Category: Scissors

This weekend, I told my dad to watch Deathnote, the Netflix recreation of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s 2003 Japanese manga series based on a high school student who finds a supernatural notebook that summons a death spirit to kill any name or face he knows. My dad was born in Korea, he was an army brat who moved around a lot at a young age, but ended up living most of his adolescent and adult life here in Olympia. He is quite open-minded when it comes to films and is responsible for many of the Korean culture I embody.

I decided to tell him that it was based on an old anime I used to watch in elementary school and he still seemed intrigued. The next day he told me about the film and what his thoughts were. He really enjoyed the movie but said he could tell by the dialogue, action scenes, and mood that it was based on an anime of some sort. We discussed details of the film like the main characters appearance, the way characters spoke to each other.

I think this experience can benefit me in the future for this program, like for instance I can tell him to watch Ghost in the Shell, without telling him it was a remake of an anime and get his raw opinion and thoughts.

Living in Olympia for the past 8 years, my exposure to Korean culture, such as music, language, and food, has been minimal compared to my childhood years in New Jersey. In elementary school, my family moved to Leonia, NJ and I lived there until Freshman year of high school. My Korean grandma (my dad’s side), aunts, uncles, cousins, were all living in New Jersey. The area we lived in was right on the border of New York and New Jersey and most of the population were Asian Americans.

Between family dinners and church on Sunday’s, or watching anime and listening to K-Pop and Korean rap, my entire world was revolved around the Korean culture. My two closest friends who basically showed me all the music, fashion, and trends during my adolescent years were both Korean Americans. Moving back to Washington, where I was born, was tough because I was leaving an entire lifestyle behind that I knew wouldn’t be the same based on the lack of Korean population in the Olympia area.

Joining the A-Pop program, I was hoping to reconnect with my roots and explore Asian/American studies through pop culture and music. This week I wanted to share a few throwback songs from my childhood because my paper is revolved music and the idea of songs associating with memories and feelings in people’s lives.

 

My educational background and focus throughout college so far has been business and music. I took this class to expand on my areas of expertise and incorporate my passions to other cultures and fields of study. Being Korean, I want to learn more about the history of Korea, how my family traditions in America differ from traditions in Seoul, the lack of Korean artists in the music world

K-Pop music, Korean BBQ, Korean New Years, live TV singing competitions (American Idol)

music: how an American artists develops international success in Asian countries (Korea, Japan, China)