Mixed bowl

So many things happened since the last time I posted...Did a lot happen? Well I definitely got busier.

   The Mac

It was time to say goodbye to my good old Toshiba laptop. I used the thing for 5 years and it was slowly dying. I can still use it but it is so slow and becomes hot after only a few minutes then crashes. I am now the proud owner of an iMac...which I am still learning to use. (not to mention the changes in blogger!)

  Acting School

It's been a dream of mine since I was very young but when I finished high school my mind wasn't there...I was obsessed with Japan and Korea and wasn't ready to enter an acting program. Last year I realized that I couldn't just let go of that dream and work hard to find an office job that I don't even want to start with. So I auditioned for two acting schools, the National Theatre School of Montreal and Dawson College. I didn't get into NTS (they pick 12 people out of like 800) but got into Dawson yay! I like it a lot and I'm learning so many things every day it's crazy. It isn't easy though because the average age of students is 18 and most of them are straight out of high school. At first I didn't feel comfortable, but now it doesn't really bother me and I tend to forget about the age difference. So I'll be there for 3 years, given, of course, that everything goes well. 

Korean grandmother make up and clothing ^^

 Minzy

My little kitty has been growing faster than I could imagine. She's as cute as ever and very healthy. 10 days ago she got sterilized so I had to make sure she would heal correctly. It was very stressful because she ripped off her stitches only after two days. That got me very nervous and I kept on imagining her insides coming out of her belly. Fortunately for me, my father's girlfriend is a vet and she reassured me and now Minzy is healing correctly. 

I will try to write part 4 of the Misuda adventure, it just takes me longer than a normal post because I go through my files, find the perfect pictures and try to structure the whole thing (I also ponder about what I can put and what I should censor...sad but true).

 Music

I'm very happy because on this Thursday I am going to see Evanescence. Yes, I hear you saying whatever you think about them, but I like their music and I WILL go. Also, in Kpop there has been some interesting new releases (many horrible ones too but they don't deserve our attention). One song I've been addicting too is "Sixth Sense" by the group Brown Eyed Girls. I think the song is powerful and doesn't use sexiness in vain. I'm not exactly sure what the song is about, even if I understand the lyrics, and there are many interpretations. That's the beauty of it I guess.

 I have ideas of posts I would love to do...one of them concerning the history of some Kpop groups. At first I wanted to make videos, but I doubt I will have enough time to work on that. Anyways, we'll see. Being busy is a blessing, because sitting and doing nothing gives too much times to think, and for me over thinking can be very dangerous. 

I'll be back soon! Promise! 

The “Misuda Adventure” Part 3

First Part

Second Part

This third part was long due and this time I won’t give you any bad excuse except that I’ve been very lazy hehe. Since my cat is now healthy I guess I can get back at writing!!

….

Life went back to normal and all I could look forward was to watch the show on TV. I had planned a trip to Sokcho, which is a coastal city on the east shore of Korea, with Vivian and Janelle, another Singapore friend. We decided that we would watch the show from the motel room in Sokcho. We woke up on the Saturday morning of chuseok and set the TV to KBS2. For the first time, I watched myself on TV for a whole hour. It was quite embarrassing. First of all, you could totally tell that I was nervous and that my Korean sucked. My friend Vivian was quite disappointed to see that all of her lines, except her presentation had been cut. We knew so little of show business we didn’t know what to expect. Still, we just laughed it off and told ourselves that probably very few people watched the show (oh dear…). It wasn’t THAT bad, but when you see yourself on camera or record your voice, aren’t you always the worst critic?

 A screen shot from the first show – Dancing backstage

After the show, I didn’t hear much about it. Of course no one would recognize me after only one show and I wasn’t expecting it either. I still wished for similar opportunities to come by though. Then, about 10 days later, I got another call from the writers of the show, basically saying “The show attracted a lot of attention, so much that we decided to make it a weekly show. Would you like to be part of it?” Of course I said yes right away and became very ecstatic. Not only would it mean that I would get to be in the studio every week, but it would also provide me with some financial support!

A few days later, we met up for some reunions and interviews. I don’t remember exactly how the preparation for the first show went on, but it did take a while; the first show wouldn’t air until the end of November 2006. We had to go through a photo shooting for the opening of the show and it’s promotion. If I had known that these pictures would haunt us for years to come…I would have tried to pose better. Still, I didn’t have the power over my outfit so…

 Love the smell of amateur posing

For months every time an article about me or the other girls would come out, they would use pictures from this photo shoot…Eva and I became very scared that they would use these pictures and when the writers would do it in the future, we could only start laughing. I bitch a lot about the pictures, but when I look at them I think it’s nice to see us so innocent, no idea about television fame, just really happy to be part of something bigger than us.

We shot the first show sometime in November, on a Saturday. The show was to be aired every Sunday morning around 11AM, if I remember correctly. Somehow, I have very few memories of the shooting of the first show. I know I preferred my clothes, but I think the fact that my Korean still wasn’t very fluent I had a hard time following, hence I can’t remember well what has been said and done. Plus, it’s been 5 years!! I remember that I said some lines that fell flat and for the first time I experienced the awful feeling of getting no reaction from the public. It’s very embarrassing but with time I learned to not take it personally and to just leave it behind and move on to another subject. Or just say things differently to get people’s attention. Storytelling skills really need to be learned through experience. Especially in a foreign language, you can’t tell a story the same way you do in your native language. It took me a while, but I know that my listening and my perseverance are what made me stay in the show for so long, because I could capture people’s attention with what I said, certainly not because I was the pretty one. Other girls had that role ; )

But I’m digressing. On that day, someone I really wanted to meet was in the panel.

I almost fell down the stairs before this picture so he had to catch me before I fell. It WASN’T on purpose!!

