New K-drama with 이민호!

Since my departure from Korea just over two months ago, I seem to have forgotten all the uber-frustrating times and I'm romanticizing my time there. My poor family and friends are undoubtedly sick of hearing about how much I miss Korea, about how certain things are better there (namely food portions that don't render one obese) and many have been subjected to lengthy K-pop video viewing sessions on Youtube.

I think I'm more obsessed with Korean pop culture now than I was when I lived there.

Case in point: today I didn't have any subbing jobs lined up, so I spent a good chunk of the day in my PJ's catching up on the K-drama that I'm addicted to, "Personal Taste," which stars Lee Minho of "Boys over Flowers" fame.

He's back!

I'm not in Korea anymore, but I'm guessing it's big there considering its popularity on Mysoju.com, where I watch it with English subtitles.

As was the case with 'Boys over Flowers," any success this show has cannot be attributed to captivating storyline or superb acting, because it's awful. Yet I keep watching, because of Lee Minho and his eye-candy appeal. There are lots of long, drawn out moments where the camera is zoomed in on his pretty face.

I also read on my favorite K-pop website that the snazzy, albeit feminine, clothes he wears on the show are highly sought after in Korea right now. I can just imagine the men of Seoul decked out in the frilly suit coats he sports on the show.

"Now where did I leave my murse?"


I love it though. Bring on the ruffles :)

Here's a sneak peek of "Personal Taste"

Boys before Flowers Mania

(or in Korean, 꽃보다 남자 "Ggotboda Namja")

Me & Lee Min Ho of "Boys Before Flowers"

Turns out I'm not the only one obsessed with this ridiculous show. Boys Before Flowers mania has swept over Korea. Love it or hate it, everyone, foreigners included, is talking about this show, which is based on a Japanese manga series. The much-anticipated Korean adaptation aired in January, with relatively unknown actors, and became an instant success, almost entirely due to the four male leads, known as F4 (or Flower Four). We discussed the show as part of my lesson plan this past week, which was about expressing opinions, and it definitely got my students talking. (With the exception of some of the upper-level boys' classes, who told me they didn't care who Geum Jan Di chose in the end. The audacity!) I've also overheard ajummas talking about it on the bus, foreign girls discussing their favorite F4 member while waiting for the subway, and supposedly guys are requesting Gu Jun Pyo's signature curly hairdo at the barber shop.

While the show was a huge success, and the actors have become household names overnight, the show was criticized, among other things, for its implausible and silly storyline. In an interview, the director said this in response:

"Our main focus was to cast the most handsome, cutest and freshest F4, [as opposed to the Japanese and Taiwanese versions] and keep them that way throughout the show,” said director Bae. “Everything else came after that."

In that they succeeded. I've watched the Japanese version, Hana Yori Dango, and it is much better in terms of acting, storyline and character development, but the F4 boys aren't nearly as pretty as the Korean ones. The last episode was Tuesday, much to the dismay of all the females in this country, myself included. However, the show's actors are endorsing everything from cosmetics to cell phones to Dunkin Donuts, so their pictures are plastered everywhere. There's also talk of a sequel. I'm crossing my fingers...

The last episode, tear.

My new favorite socks, featuring "Gu Jun Pyo" and "Yoon Ji Hoo"

You can watch episodes with English subtitles at mysoju.com Be careful, it is highly addictive.

I'm back!

I’ve been meaning to update this for weeks, and my excuse this time is the most pathetic yet: I am totally addicted to a cheesy Korean drama. (Thank you, Anna.)

The show’s English name is “Boys Before Flowers,” and it’s incredibly ridiculous and geared toward high school kids, but I can’t stop watching it. Between my obsession with the show and my love of K-pop (Korean pop music, more on that later) it has recently dawned on me why I get along so well with high school students; I’m basically one of them. I listen to the same music and watch the same shows. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that sophomores seem to be my lot in life.

"Boys Before Flowers"

I've been watching it with English subtitles at mysoju.com

In other news, winter vacation is officially over and the new school year has begun. I have a new crop of 10th graders, and so far they are fantastic. It really helps being their teacher from day one, rather than coming in halfway through the school year like I did in August. I think the teaching situation overall is going to be a lot better this time around. Before, my students weren’t held accountable for what I taught, so as hard as I tried to get them to participate in class activities, there wasn’t much motivation for them do so. But this year, a percentage of their grade is based on a speaking exam conducted by yours truly. The word “exam” alone strikes fear in the hearts of all Korean students, and they are already anxious about this oral exam that will be held sometime in May. I’m optimistic that this will give me the authority I was lacking last school year.

I also have my own classroom this year, and not just any classroom, but a brand new “English Zone” paid for by a grant from the government and equipped with more technology than I know what to do with. Before I had nothing but a chalkboard, and now I have a touch screen LCD monitor. (I think that’s what it’s called anyway)

It’s a good thing that the school year is starting off on a positive note, because I came back from Thailand in sort of an anti-Korea funk. When I stepped off the plane in Seoul, I was greeted by frigid cold weather and fought a throng of pushing and shoving Koreans to get onto the light rail. It’s always like that coming back to Seoul. I forget what it’s like and then I’m rudely awakened. Also, that week the won took a nosedive in value. I have to transfer money home every month to pay bills regardless of the exchange rate, and that week it was at an 11 year low, so I cringed as hundreds of thousands of won disappeared into thin air. Right now I’m making almost $500 less a month than I was back in September because of the crappy exchange rate. If the won/dollar exchange rate were to continue to plummet, it wouldn’t be feasible to stay another year in Korea. But the exchange rate got a little bit better this week (after I transferred my money, of course) so I’ll just have to wait and see. I’ve decided to put the stay-or-go decision on the back burner for a while rather than stress out about it constantly.

Well, I will leave you with some pictures of my awesome new classroom. It’s definitely the nicest in the entire school and I feel a little guilty about that. I sometimes wonder what the Korean teachers think of me because I do less work than they do, I have the nicest room, and I’m really popular with the students only because I’m one of only two foreigners at the school. (We have a Chinese teacher now too) They seem to like me though, and more teachers have been making an effort lately to try to talk to me. Today at lunch one teacher told me that she wanted to talk to me before, but she was too scared. It seems more of them have gotten over their “shyness.” It only took six months. Anyway…

Here’s my new room!