Week 5 K-pop Academy : At Kaya

This Week at K-pop Academy was my most enjoyed week yet as we Visited Korean Restaurant 'Kaya' Learning about Korean cusine. Well, where do i start to comment on this week; well, firstly I ARRIVED WAAAAY TOO EARLY to the the restaurant whilst everything was being prepared but at least i was first loool. Anyway..... we were slipt up into groups just like on the first week but i wasnt 2NE1 >< i in was SHINee. One placed in groups we were told we would be cooking Bulgogi and Pajeon and the Chefs talked us through it.

Thats me..... loving my hat btw lol

After the talk through we were  told it was going to be a cooking contest based on presentation long story short....... my team lost LOOOL
Anyway i had and enjoyable experience at Kaya and hope to vist there soon again

Homework week 3

Korean War Flag

During the Korean War; Korea was split at the 38th Parallel creating a division of north and south. On the 28th of June the North had invaded South Korea capital ‘Seoul’.  The UN had gathered deciding a resolution that "the members of the United Nations furnish such assistance to the Republic of Korea". During the war Seoul was invaded over 3 times by the North. After inflicting heavy casualties on the Chinese and North Koreans, the U.N. re-recaptured Seoul (the fourth and final time it changed hands!) on March 15 1953.

Friction at the 38th Parallel

On July the 5th the American troops alongside South Korea went head to head against the North in Busan Navel style, this battle was sucessful for the South and the North had been pushed back. Whilst America was victorious MacArthur completely changed the course of the war overnight by ordering ;over nearly unanimous objections -- an  invasion at the port of Inchon, near Seoul. Evidence has indicated that the Chinese Communists, having studied MacArthur's tactics in World War II, warned the North Koreans to expect such an attack. Still, they were not prepared. Despite warnings from the Communist Chinese through an Indian diplomat that "American intrusion into North Korea would encounter Chinese resistance," MacArthur's forces continued to push north.



U.N Troops



On the 27th of July 1953 an Armistance agreement was signed and this had ended the fighting and made way for peace talks.

Week 3 at K-pop Academy; The Korean War

Week 3 at K-pop Academy, we met War veteran; Brigadier Brian Parritt and he came in to educate us on the Korean War with his primary experience. Honestly I was quite happy to learn about the Korean War first hand as I normally feel that it is something distorted in history text books where they do not provide a non bias account. From Mr Parritt I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the war in an aspect I would not usually be given the chance to hear since I doubt it easy to find a Korean War veteran in this day and age. His account was very insightful and he engaged with us so positively, I loved his sense of humour.  

As Mr Parrit was telling his story I was able to grasp an understanding of how the soldiers conducted themselves during war thanks to his vivid account of the events. The part of his lecture that I enjoyed the most was the part where he shared the pictures he had taken during the war but this is due to me combined interest of Photography and History. The pictures where not only fascinating due to their Historical contents but because it helped me see the immense development South Korea has made in the short space of 50 years.

After the war lecture was over we were given Mr Parritt's book about his experience during the War which he signed for each one of us (so nice of him ^.^).

The book Signing





Thats Me in the red hoodie ^.^ 

After the book signing prizes were given out the people that made the best 'Taegeuki' which obviously was not me because mine wasn’t that good loool (I’m not good at art but at least I tried hard lool) plus even if I was good at art I still wouldn’t stand a chance against a 3D paper flag. The prizes were Signed Kpop CD's so the winners were very lucky.
Anyways, the last thing we did for the day was war a Korean film related to the 'North vs. South' conflict directed by the director of 'Old Boy' so I knew the film would be good.
Overall I had such an enjoyable experience but I think I’ll probably enjoy everyday at K-pop academy even if I lost ever contest lool .



Bethan Crying over a SHINee CD I dont think i'll ever love SHINee as much as her LOL but it's tears of joy at
least good on you girl LOL. Whitney's Dying in the corner though LOOOL



K-POP Academy Week: 2 Homework

For my Homework option this week I’ve chosen option: 1. The National day I’ve decided to research about is; ‘Armed Forces Day’.

(South Korean Special Army soldiers performing martial arts during a rehearsal on Sept. 25 for Armed Forces Day.)

There are about 77 other nations that participate in their own ‘Armed Forces Day’ to commemorate their armies however South Korea’s is slightly different. In South Korea, ‘Armed Forces Day’ is Celebrated on the 1^st of October day the day that South-Korean forces broke through the 38th parallel in 1950 during the Korean War.

This day is a National flag raising day in South Korea and the day is a reminder of those who lost their lives during the war and those who are currently serving. Each year current serving soldiers put on a martial arts performance in remembrance.



