2012 Olympics: Korea House - From Korean Class Massive

Please enjoy this great article from my fellow bloggers Korean Class Massive

Re-posted with permission.

2012 Olympics: Korea House

During the Olympics, many nations have taken the chance to build their own 'houses' during the two weeks of the games. These houses give the public a chance to experience a little of the culture that all the different countries have to offer, and South Korea has set up their own house in Knightsbridge at the Royal Thames Yacht Club. Korea House, which is open each day from 10am - 6pm during the Olympics, has a range of cultural activities happening all day, with special shows scheduled at certain times in the day. Entry is free, which is always good, and there are chances to pick up lots of interesting information and guides to Korea while you're there.

Korean Class MASSIVE went out to check out what was on offer....
When we arrived there was quite a queue outside to get in. There are strict security checks in place, so depending on the time and day, you might have to wait a while to get in. We timed our arrival to coincide with the first special show of the day. As we hadn't checked ahead what the show would be, we were quite surprised to find out that we were about to watch a magic show!

After a short yet epic introduction (by the man himself), we were greeted by the magician, JK! JK is probably the cheesiest but funniest magician out there. He started his show by purposefully messing up his tricks for laughs, or revealing his cheats which was hilarious. He had some really original ideas and lines, engaging the audience the whole way through his performance. Some choice lines he came out with were things like "I can do any magic you want, what magic do you want to see? *a difficult trick was suggested* Sorry, I don't understand what you are saying because I am Korean. Levitation you say? There's always technical difficulties with that one - something I call gravity". As usual, there was the 'eyes to the floor' moment when he asked for volunteers, but some brave people came forward. One girl who volunteered possibly later regretted her decision as she ended up pulling a trail of tissue from JK's mouth and told to keep it as a souvenir... The magic routine wasn't the most amazing we've ever seen, but mesmerising nonetheless and the charming charisma and comedy of JK made up for it. The show is definitely worth catching for the amount of cheese and giggles we got out of it, and we're sure anyone who goes along with get a good chuckle out of it too.

When this finished, we rushed down to see the dancing robot show! These cute, lit-up robots were dancing in-sync to many Kpop hits starting with the iconic 'Abracadabra', 'Sorry sorry' and ending with a  'Fantastic Baby' (of course). The robots' dancing was so energetic, one of the people working at Korea House had to keep a close eye on them to make sure they don't fall over. This display was really popular with kids and adults alike!
Korea House London - Dancing Robots

Published on Aug 7, 2012 by KoreanClassMassive

Apart from the scheduled shows, there are activities on offer throughout the day. There is a crafts area, where people were learning how to write their name in Hangul and decorating their own fans. There was also a very popular hand massage area, where you could try out these high tech massaging machines. And if that wasn't pampering enough, there was a lady giving out beauty and skin care advice. You could also take photos in Hanboks with a nice little scenic backdrop and take home a polaroid souvenir! There were several different outfits available for men and women, and was very popular with couples. There was also a touch screen computer where you could select some Kpop tunes to play. We're pretty sure everyone was impressed with our choice of Girls' Day and Dal Shabet.

If you're planning to go to Korea any time soon, Korea house is really worth a visit as there were some great information packs available to take home with you. These included a tourist map of Korea, a Korean Travel Guide, as well as more general booklets about Korean food and culture. One area of Korea House was set aside to help promote the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. There was some great displays and lots of information for you if you're planning to travel to this event!

If you want to head over to Korea House, and we recommend you do, the location is the Royal Thames Yacht Club, 60 Knightsbridge. It's just near Knightsbridge tube, and is super easy to locate. If you want to see a show, make sure you get there a bit earlier to secure your ticket.

Shows this week are:

Magic Show 'Be Mesmerised' 12:00 and 16:00 - everyday

Pansori & Gyobangmu dances 15:30 - 7,8,10,11 August

Robot dance performance 11:00, 12:30, 17:00 - everyday

Performance Art Painting 14:00 and 15:30 - up to 9 August

Source: Korean Class Massive

Many thanks to my friends over at Korean Class Massive for granting me permission to re-post this wonderfully  informative article!

