New K-pop releases in 2012

K-pop or the Korean wave has recently been noticed in the US. Such musical artists like Girls Generation released American versions of their popular single. In my opinion, it was a poor representation of talented musical artists from Korea. They were featured on the David Letterman show but they just sang, no talking. I feel like it was just at the end to fill in space not because they really wanted them to be on show. It's sad really. Some other artists that have made an impact on America would be G.NA,2NE1 and BIG BANG.

BoA Kwon was the first Korean artist to make an impact in the US with her American album back in 2009. Not only was it a huge success but it revealed the beauty of Korea could not only sing but dance as well. The album went platinum which is really incredible for an international artist to sell so many copies of their music in a foreign country. Recently, BoA was featured on a TV show like American idol in Korea. It's called Kpop Star.

Anyways, here are some new releases this year.

First we have SEVEN who released his new mini album, which features songs like Sombody else, A person like that, and When I can't sing. which is about a guy who falls in love with a girl but she has boyfriend already. He does everything to convince himself he has to move on but he can't get her out of his mind.

Track list:

1. Somebody Else
2. Angel
3. 내가 노래를 못해도 (When I can't sing)
4. 그런 사람 (A person like that)
5. 이해해
6. Make Good Love

In my opinion, his new mini album is strong with a good variety of songs. From ballads to energetic and dance music. I rate it an 8/10. My favorite songs are Somebody Else and That person. Below I provided the lyrics as well as my own translation to Somebody Else.

Somebody Else is about a guy who falls in love with a girl but she has a boyfriend. He does everything to convince himself to move on but he can't get her out of his mind. It's a great song with powerful lyrics and music.

1. Somebody Else: SEVEN

내 앞에 있는 널 차마 안을 수 없어
ne ape inneun nol chama aneul su obso
한마딜 못해 나 매일 이렇게
hanmadil mot-he na meiriroke
바라보고만 있어
barabogoman isso


지금 니 두 눈엔 이미 오래 전 부터
jigeum ni du nunen imi ore jon buto
내가 아닌 다른 그 사람이
nega anin dareun geu sarami
널 보며 웃고 서있어
nol bomyo utgo soisso


*멀어지는 네 뒷 모습이 날 붙잡고 있어
morojineun ne dwit moseubi nal butjapgo isso
뒤돌아볼까 헛된 기대를 안고
dwidorabolkka hotdwen gidereuran-go
널 기다려 언제까지나
nol gidaryo onjekkajina


**니가 사랑하는 somebody else
niga saranghaneun somebody else
난 여기 서있는데
nan yogi soinneunde
널 가질 수 없는 거라면
nol gajil su omneun goramyon
니 기억과 춤추고 싶어
ni giokgwa chumchugo sipo

Somebody else,
난 여기 서있는데
nan yogi soinneunde
이 모든게 꿈인거라면
i modeun-ge kkumin-goramyon
니 기억과 춤추고 싶어
ni giokgwa chumchugo sipo


바라볼 수 있지만 다가갈 수 없어
barabol su itjiman dagagal su obso
용기가 없어 멀어질 것 같아서
yonggiga obso morojil got gataso
So I’m waiting and I’m waiting
끝이 어딘지 모르지만
kkeuchi odinji moreujiman




정말 바보 같다고 모두 말하지만
jeongmal babo gatdago modu mal-hajiman
아무도 내 맘을 몰라
amudo ne mameul molla
오직 너만을 향해 뛰어가는
ojik-nomaneul hyanghe ttwioganeun
내 심장을 멈출 수가 없어
ne simjangeul momchul suga obseo

* repeat
** repeat


그저 니곁에만 있게 해줄래
geujo nigyoteman itge hejulle
지금 이대로도 나는 행복해
jigeum iderodo naneun hengbokhe
너의 뒤에서 너를 위해서
noye dwieso noreul wiheso
기다릴게 그날까지
gidarilge geunalkkaji

니가 사랑하는
niga saranghaneun

** repeat

Credit
Hangul lyrics: Daum Music, Seven


English translation: dtninja831

I can't bear to hold you, who is in front of me
I can't say a single word so every day,
I am only looking at you like this

Right now, in those eyes, for so long
A different person other than me
Is standing in front of you, smiling at you

* You're becoming farther away so I try to hold on
With the pointless hope that you might look back
I am always waiting for you

** You love somebody else
Though I am standing here
If I can't have you
Then I want to dance with your memories

Somebody else
Though I am standing here
If everything is a dream
I want to dance with your memories

