GD&TOP CD review

after eagerly waiting for what seemed like an eternity, GDTOP's album was finally dropped on christmas eve [as a special music treat for V.I.Ps//music lovers//people with ears//women everywhere]. i snatched it up the second that i found it, put it on my iPod approximately 5 minutes later, and haven't stopped listening to it ever since. [seriously, this album is the perfect soundtrack for: walking, sleeping, eating, putting on makeup, planning lessons, studying korean, taking the subway, working out, doing laundry, cooking, etc. etc. etc.]

now, before i start with my review i feel compelled to state that i absolutely adore bigbang and each of it's 5 members. but G-Dragon and T.O.P have always been my favorites. i think that everything GD does is fireeee: he's a talented singer/rapper/songwriter. i mean, i'll occasionally question his fashion choices [umm, GD, what's with the black skirt you're wearing in the heartbreaker video? and seriously, what's with the new hair? you look like "my little pony". for real.] nonetheless, i'd still consider him to be a fashionista and all-around cool guy. and then there's T.O.P. sigh. i freaking love him. i mean, i'd buy tickets to an event called "T.O.P standing on stage doing absolutely nothing for 3 hours". oh yeah. and if he did a song called "T.O.P singing the phone book", i'd more than likely think it was the awesomest thing ever. seriously. i want to marry this guy.

okay. all that being said, there is absolutely no way in the world that i can write a review completely devoid of personal bias. but i will definitely try my hardest, dear readers^^

***

i liked the cd before i even opened it. [based on purely aesthetic reasons, obvi.] it's black and simple, with a gold/paisley "playboy bunny" on the front. [i've also seen pink and silver bunny cases.] it's sleek, classy, simple--while at the same time being ostentatious and blingblingy. it's like GD&T.O.P are saying "hey, we're bad boys...but look how cool and smooth we are." it seems to fit their image quite well. the cd itself is really pretty and colorful-->like. and the album art...i really can't comment on this without being biased: i like anything that's a picture of GD or T.O.P, regardless of the crazy outfits/makeup they are wearing. [and there are some fashion disasters in these pictures...mostly just the weird fur stuff...it makes GD look like a woman.] ps~~the cd also came with a poster. it's pretty much the hottest thing ever.

ok, now on to the music!

intro: the cd starts off with an engaging old school beat with a deep voice shouting "brothers and sisters!" it gets me pumped up and excited everytime. in the first verse, GD sings about how awesome he is [literally, the lyrics are about how everyone wants/loves him], and in the second verse, T.O.P takes over to rap about how he's much different from what people think of him [classic bad boy...sigh]. and then at the end, GD introduces all of the songs in a really cute way. [ps~~when you're as smoking hott as GD and T.O.P, you can totally get away with singing songs about being awesome. it's not cocky if it's truth.]

high high: this song has been rocking the korean airwaves since it's release on the digital single two weeks ago. it has a super dancey feel to it; the chorus is especially addicting. everytime i hear it [regardless of where i am] i just can't resist doing the dance to it. [seriously, i'm listening to it right now, and i even stopped typing just so i could dance.] anyways, the song is great. GD and T.O.P really compliment each other, vocally and stylistically [is that even a word??]. it's so great to finally hear them as a bigbang sub-unit. also, i have no idea what "ghetto electro" means, but i fully intend on using it in daily conversation.

oh yeah: this song features 박봄 [park bom] from 2NE1. her voice is so beautiful on this song. the 3 of them blend so well together--the chorus sounds amazing. definitely no complaints about this song.

집에 가지마 [don't go home]: this song has a total 80s pop-ish feel to it. T.O.P's rap works really well when paired with GD's high, melodic voice during the chorus.

baby good night: everything about this song is sexy. it starts with a girl's voice, speaking in french. [and it confirmed my sneaking suspicion that GD is totally in to french girlsㅋㅋ] GD's voice sounds really good on this track. especially on the chorus--his high voice singing "baby good night" against T.O.P's husky "don't wanna say goodbye"--wow. just wow. and then the song ends with the same girl speaking in french. the whole track is just...sexy.

뻑이가요 [knock out]: this is easily my favorite track on the entire cd. the rap is tight. and the beat...holy crap, the beat. it's just sounds so raw and fresh. this song perfectly suits T.O.P's deep voice, and it's amazing. the only thing more amazing than listening to it on the cd is seeing it performed live. the song is so fun, and the bass is so tight during the live performance. everything about this song is absolute fire.

oh mom [T.O.P solo]: this song is a huge change from 뻑이가요 so it's kind of strange that it follows that on the cd. anyways, i was kind of worried when i heard that T.O.P would be singing a song. he always only raps or speaks during bigbang songs. i think he's sung like 30 seconds total. but, for a man whose voice so perfectly fits the very essence of rap music, he's actually quite good at singing rock. his deep, husky voice sounds really good on this song [but the lyrics are really sad].

악몽 [obsession//GD solo]: this is probably my 2nd favorite song on the cd. the chorus is so addicting, and i really love the beat and rhythm. it makes me wanna get up and dance! my only complaint: GD, you have a great voice~~why so much autotune?!?!

오늘따라 [today of all days//T.O.P solo]: gahhh, T.O.P's voice. enough said. [ps~~i love the part where he sings "i can do dat" ㅋㅋ]

어쩌란 말이냐? [what do you mean?//GD solo]: ok, not gonna lie. i absolutely did not like this song the first time i heard it. but, the more i listen, the more it has grown on me. it sounds like a hoedown. if i ever see this performed live, i fully expect GD to be wearing full cowboy get-up while square dancing around the stage. the best part is towards the end when GD says "가지마! [don't go!]" in a whiny voice--it's cute.

turn it up [T.O.P solo]: this song was officially released along with it's music video this past summer. so everyone's already heard it and knows that it's fire. and also that it has the greatest music video of all time--three and a half minutes of T.O.P looking super fine and doing things like: sitting in a giant coffee cup, playing piano on a girl's back, holding a gun, and doing the "baby bird" dance.

***

i definitely recommend purchasing this cd [support the artist]!!

opinions?? what do you think of the cd??

