Veronica Mars - The Movie (Cue excited little happy dance)

So those of you who know what I am talking about will instantly realize the momentous occasion that is 'The Veronica Mars Movie'  - of which I am excited to report will be out this year in 2014. The official release date for the US is March 14th, 2014. I have no idea when it will be out in Korea; I can only hope that it comes to theaters as it would be awesome to see on the big screen.

So for those of you who don't know what I am talking about (it's hard to imagine but there are probably a few people that missed the whole phenomenon, I know that my sister is only watching it now because I made her and of course she is loving it), Veronica Mars was a television series about a girl in high school who was also a private eye. It ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007 and stared Kristen Bell as the title character. It was witty and smart and like many good programs got canned for no good reason. Since then there has been talk about a movie, all the actors and the creator Rob Thomas were enthusiastic about the possibility but it never got the backing - that was until the invention of a little thing called Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is a website resource for financing creative endeavors, it's called crowd funding and basically you submit your proposal just like you would if you were trying to get funding from investors anywhere but you are submitting it to the world. If people like your project they can donate. There are rewards offered for investors on some projects depending on the amount donated - for example if the fund was for a book the author might offer to name a character after someone if they donate $500, for other projects you might get the finished product. It's a great idea and has helped some really worthwhile projects that may not have been able to get funded get up and going.

Rob Thomas basically went to the studio and asked if he could get the money would they back the making of the Veronica Mars movie, being a situation where they couldn't really lose, of course they said yes. Surpassing every ones expectations the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign became one of the most successful in the sites history, it raised the needed 2 million dollars in pretty much the first day and then every thing after that was what could make the movie even better. The final amount was about 5.7 million dollars raised from over 90,000 backers. True to their word the filming began over the summer and now almost a year later the movie is slated for release in March.

The first looks at the new movie are out now, so here it is 'the trailer for the Veronica Mars (2014) movie, I hope you are as excited as me to see it. It looks like it is going to be good, and if it does do well perhaps the studio will pick up the tab on the next one.

Funny Video - K-Idols speaking English

This is a clip from a Korean variety show where some Korean celebrities had to translate a Korean phrase into English.

Might be something that you can show to your class for fun - see if they can do better than the stars.

Korea in the News #5

Korea was again in the news, this article highlights one of the problems that as foreigners we see here in South Korea constantly.  The attitude towards animals is really low, I think a lot of it comes from the fact that they are just not educated on how to interact with animals.  There are not many wild ones left and pets are expensive so many people don't have them.  It means that they just don't know how to deal with animals and the emotional connection is lacking. 

Burning dog sparks public outcry in S. Korea

One of my good friends (a lovely, educated woman who is a mother and principle of a private school) was telling me how she was once (a long time ago) given some baby rabbits from a boyfriend and she put them in her handbag to carry around.  They of course died and she was very sad - I could not believe that someone could be so silly.  Of course they died, they are fragile creatures  - who in their right mind would put them in their handbag?  But the thing is, as I came to realise, she did not know that  - she had never had an animal before, had no experience with animals and had no idea what to do or how to look after them. What I and many of us would see as basic common sense just did not apply sadly.

ESL Teaching Tips #3 - The Magic Hat

This is not so much a teaching tip as a teaching resource and it is one of my absolute favorites. It's called the 'The Hat' and it's a software programme that randomly selects names out of a virtual hat - no muss, no fuss.

Every month my students have to do a presentation where they talk for a minute or two about one of the subjects we have studied.  In some classes I have all the kids wanting to be first and in others I have none of them wanting to.  Even doing a rhyme choosing poem sometimes does not really work out well, 'The Hat' programme will solve all these issues.  You can type the names into it as you go or you can do it before hand and then just load the list from a saved file, you can also pick pairs of names so if you have a class that does not like to pair up this will also work great. 