Yes, it is 김종민 Kim Jong Min from the group Koyote. I had watched him in variety shows online while I was in Canada and just loved his crazy personality. I was glad to meet him, but then realized that he is a stranger, just another human being, he doesn’t know me and even though I watched him on shows…I don’t have much to tell him. There’s no way to make a meeting with a celebrity NOT awkward. You either act too cool and look like a pretentious person who doesn’t care or you’re shy and laugh awkwardly. I think it’s because there is no socially established way to deal with these meetings. I took a lot of pictures with singers and actors during the first two years of the show and after a while we mostly all stopped doing it, unless it’s someone we REALLY wanted to meet. The novelty just wore off. I won’t post all the pictures I took with celebrities unless I have something interesting about it. I don’t want to write this blog about celebrity meetings teehee ^^

More importantly, I think the people I met behind the camera are what made this experience so memorable. I met awesome girls from all around the world and some very kind staff.

One of the writers with whom I became close

Of course, there were some people from the staff with whom I could never create a close bound, but that is the case with anyone in whatever social situation.

When the first show was a wrap, we already got prepared for the second show, but then things got complicated for me. Later that week I received a call telling me that I couldn’t take part in the show because of visa issues…I was very very very disappointed…

To be continued

Minzy

Blogging really isn’t as easy as it seems. I think I lack the discipline to do a blog. Or maybe if I had more readers ;) Anyhow, here I am and today I shall present you a new member of my family: Minzy.

 

This little kitten is almost 4 months old and she definitely stole my heart. I adopted her about two weeks ago. A friend of mine had another friend who found kittens in his backyard because the mother had abandoned them. I just happened to be looking for a kitty to adopt so the timing was perfect. I went to get her at their house and she was quite traumatised when I carried her all the way to my apartment. Once we got in, she looked around and tried to hide for a little while. I expected her to stay hidden for at least 2 or 3 hours, but as soon as my dad left the apartment, Minzy just came in my bedroom and decided to hang out around me while I was at the computer.

  She seemed to adapt to my place very quickly and I let her sleep with me from the first night. I soon realized how kittens are hyperactive. God…as soon as the sun came up she started to play in the bed, trying to wake me up. Brutal first days I must say.

My first day at work, I was very tensed at the idea of letting Minzy all alone but it also went well. Cats are very independent creatures but at this age they look so fragile and full of needs that I feel like a mother caring for a child. For a week it was all fine…Until last Friday. I woke up in the morning only to find out that she had peed in my bed. I found it weird since she had never done it and she used the litter box very often. I proceeded to wash my sheets but then she started to pee AGAIN on my bed, directly on the mattress *facepalm. I got very angry and thought she was being naughty. That’s when I made a connection with a behaviour she had had for a few days; every time she went in the litter box to pee, she would cry. As I didn’t know her I just thought it was her thing, but no, she was sick. I quickly called my dad and he spoke with his girlfriend, who happens to be a veterinarian, and also searched the web for information. Minzy happened to have many symptoms of a cystitis, which is a bladder infection. My dad came by and picked her up, so that she could be treated at the vet’s clinic. The day after it was confirmed that she had cystitis and that she would need two weeks of antibiotics.

When they brought Minzy back the day after, she seemed alright at first, but then I realized how sick she was. She kept on trying new places to pee: the floor, the mop, the mop bucket, the wires behind the TV!! I kept running around the apartment wiping off the pee. It made me very tired and exhausted. I was almost angry at her, even though she didn’t chose to be in this situation. Two days passed, and there wasn’t any amelioration. I started to panic and planned to bring her back to the vet. Fortunately, the antibiotics finally kicked in around yesterday. Although I won’t let her sleep with me (I had to wash my bed sheets so many times in the last 7 days I’m sick of it!) I can see she’s making progress. We’ll see how it goes…and I hope she stays healthy for many months and years to come!

Night creature

Is everyone enjoying summer? I can’t say that I am as I’m working a lot, but my body sure enjoys the warm weather. Somehow, summer really makes me more energetic and optimistic, which is why I always end up being very depressed around the autumn. It’s been about six weeks that I started my new job at a big chain hotel but it feels like I’ve been working there for much more than that. Doing that many hours, I got accustomed to the place and its people. Lately, I worked night shifts to learn the night auditor job in order to replace regular people when they go on vacation. To my own surprise, I find myself enjoying it. During night time you don’t have to speak to a lot of guests and just do some paper work so it’s less stressful. I’m not saying I don’t like talking to people, but doing 150 check-ins in a row can be very tiring.  Anyway, new job is okay and my brain is very working hard to absorb all the new information.

Another thing that’s been on my mind lately is the purchase of a new laptop. I love my little toshiba, but it’s now 5 years old. It gets hot easily, crashes once in a while, is slow and doesn’t have enough memory (100Gigs…yup..you can laugh). Now the question is…what do I buy? I was thinking about another PC but my dear friend shmuberry has been telling me about a mac…Since I like watching videos, creating things like websites, pictures and video footage, it would be the intelligent choice…but then, all these stories about incompatibility really scare me! What to do…what to do…

But the most and foremost thing that I must think about right now is me moving out of my apartment next week on Friday. I’ve already packed a lot of boxes but there is still a lot to do. I foresee many hours of boxing coming up…yay…but the good thing is that I go the day off to move! I can’t wait to unpack, redecorate and move on with life without thinking about boxing and all that.

Home makeover – The canvas

Yes, I know…I do a lot of posts with many parts, but I promise I will finish all of them. Lately I’ve been busy with a new job, where they pay me much better and actually give me working hours! It’s been about a month since I’ve started now and I’m getting used to it, to the system…The other thing that is keeping me busy is the moving preparations! On July 1st, like many other people in Montreal, I’ll be moving to a new place. The place is empty right now so I am slowly planning the decorations.

For almost a year I’ve been living in a small apartment that I have to pay alone and it’s been a burden on me. I decided to find a new bigger place where I could get a roommate and split the rent and the bills. After some research, I finally found a place that I like and also found a roommate (she will come in the fall). The place isn’t perfect, it is an old building, but it is a typical Montreal apartment in a developing neighbourhood. As the moving date is approaching, last week I started planning the decorations with my great high school friend Marilou, who just happens to be studying in interior design right now.

It is quite hard to decide between colors, but since I have already colourful furniture, my choice was narrowed down to only a few of them. I already knew I wanted a yellow kitchen, so it was only a matter of choosing what shade of yellow I wanted (there are like a million of them!!) After looking at many shades, I finally decided to go for “Spring Honey”.