They always make me feel like I've been there in person.

Be sure to pop over and visit them ^^

Idols’ original stage names evoke laughter amongst netizens - Bonus Videos - How to pronounce idol names

by leesa86
The original stage names of some of today’s top stars have once again been revealed, drawing interest from netizens everywhere.
A post was recently shared on an online community board with the title, ‘Idols’ original stage names‘, giving a list of names that were being considered for some of today’s top idol stars.
Super Junior‘s Leeteuk was close to becoming ‘Kang Soo‘, as it is close to his birth name, Park Jungsoo. Fellow member Shindong almost became ‘Udon’, while Kangin could have been ‘Woongdam (gallbladder of a bear…)’, and Kyuhyun ‘Gwee-Hyun (distinguished person)’.
TVXQ was considered to be named ‘Oh Jak Yook Boo (Internal Organs)’, while Big Bang almost was named ‘Diamond’. T.O.P was originally going to be named ‘Mark’, Daesung ‘Big Castle’, Seungri ‘Sonic’, and Taeyang ‘Taekwon’.
Wonder Girls were almost named ‘LC (Ladies Club)’- Sunye was going to be ‘Sunny’, Sohee ‘IC’, Yenny ‘Silver’, Sunny ‘Berry’, and now 4minute member HyunA who used to promote with Wonder Girls was going to be ‘Mint’. The girls even had a song they recorded under these names, but the name of a popular documentary they filmed before their debut was titled ‘Wonder Girls’, and they went with that name.
Shinhwa member Jun Jin was going to be ‘Lee Gi Go (which translates to ‘Winning’ in Korean)’, and Minwoo was going to be either ‘Parang (Blue)’ or ‘Taeyang’.
Netizens who came across the information exploded into laughs as they wrote, “IC is truly hilarious“, “I heard Diamond was G-Dragon‘s idea“, and more.
Source & Image: StarToday via Nate

Source:allkpop

So funny!

A few of these I've heard before but this is a really good list!

Who's YOUR favorite?

Funniest has to be Shindong...Udon??? >.<

and TOP....Mark??? really?

Speaking of idol names...

Bonus Videos: How to pronounce all your fav kpop idol names and groups!

how to pronounce k-pop names -- dbsk, suju, beast, 2pm, mblaq, infinite, etc.

Uploaded by krntler on May 4, 2011

PART 1. for international k-pop fans who need help pronouncing k-pop idols' names.
DBSK / SS501 / Super Junior / 2PM / Jay Park / 2AM / BEAST / MBLAQ / Infinite / U-KISS
how to pronounce k-pop names 2 -- shinee, ft island, cn blue, etc

Uploaded by krntler on May 7, 2011
PART 2. For international fans who need help pronouncing idols' names.
SHINee / CN Blue / F.T Island / Teen Top / ZE:A

how to pronounce k-pop names, girl groups - 2ne1, kara, wonder girls, snsd, f(x),4minute, 

Uploaded by krntler on Jun 1, 2011

PART 3. For international fans who need help pronouncing idols' names.
2NE1 / 4minute / SNSD / Secret / Kara / Sistar / T-ara / f(x) / Miss A / Girl's Day / Wonder Girls

BONUS Bonus Video

how to pronounce korean actors' names: wonbin, hyunbin, so jisub, song joongki

Uploaded by krntler on Aug 3, 2011

For international fans who need help pronouncing their favorite Korean actors' names.

Fun right?

How many have you been pronouncing weirdly?

^.~

Super Junior’s Yesung makes a surprise visit into a chatroom. Did you ever wonder if your Idol bias visits chats?

Did you ever wonder if your Idol bias visits your favorite chatroom/box'???

Oh I remember so well the nights on CloudUSA we'd be gettin a lil'crazy and Terri would start making us even crazier with...."Careful! You never know!"