I like it because the kids can't argue with it or blame anyone, if they say it's not fair I just point at the computer and say - 'the computer picked it, not me' and this pretty much stops any arguments.  As an added bonus it's also a bit of fun, the kids like trying to guess whose name will come out each time the hat draws a name. I keep it on my flash drive -  it's just a small programme, and that way I have it with me which ever class I am in. It's got to the point where the kids ask for it now, it's nice to have a positive start to something most of them don't like to do.

The programme is called 'The Hat' and is from Harmony Hollow Software.  You can find it here and best of all it's free.

Korea in the News #4

South Korea and more importantly Suwon is mentioned in two articles that are on the New Zealand News website 'Stuff' today.

The first one is about Internet/technology addiction in children - as a teacher I see this all the time.  If the kids have any kind of break most of them pull out their phones, you try and talk to them but they are too busy playing games. The article mentions a Suwon elementary school that has a policy where they take the phones at the beginning of the day and return them when the kids are ready to leave.

Article: South Korea to stem digital addiction from age 3

The second article is about the toilet museum in Suwon, one of the many fabulous attractions of our fair city. I have not been yet but it's on my 'To-do' list.

Article: Toilet park flush with success

Interview from Expat Arrivals

I was recently interviewed by the website Expat Arrivals for their South Korean information page. Expat Arrivals is a website that aims to give lots of local knowledge and information for living in areas all over the world.

You can check out my interview and others from expats living in South Korea here.

A Little Bit of New Zealand - JGeeks

I was just checking out some New Zealand stuff on YouTube to see what was popular over there at them moment and I stumbled upon this group.

They are currently competing in 'New Zealand's Got Talent' as a dance group, well maybe dance/comedy group.  I thought they were really funny, totally fresh and with such a passion for their New Zealand culture but with a healthy dose of not taking themselves to seriously. 

I was thinking about putting it up for Music Monday but it's not really a song and I thought this bit from the show was pretty good.  They do have some songs so I might put one up in the future but if you are interested check them out on YouTube.

The group is called JGeeks and this video is from the Semi Finals of  the New Zealand's Got Talent competition.

Korea in the News #3

Not really sure if this counts as news per se but . . . .

Music Monday #20

No Brain is one of the most famous indie rock bands in Korea, they are often described as Punk but they are more diverse than that - they have many influences and are probably better described as 'Alternative' if you want to put a label on it.  Their roots are in punk however, playing in small clubs in Hongdae, contributing to various punk compilations albums and covering Sex Pistols songs for one album.

They have been around since 1996 and have put out six albums, as they have grown in popularity and their line up has changed the music has inevitably changed too - it's become more mainstream with influences from Reggie to Country.  They even did a song with K-pop band Big Bang and they have made songs for the Korean teams in the Soccer World Cup over the years. The members have also appeared on a few TV shows in acting and hosting jobs.

So here is one song I have picked to showcase off YouTube, it was a bit of a random selection but there are many others so if you are interested check them out. You can also find the band on Facebook and their official site.

No Brain - 넌 내게 반했어

info from Wikipedia

A Touch of Culture - The Ballet

On Saturday I attended my first ever ballet.  I saw 'Swan Lake' performed by the Korean National Ballet Company. A friend of mine likes this sort of thing and invited me, I was not sure if I would like it but I figured you have to try everything once.

It actually was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, it kept my interest most of the way through. There was a bit in the second act where all the swans were dancing to some very soothing music that I found my eyelids drooping a bit.  After talking with the rest of the group afterwards however, I found I was not the only one - even the more enthusiastic ballet watchers had thought that part was very lulling.

I also thought the end was a bit weird as I was under the impression that the main characters die. It did not seem like that unless I was misinterpreting (which could easily be that case as its all interpretation) - it just seemed a lot happier at the end than I was expecting. Not a bad thing but when it ended I was a bit confused.

It was nice to get out and do something a bit different, I don't think it's something I would do on a regular basis but I would be open to seeing something like 'The Nutcracker' perhaps at another time.

The ballet was in the Opera House of the Seongnam Arts Center which was very easy to get to for me.  From Ingye-dong in Suwon you can take the red 4000 bus.  This bus takes you right to the Arts Center and it only took about an hour to get there.

