Wednesday, July 3, 2013

My new obsession

I. AM. OBSESSED.

Actually, obsessed might not even begin to describe the level I'm on.


Last week, Malia mentioned that she had heard that the KPOP band Infinite was having a concert in Seoul this summer.... I immediately got excited because I knew that Infinite is Adrienne's favorite KPOP band and that we both really want to go to a KPOP concert... unfortunately I was, at the time, not really into KPOP yet... It has been on my bucket list since before I got here, but I just haven't tried getting into it yet... but I figured I like music, and especially live music, so it couldn't be that bad... so I checked out the tickets... SOLD OUT :( boooo so I told Adrienne the next day but she was disappointed that there were no tickets.


But for some reason I just happened to check the website again that following morning and tickets had become available! So I asked her via Facebook if she wanted me to grab tickets, they were selling fast! But nothing. No answer. I waited, more tickets sold, I waited a little more, even more tickets sold. So I decided to buy the tickets anyway :)  The seats are horrible, but who cares... we are going to see Infinite. But what does that really mean to me? I don't know any of their songs, or who they are, heck, they could walk through my door and I wouldn't know the difference.



So Adrienne started educating me. She sent me their songs to listen to first, which I ended up really liking! Then came the challenge: choose a favorite. Well this provided a problem, since I couldn't even tell them apart :S  So I slowly began trying to watch each music video or performance that she sent me and decide if there was one that I liked in particular. It began with me liking one person and sending her the video and a time, "Who is this?". Then I'd send her another video, "where is he in this one?". So slowly I decided that I liked Sunggyu the best, but also liked Woohyun. And I slowly began to learn who each member was, however started off calling them "the tall one", "the little one", "Ding Dong" (instead of DongWoo), "the other rapper", "L" (yay one name correct!), and I called Sunggyu and WooHyun a mixture of random names, usually getting one of the syllables correct. I also thought, for a very long time that "the tall one" looked a lot like "Ding Dong", but then also that "the tall one" looked a lot like L and WooHyun, who I got mixed up all the time.

Sunggyu



Well, a few days later and I've watched just about every YouTube video they have about Infinite. Their music videos, their dance practices, interviews (Eng subbed of course), TV programs they have been on (again, subbed)... I do nothing but watch their videos. I can now tell each one apart... I feel like I know their personalities... and just absolutely LOVE this group... and I stand by Sunggyu being my favorite, by far! And I still think that WooHuyn is the best (he's got it all... he's the best singer, one of the best dancers, and is the best looking)...

Infinite has it all... they have great voices in the group, their personalities are amazing, they are good looking, and their dancing is impeccable. They are known for their amazing dancing, their "Scorpion Dance" in particular. But all of their dances are intricate and tight. They also do a great job of showcasing each of the 7 members, instead of having one or two leads and the rest essentially being backups. Don't get me wrong, some members are in the spotlight more than others, but for the most part, they do a very good job of spreading the love.

Scorpion Dance

Watching these shows has been educational on a different level too, though. Watching how the members interact with one another makes me understand Korean culture better, and respect it more. It has made me catch on to different sayings and has raised questions about Korean language, encouraged me to learn more. It has also made me look at my students differently. I now love watching them interact with one another even more so than I did.

So now I have started branching out... looking into other KPOP groups and trying to expand my horizons. Though, each time I listen to a song or watch a video or dance by another group, it just confirms that Infinite is, in fact, the best... good choice Adrienne, I'll join you on the bandwagon :) I can't wait until August to see them live!!!!!