GHETTO ELECTRO

christmas eve was the tsocial party, which i had eagerly been anticipating all week. the dress code was blingbling [excitement!! because my whole life is blingbling], so i bought a fabulous strapless red dress, with bling-tastic accessories, black glitterly heels, and i wore silver-sparkly eye makeup.

for some reason, i had expected the party to be a lot more like the party from GDTOP's "high high" music video and a lot less like a concert. [actually, i think that was the original intention...or for people to at least dance or something...def not what ended up happening...]

anyways, i brought my friend jen as my guest and we both looked spectacular. we arrived in gangnam [about 1 hour from where i live] around 5:30 so we decided to grab a quick dinner. [we should have headed straight to the club.] the party was at club heaven [which, according to the internet, is supposed to be the hottest club in seoul.] we arrived at the club at 7 [the time the website said people would be let in], and the line was supersuper long. we waited in the freezing cold for foreverrr. and when we were finally let in, there was already a kazillion people in there, crowded on the dance floor in front of the the stage. def NOT what i had expected.

anyways, the event started at 8pm with some djs that i'd never heard of before. people started rushing the stage like crazy fangirls and fanboys. [ok, so i can be just as fangirly as the next person, but there is a time and a place for this behavior. in my opinion, at a club for a christmas party is just not the place for this...] also, apparently jen and i were some of the few who actually took the dress code seriously. most people wore jeans and sweatshirts. not very much blingbling. disappointment.

maybe around 8:45, 360 SOUNDS hit the stage. at this point, i think people were supposed to be dancing...but people just stood there. pushing. and shoving. it was ridiculous.

next was leesang...i'm familiar with a few of their songs, and they were fun to watch. but i'm not a huge fan.

after that was SE7EN [who i loveee]. people really started freaking when he hit the stage. it was completely ridiculous. jen and i ended up getting shoved closer to the stage [i mean, i'm not complaining that i got a closer spot. but seriously, people were just being stupid about it]. people were hitting, pulling hair, knocking people onto the ground...chaos. at one point, my feet weren't even on the ground. and then some girl stomped on my foot and i'm pretty sure i broke my toe.

finally it was time for the V.I.P. guest: GD&TOP. i got shoved super close to the stage...about 8 feet away. the opening beats for "heartbreaker" flooded the room, and suddenly G-Dragon appeared on the stage [wearing a super fabulous pink mcm leather jacket, by the way]. he was awesome, as always. after his song was over, he disappeared and the lights dimmed. a new beat filled the room, followed by a husky "yeah yeah". the stage lights flashed wildly and T.O.P coolly walked onto the stage, rapping "turn it up". [i freaking LOVE this song.] hottest performance ever? perhaps...

then, G-Dragon joined T.O.P on the stage and they sang 3 of their new songs: high high, oh yeah, and 뻑이가요 [knock out]. they were so fun to watch; they just looked like they were having fun performing, and the duo really knows how to interact with an audience and get them hyped up. i kept getting pushed and shoved, but i didn't mind. i was completely mesmerized by the performance.

ohh, also T.O.P and i def made eye contact. at which point he most certianly thought, "holy crap. that's my future wife right there." or else, "holy crap. i've seen that crazy white girl 18 times in the past 2 weeks."

ooooo, and on christmas eve GDTOP's highly anticipated album was released in it's entirety. obviously, i snatched it up the second i found it, and you can expect a full review up here probably by tomorrow. [spoiler alert: the album is FIREEEE.]

pictures:

happy miranda is happy.

so i'm pretty sure that i'm the happiest person on the planet right now and that today is the greatest day of my life ever.

well, until today is one-upped by friday.

which is going to be FIRE.

except that they just now posted the dress code [we had to vote last week: red vs. bling bling vs. white and silver]. bling bling won. but my dress is red.

oh well. looks like i'm getting new shoes ^______^

prepare to be SUPER jealous~

i'm literally dying here. my thoughts are completely incoherent, and i'm shaking...

with EXCITEMENT!!

all last week, there was this contest that i competed in like a crazy psycho maniac. it was on facebook, and basically you had to follow the fan page of the sponsoring korean cell phone company, like all of their posts during the week, and comment on them.

of course, i'm all about trying to be impressive so i only commented in korean:

저는 외국인니기때문에 가족과 함께 크리스마스 보낼 수 없어요ㅜ_ㅜ그래서 슬퍼요ㅠ_ㅠ파티에 너무너무 싶어요~~티켓좀 주시면 아될까요??>_<
"because i am a foreigner i can't spend Christmas with my familyㅜ_ㅜso sadㅠ_ㅠi really really want to go to the party~~can't i please have a ticket??>_<"

지디앤탑와 함께 파티에 가고 싶은데요!
"i want to go to a party with GD and T.O.P!"

저를 꼭 선택해주세요~!!>_<
"please choose me~!!>_<"

anyways, my comments were pretty popular on the forum [a crap ton of random people were liking them]. i really didn't think i was going to win, but i decided to give it a shot.

anyways, today the guest list was posted.

and.

I'M FREAKING ON IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh yeah, did i mention that freaking G-DRAGON ANNDDD T.O.P are also guests at this party????

HECKYESSSSSSS.

best Christmas ever?? why yes, yes it is.

grade 6~~

today was my last day teaching my 6th graders, which is legitimately sad.

the korean school calendar is set up much differently than that in the united states. the school year begins in march, has a 5 week summer vacation from july-august, and then a long winter break beginning after christmas and lasting until february. the students then return for a week and a half of school before going on a 2 week spring break [crazy, i know]. even though there are still about 2 weeks left of the school year, my 6th graders have already finished their english books and taken their final exams so they won't have english class any more until they reach middle school.

anyways, i've been a little sad about it all week because i really love teaching my grade 6 students. honestly, there's not a single student or class that i don't like. [they were my favorites last year as 5th graders, so it's no surprise that they're still my favs.]

last year, my 6th graders were like little holy terrors. probably because i came in halfway through the year and they'd never had a foreign english teacher before. and also probably because my coteacher couldn't speak english. i literally hated 90% of them. but my 5th graders were like a breath of fresh air. they were always excited when i'd walk in to their classroom, and they were always prepared for class and ready to learn. they actually paid attention.

i was worried that my precious fifth graders would magically change when they moved on into the 6th grade. but, they didn't--for the most part. they still act so excited to see me [even though they've been seeing me for the past year and a half], and even when we don't play games or even do anything fun, they still listen and pay attention. it's amazing.

that being said, i'm really going to miss my students. they've been really awesome all year, and my 6th graders were actually part of the reason why i decided to stay at my school for another year instead of moving elsewhere. when i wasn't feeling well, or was having a bad day they'd always cheer me up--coming to visit me in my office or bringing me small presents [pictures of bigbang!!]; the boys would always sing "hello" by g-dragon or "hello" by shinee when they'd see me in the hall [not entirely appropriate, but funny nonetheless]. and then of course there were the puns on my name [a mispronunciation of my name sounds like "i don't know" in korean]. ahh, i will miss it!!

so to whoever gets my 6th graders as grade 1 in middle school: i envy you. these kids are awesome.

recently...

...i discovered that a sewage treatment plan is located directly behind my school. [you can see part of it on the lawn outside the lunch room window.]

so yeah.

that explains a lot.

GDTOP

yesterday was the official world premiere press conference for GDTOP [the name for the collab unit of BIGBANG'S G-Dragon and T.O.P]. they gave a sneak peak of their album which is pretty much going to be the greatest thing ever in the history of things.

today, the duo released their first digital single, which includes two songs off of their yet-to-be-released cd. additionally, they have released their first music video as a sub-unit.

both songs are incredibly catchy~~i'm listening to them right now. at work. [i should add that i'm also dancing to them. at my desk. people are staring.] i'm not sure that i can pick a favorite just yet, but i might be tempted to favor "oh yeah" because park bom's voice sounds incredible mixed with theirs in the chorus. [park bom is an incredibly talented singer from 2NE1].

i'm not sure how i feel about the music video for "high high". i like the song; it's really catchy and it makes me wanna dance and jump around the room. [ps i like anything that has T.O.P's voice in it. sigh.] but, there's entirely too many white chicks trying to dance up on him and that kinda sorta a lot makes me jealous. why was i not invited to this event?????? ㅠ.ㅠ [but, i really like that they say "aiight" because that is pretty much my favorite word^^ and also they spell the word "ghetto" which is awesomeㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

ps i freaking love T.O.P's hair. especially the way he had it styled yesterday for the press conference.

for your listening and viewing pleasure:

concert pictures

for those of you who care/are interested, i've finally gotten around to posting some of my pictures from the YG Family Concert [most are from day 1].

with coleen~~my "official" concert buddy^^

annddd, this is probably the closest i'll ever get to taking a picture "with" BIGBANG.

ahh~~check out T.O.P's hair~!

