Thoughts on K-dramas I'm Currently Watching

To The Beautiful You
(On Ep 8)

Not close to being an amazing drama at all, but it's great for the purpose of cheering yourself up on a gloomy day. All the characters are so cute in the drama, although the things they do sometimes are so dumb that they annoy me.

I've noticed how in this drama, some things might seem a little unrealistic. Take for example, how Jae Hee so easily accustomed to the new environment around her. There are so many factors that could have led her to having some sort of trouble accustoming to the new lifestyle, yet her struggles to do so weren't shown much in the drama. I'm assuming this is either because it wasn't really shown in the manga, or the writer was too eager to speed up the development of the love line between Jae Hee and Tae Joon. Again, the development of the love line was pretty quick in the beginning - I know Tae Joon never showed any feelings akin to hatred for for Jae Hee, but I feel like he started being nice to her a little too early (e.g. Ep 1 - Jae Hee passes out in the middle of PE class, and Tae Joon's the one to rush over to her and carry her to the infirmary. Uh, what? Didn't you just push her hard on purpose earlier during the game?) He opened up to her before Jae Hee did anything much, so...yeah. Loopholes here and there, but you can't expect those to not appear in a drama like this.

Oh, and shameless advertising of SM artists' songs in the background...I know SM has some sort of control over the drama, but it still bothers me. I almost laughed out loud when EXO appeared...their song didn't match the celebrating atmosphere at all. Like, if you're gonna promote your artists' songs and all, please don't do it so often that it makes it extremely obvious that you're desperate to advertise everything you own? Sigh. Oh, and SM loves using their 360 degree filming technique way too much.

The Thousandth Man
(On Ep 3) 

 I feel like I'm taking a huge break from intense dramas by taking on two light hearted dramas at the same time. This drama is not exactly good for cheering yourself up, because it's kinda boring and not particularly cheery.

It would help if the characters were at least a little bit lovable, but a few of them annoy me, others are boring, and the only ones that interest me are Mi Jin and Eung Seok. Mi Jin seems cute and innocent, and Eung Seok seems like a nice guy who manages a really damn fancy restaurant. What I don't like is that they've already met each other in the past as different individuals...are we gonna have the we-were-in-a-relationship-in-the-past-but-it-ended-tragically-so-we're-gonna-fall-in-love-all-over-again-now kind of thing, drama? Okay then, if you insist...

It's nice to see one of the actresses from Ojakgyo Brothers here, but I can't help but cringe whenever she talks. I don't know, I just don't really like her character very much. Same goes for Hyo Min's character. I would probably get a headache every day if I had a sister like her.

And I do understand the point of Woo Hyun's character, but the drama makes him seem pointless. I don't really get his relationship with Hyo Min's character - they seem like they flirt with each other on a regular basis, yet they're friends at the same time...anyway, in conclusion, this couple is not a couple I can take seriously. Maybe I will later on, and maybe I'm judging them too early...but this is what I feel about them right now.

And I have a feeling this drama will have a tragic ending. Mi Jin says she's only willing to eat a man's liver if the man loves her enough to sacrifice himself for her. I'm pretty sure Mi Jin and Eung Seok are gonna end up as a couple...so either one of them is gonna end up dying in the end. Mi Jin might die, because she might love Eung Seok too much to eat his liver and end up disappearing, and Eung Seok might die, because he ends up sacrificing himself for her. There's no win-win situation at all.

Thoughts on College So Far

So I've just wrapped up the 1st week of classes (well we only had classes on Thursday and Friday though), and my first weekend after classes await me now. And here's a bunch of thoughts I have about college so far.

Living in a residential hall:
It's incredibly lively. At least, our floor is. Everyone's really friendly and social, but I'm still not really fitting in. If my roomies weren't here, then I probably would have kept the door closed all the time, when keeping the door open in a res. hall is practically a must. Most of the kids living here are from California, and there are so little international students on this floor. At least, I haven't seen a lot of them, but what I've heard is that most of them are keeping their doors closed and keeping themselves unseen from the non-international kids. I recently learned that if you keep the door closed in a res. hall, you're gonna be considered anti-social, and people will question it. I'm still not comfortable with the door open all the time when I'm in the room (I really do value alone time), but I'm trying to get used to it. I first didn't really like the people on my floor, but I'm trying hard to see the good things in them, and trying to get to know them better. Because all these people are actually really friendly and nice, and they actually want to get to know every single person on the floor. So I hope I will get used to living on this floor soon.