Website Highlight #4 - KikinitinKorea

A really fun website that has been steadily gaining popularity recently is #KikinitinKorea. 

It's a series of pictures (with captions) that capture some of the highs, the lows and the things in between that living in Korea offers. It has also just been opened up so that you can submit your own pictures now too.

Check it out for a quick laugh. http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/

Music Monday #18

This Music Monday is a Korean offering, again it's a very popular one.  G-Dragon is one of the members of the hit Korean Group 'Big Bang', he also has what looks like a lucrative career in endorsements and a burgeoning solo career too.

He recently released an EP called 'One of a Kind' where one of the songs was called 'Crayon'.  Apparently this is short for 'Crazy+On' or a combination of 'Crazy+G-Dragon'.  The music video is being played on the buses at the moment which is where I saw a clip of it and thought I would show it here.  It certainly is crazy, but it seems like that was the idea for the video. It's bright and colorful and very silly.

Like his group 'Big Bang's' music, G-Dragon's sound is not really considered K-pop as such.  In Korea it is what passes as Hip Hop.  It does have a different beat to it than the more traditional K-pop sound. Anyway here for your interest or amusement - whatever the case may be is the latest music video from G-Dragon.

G-Dragon - Crayon

Chuseok (추석)

This weekend in Korea is Chuseok, it includes the Monday also so we have a three day holiday at this time.  The actual day of Chuseok this year is Sunday the 30th September.

Also this year Wednesday is another Korean holiday so most schools have given the Tuesday as a holiday too.  This means that we get a five day holiday including the Saturday and Sunday which is very nice.

What is Chuseok?

Chuseok is one of the most important holidays in the Korean year and is often referred to as the Korean Thanksgiving.

It is traditionally a harvest festival which is celebrated on the brightest full moon of the year (it is the 15th day of the 8th month on the lunar calendar - the date changes every year).  In modern Korea families return their ancestral hometowns, there are traditional activities such as ancestor worship rituals and visiting tombs to tidy and clean them. Many of these kind of pastimes are still a big part of Chuseok. Some people still participate in traditional folk games whereas others may simply spend time with family, talking, playing card games or watching TV.

Food is a big part of the celebrations and families will prepare a big feast with meats, fish, vegetables, sweet rice, dumplings and fruit.  The traditional beverage for Chuseok is rice wine.

One of the most well know food dishes for Chuseok is Songpyeong (송편), and is a rice cake. It is made with rice powder dough and filled with things like beans, chestnuts or sesame. It is then steamed with pine needles. Songpyeong is usually shaped in a crescent - tradition says that you make a wish as you fill the Songpyeong and then fold it into the crescent so the wish does not fall out. There is also a Korean saying that a person that makes beautiful Songpyeong will have a good spouse and children.

Website Highlight #3 - The Silk Road

Another awesome website that I just found and really wanted to share.  This one is called The Silk Road and is relatively new.  It's a series of short videos about Korea, lots of different topics from shopping and bars to culture and places to visit.

Great videos and what looks to be the start of a really interesting and informative site - be sure to check them out.  The website address is http://www.thesilkroad.tv/ and as always I have put a permanent link in the list of useful sites on the side of the blog.

Sneak Peek at The Silk Road:

Website Highlight #2 - koreaBANG

I found another cool website that I wanted to share with you.  It's called koreaBANG and its a media information site.  The full name is koreaBANG - Hot Internet stories, pictures and videos in Korea and it is apparently in association with another similar site called chinaSMACK (which I'm guessing has news and media from China).

So it's an English site but based on Korea and aims to bring any trending articles, viral videos or other such media from Korea to the English world.

The actual website is http://www.koreabang.com/ and I have put a permanent link in my list of useful sites on the side of the blog.

Check it out - it has lots of interesting articles and things if you are living in Korea or even just interested in visiting or just interested in Korea.

V Energy Drink in Korea

Fellow Kiwis you will be pleased to know that V Energy Drink is now available in Korea. 

For those of us addicted to the little green monster you will be very excited to find that you can get your fix so far from home.