YG Family~!

day 2: with my "world famous" sign

T.O.P! i can be your english teacher!

ps~ at 5pm, G-Dragon and T.O.P [GDTOP] will be having a live "conference" thing on youtube for their upcoming album. they're supposed to sing some of the new songs, talk about them, and reveal their new music video for "high high". EXCITEMENT!!

YG Family Concert Videos

here are some fancams my friend reallywally [thnx^^] took from the Sunday night YG Family Concert [the only one i didn't go to...] i didn't take any videos, but i did take some illegal creeper pictures [cameras technically weren't allowed], but i may or may not ever get around to posting my pics on here seeing as how i haven't even had time to put them on my computer yet ㅠㅠㅠㅠ

the first video is BigBang and 2NE1 singing "lollipop" [2NE1's debut song from a cellphone ad], next is SE7EN and BigBang performing together in the first encore song, and finally all of YG Family singing "we are the world". [holy crap, i LOVEEE T.O.P's voice in this song~~]

2010 YG Family Concert

i will readily admit that i'm kind of like a crazy person--or maybe i should say passionate. i'm passionate about kpop. and, of course, bigbang.

since i'm so passionate about kpop and such, i went to two of the three performances for the 2010 YG Family Concert at olympic park stadium in seoul. for those of you who aren't familiar with YG family, it's a korean record label [officially called YGEntertainment, but oftentimes record labels are referred to as "families"]. YG is known for creating unique talents, and the current, active musicians with YG are BIGBANG, 2NE1, psy, SE7EN, and gummy.

the first concert i attended was on saturday night at 7pm, and the second show was on sunday at 2pm. each concert was slightly different: some song order changes and different clothes/hairstyles/etc. the biggest difference between the two was that at the sunday afternoon performance, all of YG family performed psy's song "champion" as a collab effort. it was amazing.

saturday, 4 december:
col and i got there really early, around 4pm, because we were kinda nervous about lines and stuff [the website said standing sections would like up 1 hour before, but sometimes the concert staff don't always follow what the site says...] we got there too late for merch, unfortunately. but we did have plenty of time to walk around, eat dinner, take pics, etc.

once we got in, we were really excited about how great our spots were. we spent the entire evening being about 3 feet away from the stage, and our section was located right in between the main stage and 2 side stages. perfectttt. also, before the concert, we were photographed by an official concert photographer. heckyess.

ohh, i was also filmed on tv.

we waited for what seemed like an eternity while whoever was in charge of the commercials tortured us with g-dragon's "g-market party" cf at least 15 times. [seriously, "welcome to the g-mar-ket, i'm captian g" is only entertaining the 1st time you hear it.] anyways, finally the lights dimmed and the band started playing the opening music. suddently, the curtain lifted, the beat picked up, and 2NE1 appeared on the stage, starting the concert off with an incredible performance of "fire". it was the perfect song to kick-start an amazing concert.

they sang two more songs, and then it was SE7EN's turn to engage the audience with a truly awesome performance. gummy followed SE7EN. of all the YG artists, she's probably the one that i am the least familiar with, mostly because her songs are more ballady, while the other artists usually perform more upbeat/pop/dancey songs. but i will say that gummy is a truly talented vocalist and pianist.

bigbang was next. the audience went wild as soon as the lights dimmed and the opening beats for "gara gara go!" were dropped. everything about their performance was great. sososososososo great. sigh.

psy was the next artist to wow the audience. holy crap, he is an amazing performer. he kept the audience jumping and dancing the entire time.

after psy, there were a bunch of collab songs between various YG artists, and a sort-of tribute to the older/nonactive YG singers 1TYM and jinusean. one of my fav tribute performances was G-Dragon and T.O.P's rendition of jinusean's "전화번호" [phone number]. they came out wearing long fur coats, and it was hilarious. immediately following, taeyang and SE7EN joined GD and T.O.P on stage to sing 1TYM's "hot 뜨거", which was also tight.

for me, the highlight performance of the night was definitely when GD and T.O.P performed their new, yet-to-be-released song 뻑이가요. OH.MY.GOSH. i mean, i'd heard the song before because they sang it at the 2010 MAMAs. but holy crap it is BANGIN' live. i cannot wait for their whole cd to be released so i can put it on my iPod and listen to it everyday. [ps this song is currently stuck in my head.] if this song is any indication of what the rest of the album is going to be like, then holy crap, it's going to be.....i can't even think of an adjective good enough to describe the awesomeness that this album will be.

another highlight performance for me was when bigbang sang the acoustic version of "하루하루" [day by day]. this is most definitely my favorite bigbang song, and i always love hearing it live. plus, the acoustic version suits the lyrics of the song so perfectly. sigh.

bigbang ended the concert, but the audience screamed for an encore [which we all knew was coming]. all of YG came onto the stage together to perform 3 final songs, first, the YG boys, then the girls, and for the final song, everyone sang together. [T.O.P's voice in the last song was particularly hot.]

it was pretty much the greatest concert. EVERRRR.

since i was so close, a few of the singers waved. AT ME!!!!! and because i was so close [literally 2-3 feet away], it's easy to tell when someone is looking/pointing/waving at you. first, minzy from 2NE1 waved, then SE7EN pointed at me, seung-ri [bigbang] waved, and gummy waved.

finally [and most importantly] T.O.P saw my sign. [and pointed//smiled]

which also means that

T.O.P

saw

MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stage one: making T.O.P aware of my existence--COMPLETED.]
[initiating stage two: meet T.O.P]

sunday, 5 december:
this concert was essentially the same. and also equally amazing. col and i were one section back from where we stood the night before, so we were further from the main stage, but still sandwiched in between side stages.

we got there real early because we wanted to be sure to acquire merch. i bought an autographed taeyang cd, and col bought an autographed cd from 2NE1.

also before the concert [perks of being super early], col and i were filmed AGAIN by the same guy that had filmed us the night before. but this time, we were also interviewed!! it's for some program by the discovery channel that is doing a special on visiting korea, so we were interviewed for their kpop segment. i have no idea when it will air, but OHMYGOSH i'm going to be on tv!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [maybe T.O.P will see it??ㅋㅋㅋ]

anyways, we ended up being about 2 feet from the side stage. a most perfect spot from which to view and be viewed. [which is exactly what happened.]