And we'd start lookin at the large amount of 'Anons' on the chat list who never really said much.

All of a sudden we'd switch from 'banana talk' (^.~) to "I pray for Rain and make kimchi"

We were CONVINCED that we'd better be good cause if JiHoon really was watching us we were sure he might not like all that banana talk!

Super Junior's Yesung has answered the question for us today.

And I'd be willing to bet that he's so NOT the only idol who does this!

Super Junior’s Yesung makes a surprise visit into a chatroom

 by choiwj

Fans chatting in a particular chatroom were in for some luck as Super Junior‘s Yesung made a surprise entrance to one of his fansites.
On March 27th, the singer uploaded a proof-shot of his visit into the chatroom on his twitter account and wrote, “A sudden invasion while fanpage hopping! This is fun haha. Were you guys deceived your entire lives or something?”
His proof-shot photo shows the singer greeting his fans in the chatroom with his username as “guest_snb”. Yesung’s first message on the chatroom said, “Hey yo!” to which the fans warmly greeted the “guest”. He then wrote, “I really just happened to visit by accident, so I’ll be looking around.” His last message read, “I’m not lying. I’m really Yesung.”
Unfortunately, the fans didn’t believe the singer as one wrote, “No way…”
Upon seeing his proof-shot, netizens commented, “Your fan service is unique“, “I wish I was in that chatroom“, and “You should visit our fanpage!”
Source: Yesung’s Twitter

Source: allkpop

Hhmmmmm I wonder who might visit My Music Radar!'s chat????

*peers at all the Anons*

^.~

Hungry Kpop boys............I'm just sayin

 Okies friends and fans, originally I had this attached to the bottom of the
' Who’s the skinniest and heaviest among male idol groups? ' post.

However since I had been doing the research for this post for such a long time, I decided to finish it up and post it up for you anyway.
*dusts off my soapbox*
Been a while since you saw me up here right? ^^

I guess the netizens beat me at this one.

*trashes my 'Hungry kpop boys' folder.....*

>.>

From Stormy's 'Hungry Kpop Boys' folder

There are many kinds of hunger in the kpop world,

the hunger to win, to succeed, to learn a new dance step.

I'm talking here about actual hunger.

Many wake at night hungry.

ie Taemin waking Key in the middle

of the night to make him food,

Who feeds Taemin in the middle of the night?

Uploaded by jinkidesu on Mar 29, 2011

reupload from shakizi

"because taemin is always still growing up, he gets hungry easily. so he will wake those people who are asleep up to cook sea otter for him. because he's a friend i love so i will do it for him many times."

eng subs: hiyeom@tumblr.com

Infinite's Sungjong to this day hides food in bedroom.

As was seen during 'Sesame Player' Sungjong  hides food in his bag and draws in his bedroom. The members often tease him about his pre-debut days when the CEO wouldn't let him eat after 6PM.

(Sungjong actually lived with the CEO pre-debut)

 In this episode the boys take a little time off from practice and Leader Sunggyu orders some chicken for them, but is ultimatley caught by one of their managers who actually takes the food away from them. >.>

110727 Sesame Player S2 - Infinite Ep 6 [3/4] Eng Sub

Uploaded by baby97mia97 on Aug 15, 2011

It seems to be common practice for idols to not eat after 6PM as when SHINee guested on 'Flower Boy Generation' and wouldn't eat the snacks the MC's bought for them.

(Eng) 090707 Flower 1/5

Uploaded by sfineee on Jan 3, 2010

Or maybe you remember during 'Hello Baby' filming when they were at the pension,

Key was seen eating an apple instead of the fabulous meat dinner.

SHINee Hello Baby Ep.10 4/5.wmv time mark 5:55

Uploaded by SHINeeL0V3R on Jul 21, 2010

Lastly I have this tweet from one of the Block B boys tweeting that despite being exhausted he is so hungry he can't sleep and dreams of the day he can eat all the food he wants.