As for the bedroom, I went for an aqua color, which in this picture came out much more like sky blue. In reality, the color is more of a “blue-green” or should I say “Mediterranean Mist”. You gotta love the name of the paint colors. I’m sure there is someone who’s job is to come up with color names. Since I have red and white furniture in my bedroom, the aqua seems like a wise choice as it will make the colors pop. I didn’t want to go with a pink or beige because it would be too boring. I’ll chose boring colors when I’m like 50 or something. I found some inspiration on the internet to help me support my choice:

Of course it’s more flashy this way, but it does confirm that both colors go together. Before buying the paint I went to my new apartment, which is now empty, and brought Marilou along. She wanted to see the place and make sure that the color would match the walls and the light.

  The place has a long corridor and I might consider painting it later…it’s not a priority right now. Marilou was also unaware that I was taking pictures hehe :D

My future bedroom which has no window but has French doors connecting with the living room. It isn’t as big as the room I have right now but I think I can fit most of my furniture. I love the double closet and the mirror makes it look a little bigger. Can’t wait to put color on the walls!

The French doors leading to my bedroom will stay closed most of the time and I will shop for curtains eventually. I’ll need to create some privacy especially if I want my future roommate to be able to use the living room without feeling like she’s actually in my bedroom. As for my future roommate’s bedroom, I won’t touch it because she will probably want to do something personal with it. For the first months I might put boxes in there until I find a place for all my stuff. As for the living room, I do not intend on painting the walls. I already have a blue couch and some colourful accessories so adding a color would be a bit extreme. I’m going to give the living room a little retro look.

At first I wanted to find fabric and make my own curtains, but while shopping for fabric I realized how expensive it is. We also went to a shop on St-Hubert street where they had an interesting fabric, but the owner was so uptight and mean to us that I started disliking the fabric. It’s crazy how someone’s attitude can have an influence on your shopping choices! After a while Marilou suggested that we go to Mont-Royal station, to a boutique called Farfelue (843 mont-royal street) where they have lovely decoration items. There’s a little bit of everything and it is so colourful. They had curtains and this is where I found mine.

 

I think it looks pretty good with the stuff I already have. My friend Marilou then sketched what she imagined my living room would be:

She did that in like 5 minutes, I’m not kidding. Of course I might not put the furniture in exactly this position, but it gives you an idea. Finally, the kitchen…there is still a lot of things to repair in it and I’m hoping it will all be beautiful when the renovation guys are done with it. I know for a fact they will change the floor, which is a relief because it is so old and dirty. Also the washing machine and the dryer will be in the kitchen so I think this room will be pretty crowded. I will need to add a lot of things for storage and a few things here and there to decorate, but before anything else, I’ll need to paint it!

Marilou was explaining to me how I could position the table. Notice how both counters aren’t the same colour…yeah, it’s an old apartment indeed. BUT! It’s even more of a challenge so I won’t get discouraged.

At some point during the day when we opened the back door there was someone’s cat on the balcony. He or she just came in and walked in the whole apartment. It was so sweet :)

We’ll see how I manage to make this place pretty and warm. I can’t wait to start!!

I visited the land down under – Australia Day 1-3

Yes, my lack of updates is quite inexcusable. I will say there are a lot of things happening in my life nowadays so I’ll just use that as an excuse, although it’s inexcusable…oh well!

I wanted to write about my trip to Australia, because it was quite an adventure. This country is so far from Canada that when I was a kid I never even dreamed of visiting it! So last year, around February, a heart-broken me decided that she would leave Korea for good, but that before that I should visit a country. I wanted to travel, but also I needed to vent all that negativity my recent break up caused. So I thought about South East Asia, but then because I’m allergic to all kinds of nuts, I didn’t think it was safe for me to go there alone. It might sound silly, but food allergies can really poison your daily life :( So Instead, I chose Australia. It seemed like the logical choice for me: it’s closer to Korea than it is to Canada, my sister recommended it to me…but it’s definitely not affordable to everyone. I was lucky enough to have gathered money to go all the way down there. After a lot of planning and shopping I booked my ticket for April 6th, departing from Seoul in the evening. A night flight, which was a first for me.

   A view of Korea as I left

Day 1

The flight was long and I couldn’t get myself to sleep; I almost never can sleep on an airplane. Luckily enough, the seat beside mine was empty so I could stretch a little more. I was very excited when on the map of the plane screens we crossed the equator. My first time in the southern hemisphere! At 6AM, when the sun slowly started to rise, we arrived near Australia. We flew above Sydney and it was just crazy to be able to see the Opera House from above. I got excited and forgot how tired I was. Getting out of the airport wasn’t hard either, for the customs I was an easy person compared to all the Korean men and women who had never been abroad (they were a group of 50-60 years old and I understood from their guide that they had never been further than Jeju Island). Most of them didn’t speak English and the Australian customs really didn’t have patience with them. Of course, many of them got their food confiscated. The one thing you should know about travelling to Australia is that you really CAN’T bring food in. Their laws are very tight about that. So I got noticed by a fat custom lady and she put me out of the long line, noticing that all I had was a backpack.

I found my hostel, Sydney Central YHA, very easily, but I was exhausted. I couldn’t access my room until noon so I just sat down on the lounge couch of the hostel until I could check in. After checking in, I didn’t want to make the mistake of going to bed, so I showered and went out to visit Sydney. I went through Chinatown (where Big Bang’s 마지막 인사 was playing loud…I just got out of Korea lol), Central Station and ended up at Hyde Park, which is beautiful and so clean. It was also full of couples smooching on the grass!

 I guess if you’re confident enough to show off your chess skills!

   Travelling alone means “self-cam”! Very tired but amazed to be in Aussie

I quickly realized that food in Australia is very expensive, especially coming from Korea where you can have a really good meal for around 5 bucks. It’s a good thing there is no tip in Aussie! I found myself to be very lonely even on the first day. Travelling alone has it’s good sides but many times you find yourself wanting to share impressions with people but you can only think it. It’s completely different. On the evening of the first night, I met a girl from the UK in the hostel lounge and we decided to have diner together on the next day. I went to bed early and “enjoyed” the nice 8 people bunk beds room.

