Music: Wonder Girls, Tell Me

Okay, I get it. Anywhere in the world... there are 1 hit wonders. Anywhere in the world... at some point, some artist will write a bad song and it will catch like a wild fire and you'll hear it EVERYWHERE. Heck, it happens in America ALL the time!

In Korea... that song is "Tell me" written by pop artist: The Wonder Girls. 5 cute Korean girls, that sing and dance. The song is really not so good... and the dancing... gosh, it's just emberrassing. Yet - watch it... it's just catchy. The only English is "tell me, tell me, t-t-t-t-t-tell me". All the kids know it... so I purposefully bring it up in class often. Sometimes I'll mimic a few of their dance moves to be funny... or when I'm quizzing them, I'll ask a question somewhere in there and the answer is "Wonder Girls". Today we were playing pictionary as a review game for a book we read. At one point I drew a picture of the wonder girls. :) It was fun.

Here's the video. Check it out. It's pretty obvious from the video, who it's meant to appeal to!



I found the translation, credits ginaaax3 @ soompi.com.

I didn't know you would like me,
What do I do? It makes me so happy.
Because it feels like I dream I consistently pinch myself
I'm so happy.

Just in case you wouldn't like me,
I don't know how much I had to worry,
But since you say you love me,
Oh my. Say it once more

Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
That you love me, that you've waited for me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Tell me that you need me, tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
I want to continoulsy hear it, please continue to tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Please tell me this isn't a dream

How come my heart beats like this?
It feels as if, my heart will explode.
When you look at me, if feels as if I'm getting electrocuted,

I don't know how much I've waiting,
I don't know how long I've dreamt for this,
But since you say you love me,
Oh my. Say it once more

Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
That you love me, that you've waited for me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Tell me that you need me, tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
I want to continoulsy hear it, please continue to tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Please tell me this isn't a dream

Tell me tell me tell me you
want me want me want me too
Tell me tell me tell me you
love me too love me too

I don't know how much I've waiting,
I don't know how long I've dreamt for this,
But since you say you love me,
Oh my. Say it once more

Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
That you love me, that you've waited for me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Tell me that you need me, tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
I want to continoulsy hear it, please continue to tell me
Tell me tell me tell tell tell tell tell tell me
Please tell me this isn't a dream

The rap part:
Hit me once time baby, one more time,
Ok, I know what you did just now, but once more,
Ye, keep telling me, even if I hear, even if I heard, I wanna hear it again,
Sometimes I wonder if this is a dream
Ohmy! What I do?

Facing the truth: Korean food

I've decided to fess up to the truth... I'm sorry - I can't hide it anymore. I don't (generally speaking) like Korean food. I think it's more similar to Japanese food than it is to Chinese food... and I just don't like Japanese food so much or Korean food.

Korean foods I don't like that I've seen, heard of, and some of which I've eaten:

Seafood like clams, mussels, crabs, fish, fish eggs, and other sorts

dog meat

chicken feet (yeah, they eat the feet of chickens... those little claws. They fry 'em up in hot sauce and eat them. They look very chewy... but I think Koreans like chewy foods because there are a lot of things like that that are chewy and people seem to like them.)

chicken/pig intestines (I ate some for the first time yesterday. It was chewy. The flavor was good... but I wouldn't eat it again)

Cold noodles

Cold sweet potatoes

Kimba - it's like sushi... it's almost exactly like sushi, but generally speaking they don't usually put fish in them.

Anyways - that's pretty much it. It's not the taste... the taste of the food is usually good - but it's the textures that get to me... and other things like that. I know I sound like a picky eater here... and I probably AM a picky eater - but let me tell you some things, just to try and redeem myself more:

I love Chinese food. It's my favorite.
I love Mexican food. It's SOOO good.
I like Indian food a LOT.
I like American food (pizza, burgers, hot dogs, corn dogs... yada yada) of course.
I like Egyptian food. It's very good.
I like other Middle Eastern dishes - very good!
I love Thai food! Chicken Pad Thai! Where are you???

I don't like seafood... and Greek food is... okay. Not wonderful, not bad. Somewhere in the middle. Anyway - that's my confession.

Don't forget: I'm in the city

Don't forget when you read this blog... I'm living in the city. Incheon is the 3rd biggest city in Korea... so some of the things I say might not be the same in other rural areas. In fact... I hear it's much different.

