THE B.EST O.F A.SIA IS RETURNING!!! (warning: very long post, lots of pics, videos, and fangirling incoherence.)

Ok.

So I just said that I miss DBSK a lot in the Korean music scene.

But.

There is the one and only music act that I miss even so much more than five hot sexy talented Korean men.



........



The proclaimed Beat of Angel, Best of Asia, BoA!!

(Pic snagged from Verbal of m-flo's blog. Photobooth pics ftw xDDD)




Er, I mean, BoA undistorted!!

And I JUST heard that she will be making her Korean comeback in time for her 10th anniversary this August.

It's been FIVE LONG YEARS.

She currently sports short hair now, though I do miss the awesomeness that is her signature long hair. BoA has just also released her 7th Japanese album "Identity" and is preparing for her Japanese tour. My brain is too sluggish right now to adequately explain the details of why this is such epic BoA news so I'm just gonna copy paste the info:

"BoA will return to Korea after a five year absence from her home country. This year’s August 25th will mark a ten year anniversary for BoA. Yes, it has been ten years since this singer debuted. Surprisingly, it’s been five years since she’s been in Korea. Which means she’s spent half her career in Japan.

"The last Korean song she promoted was Girls On Top and now as a ten year anniversary celebration, she is returning. At the moment, she is on tour for her album Identity, but after the end of this tour, she will start to prepare for her Korean comeback.

"SM Entertainment said on March 1st, “2010 means a lot because it marks BoA’s ten year anniversary. Since Korean fans haven’t gotten the chance to see her since Girls On Top, we will work hard for a very meaningful album for BoA. We will shoot for the album to release on August 25th but depending on how preparations go, it may move around a bit.”

"SM Entertainment also added, “BoA shows a lot of passion for her music so she might be a producer for this album as well. We will decide after a thoughtful discussion.”  
credits: Allkpop


So what this means to a lot of fans right now is that the year 2010 marks the comebacks of the LEGENDS. Not only BoA but also the queen of sexy kpop Lee Hyori, singer/actor Rain, and even Se7en who also attempted to break in the US music scene around the same time as BoA and the Wonder Girls from JYP Entertainment.

What this could mean to BoA is a revival of energy and passion that's been on decline ever since her last Korean album that solidified me as a fan of hers in 2005, "Girls on Top." In order to concentrate on her career in Japan, she had to stop Korean activities for awhile because essentially, it's much harder to make income as a music act in Korea, and also the work of interviews, variety shows, and performances every other day is very demanding and taxing on Korean singers. Plus, she was already juggling careers in Japan and Korea since she was thirteen years old.

Dude. This now twenty-three year old has accomplished so much in ten years, NO ONE in Korea or even Japan have been able to top her success.

Yeah, she may not have the best vocals or the best music all around but just look at her history. At the age of thirteen, the baby BoA captured the hearts of Koreans everywhere. At fourteen she flew to Japan and began her career as one of the earliest most successful crossover artists in Asia. With the crazy success of her second Japanese album, she was able to bridge the cultural social gap between Korea and Japan through her performances and music, a pair of countries with so much conflict in history.

I'm just gonna go crazy with the biggest hits she's responsible for, and why she was pretty much the evolution of Asian pop back in the day, from the beginning to now.


2000 ID; Peace B - Debut song.



2002 No.1 - One of her first biggest early hits in Korea



2002 Every Heart - One of Inuyasha's ending theme songs. This is how I discovered her music, back in the good ol' junior high/high school days.



2003 Valenti - Japan. Girl went platinum with this.



2003 Atlantis Princess - This song is how I found out she's actually KOREAN not Japanese :O. It was also the song that started my interest in dancing =D. The first Kpop dance I ever learned! Such a happy song, one of my old favorites.



