I figured I should explain a little of how I got introduced to the world of Korean music and eventually culture...Well, if I can remember, that is.

The only thing I can recall is watching 2NE1's I Am The Best MV, and getting completely hooked. They and Big Bang were the two groups I really got into, and I watched every single MV (group and solo), YouTube Video (interviews), and variety show (2NE1 TV only at the time) I could get my hands on with them in it, which probably explains why I'm very much in love with Park Bom.

After that kick of YG and downloading their songs onto my iPod, I went on a break. Those 20 or so songs I listened to kept me going for about a year...

This brings me to my branching into Korean variety shows, dramas, and movies. I remembered Park Bom was cast as a member on the show Roommate, and the episodes had piled up. I marathoned through about 7 episodes in one night, staying up til literally dawn, the first time I had ever done such a thing. Anyway, this show was how I got exposed to celebrities other than my beloved YG artists...Like Chanyeol. He was my introduction to EXO, and I got hooked onto Kpop once again. I did my research on everything EXO related, downloading all of their songs (and I mean ALL), and watching EXO Showtime. After finishing their reality show, I needed to find more. I believe I looked at their Wikipedia filmography page, and found that they were on an episode of Running Man. Imagine my disappointment when it was only for a 20 minute or so segment. However, this is the starting point of when I started to watch Running Man.

I only looked into RM episodes that had guests of Kpop artists I recognized by name (like Nichkhun, SuJu). Eventually, I really started to love the RM cast members, and I didn't understand where their inside jokes came from (like Girin, Haroro, Ace Ji Hyo, Commander Kook, etc). So, I started from the beginning. Every day for about a month, I watched 2-4 episodes of Running Man a day. I had a lot of ground to cover, but I loved every moment of it. I got to know Joong Ki (and I still miss him; he's coming back from the army soon!), I laughed at their jokes and their pain, I cried when there were moments to cry, I shook my head at the bad guests, I fell in love with other guests. Every day, however, as I was making progress through the episodes, I became sad, because I realized I would soon be like everyone else and have to wait every week for the newest episode.

This brings me to my introduction to dramas. I loved Song Ji Hyo. And I mean LOVE. Like, I went to her Wikipedia page and looked up every drama, movie, CF, MV, other variety show she was ever a part of, and started chipping my way through the list. I started with Goong, because Ji Hyo was in it, and also because of Yoon Eun Hye (*ahem* Kim Jong Kook *ahem*). Long story short, I didn't like it. I would say I'm an empathetic and compassionate person, so while watching this drama, my heart would hurt a lot because I was frustrated and annoyed with what the characters were saying/not saying and doing/not doing. The ending wasn't that great either. Maybe because Goong was made in the early 2000s and the production value wasn't as good as it is today made me not like it even more. Anyway, I promised myself I wouldn't watch another drama for a really long time...I'll get to that in a second.

Then started my journey with Korean movies. The first one I watched, I believe, was Jackal is Coming, staring Jaejoong from JYJ and Song Ji Hyo. I thought the concept was fun, so I gave it a shot. This one disappointed me as well, because of the ending. I find a lot of Korean dramas and movies don't really end well. At least, to my standards. North American/Hollywood endings have ruined me for other countries's movie endings. I kept going with movies, though, because they didn't have as much build-up as dramas and were a lot shorter than dramas. I believe I watched My Black Mini Dress afterwards, and...at least one or two others I can't remember the names of. Oh, A Frozen Flower was one of them. (Heh, SJH.)

Because my love for Ji Hyo would not die, I ventured into another drama, even though I made that promise to myself. I decided to start with the oldest ones I was interested in first and then work my way up to the more recent ones...There were only two I wanted to watch: The Fugitive of Joseon (Im Seulong <33 Also, apparently one of the supporting actors went to high school with my dad :O ) and Emergency Couple (LEE PIL MO MADE MY LIFE, HE'S SO Y. Anticipate a fic from me about this one lol). And I liked them *way* better than Goong, probably because they were made in the 2010s. I made my way over to Modern Farmer next (because of Park Min Woo), but I wasn't feeling in a drama mood anymore, so after the first episode, I stopped.

Then came months of just watching Running Man, rewatching Running Man, rewatching EXO Showtime, watching Roommate...And now we're in the present! In the past month, I've been loving Han Hyo Joo, after watching her RM episodes again. She was such a good sport on the variety show, so I wanted to see what she was about. I have watched 3 of her movies so far: Love 911, Cold Eyes, and Always...and I've loved all of them. I can't wait to see what else she comes up with in the future.

So yeah, that is all! I hope you learned something about me and my journey into K culture, and I also hope you enjoyed reading all of that. It is a lot to take in. 

PS. SONG JI HYO IN EX-GIRLFRIEND CLUB I CANNOT WAIT!!! ;D ...Yes, I am very excited ^^