once again, i got waved at by minzy [2NE1]. then, SE7EN stopped right in front of me and col, pointed directly at us and waved. [col had the opportunity to meet him not long ago, so it's very possible that he recognized her. which would be tight.] daesung waved at me, too^^ and then, someting k-razy happened. seung-ri stopped right in front of me, we made eye contact, i smiled, and then he waved. and then on two more, very separate occasions, he came back to where i was standing to wave, each time making eye contact. the final time, he leaned forward and pointed [eye contact!] while he was singing, so i think it's not completely farfetched to assume that he was singing at me [making the kgirls around me glare enviously]. i've known for a while that i have kind of magical, cute, puppy dog eyes. but holy crap, i had no idea they'd work on someone like seung-ri.

also, T.O.P frequented my section, definitely saw my sign again, and this time we made very brief eye contact. it was the greatest .25 seconds of my life.

ps~ seung-ri might be moving his way up to my new second fav among bigbang members, mostly because of his attention during the concert.

pss~ i decided that i really love T.O.P's new hairstyle because up close in person it legit looks hot.

psss~ G-Dragon's new hair makes him look like a pony for real for real.

hello, december.

this december is definitely going to be the greatest month of my life so far. probably.

here's all the super exciting stuff that i have to look forward to:

saturday, 4 december: YG family concert. my tickets are for the floor section, stage right, in the front. i'm making a sign for T.O.P, and he will see it. ummheckyess.

sunday, 5 december: YG family concert. i'm going twice because i'm twice as awesome as normal people. or something like that...

wednesday, 15 december: T.O.P and GD's first digital single drops.

saturday, 18 december: C.N.Blue concert. yay-ness!!

friday, 24 december: this will be an especially exceptional day for two reasons. first, and most importantly, this is the day that T.O.P and GD's full-length cd will be released. EXCITEMENT!! second, this is the last day of school before my long-awaited and definitely well-deserved vacation. [and by "vacation" i mean, "not-vacation" since winter camps will starts the following monday. but, on the bright side i won't have to deal with certain...things.]

friday, 31 december: Rain's farewell concert. i also have floor seats for this concert, very close to the stage. since Rain will be joining the military for his mandatory 2-year service, this will be his last concert for a very long time. sadness.


i'm sure that december will hold other exciting things too, but these are definitely my best plans that i'm looking forward to!! this month will be a great way to send 2010 out with a bang~~

BEST. ANNOUNCEMENT. EVER.

this morning, at precisely 12AM--the exact moment that YG's countdown clock read 000:00:00:00, YG Entertainment released what were probably the four greatest announcements in the history of announcements.

when i saw the screen, i couldn't believe my eyes. a fit of mild crazy-fangirlishness, accompanied by screaming, clapping, and a happy dance ensued.

announcement #1: G-Dragon and T.O.P will be releasing a digital single on december 15!!

announcement #2: G-Dragon and T.O.P will be releasing a FREAKING FULL LENGTH ALBUM[!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] on december 24 [merry christmas to meeeeeeeee!!] a track list was even posted EEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!

announcement #3: Seung-Ri [the little brother of bigbang] will release a new solo digital single on january 3.

announcement #4: BIGBANG COMEBACK FEBRUARY 1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! [HECKYESSS!!!!!!]

the only thing about this announcement that kinda sorta sucks is that i have to wait two months for bigbang's korean comeback [they haven't released a korean album in freaking forever].

but in other news, OH.MY.GOSH. G-DRAGON AND T.O.P!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

hottness overload

the MAMAs are over. 2PM won a crapload of awards. and taeyang, T.O.P, and g-dragon gave hands down the hottest performance everrrr.

OH.MY.GOSHHHHHHHHH.*dies*

also, last week i discovered the tragical news that my beloved T.O.P had destroyed his beautifully perfect hair by dying it. BLONDE. i was disgusted, heartbroken, and enraged. i desperately wanted to find the person who had done this horrible thing to him, and i dunno, injure them or something.

but then, after watching his performance tonight, i decided that he is super attractive no matter what his hair looks like, and he can kinda rock the blonde. although his black hair is much hotter.

YG countdown

i spent my afternoon eating ramen and watching bigbang concert dvds, because apparently i am a fifteen-year-old korean girl.

i'm currently watching the 2010 Mnet Asian Music Awards [MAMAs]. 2PM just won an award for their dance in their video "I'll Be Back", which is completely ridiculous because it's essentially them doing the running man for three and a half minutes. clearly the judges are on crack. or just saw the name "2PM" without actually watching the video.

anyways, i'm mostly just trying to waste time until 12am, when YG's countdown is finished. i'm positively dying to know what it's for!! no hints at all, just wild speculation. i'm hoping it's something bigbang related...like a new music video, song, official date for their korean comeback, T.O.P's phone number, etc. etc. etc.

in other news, i hate surprises.

YG, you're killing me!!

variety tv

i really love korean variety television shows. [i usually watch them at night when i'm trying to fall asleep...] now that i'm learning korean, i can usually understand [or figure out] most of what's going on. and it's usually reallyreally funny. a lot of programs parody popular songs, music videos, singers, tv shows, etc. hilarious

something unique about korean variety/reality programs is that it's usually only famous singers/actors that appear on the shows. there are very few programs [that i've seen] that have ordinary people on them.

anyways, infinity challenge is one variety show that i'll watch when i can because i think that the comedians on the show are absolutely hilarious. last week, i saw an episode where they parodied bigbang's "haru haru" [my fave bigbang song^^] sooo funny:


annddd, here's another one they did of girls' generation's "gee".
only in korea...

internets~~

this picture is so freaking cute:

T.O.P~~i love him.

[yeahhh~~i had some free time after i finished my korean homework...]

i have a kitty~!!

two weeks ago, i got a baby kitty^^

actually, my neighbor [a foreign english teacher like myself] found her when two college-age girls were trying to give her away at a nearby convenience store. technically, my neighbor and i are sharing the cat, but i still consider her to be mine ㅋㅋ

i thought long and hard about a good name for her. i really wanted to name her after T.O.P or bigbang, but since she's a girl i decided that probably wouldn't be appropriate. in the end, i chose to name her after the next best thing--2NE1, my favorite girl kpop group considered to be the girl version of bigbang. anyways, since my favorite from 2NE1 is C.L. [she's sooo cool], i decided to name my cat 채린 [Chae Lin], C.L.'s real name. i think it's a pretty name, and i think it fits the cat's personality too. she's kinda crazy and wild like C.L.

also, my cat is adorable.

adorably evil.

korean level up~!