Honestly I cried after reading this......my Omma heart just wants to feed all these poor hungry boys healthy food that wont make them fat or make their faces bloat.

Growing, exercising, dancing young boys need food for energy with all the intense practice they do.......not to mention the killer schedules they must follow.

I'm just saying.

Stormy

This post is mine and DOES express my opinion!

Who’s the skinniest and heaviest among male idol groups?

by choiwj

Netizens are at it with yet another average graph for idols! This time, instead of height they have summarized the average weight of male idol groups and it has definitely caught the attention of fans.
The graph was uploaded on an online community board and sequences the average weight from lightest to the heaviest groups into five hilarious different category names: “Why am I living“, “No need for words“, “Not average“, “This is average“, and “Height and weight are proportional“.
The lightest group overall was TEEN TOP with 55.1kg and the heaviest were the ‘beast idols’ 2PM at 69.1kg.
Out of all the groups listed on the graph, the lightest overall member was TEEN TOP’s L.Joe weighing in at a flyweight-like 50kg with a height of 171cm.
After seeing the graph, fans commented, “Are they even eating?“, “I shall give you some of my fat“, and “I bet some of them will fly away when it gets windy.”
Check to see where your favorite idol group lies in the graph below!
Why am I living
TEEN TOP - 55.1
MY NAME – 57.6
SHINee – 58.0
INFINITE – 58.8
ZE:A – 59.1
Twilight – 59.7
F.T. Island - 59.8

---

No need for words
LEDApple – 60.0
Block B – 60.7
Big Bang – 60.8
N-Train – 61.0
Dalmation – 61.0
B2ST – 61.1

---

Not average
B1A4 – 61.6
CHAOS – 61.8
TOUCH - 62.0
CNBLUE – 62.0
TVXQ - 62.4
MBLAQ – 63.2

---

This is average
AA - 64.0
Super Junior – 64.2
U-KISS - 64.4
BoM – 64.5
B.A.P - 65.1
Co-Ed School – 65.2
SS501 - 65.4

---

Height and weight are proportional
F.CUZ – 66.3
X-5 - 66.4
Supernova – 66.6
M.I.B - 67.2
2AM - 67.5
2PM – 69.1
Source & Image: Josun Ilbo via Nate

Source:allkpop

I guess the netizens beat me at this one.

*trashes my 'Hungry kpop boys' folder.....*

>.>

K-Pop Stars Girls' Generation, BoA, SHINee Continue To Win U.S. Fans

NY1: K-Pop Stars Girls' Generation, BoA, SHINee Continue to Win U.S. Fans

Uploaded by 9snsdkorean on Mar 4, 2012

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/157009/k-pop-stars-girls--generation--...

By: Lewis Dodley

 Since they first arrived in New York, NY1 has been following the progress of Korean pop stars trying to make it big in America. In the first installment of a two-part series, Lewis Dodley reports that the door to the so-called Korean Wave appears to have swung wide open.

It was a dream come true for the nine members of Girls' Generation and their company, SM Entertainment. In another first for the group from South Korea, they were in the national spotlight last month performing on the Late Show with David Letterman.