2004 Rock With You - The beginnings of the mature BoA. Edgy, personality, character.



2004 My Name - She went from bubbly cute Atlantis Princess to this. o_o Fierce and sexy~



2005 Quincy - I would say this is the last of her "addictive" songs of her early Japan days before the decline.



2005 Girls On Top - Almost every fan out there would say this is her most epic Korean work to date. Solid concept, great dancing, amazing live performances. Everything was near perfect with this album. The highlight of her career.



Since "Girls On Top," BoA has released four more albums in Japan and one in America, continuing to be influential but the spark that was usually there in her music was gradually getting lost somewhere. Overworked much? Most definitely. Three countries and all those albums and she's not even in her mid-twenties yet.


Her US Music Videos:








BoA is a household name, you cannot be an Asian pop fan without knowing that name. With that said, during her decline, negativity was just everywhere. People wanted the amazing BoA back, people wanted her to return to her homeland and stop releasing subpar material in other countries, etc etc.

Even celebrities go through identity crises, you know? Her most recent Japanese album is the first album to not reach the #1 spot on the charts in her career. It reached #2, but goes to show what's going on with her life as an artist right now. Ironically, this album is also the one that's mostly self-produced, so there's a lot of "real" BoA in "Identity." So what's the deal?

There was negativity everywhere, in the forums, in news blogs, wherever, that rubbed me off too. Hearing all this criticism for venturing into the American scene, for abandoning Korea, for mediocre singles in Japan, just ugh. People didn't want to see her in a shlump that is necessary and inevitable for everyone. They want to see her always in her prime.

They want to see this kinda thing again:

Watch BoA_Over_the_Top_Girls_On_Top_Remix_Live_MNet_Awards_27.11.2005_ in Music  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com



As opposed to this:



What does this mean to me, and why do I look up to BoA so much?

Well, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have been into music and art as much as I am now. I wouldn't have learned how it was possible to be so hard working, so dedicated, so passionate about her work as much as this girl two years older than me had been. I wouldn't have had the guts to admit to myself and to my parents that I wanted to draw and perform for people and me, not treat sick people in hospitals for the money. I wouldn't have discovered the potluck of refreshing Asian pop when I needed an outlet so much as a teenager, would not have experienced how cool it is to be a part of a dance team, the thrill of being on stage in front of people with music beats pounding in my blood, would not have appreciated the complexity and art of dancing and expressing with your body, with your hands. (Yeah, I miss dancing a lot. Like, REAL choreo dancing with other dancers.)

I would not have appreciated my Asian blood as much, would not have pushed myself to keep a hold of my Vietnamese, and encouraged myself to learn Korean and Japanese. I would not have been fascinated by the concept of language barriers and the power of music being a universal language, would not have looked up lyrics to understand and appreciated the poetry behind it, and who knew that I'd eventually venture into an area of writing myself? I would not have wanted to make an impact on something somewhere somehow as bad as I do now had I not seen what a petite Asian girl on the other side of the world who had the wonderful opportunity to influence so many and so much. BoA's not just an idol, she's an artist. She's in that very difficult stage of transitioning right now, just like most of us are at this time of our lives, and more so for her as a public figure in the entertainment business

To hear that she's returning to her birthplace to remind the overcrowded music industry there and remind fans of the legend that she is, it's just really exciting. What if this comeback reminds HER even of the fire she had once before, before the stresses of work and adulthood brought her down? That's what I'm really hoping for. Her successes at home factor in to her successes abroad, I find that really plausible. And maybe, just maybe, I would get that awe-inspiration watching her come back to life, and maybe that can really lead me somewhere. Not that I don't appreciate her Japanese stuff at all, quite the contrary. It's just that I am guilty of missing the bright BoA as well, and I'd rather have her take a real break from the music biz altogether and disappear for a year or two instead of spreading herself too thin for too long.

Well, the point I see now is that BoA will always be busy year round, and so will I. So will everyone. She's been stuck in the down slides for awhile, and I've had my ups and downs since I sort of figured out who I am and who I want to be and what kind of work I want to do, aka college.