매일 저는 한국말 공부 열심히하고 연습하는 것을 좋아해요.
[i study korean very hard every day, and i like to practice it.]

this past week, i had a pretty important test with my korean tutor. part1: interview. part2: write a story. luckily, i passed! and she told me that i had "levelled up", which makes me feel like i'm part of a video game or somethingㅋㅋ

anyways, the story writing was pretty difficult. my assignment was to write a story about whatever i wanted as long as it contained the following ten words:
창문 [changmoon]: window 문 [moon]: door
자판기 [japangi]: vending machine 휴지통 [hyujitong]: trashcan
정수기 [jungsoogi]: water purifier 복도 [bokdo]: hallway
엘리베이터 [aellibaeitu]: elevator 계단 [kyedan]: stairs
소화기 [sohwagi]: fire extinguisher 비상구 [bisanggu]: emergency exit

anyways, my tutor said that my story was clever and funny, so she made me read it later to other people. quite frankly, i'm just proud of myself for being able to write something that kinda halfway makes sense.

so here it is, for your reading enjoyment:

"미나가 탑을 만난 이야기"
저는 창문하고 비상구 사이에서 친구를 기다리고 있었어요. 문이 갑자기 열렸어요. 남자가 방에 왔어요. 탑이 었어요! 저는 놀라서 아무말도 못 했어요.
탑이 자판기로 걸어가서 콜라를 샀어요. 그것을 마신 후에 그는 빈 캔을 휴지통에 버렸어요.
저는 목이 말라서 물을 마시고 싶었어요. 그래서 정수기에 갔어요. 저는 물을 빨리 마셨어요.
그때 탑이 복도로 가서 저는 그를 따라갔어요. 탑이 엘리베이터를 탔어요. 그리고 저는 계단으로 내려 갔어요.
저는 먼저 도착해서 소화기 옆에서 기다렸어요. 저는 탑을 다시 한번 봤어요! 하지만 이번에 그에게 얘기했어요.
"저는 당신의 팬이에요. 왜냐하면 당신은 정말 잘생겼어요~~그리고 멋있어요!"

그 다음에 저는 잠이 깼어요. 그것은 단지 꿈이었어요!

최승현~~생일 정말 축하해요*^^*

for those of you who care [and for those of you who don't but are reading this anyways], today is T.O.P's birthday [aka 최승현 aka my future husband].

by western age, this means that he is now 23 [yeah, i'm older than him...by like four months. whatevs]. since korean's calculate age differently, he's 24 [still--they don't count age by birthdays, but by the new year. soo, he's been 24 all year, even though his birthday wasn't until today. once the new year rolls around, he'll be 25 and so will i, technically.]

to celebrate, i've scrounged up some ridiculously attractive pictures of him. [as if all pictures of him aren't ridiculously attractive?? ㅋㅋ]

sigh.

저는 너무 바빠요~!

i'm pretty certain that i'm the busiest person on the planet right now. [i'm writing this during the 6 free minutes that i have planned out for today...]

here's a small glimpse into my weekly schedule:

monday/wednesday:

7am--wake up

8:30am--arrive at school

9-12:30pm--teach classes

12:30-1pm--lunch time

1-4:40pm--varies [teach afternoon classes, plan lessons, study korean]

5-6:30pm--work out at the gym

6:30-7pm--shower

7-9:30pm--korean class

9:30pm-7am--eat/watch tv/sleep

tuesday/thursday:

7am--wake up
8:30am--arrive at school
9-12:30pm--teach classes
12:30-1pm--lunch time

1-3pm--varies [teach afternoon classes, plan lessons, study korean]

3-4pm--advanced english class

4-4:40pm--study korean/fall alseep at my desk
5-6pm--grocery shopping at lotte mart [only on tuesday]

6-7pm--korean class

7-9pm--gym

9pm-7am--eat/shower/watch tv/sleep

friday:

7am--wake up

8:30am--arrive at school

9-12:30pm--teach classes

12:30-1pm--lunch time
1-4:40pm--varies [teach afternoon classes, plan lessons, study korean]

5-6:30pm--gym

6:30-until?--meet up with friends [finally!!]/eat/shower/watch tv/sleep

saturday:

sleep/eat/gym/hang out with friends

sunday:

11am[ish]--wake up

12:30-4:30pm--church

4:30-5:30pm--clean

5:30-until?--dinner/watch tv/skype/sleep

it seems like i have next to no social life...but that's not entirely true. i have friends at the gym and in my korean class. i just sucks that i don't get to see my other friends until we can coordinate a free friday night/saturday.

it's no wonder that i've been sick for the past 5 weeks.

pictured: me.

S.M.O.G.

yesterday was probably one of the greatest days ever. i met a S.M.O.G. *swoons*

[S.M.O.G.=Sexy Man Of God...according to me and my college friends haha^^]

i met my friend jen, and went to church as per usual on sunday afternoons. this past weekend, there was some kind of festival going on at the korean part of my church, but we didn't really know what it was all about. there were posters up, but they just said that some local singers/choirs would be performing, and that sunday's event would start at 4.

normally, i'm long gone from church by 4, since the english service starts at 1:30. but yesterday, i had to go to a meeting afterwards since i am now a greeter. the meeting ended at 3:45, so jen and i decided to stay just to see what the concert was all about.

best decision i've ever made in my life. [or it's at least on my top 10 list.]

they introduced the performer as a famous kpop singer named "brian". my heart started to race, and i looked at jen and said "holy crap, i think it's brain joo!!" and it most definitely was.

brian joo is famous for being a member of fly to the sky, an older kpop group that is no longer active. [but amazing nonetheless.] currently, he's been pursuing solo activities, having [relatively] recently been asked to record the korean version of jason derulo's "in my head". he's also working on releasing a christian music cd along with super junior member choi siwon [another S.M.O.G.].

anyways, he sang 5 songs, and 4 were in English [he's korean american]. and then when he finished, the pastor came out to preach. i suggested to jen that we should leave and try to meet brian, since we wouldn't understand 75% of what the korean pastor was saying anyways.

yet another good decision.

we walked around to the back door and waited there with a small crowd of maybe 30 people. brian did come out there, but he was quickly whisked away to his SUV, so no one was able to talk to/meet him.

not easily discouraged, jen and i left church and noticed a group of about 15 korean girls on the opposite side of the street. we crossed just as his SUV pulled out onto the street. we waved enthusiastically as his car passed by...and then...it stopped. brian rolled down the window, and out of everyone who was there...he talked to ME. well, and jen too.

he asked us if we went to church there, and i said yes. and then jen told him he was amazing and i agreed that his performance was really great. so he thanked us for coming. and then his light turned green and his car drove off and eventually vanished from sight.

sigh.

also, i've recently decided that brian joo is my perfect man: korean, speaks english, incredibly attractive, talented, successful, excellent singer, and he loves Jesus. 앗싸~

everything about this man is HOTT.

enjoy*^___^*

operation: ticket acquisition

this is my 100th post~~hooray!!

the theme for this week was "operation: ticket acquisition".

on tuesday, tickets for C.N.Blue's concert on december 18th went on sale. col and i decided that we needed to go since we love them. [and they need to know that.] tickets were wicked expensive [99,000KRW for 1st floor, 77,000KRW for 2nd, and 55,000 for 3rd~~yikes] the concert is at the same venue as taeyang's solo concert, so we were aiming to get close, 3rd floor seats [since the concert hall is small, even the 3rd floor offers a great view].