Day 2

I couldn’t sleep well the night before because of all the noise in the room, the sudden rash around my mouth from the airplane ride and just normal travelling stress. So instead of waking up at around 8am like I had planned, I stayed in bed until around 10am. The guy cleaning the room even came in, but I was too tired to even care. I knew I had another alone day ahead of me so no need to rush. I took the Sydney subway and went to Circular Quay where I saw the very famous Opera house.

 Picture would have been better without the unknown couple!

I took a ferry leading to Manly, which is a stretch of island at the south of Sydney. There are nice beaches there and a lot of shops. It was nice but definitely a place you go with friends to swim in the sea and have a glass of beer on the side of the beach. The ferry felt so nice and I spent a lot of time texting my friends in Korea, especially the ones who had lived in Australia before. I guess I really felt alone surrounded with all these families and couples. In Manly I simply walked around, took pictures of my face and went back to Circular Quay. A bit boring I would admit, but it’s better being bored in Australia than back home haha!

 Manly…and my eyes which do not look the same size o.O

 The bridge, and some angry dude

I hung around for a little while but went back to the hostel, I just waited for diner with Sara, the girl from the UK. We both didn’t have a huge budget for food but still decided to eat at a restaurant on the side of the water, on a terrace. The only problem is that it started to rain. We finally found a place which had tables outside but covered by a huge concrete roof that was part of the building so even if it rained for a while, we were fine. The place had pastas and was pretty good, but again, very overpriced as always. It was nice talking with Sara. We both briefly summarized our lives and realized that we were both into Buffy the Vampire Slayer so it was easy to just talk about it for a long time. After diner we went around the Opera House to see it from up close. There is even a restaurant inside of it and it looks very classy. If only… Thanks to the rain, my picture of the Opera House at night came out pretty nice!

 It's much better looking at night

That night I had a very embarrassing moment at the hostel…So this place is so big that you have magnetic cards to enter rooms and even bathrooms. So in the middle of the night I feel this urge to go to the bathroom so I get out of the bedroom but when I’m about the open the bathroom door I realize that I do not have my card and that I cannot get the card now that it is inside the bedroom, which is locked…So I did what an embarrassed person who needs to pee has to do; I knocked on the door and apologized a lot to the girl who opened the door. I was so angry at myself. I could have gone downstairs and ask the front desk clerk to make me another key…but I didn’t think about that then.

Day 3

The weather was awesome on my third day so I woke up early enough to go all the way to King’s Cross which is the military/entertainment/sketchy town of Sydney. Since it was daytime, I thought it was very nice and walked around a lot. There were many interesting houses and sights. I saw MANY Aussie sailors and stopped by the famous Harry’s Cafe de Wheels where I ordered some soda and sat down a while next to some sailors (they didn’t talk to me :(

 Notice the drawing of the sailor kissing his girlfriend on the right!

After that, the Victorian era lover that I am went to visit Elizabeth Bay House, which was the house of Colonial Secretary Alexander Macleay in the 1830’s. Back then there was nothing around the house except trees, the sea and apparently A LOT of flies enough to drive these little noble ladies crazy! The house was gorgeous; I could stand in a room more than 5 minutes just to appreciate all the details of the furniture. That’s when travelling alone is nice, because I doubt if I had a boyfriend he would love looking at Victorian furniture for so long!

 "Oh my god I feel like in a Jane Austen novel!" girly girl...

Visiting this house definitely brightened my day, for some reason I felt like I’ve had a constructive day in which I learned something. I had to go back to the Hostel to check out on time and prepare myself to get to the airport because I was taking a flight for Adelaide where I would start my Outback tour the morning after.

When I got at My Place Backpackers in Adelaide I was extremely annoyed because the door was locked. It was after 9pm and I guess they don’t expect backpackers to arrive this late…fortunately for me, some guy was in the entrance and opened the door for me. They tried to get someone to help me, but no one could be reached. After talking to the people who were sleeping there some girl offered me her bed, because she was sleeping in the room of her boyfriend. It was very kind of her, if it wasn’t for her I probably would have slept on the living room couch. The room had no window and felt very stuffy…the bed sheets looked old and kind of smelly. In all, I wouldn’t recommend this backpacker place to anyone. Also, the group of people talking loud in the kitchen really didn’t help me to fall asleep. I had to wake up at 5am to be picked up for the Outback tour…Which would be memorable.

The “Misuda Adventure" Part 2

First Part

September of  2006 went by fast. School had started and I quickly realized that school would be quite easy as the program for exchange students really doesn’t aim high (And I’m not talking about UIC, which is a totally different branch) I was eager to do the show and I was slowly finding my place at school, especially by joining a drama club, about which I’ll probably write in other posts. I remember one day, I was in the drama club room and I got a call from one of the show writers. They were getting everything ready for the show and they were trying to add a touch of entertainment, so she asked me if I could sing a song. I told her I’d like to sing “달” (Moon) by 박정현 (Park Jung Hyun or Lena Park). I was nervous and I chose a verse and a chorus to sing. It isn’t an easy song to sing but if I adjust it to my voice, it’s fine. For those who are curious, listen and watch here.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t get to sing this song. A few days after suggesting this piece, I received another phone call from the writers. They were asking me if I could dance. I said yes, why not. Then they asked me what kind of dance I could do. Since I was thinking about  normal club music I simply said “Eum…Hip hop?!” You have to remember that I was trying to make myself understood with a really limited knowledge of the Korean language. I let it be, without asking too many questions…

D-day arrived. Vivian, Clara and I happily missed a day of school and all went together towards the KBS annex situated on Yeoui-do,  a little island that many Koreans like to call the “Manhattan of Seoul”, since a lot of companies have their offices there and because most of the television stations built their studios there. It is also the island where you can find the national assembly. Of course, it is far from being Manhattan, but I still understand where the comparison come from. My memories are a bit blurry, but I still remember a few anecdotes from the day.