I wrote in a comment on BoAjjang that this year seems brighter for me already because of this news. I mean,, despite the good stuff of going to Korea and graduating soon, it was a real rough start to 2010 for me. Plus, I am so over winter weather now. It's easy to blame the weather for my moodiness but I swear, I live on sunlight. Thrive in it.

So for the first half of 2010 is the anticipation of the comeback album, hearing news in bits and pieces of track listings, album covers, promo plans. Then the actual release of the album mid year to the explosion of epicness, and THEN performances and interviews and shows and awards ceremonies that will be available to download in high quality all the way towards the end of 2010. Well, that's definitely gonna keep my spirits up for this year, God willing.

Okay, so I think I threw up dished out a pretty long post, so I"ll end it at that. Next one will be about illustration work, promise!

Jo Kwon!!

Whoo!

I remember getting a text from Madison that day in the studio and she was at the guesthouse telling me she was hanging with none other than JO KWON LEAD SINGER OF 2AM ZOMG.

It was amazing. I grilled her for the scoop. And here's the one and only video of him professing his love to my good friend Madison!

I should have been there.....T_T

Meant to share this earlier

Back in October, I blogged about how I lost a ring my mom gave to me before I went to Korea.

http://mizmlee.blogspot.com/2009/10/rings.html

On the day before I left Korea, I was packing stuff into my backpack when lo and behold, guess what I found in one of the side pockets?

Haha, it was quite the surprise. I was very happy to have found it again, of course. The irony at the time, however, was what made me ponder at yet another coincidence I experienced during my stay there.

Happy, Sad, and Jetlagged

It's been a couple days or so since I've returned to the States. Still all so surreal, everything that's happened. Still adjusting back to reality here. And uh, still accidentally slipping in random Korean words in conversations....

Four months went by so fast. I can't believe it was only just three days ago that I was in my dormitory, writing goodybe cards to everyone, packing away everything. It was just another day in Seoul.

On my last day, I was waiting for the waterworks to come, all day long. I'm pretty good at not crying when saying goodbyes. I mean, no one really likes crying in general anyways, but I've always been the resilient type. Except at the movies...during those really sad scenes....but anyways.

I hardly every cry when I say goodbye, even if the others are crying in front of me. It's not that I'm emotionless. I just figure one set of tear shedding is enough.

Until the very last second, when the plane shook down the runway, ready to take off, my heart was shaking with it. And when the wheels left the ground, I looked out the window to hide my tear streaked face from the passenger beside me to capture in and engrain in my memory the city that is Seoul for the last time.

I'm very happy and feel very blessed and thankful for having the chance to go abroad. I'm very sad that I left quite soon, that one semester flew by so fast. I'm not that jetlagged now, but I honestly do think that a part of me couldn't leave Korea for good, and that's partly why I find it slightly difficult to settle back into this American life compared to when I return to Utah from California in between semesters on previous years.

It's been a long hard fight to get to where I am now, but it's been a good struggle. It's been worth it, and I see it though the people I've met and become closer to, the people I left behind but returned to. Just letting myself live for awhile, and seeing the art of life outside of art school. What an eye opener for self rediscovery.

I look forward to the day I return to Korea. A trip may not be the same as a studying abroad type thing, but I digress. It's probably advantageous to actually be fluent in Korean at some point soon. :)

Epic Weekend, Epic Fun

Started Thursday night, lasted until Sunday ish.

But the highlight of the weekend was Friday night, after the first farewell party Madison and I attended with our friends from our painting studio. After karaoke, we joined with the Aussies and Myriam our French friend for one last clubbing night for Madison. And I guess for me too.

And while at club m2, I got preeetttyyy comfortable with a certain Asian Australian I had slightly crushed on, and before I knew it, I was getting a lip locking lesson. ^^;;

Several...lessons....in front of like. Everyone.

Whew. *blushes*

Unfortunate that I'm leaving in like three days....he's pretty bummed out about it. And Esther's totally giving me crap that we should have started sooner. Sigh, oh well, it's probably better this way.