They also graced the set of "Live with Kelly" as part of a whirlwind 24 hours to promote their first English single, "The Boys."
"It's absolutely a dream come true," said group member Tiffany following the appearances. "It's still amazing that we were on the show and we're just thankful that we're having so much of an experience."
Asked if the group was nervous appearing on American television, she laughed.
"We enjoyed it – we totally enjoyed it on stage," she said. "During rehearsals we were a bit jet-lagged, but once the camera turned on we were screaming, whoo! It was the first time we ever performed with live fans, and that sounded really cool."
The appearances come on the heels of a sold-out performance at Madison Square GArden for Girls' Generation and six other SM Entertainment acts – which makes you wonder if America has wrapped its arms around the idea of a Korean superstar.
SM Entertainment's first attempt at cracking the U.S. market was made three years ago by BoA, an Asian sensation so popular that 200 media outlets showed up for her announcement that she was coming to America. Though the album saw only moderate success, her talent was recognized by director Duane Adler – who was so impressed that he's making "Cobu 3D," a soon-to-be-released movie based on BoA. It co-stars Derek Hough, and BoA as Aya.
"Aya's character is Korean in blood and raised in Japan," BoA explains. "She's followed her brother to New York and she's the leader of the Cubu team so she's very passionate and never gives up on anything she does. So she's a strong woman."
"Working with Duane Adler, he's an amazing director," BoA adds. "He's written a lot of amazing dance movies before, so I was very happy to be part of this project. And Derek Hough, when I first met him there was a little bit of awkwardness since we really didn't know each other. But when we kept rehearsing stuff we got to know each other, and then after I got to know him as a person I thought, 'Wow, he's a really nice guy, cool, great dancer, great actor.' So now we're really good friends."
The latest developments embody the concept of Hallyu – the wave of Korean cultural expression that, bit-by-bit, is making a mark on the world. K-Pop artists are doing their best to make that mark a lasting impression.

"We have social networks these days like YouTube and Facebook," says performer Key of the group SHINee. "So ever though we're far apart, everyone is able to see our performances through the Internet. I definitely feel that today people are more open-minded to music. Five years ago it would be hard to imagine that people in Europe and all over the world would be listening to K-Pop – but now it seems there's a chance to listen to a larger variety of different styles of music."
"I just feel like we're just starting and we still have a long way up the stairs," echoes Tiffany. "So we're just going to work hard for it. My goal for this group is just sticking together as long as possible. We grew up together and I hope it can go on."

Source:NY1

Omo Key's voice! So manly and deep!

Netizen posts the average heights of K-pop boy groups

by leesa86 


We recently shared a summary of the average heights of girl groups in K-pop, and it looks like this time, a netizen has completed the same report on K-pop boy groups. Similar to the previous report, the boys were categorized into five different groups: Giant, Tall, Average, Short, and Shortest.
The tallest was X-5 at 186.2cm (6 feet and 1.30 inches) while the shortest was TEEN TOP at 175.1 (5 feet and 8.93 inches).
Where does your favorite male idol group rank? See for yourself below!
Shortest
TEEN TOP – 175.1 (5 feet and 8.93 inches)
B2ST – 175.6 (5 feet and 9.13 inches)
The BOSS – 176.4 (5 feet and 9.44 inches)
FT Island – 176.6 (5 feet and 9.52 inches)
Dalmatian – 176.6 (5 feet and 9.52 inches)
N-Train : 176.6 (5 feet and 9.52 inches)

---

Short
Big Bang – 177.2 (5 feet and 9.76 inches)
Boyfriend – 177.3 (5 feet and 9.80 inches)
Block B – 177.4 (5 feet and 9.84 inches)
INFINITE – 177.8 (5 feet and 10.00 inches)

---

Average
Twi-light – 178.0 (5 feet and 10.07 inches)
Super Junior - 178.0 (5 feet and 10.07 inches)
ZE:A - 178.2 (5 feet and 10.15 inches)
MBLAQ – 178.4 (5 feet and 10.23 inches)
MYNAME - 178.4 (5 feet and 10.23 inches)
SHINee - 178.8 (5 feet and 10.30 inches)
B.A.P – 178.8 (5 feet and 10.30 inches)

---

Tall
CHAOS - 179.0 (5 feet and 10.47 inches)
TOUCH – 179.0 (5 feet and 10.47 inches)
BoM - 179.0 (5 feet and 10.47 inches)
M.I.B – 179.2 (5 feet and 10.55 inches)
B1A4 – 179.4 (5 feet and 10.62 inches)
HITT – 180.1 (5 feet and 10.90 inches)
U-KISS - 180.5 (5 feet and 11.06 inches)
AA - 180.6 (5 feet and 11.10 inches)
2PM – 180.8 (5 feet and 11.18 inches)

---

Giant
2AM – 181.1 (5 feet and 11.29 inches)
TVXQ - 181.2 (5 feet and 11.33 inches)
SS501 - 181.2 (5 feet and 11.33 inches)
CO-ED School (SPEED) – 182.6 (5 feet and 11.88 inches)
CNBLUE - 183.0 (6 feet and 0.04 inches)
Supernova – 183.0 (6 feet and 0.04 inches)
FOCUS - 183.0 (6 feet and 0.04 inches)
X5 - 186.2 (6 feet and 1.30 inches)

Source & Image : EVON

Source:allkpop

Surprised?

