Supa Dupa Diva

This is the dance we do in our dance class. It's probably not as cute as when Dal Shabet does it, but it's still fun!

The Deserts

http://gwangjublog.com/708

This coming weekend, my good friends are playing in a concert downtown. They'll have two concerts, one Friday and one Saturday, according to Andrew. So far, I've seen them play three times in Gwangju, but not recently. It's summer vacation now for some people, and they've all been busy traveling. The last concert I saw they played six songs- they were great! Check out the link for some more details and history about Deserts!

2AM- World Cup Song

An amazingly bad music video.



Wonder what "Hitman Bang" is...

Son Dambi "Saturday Night"

This was also a video that was playing during our field trip. The kids loved it, and continued to sing it throughout the rest of the day.

In Korean class, I've learned how to say saturday night but because of this song, I will forever remember it! Romanized, it sounds like "Toe-yo-il bam-ae"

After School "Diva"

So I've been meaning to post this Kpop video. It's pretty horrible, actually.

On our field trip a few weeks back, we had Kpop playing in our coach bus whenever we went somewhere new. This was one of the songs. Class 7 didn't really know any of the words other than the main line "Diva, diva, dididi diva!!"

I'm a fan of the horrible outfits and funny dance moves. I've asked a few Koreans what the rest of the lyrics are, but they say it just kind of sounds like nonsense! Check it out:

New Phones

We're getting new phones. Everyone in EPIK. I've sent my papers in to the phone company, but I haven't heard anything about when I'll be receiving it yet. Lots of people have been having problems in the last few weeks, and somehow it always seems to come up in conversation. Some peoples phones are shut off because they didn't send their papers, and others can only receive texts and calls, but nothing outgoing. Luckily I haven't experienced this (yet).

We won't be getting the Lollipop phone unfortunately. Here's the promotional video for the new phone. I don't know what I'd say if someone called me his lollipop!

Girls Generation "Run Devil Run"

This is Girls Generation ( 소녜시댸) newest song. It was just released yesterday. The black and white and dark mood is a huge contrast to the bright, happy colors of "Oh!" I really enjoy it, and even though I've only heard it twice now, the "run, devil, run" is stuck in my head. ^^ Enjoy!

Wow! 소녜시대 and Super Junior Together!

I just found this video on You Tube, and it makes me happy. It's a combo of Girls Generation, my favorite girls group, and one of my favorite songs, "Sorry, Sorry." After "Sorry Sorry" they sing some of their own songs too.

I read an article about one of the girls (Seohyun) that had recently graduated from high school. I can't imagine the applause she must have gotten when she got her diploma!

2NE1 "I Don't Care"

If you saw my facebook status yesterday, it was in reference to this song. I made the mistake of saying "I don't care" at some point during my introduction lesson to a group of new 1st graders. I didn't realize the response I'd get, because I'd said it numerous times last semester, and nobody noticed. The new students however burst out in song immediately. This song has been out for a while now, and the group is very popular, like in the top 5 girl Kpop bands. They also joined with Big Bang for the song "Lollipop," which I posted last year. Check it out, soon you'll be singing along!

Tiara "Bo Peep Bo Peep" 19+

This new song is pretty popular right now in Korea. Lots of stores downtown are playing it out their doors, and all my kids know it. They also love performing the little dance for me. It's pretty scandalous and I'm still not entirely sure what the song is about exactly! The cat bit is pretty strange. You'll also notice that the video is supposed to be for 19+ but everyone knows it anyhow.

Girls Generation- Oh

I was a cheereader for 6 years, high school and college. We had some pretty cute uniforms over the years, but none like this. Even though the UWEC Blugolds are, yep you guessed it, blue and gold, our uniforms never looked like the cute ones in Girls Generation new song, Oh. Here's a picture from a football game freshman year. We had two different kinds of uniforms cause our team was so big... thank God we eventually got rid of the white crop uniforms and just stuck with the navy ones!



Flashback to 2003- Junior Year(I'm the very middle flyer):



Here's the new song, Oh.

Girls Generation- Tell Me Your Wish

This is one of my new favorite songs. It's by Girls Generation, a group that I know a few Americans (Mike and co) really enjoy! I'm pretty sure one of the reasons it is so popular is because of their legs! Check it out here:

Girls Generation (소녀시대)- "Gee"

As you may or may not remember, when I spent the day with my "host family" Mun (문), the son, 14 years old, is a big fan of the Kpop Girls Group called Girls Generation. They are 9 members strong, and are one of the most popular groups. He really wanted a cd for his Christmas present, so I picked one up at Emart (이마트)for him this weekend.

