The Sorority of Blogging

I think it’s been a month and a half since I’ve touched this site at the time I’m writing this, though at this point starting every blog post with “how long as it been now” is a bit redundant.  Blogging has been something I’ve let sit in the back burner–it takes a long time to do, and every time I think I would come back to it, something else in life causes me to postpone things. Thankfully with most blogging adventures comes an awesome community, so no matter how often I write, be it every day, every month, or once a year, people will be around to share writing.

This time I’m back to participate is one of the many blogging awards that are floating around just for this purpose and it’s called the “Sisterhood of Blogging Award.” I reckon the name is a reference to the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, but unlike my relationship with that book series, I’m having a blast reading everyone’s posts answering questions from their fellow bloggers. I would like to extend a very warm thank you to Belle at Musings of  A Self-professed Dramaholic, Soori from Four Seasons Dramas, and Blue from KDrama Endings for pulling me once again into the glorified chain-mail that is blogging awards, and for reminding me that I indeed have a site to run.

Belle’s Questions

1. Did you have a childhood nickname? If so, what’s the story behind it?

I don’t have a childhood nickname, and the story goes that my father wanted me to have a name that would be difficult get a nickname out of. He definitely succeeded in that quest, much to my dismay. All the kids at school always had “other” names that they wanted to be called by, and I wanted to have one as well. On the other hand, my sister, who I always refer to by her nickname (and she has a cool one), never lets people outside of our family use it. Figures that the grass is always greener on the other side.

2. Tell me three things about the place you grew up in.

I grew up in an area that was the intersection of three different places in the legal books, so I always had a difficult time figuring out how to introduce myself to other people.  When my family first moved there it was a bunch of grassy fields and a few homes and grocery stores, and over the decade or so we’ve been there, it has gone from quiet, almost-kinda-rural suburb to a relatively populous and well-to-do area. If you imagined a quintessential suburban town, my hometown would be like that. It’s so cookie cutter, I can only come up with two things to say about it. I do love living there, though.

3. What’s the craziest/oddest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Being vegetarian doesn’t really help me answer this question because 80% of all “weird foods” are just unusual animals like snails, snakes, jellyfish and insects. Vegetables and fruits are not exactly weird, but my least favorite fruit is jackfruit since it smells unappetizing and tastes sickeningly sweet. Is that weird enough for you, Belle?

4. Would you rather eat healthy or exercise regularly?

Obviously we should all be doing both, and college has made it even more evident that this is the case. If I had to choose one though, I think exercise would be my choice because it really changes your energy levels and alertness throughout the day. When I was studying for the MCAT last summer I would run every morning, and I’m pretty sure that my good score was partly due to that.

5. If you had to pick one representative dish that best encapsulates where you are from what would it be and why?

Yoghurt rice with vegetable kari and sambar. It’s a simple South Indian staple, and I never feel quite at home until I’ve had my mom make that for me.

6. How do you spend your free time apart from watching shows?

I have free time? Hehe, just kidding.

Watching shows, writing and using social media are things I do while procrastinating work so….yeah. I like reading, and playing Badminton, so I guess that? (Not that I get to do much of either these days.)

7. If you could go back into time (say, ten years) to offer a piece of advice to the younger you, what would it be and why?

Don’t procrastinate, and don’t be afraid of what other people think. I would also tell myself to go outside more.

8. What is one of the most adventurous things you’ve ever done?

Probably leaving home for college? I don’t live too far away from my family, but it’s definitely not close enough for me to see them outside of designated breaks. College has become my first step towards real adulthood and its been quite the adventure.

9. What is something you are waiting for, or looking forward to, right now?

Senior year of college! I can’t believe that I only have a year left, and that I’m actually applying to medical school now. As for whether I’ll get in…let’s just not think about that.

10. Where are you from? How did you get to discover this space? In other words, what brought you here?

I started blogging to practice writing for Seoulbeats (which is a weird story of its own), but now S.O.I. my home on the internet. (I’ve I answered my blog’s origin story in a lot more detail in my other Liebster award posts so I stayed brief here. Check out the tags or the sidebar for those posts.)

Blue’s Questions

1. What is your favorite album and why?

This is a ridiculously hard question to answer, because 1, I listen to albums in phases, and 2, I like a lot of music. Some albums I feel are catchy and fun, some are beautiful and moody, and a few are feel-good albums. The unfortunate thing is that good pop albums are hard to come by these days–people don’t give them the kind of attention they used to. Rock and alternative albums can oven end up in a vortex of a single sound, so I’ll love all of the songs and the album, but rarely listen to it. My favorite “feel-good” album is Younha’s Supersonic, but I also like listening to Nell’s Escaping Gravity, Hello Nico’s 熟悉的荒涼, f(x)’s Pink Tape, and 78Violet’s Hothouse with significant frequency.

2. Most people have “faces” that they can’t stand and can’t explain why, is there one actor or actress whose face irritates you?

I don’t really have a particular face that irritates me, but certain features creep me out. Pointy chins (usually a product of PS) is my number one annoyance. It’s like they cut out half of their face. Another is awkwardly tiny noses–basically, I don’t like anything that reminds me of Voldemort. Unfortunately for me, Korea’s favorite look tends to go in that direction. But if we’re really going to be honest here, everyone is beautiful!

3. Since we’re talking about looks, Lee Min-Ho, Cha Seung-Won or Kang Ha-Neul?

Yikes. I don’t do well with these kinds of questions. I don’t usually notice male actors unless they take on a role that interests me (so Park Gyeong-soo male leads, basically). Aesthetically, I would go with Kang Ha-neul, Cha Seung-won, and Lee Min-ho, in that order, though to be honest, you really can’t take much from that answer. All three men have been gifted with nice facial features.