The first step was to get make up and hair done. I must say that I was very excited to get pampered like that. Not every day do you get your make up done by a professional! After, we had to get dressed and this is where the mini-drama started. One of the writers was there and she started talking about my dance. She asked me what I prepared and if I needed pants to dance. I looked at her with big confused eyes. She thought I would do a hip hop choreography but I will still convinced that I would sing! Then she told me “No, you’re going to dance, there are two other girls who will sing. Your song was too slow, too dramatic”. I was very disappointed…I had prepared myself. I really wanted to sing on TV and I felt as if my only chance was fading away. I thought “They could of called me and ask me to change my song to another more up-beat one”, but no. It was too late. In the end I was still lucky to end up with a decent black dress. I was satisfied enough. As for Vivian, it was another story. She usually wore boyish, relaxed clothing so she really wasn’t digging her pure feminine look!

 We immortalized our dissatisfaction (Also notice how white our faces are…the necks are darker!)

Maybe from an outsider’s point of view, all of this seems very superficial, but the truth is, TV is a really superficial business most of the time. We all wanted to project a certain image of ourselves because for some girls and me, we had imagined this situation in our most crazy teenage girl dreams. So no wonder I got disappointed since my expectations were so high.

Still, some great stuff happened on that day. Vivian was very glad to meet a girl called Eva Popiel, an English-Japanese girl who had previously worked on a show called Full House with none other than the rising stars of the time, Super Junior. As Vivian was a fan of the group with the most members in Korea, she was very pleased with her meeting with Eva. As for me, I hadn’t seen the show, but I still took a picture with her.

 Vivian, me, Eva

Each of us was assigned a seat and a number. I was number 3, so I got seated in the front. It was probably to give me space to go out and dance my hip hop (facepalm…) In the end, it was a really good seat for me, but sadly, Vivian got seated in the back.  

 I don’t smile much….nervous?

The shooting started and I don’t really remember what subjects we covered. We talked about food, clubs, Korean guys…I only understood like about 30% of it. I got the chance to talk a few times but to be honest I don’t dare watching the video of this show. It makes me uncomfortable to see myself being so shy. The only time I look comfortable is when I stood up to dance (because I DID dance, but just some improvisation dance) with  천명훈 (Cheon Myung Hoon) a singer from the group NRG. I didn’t know the other guests for our show, but it was to be expected: All the singers I liked were in transition and weren’t recording any albums and many were heading for the army! I was still satisfied with the whole thing, but I told myself that only a few people would watch this show…eum…?

After the shooting, we went drinking together in a bar near the studio and kept contact with the writers and producers. I really wanted to do more. It was back to student life for me!

To be continued…

Remembering 46 South Korean sailors…

A year ago on March 26th, 46 South Korean sailors lost their lives when their ship, the Cheonan, was attacked by a missile shot by the North Korean army. Although North Korea still claims innocence over that incident, I strongly believe they are only playing the victim, as they always do.

I remember, I was still in Korea and was devastated by the news. As I had been in a relationship with a guy who ended up going to the army (not the navy) I can only imagine the pain one would feel upon hearing that her boyfriend, or son, or husband, died at sea, from a North Korean attack. The pain, the desperation, they would haunt me for months. These 46 lives represent 46 families, 46 groups of friends…This is probably the drama of more than a thousand persons. As everyone in South Korea knows someone who is in the army, this incident shook up the entire nation. In South Korea, military service is mandatory for about 2 years. Any healthy man must go unless he’s got a really good reason (or some really good contacts). It is very sad that they had to die while doing a work that, although they didn’t disagree with, they didn’t choose to do…it was forced upon them for most of them, because of their sex and because there is a crazy dictator living a few kilometres north from them.

Let’s take a moment today to remember the lives of these 46 sailors who right now would have mostly all finished their military service and would be making others happy…

The “Misuda Adventure” Part 1

Misuda? What type of alcohol is that? You might wonder…

Misuda is short for “Minyeodeului Suda” (미녀들의수다) a Korean talk show which roughly translates as “Chit chat of the beauties”. The show  aired from October 2006 through April 2010. It’s concept: 16 foreign women who all speak Korean, from beginner to expert. The subjects: anything that is discussable on Korean TV! Presented on KBS2, the national channel of South Korea, Misuda became a phenomenon often hated but also greatly loved by the South Koreans. I was a part of this great adventure, but it definitely didn’t look like it was going to be a success from the beginning…

In August of 2006, I was packing my bags for a complete year of study abroad in South Korea. Excited as a little girl on Christmas, I was also very scared, but a good scare. I had been into Korean pop culture for so many years that I just couldn’t wait to actualize my dream of living for a year in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. I knew so many singers and their song lyrics, that I probably came off as a real freak…but I was very passionate about it. Also, I watched a bunch of Korean soap operas and had learned the “hangeul”, the Korean alphabet, so that I could sing my favourite songs at the Montreal Korean karaoke. I think I was ready.

Of course, when I got there it was another story…a country is never EXACTLY like it is represented in its pop culture and even if I knew that, I was still a little shocked! At first it felt as if the city was very harsh and loud (Seoul is definitely a city that never sleeps and even if at first I got intimidated by it, in the end it became natural and I just loved it!). Anyway, I’ll keep my impressions of Korea for another post, let’s go on with the Misuda adventure.

I don’t remember exactly when the email from school came  , but I know it was in the first 3 weeks of my stay in Korea because I was still living at my friend’s house. I didn’t even have a cell phone! So I was at home and got an email from the school, the Mentors Club, which is a group that pairs Korean students with foreign students for language exchanges. The email said that we had an opportunity to be on TV for a one time special show for the holidays and that it was open to foreigners, even the ones who didn’t speak Korean. I was very surprised and eager to know more, because most of my references came from Korean TV. A little later in the week, another email came, saying “Oh, well actually, you have to be a girl, and you have to speak Korean, sorry…” I was now insecure. My Korean was pretty limited. I knew how to say “I love you” in a hundred ways, thanks to Korean power ballads, but I couldn’t really express myself in complete sentences. Still, I gave it a shot and called the number of the writer at KBS. I don’t remember the conversation, but I actually managed to get myself an interview with them. Luckily for me, the TV station was very close from my friend’s house. I was all set and ready to meet the script writers…

As I went in the office of the writers, I saw a bunch of Asian girls getting out. I was told later that they were from Mongolia…they never appeared on the show…So I sat with the chief writer and the other writers looking at me around the desk. It was intimidating, but I really wanted to be on TV (ah, the things you’ll do). She asked a bunch of questions but as I didn’t have a lot of anecdotes in Korea, all I could tell her were my first impressions. I think what killed them is when I started to enumerate all the singers I knew, they just didn’t believe it…I was like this encyclopedia of Kpop. That’s probably what got me in, as most white foreigners knew very little about Kpop back then.