I'm soo busy with school work i didnt have time to do this properly on such short notice, sorry >.<

Taegukgi Review - My Homework

‘Taegukgi Hwinallimyo’ also known as ‘The brotherhood of war’ is a South Korean war film directed by  Kang Je-gyu. The narrative of the film follows the story of two brothers who are forced to join the army due to the outbreak of war between the north and south in Korea during the Korean war. The film tells a tale of: Brotherhood, love and deception. The film kicks off with an old man being notified by the S.korean (south) army that remains found have been identified as his own, however these remains actually belong to those of his older brother whom he had lost in war.

The old man reminisces of the 25^th of June when N.Korea (North) attempted to invade S.Korea and the two brothers where drafted away to fight. Upon their arrival to the battle field the older of the two; Jin-tae aims to get his younger brother Jin-seok sent back home without having to fight in the war but he is told by the commanders that the only way this can be done is if Jin-tae himself excels in the army and earns a medal.  Jin-tae after hearing this acts immediately to ensure this happens, he volunteers for various dangerous missions and succeeds and excels in his tasks. Due to his success Jin-Tae is praised  continuously and becomes so blinded by his pride that he forgets the reason why he had done all of these tasks, Jin-Seok.  Witnessing all of this his brother jin-seok becomes outranged by his brother’s arrogance and disowns his older brother because of this. Eventually both brothers are placed in an ugly situation in their home town where  Jin-tae’s fiancée is accused of being a communist and is executed in front of Jin-seok and Jin-tae. Jin-tae in his anger kills the South Korean officers that murdered his fiancée and he and jin-seok end up being reprimanded. Jink-seok is held separately from his brother whilst  Jin-tae is brought in for questioning by a security commander. The security commander then orders the prison to be set on fire where Jin-seok is being held. Jin-seok then joins the communist army and is now mentally unstable thinking that his beloved brother was killed in the fire when in fact his brother had escaped and was recovering in a hospital. Jin-seok finds out his brother has joined the N.Korean army so he goes to find his brother to tell him that he is still alive. After much fighting him finally finds his brother, however jin-tae does not recognise him. The two then have a quarrelled and Jin-tae finally recognises his brother when he himself gets injured from a blast. Jin-seok tries to carry him off the battlefield, but is wounded himself as well, but Jin-seok refuses to retreat without Jin-tae, Jin-tae then convinces him to leave, promising that he will meet him back at home. However Jin-seok is not reunited with his brother as Jin-tae never gets to return home as he ends up dying in a blast moments after Jin-seok had left him. The film then returns to present day where the ‘older’ Jin-seok mourns over the remains of his brother’s corpse.

Personally, I enjoyed the film and it brought me to tears, the film itself is amazing and historically accurate and teaches of the emotional aftermath of the Korean War. The film displays how the unity of Korea was destroyed by the outbreak of communism. The reality of the story demonstrates how a war over 50 years ago still affects families in Korea today as their loved ones were lost. The film helps me understand that today we, the unaffected of wars forget that around the world in all war zones many families are broken and separated due to war. Films, like “Taegukgi” help us to have a deeper understanding of how wars not only affect a nation as a whole, but singular individuals as well. It’s a film that I’d recommend to many as I feel it represents the truths behind the Korean War.

1st Day at the KCC's "Kpop Academy"

      

On the Saturday 23rd of February I began my first day at 'K-pop academy'. For me it was a day I was much anticipating, since I was happy to have been accepted into the academy since I’d only found out about it a few months ago. I had enrolled into to the scheme because I felt that it would be a great opportunity to widen my knowledge about the Korean culture, and also it would help me to meet people with similar interests. On way to the KCC I was running abit late so I was sorta anxious, but when I arrived I was glad I didn’t miss out on anything when I arrived. The Staff at the KCC were very polite and gave everyone a cute gift bag pack, inside of the bag were: K-drama Calendar (I mistook it for a box of chocolates since it was in a fancy box lool), Kpop academy oyster card holders, books and Korean Snacks ( yes, there was peppero ^^).

      

The 1st lesson was an introduction day so we were given an overview of what 'K-pop Academy'. We also had to introduce ourselves via presentations, there were so many presentations that looked better than mine >.< but that’s ook because I gave an energetic presentation (well I thought I was one). The presentations helped each of us to learn abit about our 'classmates' but I was happy to already know a few faces of the participating.

                                                                                              (That’s me in the front row rocking the Camo)

After the presentations we were told we'd be doing a Kpop quiz to see how much we know about Korea and were paired into groups named after kpop groups, mine was '2NE1' (my bias group, so I was happy). I won’t go into too much detail since my team lost to 'Girls Generation' (Ironic right? lool) but never the less it was a fun day for me and I’ve made a few new friends already.

 I look forward to the remaining 12 weeks and hope to benefit from this experience. ;)