I can look at you but I can't approach you
I don't have the courage because I'm afraid we might grow far apart
So I'm waiting and I'm waiting
Though I don't know if this is the end

Everyone tells me that I'm such a fool but
No one knows my heart
My heart that only beats toward you
Cannot be stopped

* repeat

** repeat

Will you just let me stay by your side?
I am happy the way things are right now
Behind you, for you
I will wait until that day

* repeat

** repeat


Lyrics take time and effort so please support me by crediting me. dtninja831~

The next song I posted is Seven's "그런 사람," which literally means A person like that. It's a love song that describes the type of person a girl is looking for and wants to have. The lyrics are very detailed and if you have ever been in love before then you can can recognize the language. It's a slower song, but it has powerful vocals which makes it a great ballad. In my opinion, this is my favorite song on the album.


4. 그런 사람 (A person like that)

멋진 차로 매일 데리러 갈게
motjin charo meil deriro galge
깔끔한 차림새로 날 단장하고서
kkalkkeumhan charimsero nal danjanghagoso
니가 타고 내릴 때 문을 열어줄게 oh yeah
niga tago neril tte muneul yorojulge oh yeah
초라한 곳엔 절대 데려가지 않고
chorahan gosen jolde deryogaji anko
좋은 곳에서 맛있는 식사만 하고
joheun goseso masinneun siksaman hago
늘 재밌는 얘기로 널 즐겁게 하고
neul jeminneun yegiro nol jeulgopge hago
웃게 해줄게
utge hejulge


술은 멀리하고 매일 운동하고
sureun mollihago meirundonghago
멋진 내 몸은 너만 볼 수 있고
motjin ne momeun noman bol su itgo
늘 친구들의 부러움을 사게 해줄게
neul chinggudeure buroumeul sage hejulge


니가 바래왔던 원하고 있던
niga barewatdon wonhago itdon
상상만 하던 그런 사람 나 인걸
sangsangman hadon geuron saram na in-gol
이런 사람 없을걸 오직 나 뿐인걸
iron saram obseulgorojing-na ppunin-gol
내가 그려왔던 만나고 싶던
nega geuryowatdon mannago sipdon
꿈만 꿔오던 그런 사람 너 인걸
kkumman kkwo-odon geuron saram no in-gol
그런 사람 없을걸 알아 너 뿐인걸
geuron saram obseulgorara no ppunin-gol


남자들이 많은 술자린 안돼
namjadeuri maneun suljarin andwe
밤 늦게 혼자 걸을 때면 전화해
bam neutge honja goreul ttemyon jonhwahe
늘 어딜가든 내게 말해줘야 돼
neurodilgadeun nege mar-hejwoya dwe
노출이 많은 야한 옷 입지 말고
nochuri maneun yahan ot ipji malgo
놀기 좋아하는 친구는 멀리하고
nolgi joahaneun chingguneun mollihago
처음 보는 남자들이 번호를 물어봐도
choeum boneun namjadeuri bonhoreul murobwado
웃어넘기고
usonomgigo


내게 늘 상냥하게 말하고
nege neul sangnyanghage mar-hago
싸워도 말 함부로 하지 말고
ssawodo mar-hamburo haji malgo
그 모습 그대로 너 변하면 안돼
geu moseup geudero no byonhamyon andwe


니가 바래왔던 원하고 있던 (늘 원해오던)
niga barewatdon wonhago itdon (neul wonheodon)
상상만 하던 그런 사람 나 인걸
sangsangman hadon geuron saram na in-gol
이런 사람 없을걸 오직 나 뿐인걸 (오직 나 뿐인걸 baby girl)
iron saram obseulgorojing-na ppunin-gol (ojing-na ppunin-gol baby girl)
내가 그려왔던 만나고 싶던
nega geuryowatdon mannago sipdon
꿈만 꿔오던 그런 사람 너 인걸
kkumman kkwo-odon geuron saram no in-gol
그런 사람 없을걸 알아 너 뿐인걸 (알고 있는걸 너 뿐이란걸)
geuron saram obseulgorara no ppunin-gol (algo inneun-gol no ppuniran-gol)