SUCCESS.

and then...on thursday at 8pm, tickets to the YG FAMILY concert, featuring SE7EN, 2NE1, BIGBANG, and Gummy went on sale. col and i decided that we should go twice [there will be 3 concerts...so at least we're not that psycho...] the website was so flooded with people that we weren't able to get on at 8!!

a panic attack and minor freak out ensued.

but then...the site let us both on!! and for saturday, i was able to acquire the LAST TWO tickets for section one. which just so happens to be right up against the main stage, and right next to the side stage. [also, col was able to obtain 2 tickets to the 2pm sunday show in section 5, which is right behind section 1. heckyess.]

HOLY FREAKING CRAP. imma be sooooo close to T.O.P

to give you an idea, i drew a helpful diagram:

so now, it's operation: clever, non-creepy, attention grabbing signage. i seriously need to think of something good enough to possibly get me on tv//the concert screen, and also get T.O.P's attention. it's time to move to the next stage of my plan: make T.O.P aware of my existence [in a total non-creeperish/stalkerish way]. also, my sign should be in korean. because that's just so much more impressive.

SeoulLand

this past sunday, i had the chance to go to seoulland, because my neighbor [a high school english teacher] got free tickets when his school took a trip there a few weeks ago.

seoulland is an amusement park, but personally, i found it to be much less exciting than the other parks i've visited in korea: lotteworld and everland.

i went with my neighbor [jayme] and three of our korean friends. jayme and i had to go to a wedding that afternoon, so we weren't able to get to seoulland until very late--almost 6:00!!

since we were entering with free tickets, we were only allowed to ride 3 rides. luckily, one of the ride attendants didn't punch our card so we got to ride a fourth for free^^

the first roller coaster we went on was [or at least, appeared to be] the biggest ride in the park. it was the most exciting thing that we rode~~it went in upside-down loops and had a bunch of twists and turns. next, we rode something that looked like a free fall drop. but, it dropped really slow, and the most exciting part of the ride was the ascent [because that was super fast]. our third ride was a log flume water ride. we didn't get very wet [luckily...it was freezing that night!] and for the last ride, we went on this horrible thing that spins you around, upside down, super fast, and makes you feel like you are dying.

we left when the park closed at 9. overall, it was a good time~~i always enjoy hanging out with friends. the park was fun...but, i still definitely prefer lotteworld.

bukbu english festival

last wednesday [20 october] was the bukbu english festival, and my school was invited to participate. it involves the local elementary schools, and each school's english club is expected to give a performance entirely in english, as well as prepare a poster to display in the lobby of the event hall.

i have 4 coteachers. the one who is in charge of my school's english program did not want our school to participate, for some reason. so the other teachers got into an argument with her over it. in the end, she relented, but stipulated that only 4 students could attend [the english club has about 25 students], and she put a different teacher in charge. also, she said that i wasn't allowed to go or help the students prepare. i guess the principal found out and got mad, because last tuesday i was told that i would be permitted to go after all.

when my coteacher and i arrived at the festival, we were discouraged to see how severely under-represented our school was. i teach at the biggest elementary school in the area [more than 1500 students], but we had the smallest group at the festival. we also had the youngest group: 2 were third graders, 1 fourth grader, and 1 fifth grader. the other schools only brought their 5th and 6th grade students.

anyways, the event was supposed to start at 2pm. at 1:30pm, i was informed that i was supposed to be performing with my students. now normally, this wouldn't be a problem at all, except that my students were performing a song. in sign language. the song we performed was called "i will", which i have never heard before in my life. the students desperately tried to teach me, and i struggled to learn very quickly.

and then, my school's principal showed up to watch. excellent.

basically, it ended up being like napoleon dynamite's happy hands club. except with me as napoleon.

yep. it was pretty much exactly like this.

6th grade trip~

dear lovely readers: i sincerely apologize for having temporarily disappeared from the internet for the past week and a half. life has been [and still is] crazy busy. 아이고~~

wednesday, 13 october: "do you want to hear the fish death sound?"

almost two weeks ago, i had the chance to accompany the 6th grade on a three-day trip. since the 6th graders are my favorite students, i jumped at the opportunity. we went to 금산 [geumsan] which is a mountain three hours away from my school. [along the 금강 (geum river) which is apparently famous(??)].

i wasn't given a schedule for this trip, so i had no idea what to expect. it was much, much different from past school trips that i've attended in that, on those, we travelled from place to place to see museums and other national treasures. this trip was more like a camp. we stayed at the same place the entire time. there were counselors working at the facitility who were in charge of watching the kids, so the teachers went off and did their own thing.

the first day, i hung out with the other teachers. we went walking along the river and then hiking in search of chestnuts. as it turns out, i'm quite good at cracking open chestnuts with my feet. [i've got mad skills~~]

also, some of the teachers went fishing. since i have a [completely legitimate] fear of fish, i decided not to join them. however, i had no idea that they intended to catch fish for dinner. so i was completely surprised when a bucket full of fish was brought back to the room. apparently, a certain type of fish makes a "death sound". they happened to catch this fish, and all of the teachers held it up to their ears to listen. a coworker asked me if i'd like to hear it, but when i said no [and did the big "hand x"] she proceeded to shove the fish in my ear anyways.

congratulations coworker, i've been scarred for life.

thursday, 14 october: "teacher, you have a dolphin scream."

the other teachers decided to go hiking on thursday, but i wanted to spend time with my students so i hung with them for the day.

first, i was told that we would be going rafting. which i found out really only meant "row from one side of the river and back again." i shared a raft with some of my girls, and we were embarassingly lacking in directional skills. for some reason, we could only manage to go in a giant circle, and the counselor definitely yelled at us. oops.

next was archery. two years of working at a summer camp where i had to teach archery has let me know that i am completely untalented in this area. sooo, i didn't even make an attempt. instead, i talked to and played games with the kids that were waiting for their turn. one of the boys tried to throw a dragonfly at me, and when i screamed, other boys joined in by carrying grasshoppers and more dragonflies. so i screamed and ran away. [insects: another completely legitimate fear that i have.] when the boys had finally had their fun scaring the poor english teacher, they told me that i sounded like a dolphin when i screamed. excellent.

the camp had a huge zipline set up over the river, and i got to ride it! that was definitely the most fun thing i got to do that day. except that, at the end, i forgot to move the handles back and forth to brake, and i definitely ran into the counselor at the end. luckily, i shrieked a warning so he was prepared. oops.

also, i got to go with my students to "rec dance", and we learned the dance to bigbang's world cup song. yeah, i pretty much suck at dancing.

that night was the talent show [my students are sooo cute] and a bonfire. after the students went back to their rooms, i went on a walk with one of my fellow teachers, and we saw a shooting star!

friday, 15 october: crazy bus driver

i nearly lost my life on the bus ride home.

for real.

korea is infamous for crazy bus//taxi drivers, but this dude was BY FAR the worst [that i've ever ridden with, at least]. he was more concerned with changing the radio station than paying attention to the road. [and he kept the volume turned off, so i have absolutely no idea why he even bothered messing with the dial...] he also decided that he wanted to drive in the far-left lane, which was UNDER CONSTRUCTION, so he'd drive in there for a bit, and when he came to bulldozers or construction workers, he'd move back into the right lane. he definitely ran over at least 5 orange traffic cones by doing this.