A.ll R.isk T.aker

One thing I'll miss about drawing class here, is having the freedom to do rap videos like this, lol.

Quick concert recap

The concert on Friday was really amazing. One of my best times ever so far in Korea.

It was at a smaller venue, and I still wasn't able to get right up close enough to the stage because I got there about half an hour before opening time and the line went allllll the way up to the roof...., but the crowd was pretty darn close to the performers.

The opening acts were Supreme Team, D.N.G., Beatbox DG and Beanizzimo (spelling?? Don't remember.) and of course, Epik High. And dude, DOK2 is two years younger than me! Dammit, younger kids who are more accomplished than me...

Every time I see these hip hoppers, I get closer each time. And dude, I totally have a big crush on Beatbox DG now. The man is freaking HOT. And actually, there are quite a few attractive hip hop artists in the Korean hip hop/rap scene. Keke. xD One of the guys in Supreme Team is really really cute.

I'm getting more exposed to Asian Hip Hop obviously. The Korean scene is just the beginning. There are Japanese Urban artists that I was just about to get into before my laptop crashed and died.

Is going to these concerts having an adverse effect on me? I don't think so, I just hope this new path might take me somewhere someday.

Tango lessons in drawing class?

Only possible with American art teachers, haha.

Yesterday was a good day, until I went to a birthday party and got myself stuck surrounded with Koreans gulping down the beer and soju. >.<

I haven't been sleeping well lately, I think mainly due to upcoming finals stress plus the bittersweetness of going back to America soon, and after last night, I woke up today with fifteen minutes to get to my morning class on time.

I know the time will come for me to take my first serious shot of alcohol at some point, but right now I don't think my mind, body, and soul is ready for the impurity yet. I don't know I think like this. And it's not a relgious reason that I don't drink. It's actually more quite personal, but at this point, I don't really know how to explain it anymore.

I'd go more into detail, but I really want to go back to my dorm and take a nap.

All I'll say is, being around alcohol stresses me out. More so to me than other people who has had alcohol before and prefer not too drink for whatever reason. For me, I either get bored or get worried about the people around me. I'm sure if I had some in my system, I wouldn't be worrying as much and enjoying myself more, but something about this whole drinking culture.....I just can't bring myself to be a part of it. Not yet anyway.

So really, I can be TOTALLY Korean in a lot of aspects; the look, the language, the music, a lot of things EXCEPT for the drinking.

Mmhmm.

Having no camera really sucks.

Because since that unfortunate day, there have been many events where I wished I could snap so many awesome shots of art and people and just memories. Ugh.

Well, on the plus side, I am currently eating cereal for the first time in Korea in Madison's room. Ooh, the nostalgia. I love cereal, haven't realized how much of an American necessity it is.

But on the other negative side, I've been trying to mentally prepare myself for when I leave Korea in about two weeks and it makes me start to feel sad about leaving all the friends I've made here, plus just missing the city of Seoul. So recently and probably until the end of my time here, my feelings will go bipolar on me. >.<

From having an awesome time and feeling like the luckiest girl in the world, to feeling anxious and sad about the inevitable. I know deep down that I will definitely be returning to this country soon. Hopefully, soon.

On a totally different note, can someone scream lucky coincidence? Apparently, Epik High will be introducing their new Map the Soul member DOK2 (pronounced doe-kee) next week at a venue ONE BLOCK AWAY FROM MY UNIVERSITY.

HAH. I'm totally going to make the effort to go to this event. Not sure if I'll be able to reserve a space online since the payment method has to be the Korean way. But paying at the door is only two dollars more expensive, and I suppose it's a first come first serve for those who didn't reserve. Hm.

We'll see.

Technology + Seoul + Me = Headache

Left my camera and its USB dock hooked up to a computer in a computer lab yesterday.

Realized the horror and ran back to the lab about three hours later in hopes that the monitor might have it.

Nope.