혹시 나보다 잘해주고
hoksi naboda jar-hejugo
훨씬 다정하고
hwolssin dajonghago
더 아껴주는 멋진 사람 있다면
do akkyojuneun motjin saram itdamyon
그런 사람 있다면 언제든 나를 떠나도 돼
geuron saram itdamyon onjedeun nareul ttonado dwe
아마도 없겠지만
amado opgetjiman
늘 멋진 모습만 보여줄게
neul motjin moseumman boyojulge
늘 곁에서 내가 지켜줄게
neul gyoteso nega jikyojulge
그저 내 곁에 머물러 사랑해주면 돼
geujo ne gyote momullo saranghejumyon dwe
오로지 넌 나에게만
oroji non naegeman


니가 바래왔던 원하고 있던
niga barewatdon wonhago itdon
상상만 하던 그런 사람 나 인걸 (그게 나 인걸)
sangsangman hadon geuron saram na in-gol (geuge na in-gol)
이런 사람 없을걸 (이젠 없을걸) 오직 나 뿐인걸 (다신 없을걸 아마)
iron saram obseulgol (ijen obseulgol) ojing-na ppunin-gol (dasin obseulgorama)
내가 그려왔던 (fallin in love) 만나고 싶던 (I'm fallin in love)
nega geuryowatdon (fallin in love) mannago sipdon (I'm fallin in love)
꿈만 꿔오던 (only one love) 그런 사람 너 인걸
kkumman kkwo-odon (only one love) geuron saram no in-gol
그런 사람 없을걸 알아 너 뿐인걸
geuron saram obseulgorara no ppunin-gol

lalalalala lalalalala lalalalala lala

Credit
Hangul lyrics: Daum Music, Seven

My Korean family

While teaching here in Korea, I had the great opportunity to meet some great people. I joined a facebook group for learning Korean in Daegu. I met a friend through this group and she told her professor about me. The next thing I know I am invited to her class and I meet a group of Korean students and their professor. Now I hadn't planned on it but I watched the class and even gave my own evaluation and helped where I could. It was an English presentation class where marketing students would present their work for the week. After class, I got to know the students a little better as we ate dinner and drank some drinks all together. In Korean culture, it is a tradition to have some drinks all together and share a meal.

The students names were Boram Kim, Junho Song, Dawoon Jung, Minjung Seo, Udong Lee, Jong Goon Jeong, Seolhee Park, and Sun Min Kwon. I know them so well now that I can call them my family here in Korea. Oh and of course there is the president of the Marketing Academy at Kyungdae, Hongcheol SHin, or Mr. Shin. There is also his assistant whose Korean name I don't know, lol. His name is James, he is tall like me. The other students I got to know very well after Mr. Shin asked me if I could help them out every Saturday. I did just that I helped out on Saturdays that I could and then I also saw some of the students twice a week for individual English conversation. It was a nice time where I could get to know each of the students. It also gave the students a chance to use English and build their vocabulary.

As time went by, I became busier and I couldn't visit the students twice a week anymore. But we had met for about a two month period in that fashion before I became very busy. I tried to meet them as much as could. Sometimes three times in a week, others only two times. Regardless how many times we met, it all was helpful to these students as they would always say to me how much they appreciated me. I felt so grateful to be their English tutor. We even played games like ping pong where we would challenge each other. Jong Goon and Udong were very good but I always put a decent fight, lol. It was fun just to hang out with them. I was no longer just a teacher, I was a good friend as well.

Let me tell you something, there is no greater joy than teaching someone who wants to learn. They praise for your efforts, they don't criticize you on your teaching style or methods. I enjoyed it very much. After I got to know everyone pretty well, Mr. Shin then asked me to teach the class on Saturdays myself. So I accepted and for about four weeks I experienced teaching some college students English. It was more of a English discussion class. It was great. I would come in with a topic to talk about and we would discuss it in detail. We would also play games and do some fun activities to keep it interesting.

However, time flew by and it was February. And it was already the start of a new year. I couldn't believe it but these students were moving on to bigger and better things. I watched them throughout the course of this six month English presentation course and each showed improvement. And last weekend I was very happy to be present at their graduation ceremony. It was great to see everyone again. The students all presented the teachers a cake and sang us a song.

We had a great feast with kalmaegi, saenggyeopsal and soju. We had a great time just talking to each other. Afterwards, the students all thanked me and explained to me what they they thought of me as a teacher and a friend. I was so touched by their words. I didn't realize I meant that much to them. Even Mr. Shin explained his appreciation for me helping out and being his friend. I was surprised that everyone was so appreciative of me and they cared so much. I was very happy to know these people. I consider them to be my family here in Korea.

