Some of my fav K-POP

This is not a review for these songs...just embedding a few that stood out that I like. Some of these I own on iTunes. I've writen a few notes under each clip. Please note that I heard all of these on the radio before I saw the videos...so just to let you know the videos had influence over me liking the songs.

I'm posting these because...when I came here in 2009, the music didn't really interest me much. But in the last year or less, Some songs started to stand out. Maybe I've just been here too long. But see what you think. Here they are:


"Pretty Pretty" by Ladies' Code. This lead singer (bleached hair) has a great voice. Her name is Sojeong. She won the competition on Korea's version of The Voice. This song...just stands out. It's of the old school genre. Not your tipical K-POP...not even usual for Spica. Make sure you listen past the intro. Ummm...not work safe. I didn't put the video up because this has the lyrics. The music is cool, the two lead vocals sound great together, and the backup vocals are cool. Does, as the title suggests, have the "F word". The novelty of this song here is that it gets played in cafes, family restaurants, and blasted out on the streets from cell phone shops. This song has a sweet sound to it. The title gets translated as "Not there" or "Nothing". "Gone" might be a better translation in this context, as in "the love is gone", or "it isn't there anymore". Drove me nuts when I couldn't find out what this song was. Herd it and instantly loved it. Even before I knew what the lyrics were, I sensed it had a feeling of moving on after a bad experience. And I wasn't far off. This has subtitles. Another song that stands out and doesn't sound like your typical K-POP. This is Rain. He was popular for a while, and then has to take two years hiatus from music to do his military service. Then he just comes back and puts this out and goes to the top of the charts. It's a catchy song, but what I really like about it is the way he implements a marching band for the baseline of the song. Anyway...enjoy.

Yahoo Finance article on job situation back in the US

I couldn't think of a good title for this post. Maybe I'll change it later, but anyway, saw this article on Yahoo Finance and thought that...well, I thought a couple things. One, I thought that I shouldn't complain that not everything is going the way I hoped here in K-land, and two, that maybe it's a bad time to bash on the idea of having dreams. 

Here's the article: Out of Work, Out of Benefits, and Running Out of Options

On the other hand...maybe I do have as much reason to be as frustrated as the person in the article (or those commenting on the article). I don't know. It hasn't helped me in the past to worry about how other people are managing with their lives...even if they were better off than me. I've just got to keep trying the best I can. Perhaps it behooves me to pursue a dream, even if it's never realized. 

In the meantime, it seems I'm doing alright here. I've just noticed my students aren't asking me anymore when I'm going home to the US. 

We'll, that's work. Now if I could get my life outside of work (and outside of financial planning) sorted out... Always seems part of what I need is always somewhere else, out of reach.

Better Picture of Samgyetang

Since I've got my iphone now, thought I'd put one of my own pictures of samgyetang up.