguins and a dolphin show. coleen called the place before we left, just to make sure it would still be open. unfortunately, the guy could only speak korean. so when coleen asked me if i knew how to ask him "what time is the dolphin show?" i replied "dolphins juseyo". which is absolutely not right, because it means "give me a dolphin, please". also, "dolphin" is not a word in korean, but in my defense, i was put on the spot. aigoo.

unfortunately, by the time we got off of the bus at the pacific land stop, the park was already closed. however, we did take that opportunity to go to the beach, which was absolutely beautiful.

that night, we went to what was quite possibly the most ghetto noraebang ever. but, it did give me a 99 [out of 100] for my rendition of "heartbreaker" by g-dragon. which i sang in korean. heckyess.

jeju day 3: saturday~~possibly drunk ahjussi taxi drivers are freaking scary.

our last day in jeju, we decided to go to doma park for horseback riding.

and, once again, we were reminded just how much the public transportation situation in jeju absolutely SUCKS.

our ahjussi [a korean term for an older man] taxi driver was possibly drunk [according to andre] and definitely drove like a crazed maniac. also, he drove us around to sketchville, jeju in an effort to drive up our fare. also, he yelled at us a lot for no apparent reason, and when we finally got to the park, he followed us out of the cab and up to the ticket counter to scream at us some more. it was pretty scary, and i was fairly certain that he was either going to kidnap us or attack us.

the park was pretty fun after the scary cabbie left. we saw a horse show, and then we got to ride the horses. my horse, apart from being the prettiest one, was also the most homicidal. at one point, i literally thought i was going to fall off and die. the guy who was supposed to be leading my horse [he was also on horseback] decided that it would be fun to gallop instead of trotting at a leisurely, safe pace. bad idea. i barely escaped with my life.

also, part of "boys before flowers", my absolute favorite kdrama, was filmed here. awesome.


ji hoo~~i LOVE him.

04 May 2010

빅뱅 처럼 [like bigbang]

this song/skit/parody was featured on a new korean variety program, 하하몽쇼 [the hahamong show].

it's by the two youngest members of 빅뱅 [bigbang], 승리 [seung ri] and 대성 [daesung]~~making fun of fellow 빅뱅 members, 탑 [t.o.p], 지드래곤 [g-dragon], and 태양 [taeyang].

and it's pretty much my favorite thing. everrrr. 빅뱅 화이팅!!

03 May 2010

it's over now, the music of the night

that's my favorite part from sir andrew lloyd webber's the phantom of the opera [it always makes me cry *sniff*]. i saw this musical yesterday in seoul. [3rd time ever, 1st time in korea.]


but i'll start with friday since i like to write about things chronologically.


friday:

i went to see a baseball game with my friend, 지은 [ji eun]~~incheon sk wyverns vs. lg twins.

i really didn't have high expectations for the game. anyone who even remotely knows me knows that i don't like baseball. [because FOOTBALL is obviously the superior sport.]

but oh. my. gosh. baseball in korea is SO MUCH FUN!! it was nothing but cheering throughout the entire game, so there was never time to get bored or tired. every single player has their own cheer, which is led by cheerleaders. [i even learned a few korean cheers ^^] everyone in the crowd gets really in to the cheering and singing, that [it seemed to me] they almost forgot about the game.

in the end, the wyverns won, 5-4. [which is good, because i cheered for them ^___^]

saturday:

i bought t.o.p sticky notes in 명동 [myeong-dong].

this is completely not lame at all, and i fully intend on using them. at school.

sunday:

i went to see the phantom of the opera in seoul with my friend, ken.

OHMYGOSH. words cannot even begin to express how amazing it was.

the entire show was in korean, which didn't bother me at all; since i'm practically obsessed with this show, i know all the words by heart. i even understood some of the korean lyrics.

the entire cast was so incredible...it was at least as good, if not better than the version i saw in charlotte, nc last summer.

[you can listen to the korean version here.]

AHH-MAY-ZING!!

02 May 2010

ahh-MAY-zing

here is a list of reasons why i think may is going to be the best month EVERRRRRR:

2 may:
going to see the phantom of the opera in seoul. [EXCITEMENT!!]

5 may:
it's children's day. which means i have no school for THREE WHOLE DAYS!!

6-8 may:
JEJU ISLAND TRIP!!

10-12 may:
i get to go on the grade 6 field trip to...somewhere historical [i'm actually really excited about this--my 6th graders are awesome ^^]

21 may:
buddha's birthday. so that means NO SCHOOL!!

22 may:
DREAM CONCERT 2010~~bigbang won't be there this year...but RAIN will be *^____^*

26-28 may:
grade 5 trip~~my 5th graders are also pretty awesome so this should be fun ^^
one drawback to this trip is that i'm apparently performing a solo act in the talent show on the last day. and not just any solo act~~i've been signed up [by my coteacher] to sing AND dance to "heartbreaker" by g-dragon. yeahhh...