School started a little afterwards and I got the phone call telling me I’d be shooting the show with them at the end of September so that the show could be aired on the Korean Thanksgiving, which on that year was at the beginning of the month of October. I was very excited and also learned that two girls from my Korean class were to be on it too, Clara from the US and Vivian from Singapore. I would end up being very close with the latter. Before the shooting, we would have to meet up with the production team and answer many questions on the phone so that they could build up a script and an outline for the show. I suddenly felt that my Korean was improving every day and that I’d have no problem at the meeting…but god was I wrong.

The first meeting we had with the team and the other girls from the show was a disaster for Vivian and I. We were sitting in a room and the producers and writers would ask questions to us but our Korean was so limited that we ended up being very silent in front of the other girls who had been in Korea for 2, 3,4 some even 10 years! After that the whole idea of going on TV seemed like a bad idea…but I consoled myself by thinking how awesome it would be to meet celebrities. How shallow ;)

Fortunately for us on the day of the meeting, the producer got us a spot in the audience of that day’s Music Bank, a weekly music show showing off the latest Korean songs, sometimes live, sometimes lipsynced. I had fun, it did break the magic a little bit, but I got to see Koyote, a dance/pop group with a really goofy but charming singer, Kim Jong Min.

Singing “I Love Rock N’ Roll”

I took a few photos, which was obviously prohibited but none of the middle school girls seemed to care either. On that day The Trax, Lee SeungGi, Park Jung Ah, Lim Jeong Hee, Paran and some others came on. It was a nice first look at Korean celebrities from up close and at that time I felt like I was on the moon. When I look at it now, it feels like I was over exaggerating, but it was something I was very passionate about. I just had no idea that I would end up on the other side of the camera for many years…

Tune in for part 2! My first experience on a Korean TV set…full of drama, as usual! 

Now that my blog is officially open

Let me tell you why I decided to call my blog “the Domino Effect”. Actually the reason is very simple. No, it isn’t because I love playing with dominoes during my free time, I don’t think I can recall the last time I played with dominoes!

I was pondering about a name for the blog and I couldn’t find anything. A lot of people use their nickname or a thing they really like at the moment, but I wanted something that could last for a long time. If I used a nickname, chances are in a few years I wouldn’t use that nickname, same goes for a thing I like right now…people change and so do interests. Also, I could have used something related to Korea, but then I don’t want to blog only about my experience there (you'll notice my heading!). So…

I thought about my name, Dominique…then I heard my high school friend calling me “domino” from a far away memory. That friend was the only one allowed to call me domino because I didn’t like it and it was also our private joke. In Korea, you say domino, people reply “domino pizza” instantly T__T But then, I thought of the domino effect and felt that it really reflects my life, in a positive way. The same way dominoes fall on each other, my life has been a series of event that followed each other. Each event lead to another in ways I never imagined.

I guess everyone’s life is like a series of dominoes…also, everyone’s life also affect the people around them. So it’s a big metaphor that gave me this blog title idea, plus my name is similar and on top of all it allows me to write about anything I want (hahaha *evil laugh*)

I’m going to be busy during the next weeks, but I’ll try to keep on writing, because I really need to get this blog going!

A Finnish Tradition in the Middle of Montréal?

It seems as if it is impossible to get away from stress in a big city, but in the old port of Montréal, the Scandinavian Baths provide a relaxing atmosphere that also has positive effects on your health. A zen experience that comes with a price.

Last Christmas I got many gift certificates. Amongst them, there was one for the Scandinavian baths in the old port of Montréal which allowed me to access the baths once from Monday to Friday. I had no idea there was such a place in the city until I heard about it at my job but was delighted to have the chance to relax for a while. The Montréal branch is actually well situated (71 de la Commune, West) and is easily accessible with bus 55 or from the metro Place d’Armes (about a 10 minutes walk from the station). It wasn’t my first time with this kind of spa, as I’ve been to one here in Québec a few years ago and went about five times to hot springs in Japan.

On a Tuesday, after work, I waited for the bus for 30 minutes until my frozen butt told me to take another type of public transportation. Needless to say I was very eager to enter the hot water and unfreeze my muscles. The whole public transportation trouble(oh, STM) made me kind of angry so I needed those baths even more!

The entrance is impeccable. The decoration is sober and the little new age music already puts you in the mood. The employees will welcome you with courtesy and will take the time to explain everything to you if it is your first time. They even have a little map of the place and a miniature locker to show you how to use your key. Plus, you are provided with a bath robe and two towels. All those little details are what make a difference at the end of the day.

Then you enter the locker rooms. Again, spotless. You have blow dryers on the counter, shampoo in the showers and inside the lockers there is a little basket where you can put your jewellery. After taking a quick shower, I entered the bath area, with my bathing suit on of course…this is not Japan!

To benefit from the baths, here is what you are supposed to do: first, choose between the hot bath, the eucalyptus steam bath or the Finnish sauna. Stay there for 10 to 15 minutes. Second, rinse yourself with cold, ice cold water. You can either immerse yourself in the cold bath or go under the cold shower. Third, rest for about 15 minutes. Repeat as many times as you want.

Of course I tried them all, and here is what I thought of it:

Hot and cold bath

Hot bath: I thought it was okay. It is a bit like a big jacuzzi and the waterfall makes a relaxing noise. The bath is big enough and quite deep. Personally though, I thought it wasn’t hot enough. Maybe you shouldn’t take my word for it because I really like hot hot baths. Still, when comparing with Japanese hot springs this felt just okay. Since I am not here to bathe but to sweat, I think the water should be hotter. Also, I always feel weird being in hot water with my bathing suit on. I’m ready to let go of this part because this is a mixed bath and even between people of the same gender, people in North America aren’t really comfortable with being naked with others. I also think that a bath like this is more enjoyable when it is outside, but since it’s in the city, I understand why they had no choice but to keep it inside. Even if they had space on the rooftop or elsewhere outside, in the summer the old port gets so busy the noise would disturb the tranquility of the bath. In the end, I only went to the bath once.