Camera's gone.

Eff this........

=_______________________________________=

HoaBinh Pho Restaurant

Wednesday I had Vietnamese food for the first time in Korea.

Gina and I went to the Kangnam area, which as most Korean pop culture fanatics know is one of the richest spots of Seoul, to hunt down a book at the biggest Kyobo Bookstore in the city. Hah.

We couldn't find the James Jean art book I wanted to bring to class next Tuesday, but we decided to spend the day together, as we hadn't met up over the weekend like we wanted to. Gina had to prepare for the ever important TOEFL test which she takes this Saturday, so MONDO BEST OF LUCK TO HER =D

We decided to get some lunch, as I hadn't eaten all day long. I rushed after class to the subway in order to meet her on time. In all my time living in Korea, I still hadn't found the opportunity to check out a Vietnamese restaurant here, so it was with a spontaneous moment that I asked Gina to take me to a Viet restaurant. She commented that her favorite one is called HoaBinh, but she doesn't know if there was one around in Kangnam.

But lo and behold, as if the universe's magic of coincidental making was at work again, we found a sign that said "HoaBinh Vietnamese Pho Restaurant" after 2 minutes of walking down the street.

xD

And I must say, it was sooooooooooooo nice to eat some food from back home. It tasted very much like pho, although I believe they must have used a different kind of broth to prepare it, however. I was very happy, hahaha. I experienced several minutes of nostalgia, and I had a sudden cringe of homesickness for my grandmother's cooking, but hey. I enjoyed my pho =D

One month left...

So today marks the day that I leave Seoul in exactly one month.

Wow, did time fly by fast. There's only a month left, but right now, it feels like time slowed down juuuuust a little bit. Like that split second that slows down in your brain before the scenes suddenly pick up the pace again. I think cold weather has the tendency to do that.

Goodness it is really cold nowadays. After spending the majority of my winters in California for the past three years, I forget how cold it could possibly get. In Utah though, the climate is drier, so the coldness doesn't bite as hard. Oyyy, but in Seoul where there's more humidity, if it's windy, the freaking wind finds all the spaces between your clothes effortlessly....>.<

Classes right now, they are going well. Most of our classes are just preparing for our finals, our finishing up paintings and such. I have two exhibitions that I need to go, both by teachers of mine. Oriental painting, and Western painting. Should be interesting.

Thinking too much?

I'm nervous and excited about tomorrow.

Am I already coming off too strong? Or too weak? What if that text that was supposed to have been canceled did get sent through? O_O

I hope it didn't. I know Esther means well, and she likes to give me tips and stuff about this kinda thing, but I really should follow my own gut instincts when they're screaming louder than usual.

I just hope his demeanor towards me hasn't changed.

Yeah, I'm probably just thinking too much. >.<

Sky

It's been some days since my last entry (I totally blame my broken laptop), and a lot has happened.

And this time, I'd say they are good things. =D Truly the silver lining in the cloud plays here.

This past Saturday, I met up with Gina to go to the Korea Contemporary Art Museum located near Seoul Grand Park. Gina's a part of this online art club forum, and they planned a meet up at the museum, and then they were to hang out for the rest of the day, so Gina invited me along.

The museum itself was a great place. There was a lot of cool art and most of the main exhibitions were free for viewing. The special exhibitions only charged about 3 or 4 dollars for entry, which I thought was totally not bad compared to many museums in America, but alas, Gina and I didn't have much time to look at everything. The art club planned to go head out for lunch at about three in the afternoon.

There were a lot of guys compared to girls, I was surprised. I was the youngest in the group, and most of the men were in their mid to late twenties.

You know, when I agreed to go with Gina, I really wasn't expecting anything to come out of it other then a good time at the museum.