Up till now I have been drinking Red Bull and when I first got here even that was hard to find, only one convenience store around my neighborhood stocked it.  Now you can get Red Bull almost everywhere including the supermarkets.  There are also a few other brands - the Korean 'Hot 6', 'Burn' by the Coca-Cola Company and a few others that are trying to get in on the emerging market.

I had not had V in a very long time as I've been here over a year and a half now but I went home to New Zealand the week before last for my summer vacation.  I quickly got reacquainted with it and even tried their new V Blue flavour.  I drank my last one on the morning that I flew out and was disappointed that I could not find any shops selling it at Auckland airport, I wanted to buy some for the plane once I got through customs but I had to settle for Red Bull.  I thought it was a bit silly when V is a New Zealand product.

So that was the Sunday and I had to go to work the next day on Monday. At lunch time I went to grab a Red Bull from the convenience store and was excited when I saw a flash of green sitting next to the Red Bull - it can't be I thought, but it was and I was super excited. I had to wait untill I got back to work so I could gush about it with people who speak English, the Korean teachers that I work with all know about my addiction to Red Bull but I told them that New Zealand has a better one and now I could show it to them.  Some of them said they will try it too  - I figure the more that buy it the better as I am sure it will only stay here if it sells well.

Logistics:

• It is currently selling for 1,800 won which is super cheap.  Red Bull is 2,900 won (2,500 in supermarkets and 3,000 sometimes in Seoul) so V is a bargain compared.  It's also cheaper than what you would pay in New Zealand.  I would guess that this is an introductory price so if it stays be prepared for the price to go up.
• They are selling them for 'buy two and get the third one free' at the moment so you can stock up. 
• The only place I have found it in so far is the GS25 convenience stores.  Unfortunately even though convenience stores are ubiquitous across Korea the GS25 ones can be hard to find sometimes. 
• They only have the green original can so far, I quite like the sugar free version but Korea does not really do diet stuff very much so there is probably not the market for it. 

If you have a GS25 near you then you are in luck, it took me ages to find one in Ingye-dong where I live.  I knew there must be one but all the convenience stores I go to are Family Marts or 7 Elevens. I walked around the streets near my apartment for ages looking at all the ones I knew and they were all wrong.  I got a bit excited when I went to one across from the park, I saw the 25 but then realised it was the wrong color and it was '25 For You' not GS25.  After walking around the backstreets behind the CGV for ages on a very hot day, I finally found one as I was heading home about to give up. 

If you are looking in Ingye-dong the one I found is on the side street opposite the hi-Mart (on the Home Plus side of the street). When you are walking towards Home Plus from Galleria direction you turn right into a small street before you get to Home Plus - when you can see that Hi-mart is on the other side of the road. It's not very far down and is on the right again.

Also if you don't see it at first in your local GS25 have a look around, it might be in a different fridge than all the other drinks as they are promoting it with the buy two get one free.  I was about to leave empty handed when I spotted it on my way out the door - it was in a small fridge behind the door.

Thanks Frucor for making one kiwigirl far from home a very happy Kiwi girl.

Website Highlight #1 - Korea Gig Guide

I just found a great website called Korea Gig Guide - it is a listing for live music in Seoul.  According to the website's 'about' page it was founded by and is run by expats who were interested in Korean music and wanted to know when and where live gigs were being played.  They say that they also list things about art events, cultural things and anything they find interesting.

They have bands listed like ...Whatever That Means, Geeks, Rux, Skasucks to name but a few.

I think this could be a great resource so make sure you check it out.  I've also added it to my list of links on the sidebar for future reference.

The website address is http://www.koreagigguide.com/

Korea in the News #2

Another article about Korea in New Zealand news.

This one is about a South Korean man who has been detained after visiting North Korea.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/7235612/S-Korean-detained-for-unapproved-trip-to-North

Korea in the News #1

An article from New Zealand news website - Stuff.

It's about a talk/talent TV show in South Korea that features both North and South Korean women.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/7148656/TV-show-blurs-Korean-border

Good to know. . . . . I think?

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