Eucalyptus Steam Bath: This one was my favourite. It is round and made of tiles with three levels on which you can sit or lie down. When you first go in, you feel like you’ll suffocate but that is only temporary. The best thing is to relax and take deep breath. The smell of eucalyptus is very soothing and the warmth becomes so comfortable that all your muscles relax. I also felt all this sweat coming out of my pores, not in a disgusting way of course, it was just refreshing. In the end of the night, I went there the most.

Finnish Sauna

Finnish Sauna: This is the more traditional type of sauna. It is dry, 90C…basically it’s just hot. I always have a hard time staying in these types of saunas for more than 5 minutes. Maybe if I went more often I would get used to it but right now it is a bit too much for me. I get dizzy quickly. Still, the feeling and the smell of the warm wood is different from the other sauna and brings you back to nature.

Cold bath or shower: This step is painful to go through, although apparently it becomes very addictive. The first time I did it I just quickly stepped out of the shower, so it didn’t have much effect on my body. I also tried to go into the cold bath, but as it felt like a hundred needles going through my skin, I just stuck to the showers. I became more used to the shock of the cold water and started slowly counting to 5 every time I got under the water. After that, you really feel the difference in your muscles. Even if it is painful, try to go through it!

Relaxation Zone

Relaxation zone: There are two spaces made for you to rest after the hot/cold therapy. There is a common area where you are allowed to chit chat, in a low voice of course, with whoever you came with. You can also buy fresh juice at the juice bar. I didn’t like the fact that the prices weren’t posted for the juices and that you get to know the price when you pay at the end, so I didn’t order any. My guess was: if it’s not written, it MUST be expensive. There is water and tea for free on the juice bar. It is important to stay hydrated during the whole process by drinking a lot of water or tea. You can also go to the zero stress room, which is supposed to be a complete silent room…but of course there is always someone to talk loud and not respect the rules! I think the light for this room could even be lower. I went there most of the time and sat down in the big beanie bags/chairs, closing my eyes, relaxing. At some point I almost felt asleep.

***

The fees are not cheap. For the access to the baths only, it is 54$+tax, but it is pretty common for a place like this in Canada. Plus, since it is in the middle of the city, you pay for the rareness and the appeal of the old port. I also talked to my friend about it and I came to the conclusion that if it was cheaper, then more people would come and it wouldn’t be peaceful. So you’re also paying for peace and quiet. You can also get a massage, but then the price goes over 100$ (you get a massage and full access to the baths). I think it can make a great gift for a friend or for yourself, but make sure you have a lot of time, because if you spend only one hour, you’ll regret spending all that money.

I noticed from the website that Scandinavian Baths are also located in Mont Tremblant in Québec, but also in Blue Mountain in Ontario and Whistler in BC. These three other spas are in the mountains so they look extremely gorgeous and some of them are even cheaper than the one in Montréal (but of course you have to drive all the way there!). I would love to try one of these one days, because I just love taking a hot bath surrounded by snow.

All pictures belong to www.scandinave.com

Linkin Park in Montreal – A Thousand Suns Tour

Last Monday February 7th we were a little more than 13 000 fans of the nu metal band to fill the Bell Centre in downtown Montreal. Having bought my tickets more than two months before the concert, I was pretty excited to see one of my favourite band on stage for the second time. They did not disappoint the fan in me.

The evening all started with a glass of beer at a Korean restaurant/bar not too far from the Bell Centre. I had planned to meet my sister there and as I work downtown and she doesn’t, I waited while chatting with the restaurant owner. Diner was awesome and my sister and I were chatting about how excited we were to see the concert. Actually, my sister didn’t really plan to go with me to the show before I told her in the beginning of the winter that I had no one to go with. She then offered to go with me and asked me to lend her the Linkin Park albums, as she had only heard the widely commercialized songs. After only a few week, she texted me saying that she was now addicted and couldn’t wait for the concert. Perfect!

Convinced that the concert was starting at 8pm, we took our time until I decided to check the tickets tucked in my purse to see what our seat numbers were. Then I saw the time written on the ticket: 7pm. OH MY GOD! It was 6:55pm and we were about to miss the beginning of the show. We paid as quickly as possible and jogged to the Bell Centre but as we got closer, we saw many people still getting in and started to slow our pace down. It’s when we got inside that we relaxed: the first part was going to last for an hour and a half…

I’m curious as to why first halves have to be so long. Has the band just not arrived yet? Is it to allow people to come slowly in the concert hall and avoid traffic? Although it is good for other bands promotion, I must say that when you’ve been sitting there for an hour and a half waiting for the REAL show to start, the most talented singer could be on stage and no one would care. Furthermore, I was so scared that the show would start while I was gone that I didn’t dare going to the bathroom before the show started. I felt bad for the first part groups, because the crowd’s response was really pitiful, but we were obviously keeping our energy for LP.

Finally, around 8:45pm (!!!) the show started. When the whole concert hall turned to black, the crowd suddenly came to life. The screams we gave for the first part groups were tripled. My sister and I automatically stood up from our terrible 222 section seats (first balcony) and didn’t plan on sitting for the whole show. Unfortunately,  most people around us sat for the whole show, as if they were at the movie theatre. Never mind them, I wasn’t going to restrain myself from screaming, jumping and singing along because I was sitting way back!

As soon as the first notes of The Requiem started, I got all excited like a kid on Christmas. I was expecting this opening since in 2007, at the Minutes to Midnight tour they started with Wake, which is also an intro instrumental piece on their 3rd album. Then they went on with Faint which got the crowd going crazy. It’s interesting how in 2007 when I saw them in Seoul, South Korea, they ended with this very song. Kind of a full circle moment.

The group  went on with Lying from you, also from the album Meteora. As the crowd was now heated up with these two first well known songs, the heavy guitar of Given up started and Chester screamed his lungs out. I adore this song because it is so strong and really relieves stress (and probably causes some to elderly people :P)

From LPliveTV Youtube Channel

After that, to calm the crowd and Chester’s voice, they played What I’ve done and I have to admit that at first I mistook it for The Catalyst. Shame on me. Keeping up with the Minutes to Midnight album, the first guitar notes of No more sorrow started and the crowd clapped, off beat at first, but we soon figured it out. Most of us recognized the melody (except of course the people who only know the songs from the first album, I’ll rant about that later). From the inside followed and had the crowd singing at the chorus.