Claw game friends: Park No Hoon

A week and a half ago, Mike and I sat outside for a while playing the nearby claw game. We were playing the heavy weight machine. Mike wanted the MP3 player. We almost had it SO many times - and we tried SO hard! But in the end we couldn't get it. It got so intense, there were a few people meandering around. One guy started watching us for a while (watchers are common). He started trying to communicate with us and tell us how to get the item. Mike smokes cigarettes lightly here because they're so cheap... about $2.50 a pack. So people sometimes watch us play and bum cigarettes - it's friendly and social.

This guy turned out to be pretty cool. He's a crane operator - of all jobs - and we're playing the claw game. He played the middle weight claw game, won a couple lighters, and gave one to each of us for a present. Actually - all in all, we've probably received 4-5 lighters as presents from those games.

Anway, when we finally called it quits - No Hoon started to walk home with us (we live only a block away from that claw game). But I stopped half way home and said "I'm hungry. I want some chicken."

"Chicken?" No Hoon said.

So he lead us to a place (it was about 1am) and we ate chicken and drank beer. We met some of his friends that worked at the place we were eating - and we had a great time. So we met a new friend at the claw game and we ended up going out with him again the next weekend.

The Claw Games... (Part 1)

So in Korea, claw games are very popular. You know the ones I'm talking about - those game machines you see in movie theaters and places like Dave and Busters - the yellow ones with the claws. It doesn't matter what neighborhood you're in - there are claw games. It's not a question of whether there will be claw games on an outside street corner... the question is HOW MANY street corners will have them? Within a ten minute walking radius... in my neighborhood we've found 4 - but we haven't looked everywhere.



The claw games are actually pretty fun. (speaking in USD) You pay 20 cents for 1 try, or 50 cents for 3 trys. So it's normal just to stick in a dollar and you get 6 pulls. That's the official lingo - "hey, hey, lemme get a pull..." - Generally speaking there are 3 types of claw machines here.

1) light weight: candy machines. They're usually pink and the claw is smaller. You reach in and try to grab candy and put it on a platform where a moving block pushes it in the WIN pit if you get enough candy on it.

2) Middle weight: butane lighters with all sorts of designs on them, gold or silver watches (probably priced in the $10 range in the USA), and random other items in that category.

3) Heavy weight: Items that are probably $50 - $100 price range. MP3 players, mini heaters, mini tvs, dvd players, GPS car navigators... - these machines are such a waste of money. Mike and I know first hand. It's virtually impossible to win these! It's NOT impossible... but you're looking at spending a minimum of half the cost of the item - and that's only if you're successful! There's always a great chance you won't ever get it.

I don't want you to be confused though. There's a reason these claw games are everywhere. People PLAY them. When people leave bars drunk - they love to try a few pulls on the claw games. When little girls get out of school... you can see them trying a few pulls for candy. In the morning... you can spot a business man in a suit and tie, one hand holding a coffee and the other hand playing a claw game. It's popular here. Yellow trucks drive around to the different claw game locations and switch up the prizes and move things around probably ever 3 days, maybe once a week.

I say... if you started this claw game business in the USA... you'd make some money. :)

Hapkido

Before coming to Korea, I knew I wanted to study a martial art at some point. I assumed it would be Taegwando since it's so popular and it originated in Korea and is used by the Korean military... but that's not how it worked out.

The husband of one of my co-workers has a very good friend who is a Hapkido master - and he expressed interest in learning English. So, I was able to get connected with him. He grew up in the neighborhood where I live and he lives nearby. He's been studying Hapkido for about 17 years, and he studied Taegwando for some years before that. But he has a center where he runs Hapkido classes.

Hapkido is like a mixture between Taegwando and Jujitsu - it's self-defense. Here's a little blurb about it form Wikipedia.org

Hapkido aims to be an effective form of self-defense and employs joint locks, pressure points, throws, kicks, and other strikes. Hapkido practitioners train to counter the techniques of other martial arts as well as common "unskilled" attacks. There is also a range of traditional weapons including short stick, cane, rope, sword and staff which vary in emphasis depending on the particular tradition examined.

Although hapkido contains both long and close range fighting techniques, the purpose of most engagements is to get near for a close strike, lock, or throw. Hapkido emphasizes circular motion, non-resisting movements, and control of the opponent. Practitioners seek to gain advantage through footwork and body positioning to employ leverage, avoiding the use of strength against strength.

The guy in the blue uniform is one of the instructors. The guy in the black uniform next to me is the master who runs the classes, and the guy on the very right is the other instructor. They're all great guys. There they are below again. We went out for a few drinks a couple times - the second time I brough my roomate and it was a lot of fun.