Friends:
I don't really have a specific clique I hang out in, but I do hang out with my roomies a lot. They're both really nice and friendly as well, and I find them easy to talk to. One of my roomies is from Cali, and I initially had this assumption that since she's American, I probably won't be able to get along with her due to cultural differences. I was very wrong - we're kind of alike in a way that we like to stay quiet and chat, rather than lead a huge group of friends and socialize in a big one. Well she's still better at socializing than me, but we're not opposite individuals. We've been hanging out and eating meals together almost every single day, which has been really nice. She's also very chill and she even shares her tea with me. T____T She's so good to me that I feel like a really bad person for not repaying her equally...sigh. Anyway, the conclusion is, I am blessed to have a roomie like her. The other roomie is from Tai Wan, and I like how she always chats with a smile on her face. She also always tries to start a conversation and stuff so smoothly. She moved in late so I haven't been able to know her as much as I got to know my other roomie, but I know that I do have really awesome roomies. ^___^ And omg yesterday both of them texted me asking to have dinner with me, I think we make a pretty close bunch of roommates. Hohoho.

I'm also happy that kids from my orientation group remember me and don't hesitate to say hi to me whenever they see me. I'm gonna be seeing them often since we're all Physics majors, so that's good :) I just recently found out that one of the girls from my orientation group is in the same physics discussion class + calc lecture with me, so that's good ^___^ Oh and there's another girl who I became acquaintances with through Facebook - she's also Korean, which makes it easier for us to communicate with each other (we can use both Korean and English with each other). She's in the same physics lecture as me as well, so I'm assuming we're gonna have a lot of working-together-on-homework+ studying-for-tests-together sessions haha.

There's another Korean girl I became friends with, and now we're comfortable with each other on a level that we text each other often and talk with each other comfortably. We just made plans today to hang out in Santa Monica this weekend, so I'm looking forward to that. ^__^

So I'm glad that I'm not feeling very insecure about not having friends anymore. But I would love to make more friends, and I'm looking forward to meeting new people in my classes. Woot woot! ^___^

Getting around on campus/in LA:
I've got the hang of it. It is quite exhausting to come downhill from the dorms to campus and go back up the hill back to the dorms once classes are over though. It takes about 15 ~ 20 minutes every time. Plus, it's not helping that it's freaking hot in LA in the day. I'm desperately waiting for the weather to cool down in October. And plus I recently got my brand new scooter and I've got the hang of riding it around campus. What annoys me is that there are so many dismount zones where all kinds of wheel riding are prohibited...I feel like there's no point in me riding a scooter then. But screw it, they only have those zones so that there aren't any accidents like for example, someone on a bike crashing into a pedestrian or something. I won't let anyone stop me from my scooter riding! >___< But I promise to be careful of crashing into other students walking in front of me though.

I've also taken the courage to walk around downtown/outside campus on my own. I did get lost on my first outing, but I managed to get to my destination, and get back on campus safely. I'm glad I feel more comfortable around here now, and I'm looking forward to exploring more places in LA and learning how to get there by public transport.

Classes:
I just had my first lecture today. It was a fresh experience, being in a hugeass classroom filled with nearly 200 students. We haven't really started learning anything yet, so I can't say whether my classes are difficult or not...but I am looking forward to them. And I also like how professors don't check attendance - heck they probably won't even get to know my face at all. Not that I'm implying that I'm gonna be skipping classes, it's just that I will probably late for my calc lecture a LOT, thanks to some weird scheduling (it was the only way to get the classes I wanted though). And I probably will never be marked down for being late...and thankfully the lecture hall my calc lecture is held in has doors on the sides, and there are seats right next to the door, so I can just sneak in quietly and take a seat without the professor noticing. I hope.

But omg it would suck to be late for my mid-terms. I hope they're not on those days where I have weird scheduling times.



Well that's pretty much mostly what I'm feeling about college right now. I hope things will get better and better as time passes.

"Keep Calm and Carry On"

This is one quote I really think that relates to my life right now. Right now, it's been nearly a week since I've landed in Cali. I've been busy with orientation, sight-seeing, shopping dorm supplies, etc. I've just successfully finished up a visa workshop on Monday (so no holds will be placed on my school account yay), and in less than 12 hours, I'm officially moving into my dorm, and saying good bye to my parents. Once my parents are gone, there won't be anyone close to me that I can comfortably share my emotional troubles with. At least, at the moment.

I mainly blame the fact that I'm still feeling insecure on the fact that our school starts way too late. Every day on Facebook, I constantly see new pictures of my high school classmates smiling and laughing with their new friends in college, long and funny convos on each other's walls, and anything of the sort on my feed. Every time I see them, I'm always filled with envy and anxiety. Thoughts like, "I wish I had close friends like that in college," and "Will I ever be able to make such a close knit of friends again, like I had back in high school?" sort of haunt me. Maybe if my school had started earlier, I wouldn't have to be plagued with this anxiety for such a long time while others are having such a great time at college that they wouldn't hesitate to answer "It's awesome" when they're asked how college is.