I totally did not predict that I would meet a cute Korean guy released recently from his military service who goes to BYU in Utah and will be there for another three years, majors in computer programming, is Catholic (but baptized as Mormon in order to pay tuition for less, hahaha wtf considers himself Catholic still, though) offered to take a look at my broken laptop on Monday (today), take me out to dinner, and made plans with me to see a movie at the Korea Times Square this Saturday.

xDDDDD

But before I get into this Saturday, I'll write about how I came to name him. His Korean name is Lee Seung Yeob. Like the famous Korean baseball player, haha.

After we ate lunch, the art club and I went to a street art festival at the Gundae university area for a little bit, which I enjoyed too. There were local bands playing and street performers about plus local artists selling their work. During lunch, we were all introducing ourselves, and after I get the usual "omg, you're Vietnamese?? I thought you were Korean! You speak so well, etc etc" the Korean guys talk about themselves. Most are all in some design or art fields which make sense seeing as their are a part of this art club, but the one guy that caught my attention is the one who says he's studying in Utah.

Like, omg.

Utah??

I had to talk to him more, right? But we didn't get a chance to really do that because there were a lot of people = harder to organize and focus on one, and also we were busy going places.

But after an hour or so at the street festival, the head of the group proposes dinner and drinking. Gina and I were still very full from lunch, though, and didn't feel like joining. Haha, also, Gina the whole day kept nudging me and asking me if there was anyone I thought was cute or interesting. I kept saying "eh, nothing really, but I find the guy going to Utah quite intriguing, I'd like to talk to him more."

It just so happens that while everyone was inside, and Gina and I were getting ready to bolt away from that restaurant, said Utah Korean guy was having a smoke outside (LOL and he's supposed to be Mormon??). Gina asked if he planned on joining the rest, and the guy said he'd rather not, SO.

The three of us dashed off to a cafe across the street where we talked about all sorts of things for three hours. And Gina was being the catalyst between me and the guy the whole time, lol.

I find out that he and I are on the same page about quite a bit of things, like music, and I guess religion for one. He's fake Mormon, tsk tsk. His demeanor is quiet and soft-spoken similar to mine, but he's not awkward or uncomfortably shy at all, really. We had a good time talking about a lot of things. His English isn't that bad either, compared to my weak Korean.

He's also quite stylish, and cute, keke. Has one ear piercing, pretty tall, a little on the skinny side, though, and once his hair grows out a bit, I think he'd totally look edgier. Still suffering from the military buzz cut, lol. He's 25 Korean age, so about three years older than me. He went to BYU for two years, then went back to Korea to fulfill his military service, and he was just released this past June. He plans to return to Utah starting next spring. And he'll be there for three years.

Potential much? Coincidental much?? I dunno...so hear this out.

One of the things about Korean people here is that they can choose their own English names; their parents don't choose for them. Gina whose Korean name is Dongjin chose Gina because the "jin" sound is there in Gina. We ask Seungyeob what his English name was, and he said he didn't give himself one yet, but he was thinking about something like Sky.

Just Sky? I asked. Sky Lee sounds a little....strange for a guy. While it's good for a nickname, it doesn't sound quite complete with his short last name, too. I told him you could add an "e" at the end to make it look more like a name, but that makes it also look too girly.

So. I suggested "Skylar."

And later that night when we exchanged phone numbers, he told me to put him in as Skylar Lee.

Sigh, it's getting cheesey, isn't it?

In Gina's words, because I named him, I'm responsible for him. Like some sort of pet?? xD

Anyways, he texted me that same night after I got home and told me he's downloading an English Windows XP and that I should let him know when I get my phone fixed. Yesterday, my phone got reconnected so I texted him back, and he replies in KOREAN. Totally putting my Korean texting to the test, we exchanged several other texts (with some random English on my part...) about when to meet up on Monday.

The thing was, when Skylar first offered, Gina was there and while we were talking it made it seem like it was going to be another outing with the three of us, but of course, after my phone got fixed and I texted Gina to say thank you, she promptly replied with a "I'm not joining you guys tomorrow, so have fun!!"