his worst offense happened near the end of our journey. we were ON the INTERSTATE. he missed his exit. did he drive to the next one and turn around? of course not. instead he put the bus IN REVERSE. and BACKED UP. on the freaking INTERSTATE.

luckily, no people or vehicles were physically harmed during the duration of the bus ride.

pictures:

seoul soul festival 2010

this past weekend was the seoul soul festival, which was held at the korean war memorial in yongsan.

since the tickets were really expensive [88,000 KRW], i could only afford to see the show on saturday. totally ok, because that was the only day that SE7EN and 태양 [taeyang] were performing anyways.

i think i have officialy reached crazy fangirl status, because even though it was only my second time seeing SE7EN live, it was my fifth time to see taeyang live. unless you count the times i've seen him performing with bigbang, in which case it was my eighth time. [luckily--for taeyang and kpop singers everywhere--i will be taking a short hiatus from concert-going.]

anyways~~i went with al and col [my regular concert buddies]. we had to wait in lines for-freaking-ever. the event did not seem to be very well organized. the website stated that we had to be in line at 4pm to pick up our tickets. they didn't even open the eticket-trade-in booth until 4:45, and THEN there were supposed to be different lines depending on where you purchased the ticket, but the lines weren't labelled! it was a confusing mess. also, everyone was assigned a ticket number for their gate. the point was to line up in number order. this proved to be a task much too difficult for anyone to do. we all were like a huge, jumbled mass. also, the gates did NOT open at 5:30, as promised by the website. they didn't let my gate enter until almost 6:45!

but things settled down once we finally were able to go through the gate. col and i ended up having pretty amazing spots. we were about 4 people away from the stage [and by "stage" i mean "hottness"]. OH.MY.GOSH sooooo close!!

the concert itself was pretty amazing. SE7EN went on first, and he sang some songs off of his newest mini album [digital bounce*^^*...minus T.O.P ㅠ.ㅠ], as well as old favorites. he is an absolutely incredible performer. i mean, you can tell he's a good singer from listening to his recordings...but, to hear him live...you realize just how extremely talented he is. wow.

next was taeyang, who was incredible as always. he sang mostly just his brand new stuff, with the exception of 기도 and 나만 바라봐. [my favorites, so i was pleased.] obviously, this was not on as grand a scale as his solo concert, but he's still impressive nonetheless. fantastic vocals, fantastic choreography--he really knows how to engage a crowd. added bonus: he ripped his shirt off during his encore. sigh.

also, col and i were pretty much the only people with bigbang light sticks, and we're pretty sure that taeyang saw us.

after taeyang was the intermission, and i left during that because musiq soulchild was next and i have no idea who that is...

now it's time for YAYY pictures~!

SE7EN--ack! sooo close!!

ohh man...he looks like he's looking straight at my camera~~EEEEKKK~!

너무 멋있어요 *^^*

AHH-MAY-ZING

adventures in desk warming [part five]

today is my last day of desk warming. for a while at least. hallelujah!!

i just made an [important??] discovery. U-KISS released their newest music video for the song 시끄러 [shut up]. the song is pretty good [i usually like the stuff they put out...it's really dance-y].

also...the movie stars a white girl, a "trend" i've been noticing lately. bigbang's latest music video [for "beautiful hangover"] also starred a white girl, and narsha's song "mamma mia" featured two white guys in the video. sooo, i think i've found my true calling in life: to be the white-girl star of a kpop music video. and by "kpop" i mean bigbang. and by "bigbang" i mean T.O.P.



also, hello, future husband. sigh.

adventures in desk warming [part four]

is it sad that finding this was the highlight of my day??

adventures in desk warming [part three]

FRUSTRATION!!

this pretty much sums up how i feel right now: AKLJFSDFAKLJWEIOUAFKLNSDF8903KLJSDFAKLNXVUASFJLKLAJKLNVKNAKLDSJF2908AJFLKVN

grr.


internet shopping.

on an unrelated, happy note:

i am completely obsessed with the korean shopping site, g-market. it's pretty similar to amazon.com, and it's the greatest thing ever.

today, i purchased a piano on g-market. it's small but may or may not fit in my apartment. so my bed may be looking for a new home.

this was not an impulse buy. last year, i bought a really small, cheap, electronic keyboard. it works great, but it only has 61 [unweighted] keys. a real piano should have 88 [weighted]. to a lot of people, this wouldn't be a problem. except that i have played the piano for more than 13 years, and i really miss being able to play chopin.

my new piano is real pretty, and i am eagerly anticipating its arrival!!

adventures in desk warming [part two]

games.

it takes me twenty minutes to walk to work. usually, the walk is quite dull, and even though i listen to music i often get bored. sometimes, to keep myself aware of my surroundings, i play games.

my favorite is a guessing game that i like to call "guy or girl?" sometimes, especially from a distance, people can appear to be androgynous. i attribute that to the fact that many of the styles here are unisex [this sometimes extends even to hairstyle]. also, a shockingly large number of men wear makeup.

the rules for my game are simple: i see someone from a distance, guess whether they are a guy or a girl, and then when they get close enough for me to tell i am awarded a point. if i guess correctly, it's +1 point, a wrong guess is -1 point, and if i still can't tell even when the individual is right in front of me, it's -2 points.

today's score: -2.

music.

F.T Island. 사랑 사랑 사랑 [love love love].
this song is not new, but i really like it. [actually, F.T Island has recently found their way onto my "top 5 favorite male kpop groups" list.]

eye candy.

F.T Island's spot in my top 5 may or may not have anything to do with my kind-of crush on lead singer, 이홍기 [lee hong ki].

child star

apparently, there's a new student at my school, and people were making a really big deal about it this morning.

this is because the new student is...

...A CHILD STAR.

apparently, she's a relatively famous child actress in korea. her most recent film was 그랑프리 [grand prix], a movie about horse racing that was released over the chuseok holiday. in this movie, she starred alongside actress 김태희 [kim tae hee], who is one of korea's most famous actresses [kim tae hee was also in the tv drama "iris" with T.O.P].

anyways, i guess my school is kinda famous now. too bad the girl is a first grade student, which means i don't get to teach her.

adventures in desk warming [part one]

this week, i will be playing the role of "desk warmer", due to the fact that i have no classes [at all] because of midterms.

ordinarily, it is nice to have the break. and i can usually stand one day of it, two at the maximum. but five?!?!?!?!? i will more than likely end up losing my mind.

since i have no real work to do, and i have ample time to search the internet...you can expect more posts like this to follow.

huzzah??

this is bigbang's newest cellphone ad. it popped up on my homepage this morning. it's annoyingly cute. also, i officially hate the smurfette, and g-dragon has awesome hair.