Reaching the summit of Seong-Am san

Back in October, I climbed a mountain here in Gyeongsan. All teachers were supposed to hike up to the summit and then we would all meet up for dinner. Well all the teaching staff started out hiking together but the further we went the more people left, lol. By the time we reached the checkpoint at the halfway point, there were four of us left. There were two Physical Education teachers, one music teacher and me.

I was not in good shape at the time so I was quite tired. Many teachers were complaining but it was nice to have people to talk to during the climb. Some parts were difficult but we prevailed in the end. We finally reached the summit about an hour and a half later and it was a great view. You could see the entire city of Kyungsan. I saw Daegu University and even Yeongnam University. They looked very small from way up there. The sky was very beautiful too. It was a good experience and I plan to go hiking again in the spring.

Seong-am kids and English Camps

Over the past six months I've gotten to know the kids at Seong-am. I taught everything from first grade to sixth. I was more of a facilitator and helper in most of my classes but as the year progressed I became the lead teacher in the classroom. One way I experienced this was with English camps. English camps are basically classes that Native English speaking teachers have over break from regular school. Usually these camps are usually a week to two weeks. For winter camp, I had two weeks to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.

Most camps have a theme so for winter, I themed mine Animals for the first week for 3rd and 4th grade. My theme for the second week was at the movies. For the animals week, I taught the little kids the different types of animals and we played games like bingo. I also had the students practice their writing and had them recite the vocabulary to me afterwards. We also did some craft activities like story sequencing for the life of a butterfly. The kids seemed to enjoy it so I'm glad I was able to make it fun for them. We also made a butterfly card that they could write something in it for their parents.

The second week I taught students new vocabulary and a little about Hollywood. They really liked my photos I took in Hollywood, lol. I also let students be creative and draw their own movie posters. Some were creative and drew their own movies while others drew their favorite cartoons. Oh well it was a good exercise anyways. One activity the students really liked was the movie evaluations. I had a movie trailer day where I showed three movie previews and they wrote sentences about what they saw.

During Spring Break, I had another English camp which was specifically on phonics. I had never taught an entire week on phonics before. Each class is about 90 minutes so it's twice as long as regular classes. I themed it as a Dr. Seuss camp because his books focus on phonics. I thought it would be cool to read them some stories from Dr. Seuss and teach them some fundamentals of vowel and consonant sounds. Well the first class, I read Hop on Pop, which went pretty well. However, my co-teacher pointed out to me that the story was too long. I thought it would be good for academic and entertainment purposes but for some reason, my co-teacher didn't seem to like that activity.

I ended up doing some memory games with the kids the next day. The last day I read them the Cat in the Hat. I thought it went well but my co-teacher yet again told me it was too long. I just don't understand sometimes but I understand I should have just read a couple pages and made an activity out of it. The kids had fun though so that's the important thing. This semester I have been given much more responsibility and work as well. Last semester I had some lessons I would prepare and I taught fifth graded and sixth grade. However, these camps have helped me prepare for leading most of my classes.

Welcome in the New Year, 2012

So after staying in Hsinchu, I went back to Taipei. I visited the Sun Yat-sen memorial, which was huge. The memorial was quite extensive as it had four floors of information, art, and history. Dr.Sun was Chiang-kai Shek's teacher. He is referred to as "the Father of the Nation" for the ROC and was the former president of Nationalist China. It was an interesting spot to visit.

I also went to the famous, Longshan Temple. It was a Buddhist temple in Taipei, which was also quite large. I went inside and people were burning incense or something in a fire. My guess it was a type of prayer offering but I'm not sure. After that I walked around a bit and saw some parts of the city. I walked through a street market and there were many vendors. There was a large fountain that shot out water at different intervals. It was interesting and seemed to attract a lot of people's attention.

After visiting the temples and memorial, I headed for downtown. I decided to do some shopping around downtown and there were many places to visit. There was a huge bookstore as well as a music and movies store. I ended up eating dinner at the California grill, an American restaurant but it was delicious. I had a meat pizza to start out with and then I had cheesecake for dessert.

Soon after, I walked around outside and it was packed with people. So many people had come to see the fireworks and watch a concert apparently. There was a Chinese Pop concert right next to Taipei, 101. The 101 building is Taipei's main attraction and tallest building. At midnight, the lights would go out and countdown to the New Year. It was December 31, 2011. So I walked a bit more and came to the place where the concert was being held. I watched it for a little bit but I couldn't understand anything. I didn't know any of the artists so I quickly lost interest. I figured since I had a while till the fireworks, I could go and do some more shopping. So that's what I did and then around 10 pm I sat down at a place near 101 and just relaxed and waited for fireworks show.