Texting with a sweet Korean guy is really something, haha. We were speaking in polite endings the whole time, but he was really quite endearing. Obviously I was quite excited to meet him today.

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything he could do about my laptop, but we went out to eat dinner at a Japanese restaurant later, where we made small talk and continued to get to know each other. Aren't we old school? I like this though, it's more appealing than a hookup at a club. =D Aw, and Sky was kinda nervous and shy at first, lol, come on, man.

Skylar paid for dinner, too. Actually, I had forgotten my wallet at the studio, but when we were leaving, I still asked how much my part was in Korean, but he wouldn't hear of me paying him back at all, haha. Annnd he walked me back to my dorm, even though he would have to backtrack to the nearby subway station xD.

Five minutes or so after we said goodbye, I decided to go back to the studio to grab my wallet and remaining art supplies. On my way, I thought about sending him a text thanking him for dinner again, BUT. He totally beat me to it. Said that we should go see a movie next time ^_^.

So, I guess it's a date? Today, I called it a half date because it was a casual meeting to fix a technical problem between a guy and a girl. Plus dinner.

This Saturday, though, is probably my first date in a long time....

Art update, post midterms!

My Oriental Watercolor Midterm presentation was on Tuesday. I uploaded the ppt file for anyone willing to see the sketches of mountains, rocks, and trees I've done for that class up until now.

It's surprisingly big for a powerpoint file....but it has pictures of all my work in this class so far, if you're interested to see how I progressed. Er, I'm presenting it this way because I accidentally deleted the original pictures from my laptop...^^;;

Oriental Watercolor Midterm Powerpoint Presentation
Download Link

***************************************************************************

Still life painting is done. It's not perfect, there are some perspective issues, but I'm pretty ok with how it turned out.

In Basic Painting class, we've started on our third painting, and it's also our second figure model painting. I think also, this is my breakthrough piece in terms of painting and in understanding the human body. Quite excited to see how it turns out.

***************************************************************************

My second painting in Painting Studio class, the one where I did the eye painting for. We're required to work on 50F size canvases, and they are HUGE. I'd say about.....three by four feet or so. How in the world will I send these paintings to the states, I do not know.

Anyways, the point of this painting is to explore space, and how objects take up space naturally/unnaturally. We need parallel objects and unparallel objects. This is a snapshot of the inside of my desk drawer, which I found to be a little too literal, but the perspective makes for an interesting composition. I want to add something else to make it less literal, and maybe more symbolic. Or maybe put in some interesting textures somehow. I don't know for sure yet, I just hope I'll figure it out while I paint it.

You know, I was in a pretty good mood this week...

Like.

Before my laptop decided to die after class today.

Before my phone got cut because I'm late in paying the bill (and I've been trying to figure out how to do that for a couple weeks now.)

Before I got kicked out of my room again today, because these Koreans are flipping out about the swine flu, so their vaccinating our rooms again.

Before this post, I had a draft saved up that I was about to post with new picture updates of my class work at this point.

Hah.

Because, I had a good weekend. You know, dancing all night long and at the beginning of that week, I started a new figure painting in Basic Painting class, and one teacher complimented that my figures were well drawn. My first. Compliment. Ever. In that class.

And. I gave my midterm presentation for watercolor class yesterday, and I did well. People liked my style, and liked how I improved since the first drawing.

But all that good stuff hit a brick wall when my three and a half year old Toshiba laptop struggled one last time, its hard drive motor clunking weakly, to start up only to present me a black screen of its impending death.

Omg.

I don't need it really, here in Korea, as much as I usually do at CCA, BUT.

All of my pictures are in that laptop.....and I have a gigs worth of music on there that I haven't transferred to my external yet. UGH, AND MY RAP VIDEOS!

T___________T

Club Day and Halloween

So there's a slight difference between clubbing in South Korea, and clubbing in America. In Korea, they play a bit more Korean popular songs in addition to mainstream American stuff, but also, there's a small cultural difference.

Granted, I've only went clubbing one time in America, so I don't know if this judgement has enough basis. But anyways.

