ainayouu

[ainayouu]

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01.09.2018- Korean Samulnori (사물놀이)

Today we had the chance to be taught, by teacher Jeung Hyun Choi, how to play a traditional Korean instrument. With my luck, I chose the hardest one, also known as Janggu (장구). I found it challenging at first as it required a good level of coordination (which I definitely do not have, ha). 

Things we learnt: Insa greeting, Arirang song and the Byuldageori song. In this weeks homework I will be exploring and researching more about Samulnori and traditional Korean music so please look forward to that sometime this week!

To be honest, I was slightly dreading this lesson as I expected to be terrible at the Janggu. However, with time I improved little by little. I even performed part of the song without making a mistake! Small achievements like this make me realize that if one tries their utmost best, there is little room for disappointment. 

The most important thing I learnt about myself today is that I’m open to learning an instrument. Although maybe not the Janggu because my pinky finger is still sore even up to this point! (just kidding). 

A special thank you to Jeung Hyun Choi for the extremely interesting session. I had great fun and very fulfilling. Most of us were serious the whole time because we were so drawn into the lesson! Also, thank you to the Kpop Academy staff for this one in a lifetime opportunity.

[ainayouu]

25.09.2018

Hi everyone! This is my first ever blog post... exciting right! Before I get to the focus on this post, I shall introduce myself.

Name- Nayou 

Age- 19

Occupation- student, starting my undergrad soon! (BSc biomedical sciences)

I wrote this a little while ago but I decided to post it now because my idea was initially to start up a blog but since I’m just so terrible at anything computer based it was just a flop. Also, I got sidetracked but that's beside the point...

I was recently and very fortunately selected to be part of a programme called the Kpop Academy, hosted by the Korean Culture Centre in London. It is a one in a lifetime opportunity to get to know the Korean Culture that is beyond kpop and kdrama. For the next 10 weeks, the aim of my blog is to focus on writing diary entries and my journey into the Korean Culture.

Today’s session was orientation so we had to do a presentation about ourselves. I was super nervous! Everyone else in my class is so talented and interesting because they have taken part in other programmes, are studying Korean and have even been to Korea! There was also a quiz, which was very fun and competitive.

The next and final part of today’s session we had a lecturer from Liverpool University to talk to us about BTS’ new MV, Idol! We analysed it by breaking it down, first listening to it without the MV to take in the lyrics and vibe of the song. Personally, I felt that the music had both Korean and African inspiration due to the beat and the lyrics seemed very confident, about loving oneself. After that, we watched the MV without music to pick out themes and parts of the song which correlated to the lyrics. I could see Korean themes due to them wearing traditional Korean costumes as well as the dancing taking place in a Korean temple. The African themes were very subtle such as the opening theme of the song taking part in a safari with a giraffe, being symbolic in Africa due to its long neck “keeping your head up,” which I interpret that BTS was trying to do due to their newfound popularity. I also noticed that the choreography included a dance move called the “Gwara Gwara,” originating in South Africa. Lastly, we watched the MV with the music to consolidate our interpretations. Thank you Dr. Haekyung Um for the very insightful lecture! I learnt so much and I will try to implement this technique with my favourite artists to try to understand them better. 

Next week, we have a traditional Korean music session! I’m very excited to broaden my horizons because I’m not used to learning instruments so this will definitely be a challenge. 

Thank you for KCCUK for allowing me to have the opportunity to participate in this programme and thank you for taking the time for reading my post. See you next week.