I'm not completely alone though, I did make friends that I could talk to and say hi whenever I see them, but I'm just not as close with them enough. And plus, already on the first day of orientation, I saw tons of kids walking around in small groups, engaging in small conversations with each other. It really doesn't help that it seems like I'm one of the only ones to have come to this college from my high school, and from Hong Kong. (Okay, I heard that there are two kids from my HS here, but I haven't seen them at all so far, plus I have a feeling they are already in cliques as they were here before me...) Everyone seems to have come from either the same school or the same area, have instantly found each other and are not sticking to each other like glue.

I really don't blame them. It's common for international students to come to college in a foreign country, and immediately find others of their own kind and hang out with them. I would probably try to do the same thing too. After all, I did feel a great relief when I managed to befriend a Korean. But I still can't help but feel jealous of all these kids. Why do they get the easy way into settling into college life? Why must I be plagued with this feeling of insecurity and be unable to sleep or eat well for nearly a week now?

Alright, fine. I'm being challenged. I normally don't talk about anything relating to my religious beliefs, but I need to say this in this way - God really must be testing me. He has loved testing me ever since I was a child, hasn't He? But then again, whenever He did, although I had suffered a lot, I did manage to come out much stronger in the end. So I'm gonna trust God and believe in myself, that everything will be fine, and that all I need is patience and strength. That the more I am challenged, the better person I will become. And that this is part of growing up. I can't stay as a child forever. I can't stay as a teen forever. I'm going to become an adult sooner or later. I need to be ready when that stage comes. And to be ready? I must "keep calm and carry on."

Or even just

keep calm and

GANG NAM STYLEEEEEEE

Getting ready for college + some other random stuff

So I've only got a little over a week left until I finally leave for college. Once I get there, everything's gonna be pretty hectic with orientation, visa workshops, meeting new people, and moving into dorms. I just hope everything goes smoothly and that I don't run into any big problems while I'm settling in.

Recently, I've been discussing things I would need to shop for college with my mom - my parents will buy most of the stuff for me in the US while I'm stuck on campus for orientation (thank you mom and dad hehe). So here are some stuff I've bought for college:

Not having a camera case didn't bother me that much, but now that I have lost my lens cap and I will have to share a room with two other people, there's gonna be a limited amount of space my camera can be safely placed without being damaged...so I decided I needed one. And tadah~here it is.

I didn't think my mom would give me the only nail clipper in the house
so I bought my own
it's Hello Kitty and it's purple! Hehe

Jetoy luggage tag - front

Jetoy luggage tag - back

According to my mom, I'm gonna have to start applying BB cream
since my skin is sensitive to strong sunlight
and since I'm going to California and it's pretty hot there

My very own luggage case ^__^
I know the lighting's pretty bad here, but the color's supposed to be bright neon pink

Not sure what the exact name are for these...
and these weren't exactly fully for the purpose of college haha

But yeah they're for your bangs
I know I don't have much bangs but they do bother me whenever I wash my face at night
They always fall down to my cheeks and get wet and I don't like it when my hair gets wet esp. not when my hair has completely dried already
so yeah
I don't really like how they're in a bow shape
but whatever

again, not bought exactly for college
it was just that I needed some more hair ties

And here are some totally irrelevant-to-college stuff I bought recently:

The 1st look magazine issue featuring Tiffany
I debated between buying the INFINITE one and this one
I ended up choosing Tiffany

because she looked too gorgeous in this photoshoot
and the clothes she wore looked really nice too

Debated between this DVD and the Second Invasion DVD
and I bought this in the end

The photocards
I liked Hoya's one the best

DVD 1: BTS of The Mission day
DVD 2: Mash up performances, interviews of each member

the photobook

what the inside of the photobook looks like

I just got my She's Back Limited Edition today
Definitely pricey, but worth it (at least for me)

Hoya's random photocard + Sung Yeol's postcard

CD: She's Back (Japanese Ver.), Torawa (Japanese Ver.), She's Back (Korean Remix Ver.)
DVD: She's Back (Japanese Ver.) MV BTS
THE DVD WON'T PLAY ON MY MAC *TEARS*
Update: Never mind it's working lol

The photobook

what the inside of the photobook looks like

And some extra random photos I needed to share and talk about:

I managed to find a set of clothes that look good with the neon jacket
A white H&M short-sleeved shirt + blue animal print jeans from MANGO
I'm dying to wear this outfit soon (it's too hot outside to wear it rn)

My new drink addiction
This tastes really good, it's not too sweet, yet not too bitter
Loving it