탑이랑 결혼하고 싶어요 *^^*

he has the greatest hair ever. EVER.

portraits~

a few weeks ago, one of my sixth grade students gave me pictures that she had drawn of me that week while i taught her class.

for the record, my skirt was NOT that short...

photoshop

today was picture day at my school, which i found out this morning at approximately 7:30. shockingly, this is more advanced notice than i normally get for any school event that involves me in any way.

i thought it was just going to be the standard teacher group shot. that's the only yearbook picture i was in last year. in the previous yearbook, for my single shot they used the picture from my arc [alien registration card] which they obtained...somehow.

anyways, after the group shot was taken, my coteacher turned to me and said, "we don't have a picture of you to photoshop. so you should take a solo picture."

i mean, i knew beforehand that all yearbook photos were photoshopped. last year, they put one teacher in charge of digitally altering ALL of the students' photos. i'm not exactly sure why you'd want to change the picture of an eight-year-old, but the teacher diligently spent about 15 minutes per photo, enlarging the eyes, whitening the skin, and removing any freckles or moles from the faces.

aigoo. i can only imagine what my picture is going to end up looking like. i can see it going one of two ways: either they try to make me look more korean, or they fix my picture the same way they do everyone else's and i end up looking like an anime character. excellent.

also this morning, my coteacher explained to me that the only teachers who had to have an individual photo taken were either: 1.) new, or 2.) wanted a "face upgrade".

in other news, the new substitute music teacher--an fifty-something man with kramer hair--is sitting in the corner of my office talking to himself. this has been going on for a while.

아이고~~

TAEYANG CONCERT [round two]

it is a well-established fact that i am a crazy person, somewhat fangirlish, and kinda obsessed with bigbang. therefore, i fully support the solo efforts of each of the five members of bigbang. so when it was announced that taeyang would be giving TWO performances of his first full-length solo concert [he had a mini solo concert maybe 2-ish years ago when his mini-album, HOT, was released], i knew that attending both would be a necessity to my life.

on sunday, i went to the second and last performance of taeyang's solar concert.

my seats were located on the third floor, sixth row, right side. the previous night, i sat on the left side of the first floor; it was good to get a different view of the concert. since the concert hall was very small, the third floor seats weren't bad at all--i actually had a really good view.

the second concert was amazing and perfect in every way, just like the first performance. there were a few minor differences, and two major differences between the two. the minor differences included slightly different dances and lyrics.

the concert began with the intro track from solar playing, along with a video showing taeyang entering the concert hall. the lights dimmed. the fangirls screamed. and then, slowly, a white circle was lowered down onto the center of the stage. taeyang, dressed in a quite bling-y white outfit with his signature aviators, was standing in the circle. he stepped onto the stage and the band began to play the opening notes of 기도 [prayer]. i screamed enthusiastically--기도 is my favorite taeyang song.

every song was perfection [or at least, near-perfection]. i was amazed at how the band was able to transition seamlessly from song to song. and at how perfectly the song order had been chosen. he sang songs from all three of his albums: mini-album HOT, solar, and solar international.

my one criticism is that he sang the song "you're my" which i absolutely and utterly despise because it is pretty much the worst song ever [ok, so maybe not...but it's not good]. although, i will admit that hearing it live is approximatly one million times better than hearing the recording. also, when taeyang sang "you're my" he was looking pretty spiffy [and by "spiffy" i mean "hott"] in a suit.

the best outfits [worn by taeyang and his backup dancers] were, in my opinion, the ones worn during the songs "superstar" and "breakdown" [<--my favorite song from solar]. they looked like part of a drum line: red military style jackets with white pants worn by the guys, and the girls wore the red jackets with red miniskirts, white boots, and red hats with a white poofy feather on the front. sooo cool.

actually, "breakdown" was probably my favorite performance during the show. i lovelovelove the song, the outfits were amazing, and the choreography was excellent. also, taeyang just looked like he was having a lot of fun during that song.

IU was there as a guest performer both nights. [she's so cute.] she and taeyang sang a duet, and then she sang a solo song. both songs were in english. [taeyang sang 2 other songs in english as well during the concert.] it was quite impressive.

he ended the concert with a remixed version of 나만 바라봐 [only look at me]. sooo amazing. after finishing the song, he walked off the stage and the lights dimmed. but the audience wanted more, screaming for an encore for several minutes. suddenly, the band began to play once again, and taeyang came back [as we all knew he would]! he sang "where u at" and "take it slow"--a perfect encore. "take it slow" is a song written by taeyang himself, and is absolutely gorgeous live; it suits his voice so perfectly [and that boy can sing].

both the saturday and sunday show were like that...but, on sunday...

...OH.MY.GOSH. 2NE1 was there!! they are definitely my favorite of the kpop girl groups, and they sang 2 songs off of their new album: "can't nobody" and "go away".

also on sunday...

TAEYANG GAVE A SECOND ENCORE.

it was much, much later. the house lights came on, and EVERYONE started to leave. myself included. i was waiting in the lobby on the first floor when suddenly, i heard screaming. i wasn't about to wait and see what was going on, and instead, i immediately took action.

i went running back into the concert hall. some security people said something to me, but i didn't listen. i didn't care. all i knew was that taeyang was walking back onto the stage and i was absolutely going to be there to see it. due to my quickness and stealth, i found myself FREAKING EIGHT FEET from the stage and from taeyang himself. OH.MY.GOSH. i nearly died.

also--and importantly--i'm pretty sure that taeyang saw the sign i made. [결혼하고 싶어요 "i want to marry you".] me and my sign also [briefly] made it onto the screen during the second encore ANNDDD, before the concert, me and my sign were filmed by someone from some tv show. which means that my plan of making bigbang aware of my existence is moving along quite nicely. excellent.

during the second encore, taeyang sang 나만 바라봐 and "take it slow". during 나만 바라봐, he let the audience sing the chorus, and it was beautiful and wonderful and amazing and perfect. i really didn't want it to end.

sigh.

the concert hall at kyunghee university.

me and my famous sign...with taeyang ^^

coleen, allison, and me...sooo ready for the saturday night performance

at the sunday night show...the crown headband is totally legit [it's bigbang's symbol]

i was THAT close during the second encore on sunday--EEEEKKKK~!

OH.MY.GOSHHHHH. [i stole this picture from coleen ㅋㅋㅋ]

TAEYANG CONCERT [round one]

태양 [taeyang]: famous for randomly ripping off his shirt and having perfect abs. oh, and also for being a super talented dancer, singer, and pianist. [or something like that, his abs are kind of distracting.]

so last night, i went with coleen and allison to taeyang's first solo concert: solar.

AHH-MAY-ZING [does not even begin to describe it].

coleen and i sat on the left side of the auditorium [the concert was held at a college campus, which was beautiful, by the way]. first row on the second section of the first floor. row fourteen. like, thirty feet away from taeyang. holy crap. and when he sang on the side stage, he was even closer.

he ripped of his shirt like two times. and he threw it out into the audience. i guess he can't throw thirty feet, though.

he brought a girl out of the audience to sing to her on the stage. i hate her a little bit.

there was a g-dragon sighting before the show. but, even though taeyang collaborated with him on a song, g-dragon never made an official appearance.

also, T.O.P never made an appearance. i would be sad, if taeyang wasn't so amazing.

i made a sign that said "결혼하고 싶어요". which means, "i want to marry you". i am uncertain whether or not taeyang actually saw the sign or not, but i'm just gonna go ahead and assume that he did.

today i'm going to see taeyang again. because i am slightly crazy. but it's ok, because he's worth it.

above: hottness.