Jornada Del Muerto, a transition track from the Thousand Suns album came on and Shinoda sang the Japanese lyrics live. What is interesting is that the song title is in Spanish and means “Journey of the dead man” but the lyrics are in Japanese and basically saying “Raise up, liberate” again and again. The song transitioned to Waiting for the end which includes a lot of Shinoda’s raps. The group then played Blackout, but the crowd wasn’t as excited as when Numb started. Even the boring people in my section stood up to cheer on.

Radiance, another transition track set the tone for Iridescent, a mid-tempo song with very inspiring lyrics. Unfortunately, not a lot of people seemed to know the lyrics…I thought this would be an awesome moment in the show, it wasn’t bad, but if we all sang it together, I would have had chills. Still, most of us took out our lighters or phones, so the crowd became like a sea of lights. This got us a “You guys are beautiful” from Chester. After Fallout, it was time for The Catalyst which again, just a few people knew. The lyrics :

God bless us everyone
We're a broken people living under loaded gun
And it can't be outfought
It can't be outdone
It can't out matched
It can't be outrun
No

These were definitely meant to be sang in unison, maybe in a few years when more people will have listened to the 4th album more. Shadow of the day came on, and that’s when voices in unison came on. It was quite beautiful to listen to. Then, these famous piano notes were heard:

From LPliveTV Youtube Channel

Just a few people were still sitting and most were shouting the lyrics of the song that got the band famous back in 2001. In the end can now officially be called a classic. For me this song reminds me of so many things: my last year of high school, my first serious boyfriend, 9/11 and a lot of basement parties! I am convinced it is the same for a lot of people.

The show had already been going on for a little more than an hour but it felt like it had just started. The band didn’t rest and went on with Bleed it out and this is when the mosh pit started to act like one (they had been very calm up until then!) The melody of the song kept on going on but Shinoda started rapping the lyrics from A place from my head getting everybody to scream: “You, try to take the best of me GO AWAY”. Again, another epic moment. Linkin Park then left the stage, to make us believe that the show was over, but none of us thought it was actually over as we didn’t even have to beg for an encore more than two minutes. (Does any crowd still believe in fake endings of shows anymore?)

Of course the group came back and they fulfilled one of my wishes: they played When they come for me, a song from their newest album that has a lot of percussions and electronic sounds. Also the “Try to catch up mother f****” line is a personal favourite of mine.

From LPliveTV Youtube Channel

When I was at the show I thought people didn’t sing along, but when I watch those videos I realize that many actually were(some off tune, but who cares). Followed Papercut and New Divide. Most people recognized the latter which surprised me. I guess it got popular because of the movie Transformers which came out when I was in Korea and there, rock music doesn’t really play often on radio so I didn’t think it was a popular song. The crowd cheered a lot and so did I. At that point I really thought the show was going to last another two hours!

The show ended on a high with Crawling and One step closer and even if we didn’t know that it was the end, I think we all reached our craziest at the last song. It was an awesome song on which to end the show because it all left us on a high of adrenaline.

From LPliveTV Youtube Channel

I am convinced if you remove the music and just show our faces, we all look possessed by the devil or something. Jokes aside, it was extremely liberating. Actually it was so much fun that when it ended everybody got surprised and thought it ended abruptly. After the show, when waiting for the subway, a couple who had been in the first row told me that before singing One step closer the guys said it would be their last song. In the back I never heard that so I was expecting them to come back on stage. But they didn’t…I will have to wait another 4 years or more before I can see them again!

In all, the concert was awesome there is no denying. If some people were disappointed by the format of the show, meaning one song after the other with no chit chatting by the band members, I myself wasn’t surprised as it was the same format in 2007 when I saw them in Seoul. Back then, I just thought they didn’t talk to the crowd because of the language barrier, but no, they did the same in Montreal. I’m alright with that, I mean, I didn’t pay to hear them tell us how our city is the best (which all bands say in every city) but I think saying a few words is always welcomed. On the other hand, some singers tend to talk way too much between their songs and that can become annoying too. I guess Linkin Park isn’t into small talk and prefers delivering their songs.

Also, I must say that this time the show didn’t have a “moment”. Maybe it is because I’m a girl and I like touching moments, but back at the Minutes to Midnight tour, the show had two very strong moments (at least for me). First was when Shinoda  played Pushing me away on the piano. It was magnificent.

Seoul November 30th, 2007 - From yuni1992 Youtube Channel

Second, The little things give you away. This song only had the power to give me chills and when performed live it hypnotized the whole crowd. I think maybe I would have had this “moment” if I had been in the standing section like I did back in 2007, but I was sitting very far this time. After comparing both, I prefer the standing section, even with the mosh pit. Actually, it seems like Linkin Park’s fans are getting older and the mosh pit isn’t as crazy as it used to be. So next time I’ll try to be in the front if possible! (I got my glasses stamped on the nose last time, resulted in minor bleeding)

Now, time for a short and sweet rant. Why, oh why, would you pay almost 100$ to see a band you don’t really know about? Why do you look at people funny when they scream at a rock concert? Pheeww….But actually, my section wasn’t that bad: there was a guy at the end of my row that knew all the songs and was rocking to the music the whole time, I wish to marry him teehee.

So to sum up, it was a real Linkin Park experience and also the first arena concert I saw in Montreal in my entire life. I feel lucky that I got to see them, because only 2 days after the Montreal show, Linkin Park announced that they would have to cancel two shows in the States because Chester has come down with something and can’t sing. Hope he gets better.

I’ll be there at the next concert! How many years later will it be….

Getting there

Hi there, I guess starting a blog isn’t as easy as I thought but after all the preparations are finished, then it will be up and running! I have to thanks miss shmuberry who is working on the layout (with the html and all) and she’s helping a lot. You can visit her blog at http://www.shmuberry.com/ 

I’m coming soon!!

Under construction

Currently learning to work this thing...