4. Have you ever been to South Korea? If so, how was it?

I haven’t been anywhere in Asia besides India, so no. I hope to go there some time.

5. What is the first Korean word or expression that you’ve learned from dramas?

하지만. I love conjunctions. (I actually don’t remember what word I learned first, but ‘but’ is the word that stuck with me. Haha.)

Shiki’s Questions

1. Are getting emotional when you watch dramas (eg cry on sad scenes)?

I don’t really cry when it comes to “sad scenes” where they play sad music as the lovers part, or the evil character does something horrible to the main lead, but I do have a lot of empathy for characters. I try to mentally connect with the people I watch in dramas and attempt to understand their views in life. But to actually cry? I think I need a scene that has a sense of suffocation–often times, it’s a moment where a character thinks he has lost everything or is faced with a significant dilemma. Something real, raw, and human.

2. If so, what is a scene that made you overflow with tears?

The most crying I’ve done is having my eyes water, so I’ll just mention scenes that I felt very strongly towards. The most recent moments I can remember is are some scenes in Snowman (can’t tell you specifics because major spoilers) and two in Punch–one, when Park Jung-hwan has to listen to his medicine vials shatter and two, the brothers scene at the cliff. The more of my own imagination I tie into the characters and the story, the more I’ll find myself emotionally invested and responsive.

3. How did you come to like your favorite actor/actress?

Great roles. It’s as simple as that. The more fascinating the character and drama, the more I’ll forgive bad acting. *Looks at Go Soo* I have a significant list of actors I enjoy watching, but no one I would go out and call my favorite.

4. Do you have an ahjussi crush? Who is it and why is he your crush?

Hard to say. I think I take more to characters than I do actual actors, so beyond my interest in characters, I don’t have “crushes.” As for my favorite veteran actors, they’re probably Jo Jae-hyun and Park Geun-hyung.

5. We all dropped at least a drama at some point so what drama did you drop and for what reason?

I drop dramas all the time, and it’s mostly because of boredom. My lethargy towards a drama doesn’t necessarily correlate to quality though–Secret Door was objectively bad, but I liked most of the characters and the story universe enough to imagine my own stories for them. I ended up watching the whole thing to help build my head-canon. I have done something similar for several other dramas as well.

6. Did you ever drop a drama where your favorite actor/actress was in?

I may start a drama because of someone I like, but I almost never watch a drama for an actor. Therefore, I drop a lot of dramas with actors I like. On the flip side, there are many cases when I’ve continued a drama for single character that I find myself attracted to–for example, Princess Hyegyeong from Secret Door.

7. Blogging can become hard at times, what makes you continue writing?

This wonderful community and my never-satiated need to express my ideas and thoughts always brings me back to blogging. Unlike in real life, I’m quite headstrong and opinionated on the internet and I love having that self-confidence.

8. How do you react when people criticize your favorite drama?

Fight them, of course! How dare they not like my favorite drama!!

Okay, okay, I’m just kidding (for the most part). I don’t really care about people liking my favorite dramas as much as I really want people to discuss my favorite drama. Often times liking and discussion come hand-in-hand, but it doesn’t have to be.

9. What is your happy pill variety show?

The Genius. Absolutely no question about it. I love games and I enjoy trying to figure out the path to victory while being floored by moments of genius from the contestants. My favorite episodes are always the in the middle of the season where the weak players are mostly eliminated but there are not too few such that strategy heavy, sprawling games are played.

(I normally hate most of the one-on-one, random skill-based stuff, so the finale always sucks, IMO.)

10. Random: Chilbong or Trash? Explain your answer!

I actually haven’t seen any of the Reply dramas (besides bits and pieces of R97). The husband games always annoyed me, and slice of life doesn’t attract me unless there’s a sense of soul-searching or “tragedy.” Despite this, I think the internet has told me enough about R94 that I would probably pick Trash Hyung, and it’s because I think the person who knows you and cares for you in your most mundane moments is usually the right choice. Prince Charmings almost always leave me apprehensive of them. If love is 90% of what holds you together with the person, you probably won’t make it through life together. Life ain’t easy.

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Nominations:

I think that all of you are awesome and that you definitely should feel welcome to answer my questions (on your blog or in the comments) if you happen to come across this post. But in the meantime, I’ll nominate a few names because that’s what I’m supposed to do:

1. Jan from Blogphilic and Dramaphilic
2. Nicole from Pop Reviews Now
3. Amanda from Outside Seoul
4. DDee from OCDramaDee
5. Orion from Orion’s Ramblings
6. My nominators! 🙂

 Questions

Be as long-winded or blunt as you like! These are rather open-ended questions.

1. Who is your favorite drama writer and why?
2. Do you have a drama character that has stayed with you? Do you see yourself in that character?
3. Do you like sageuk? If so, which is your favorite, and has the genre made you interested in Korean History?
4. What are your professional aspirations?
5. Do you have an album that you listen to that makes you happy? Sad?
6. If you had to be an idol, what company would you choose and why? (The key here is the why, not the where…)
7. Which actors/actresses do you find underrated? What kind of drama would you like them to star in?
8. Would you rather have the chance to travel anywhere in a single country or only to a single city in any country?
9. How have the internet, social media, and blogging changed the way you think about the world?
10. Do you have any tips for new bloggers? What helps you write?

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