Every month on the last Friday, the Hongdae area has an event that they call Club day, where all the clubs in the area are discounted, and you can club hop until midnight for the price of one entry. Pretty sweet deal if you plan on dancing everywhere, haha.

The plan was for Madison and I to meet up with the Frenchies and the Aussies after their drinking binge/party/evening plans or whatever, and then club all night long. We left a little after midnight, only to find out that we did miss that one detail about Club day ending at midnight....but it didn't matter because we only needed one club.

Most of the French bailed on us, except for Myriam, who doesn't hang out with the main French group anyways, and she was with two Korean friends, (I forgot the guy's name, girl is Reina) who are in the same design program as her at school. The five of us went ahead for some ice cream after discovering this one club I've been to for my first club outing with the Aussies a week earlier, m2, had a loooooooong queue.

We were at Cafe Tiamo, eating our ice cream for an hour or so, when we decided to walk around until we found a club that seemed appealing ie, short line, haha. Reina, who's been to most of the clubs at least a couple times, was our guide. The guy Korean friend left a little bit afterwards at this point, as he said he had to work early the next morning.

Finally, us four girls remaining decided on a hip hop club called Cocoon, which is very near the school campus. I texted the Aussies and told them to meet us at this club when they're ready, but due to a pool game of sorts, they didn't come until almost 4 a.m. =_=

Ahaha, and them boys totally missed out on us girls rocking it. I LIKE clubbing in Korea, so far. Girls can freely dance without having to worry about unwanted grinding. From my first clubbing experience in America, it was harder to get away with that as EVERYONE IN THE CLUB was doing the whole freak dancing thing. It's interesting to see, though, how Seoul keeps trying to westernize itself. Halloween here might be popular ten years from now. Only the American foreigners were really dressing up for the Halloween thing.

But here, guys are more, shall we say, shy? And they only approach when they're interested in a dance, or maybe more in other cases of course, but I digress.

I had a lot of fun dancing with them girls (Reina and Myriam left soon after the Aussies came), and the Aussies (when they finally arrived) made it pretty fun too. Too bad they arrived a little too late, when Madison and I were getting tired. We were in Cocoon until six in the morning. >.<

And I started to get pretty hungry at five ish, so after getting quick kimbab for breakfast with Madison and one Asian Aussie guy, I came back to my dorm room at around seven a.m. the sun was rising.

Epic night is epic. The dancing was totally good for my system. I'm down for going again at the end of November xD.

There was one thing I kinda wish I didn't do, though. While us four girls were taking a break and waiting for the Aussie team to arrive by the stair entrance, one cute Korean boy did approach and started a conversation. He totally had the hiphop look going, with the black hoodie and cap, lol. First he asked how old I was, which I preceded to tell him (I couldn't quite tell how old he was, though...) but it's really hard to carry out a full conversation with someone in a club. The music deafens you >.<

I told the guy I wasn't Korean, so he asked if I could speak English, in English. xD But unfortunately, the Aussies arrived at that moment, so...that was it. He fell back after I said that yeah, they are my friends. Sigh. Oh well. Maybe next time something interesting will happen, lol.

Also, I'm quite glad we decided to go the day before Halloween. Because it rained like a mother the very next day, all day. No warning. Oh, the joys of weather.

Asian Australians....

LOL, and here is the non alcoholic rap, written by yours truly.

Epik High [e] Parade Concert video clips

I finally figured out how to successfully upload videos onto youtube in Korea. Use the Japanese youtube site, and upload only avi formats. Good God.

Anyways, one of these days, I really need to get myself a higher quality camera. Or even a digi camcorder or something...

In progress updates

This painting's done! The critique was last Monday. I didn't get much feedback from the professor, though...

 

The still life is still a work in progress. I have to finish the chair, the red thingy, and the cup under the chair and in front of the wood. Sigh, when you think you're almost finished with a painting, add 10 more hours to it.