At 12 o'clock, the fireworks show started with the lights going dark. Then a countdown began and then all the sudden out of nowhere, lights came up from the side of the building. It was very beautiful. The fireworks continued to brighten the sky for the next five or ten minutes. It was a nice display, one I had never seen before in my life. I even a made a friend in Taipei on the bus towards downtown that same week. Somehow he spotted me in the crowd and we met again. That was cool. It was so crowded afterward that there was no traffic or cars for at least a mile from where the fireworks were taking place.

The next morning I went to a place called Xin Beitou. This place was known for a hotspring called the Geothermal valley. So I went to go check it out. It was amazing to see the vapors rising from the hotspring. It seemed to have that medicinal quality if you just breathed in the vapors. Obviously this hotspring is not one that people are allowed to go in because the temperature is far too hot. It was a great spot nonetheless. There was what looked like a house or temple at the peak of the valley. It was a nice place to visit and it was definitely one of my favorite spots.

I stayed in Xin Beitou for a little bit and walked around the area. There was a park and a little winding river that we passed along the way to the Geothermal valley. So after spending the day in Xin Beitou, I headed toward one of the most famous spots in Taipei, the Shilin Night Market. It was definitely popular on New Year's Day, it was full of people. It was basically a place with games and shops as well as food. Food is the main part of the market. In the main area there are food vendors making traditional dishes and several different foods.

While it was very crowded, it was nothing new and it didn't stop me from trying some very delicious food. I tried some Chinese dumplings but they were the size that could feed a giant, lol. I ordered five of them just to try it out but when I got them, I realized just how big they were. Taiwan was a great trip full of adventure, surprises and delicious food.
It was very nice I could visit my friends since I traveled alone.

Travels in Taiwan

My first trip to Taiwan was definitely unforgettable. I had no idea Taiwan was such a beautiful country. I stayed in Taoyuan a small city outside of Taipei. My hotel was very nice. The rooms were huge and there were several good things about the location. There was a bus that went to downtown in one stop down the road. There was a a seven eleven down the street, a restaurant in the hotel and even a health facility with a swimming pool.

My first day there I met my close friend Sharon. It was the first time we have met in person but we had been friends for almost two years now online. First we went to Taipei main station, which is huge. Then we ate some delicious Chinese food. We had dumplings and egg drop soup. Anyways we saw some sights like Chiang-kai Shek's memorial, botantical gardens, Ximen square for some traditional Taiwanese noodles. And then we went to downtown Taipei for some sights like Taipei 101, shopping and some night clubs.

The next day I went to the Chinese National Palace Museum. It was a place I had always wanted to go. I am fascinated by the history and culture of ancient China It was very neat. The outside architecture was impressive and the collection was massive but I couldn't see everything in one day. I saw collections in the main building but there was another building. I saw some of ancient China's greatest treasures and artifacts. It was too bad they prohibit taking pictures cause I would have taken some photos. The collection was most impressive including the archives and calligraphy paintings.

The scenery of the museum was very nice. There was a Chinese garden and two full buildings full of collections. There were tours going on as well in every language. I saw many Japanese and even Korean students visiting the museum. There were also just tour groups in a specific language. So it was quite busy when I arrived at the museum. The archives section was very interesting. It had some original documents from several different sources. There were treaties and other documents that you could read that had been translated. It was cool to see such pieces of history.


Afterward, I visited my friend Yama in Hsinchu. It was about 2 hours away from Taipei so I took a bus and met him that evening. Now Yama had studied at Ball State University as exchange student. It's where I met him my senior year in college. In fact, Yama is the friend who introduced me to Korean and Dongyeop, his Korean roommate in college. You could say he is the reason I'm here in Korea but there are many factors. But if I had never met Yama, I don't believe I would be here. He even met my parents once and I met his family when I visited Japan a few years ago. So you could say we are old friends.

We sat down at a Taiwanese style restaurant and ate some noodles and talked about the past and the good times we shared. Then we talked about things that happened in our lives the past two years and how things have changed. It was a really nice time. Yama insisted I stay with him in his apartment so I accepted his invitation. It was a great night but we both had to wake up early for his work in the morning. That's just the busy way of life in Asia though. I'm starting to adjust to it now.