I read an article about them today on The Korea Times that said this about their diet:
"Each member of Girls’ Generation, top K-pop group, lives on only 800 kilo calories-200 Kcal as breakfast and 300 Kcal as lunch and dinner, respectively, according to a talk show broadcast on MBC TV Thursday.

Their diet usually consists of vegetables such as tomatoes and pumpkins and fruits such as watermelons and pineapples.

In addition, most of the members eat water and cucumbers when they feel hungry."

No wonder they are so skinny! Anyway, here is one of their hits, "Gee."

A Big Thanks To Brian...

Brian recently posted this video on my Facebook wall. I'm not sure where he found it, but I really like it! I really would not be suprised to see this actually happen at a game. Like I've mentioned before, everyone seems to know the dance moves to the biggest Kpop songs, no matter what generation you are.

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1925951

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Here is the regular music video for the same song. This version also has the English subtitles. It is pretty catchy I think!



Here is the bunch of Phillippino prisioners dancing to the same song. Anyone recgonize them from MJ's Thriller?

G-Dragon "Heartbreaker"

This song alone may be the only reason I go to the gym. On Monday nights, I take a spinning class with about 20 other middle-aged Korean women. Sometimes there's a few men that even join. During said spinning class, our instructor LOVES to play the latest KPOP song. I think this may be one of her favorites. I should say first that the version she plays is sped up a little. When this song comes on, she hops off her bike, and makes arm motions in the air that mimick our feet moving really, really fast. She then walks around the room singing and dancing like crazy. She gets really into it, its highly entertaining. Maybe I'll do the moves to the chorus next time I see you!



There are some other songs which she does the corresponding dance moves on her bike. I know the moves for each, and it's pretty fun. However, I'm not sure what the songs are, and I don't know how to ask. I suppose I could say the word for music, "음악," and then do the moves. Maybe next week I'll have more videos to post.

Big Bang/ 2NE1 "Lollipop"

My students like listening to this song, even though they say now it is getting old. I love the bright, in-your-face colors! This is KPOP at it's finest in my opinion! It's pretty addicting! Enjoy.

The IPhone has arrived

With the arrival of Apple's Iphone, theres a lot more competition now in the Korean cell phone market. The iPhone is released by KT, Korea's second bigest mobile operator (I also have a KT phone). Currently, "iphones are flying off Korean shelves and showing promise to shake the hierarchy of the local handset market where Samsung and LG Electronics have been enjoying a near-duopoly."

In November, Samsung sold 720,000 handsets, accounting for 50% of the 1.45 million cell phones sold!

Here's a promotional video for the Chocolate Phone, sold by LG Cyon. The performance is done by Girls Generation, and Mihey has told me the phone is quite expensive, none of her friends have it because "none of my friends are doctors." However, I can say I've never wanted to buy a phone so bad! What a good marketing technique!

곰 세 마리 (The Three Bears)

Here is a youtube video of a song we sang Monday night at Korean class. It is called "The Three Bears" and it is a traditional song, probably comparable to "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." The lyrics are something like:

곰 세마리가/한집에 있어 Three fuzzy bears live / in a cabin

아빠곰/엄마곰/애기곰 Daddy Bear / mommy bear / baby bear

아빠곰은/뚱뚱해 Daddy bears is / big and fat

엄마곰은/날씬해 Mommy bear is / slim and trim

애기곰은/너무 귀여워 Baby bear is / such a cutie pie

히쭉히쭉/잘한다 Tee-hee tee-hee / There you go

Here is the video if you want to check it out!

KPop 2009 Mashup, Part II

On Mondays and Tuesdays, I teach at Seongdeok Middle School. The kids come in after class to clean the room, and I let them use You Tube to play Kpop songs. They really enjoy it. The other day, some kids pulled up a video before first period. There were about 7 boys in the class who were totally absorbed in it. Then the group grew to about 15 kids, the about half the class (maybe 23 students) were watching the video. It is pretty cool, but if only they paid this much attention to me! :) Here's the pictures I snapped in order, followed by the video they were watching.