The importance of the 90-degree bow in K-pop

Written by Bo Kyung On October 24, 2011
Bowing as part of the traditional Korean greeting, 인사 (in-sa), is customary and one of the first things you learn about Asian, and specifically Korean, culture. More importantly, it’s a gesture of respect. In addition to the bowing is the idea of hierarchy, where there are things like “선배” (sunbae/seniors) and “후배” (hubae/juniors) in the industry. So when a young  junior idol group fails to bow to the senior artist, it becomes tricky, and almost always newsworthy.
Recently in the K-pop community, the manners of idols has become quite an issue. What really started all this was the group T-ara. They were first accused of their poor performance, but now the issue has moved onto their manners. On October 17th 2011, a senior musician Mo-Se tweeted,

“There is a girl group whose attitude at a certain event became an issue. I knew it. They are also famous for not greeting others. I’ve met the girl who posted an explanation about their poor performance, and not once did she greet me. What’s worse, when we met a few times at the recording studio before their debut, and even then she didn’t do anything. Particularly, when we meet at events, it’s only manners to say ‘thank you’ and greet each other lightheartedly. Let’s not even mention the fact that they don’t greet — all they do is watch me. Wow. They must be big stars. I don’t normally say things like this, but what kind of celebrities or adults are they to behave like this.”

But, T-ara wasn’t the only group with this problem. On October 18th 2011, Goo Hara, a member of Kara, appeared in a variety program Strong Heart and announced that,

“Even though we Kara are all young, it’s already been 5 years since our debut. We’re considered seniors among the idol groups now. But there’s this junior idol group of members who are older than us, and even though we, Kara, bow to them in 90-degree angle, they just nod in return.”

Hearing this news, netizens became sensitive towards these issues because “in-sa” is not only an action everybody needs to adhere to, but it’s even more important for idols to adhere to. To show the good side of K-pop manners, SNSD and Kim Hyun Joong became the “good” examples of those showing good behavior. It is known that on the 21st, SNSD came back on Music Bank, and all the members went around the waiting rooms showing their respect toward all the senior and junior artists. Also on the same day, a photo of Kim Hyun-joong bowing in the full 90-degree position became a highlight, especially because he is more senior than most of those he was performing with, and doesn’t necessarily have to bow so deeply, but did so anyway out of respect.

So why is it that some idols tend to ignore others and fail to greet or “insa” properly? Well, I think it’s all about fame, age, and the debut day. First, fame brings arrogance. No matter what anyone says and thinks, when everyone knows your name and everyone is going crazy over you, there are those who become arrogant, and maybe arrogant enough to believe that you are number one and will always be number one. Second, age is very complicated in Korea. And third, the day of a debut is also very important. Regardless of how old you are, the day of your debut determines who is considered senior or junior in the industry.
Now, going back to Kara: it’s been 5 years since their debut, which makes everyone who debuted after them their juniors and everyone who debuted before them their seniors, regardless of the age of the members in those senior/junior groups. It’s totally understandable not wanting to bow to a younger person like Goo Hara when you’re much older than her, but it’s Korea’s tradition and it’s really not something you ignore as a Korean person, and especially as a Korean entertainer.
What do you guys think? Too much political correctness, or merely being polite?
(kukinews)

Source:seoulbeats

This can be very confusing! Learning someones age (if in doubt) is so important! Add to that a debut date? THIS would be why we see SHINee's Onew bowing to everyone!

^.^

Yes I'm still on an Onew kick >.<