3. Hanbok

    

Hanbok is the traditional korean outfit. Nowadays it isn't used much, except for special occasions like visiting the in-laws, a funeral, first birthday, when people turn 60, or in weddings, but using this is your decision, although it is considered very polite to use them in this occasions. Koreans have been very united with the nature, the hanbok's cloth is colored using natural dyes, and this gives them a very beautiful appearance. The basic parts of the hanbok are the jeogori, which is the upper part with long sleeves (it has the same name for men and women, but it has different characteristics for each) ,baji for the bottom for men, and chima for the bottom for women. They adjust the dress with a belt. They have many different accessories that give more beauty and elegance to the dress. 

Hanbok is also worn by kids, and since it isn't meant to be very adjusted to the body, your body figure doesn't really matter, you can wear hanbok without having problems. There are different types of hanbok for different occasions, for example, at a wedding, the dress is very elegant with different accessories:                                                                  

The Hanbok has different parts:

image from: wiki.smu.edu.sg

The hanbok has been influenced by the modern trends, it has been changing to adjust to the modern fashion, and I really like this, the ancient version is really beautiful, but I think that the modern one has a really nice touch from our generation:

Information sources: 

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/CU/CU_EN_8_1_2_1.jsp

http://www.han-style.com/english/hanbok/meaning.jsp

2.Why did I choose this topic?

As I said on my previous post, k-pop is taking over the world. More and more people are joining the hallyu wave, and last year, I was one of those people. My sister showed me one of the many k-pop groups, at first I didn't really like them, since korean culture was new for me, and I thought it was weird, but then I realized I had made a big mistake, I was ignoring really good music. Although I don't understand most of what the songs say, they are really catchy, and I can look for translation online.

K-pop group SHINee (my favorite group)

After learning about k-pop, I wanted to get to know more about korean culture, so I started to read about it and watch videos, I opened my mind to a new and fabolous culture. I think it's really nice to know about other cultures in the world other than yours, you learn a lot, I learned some basics about korean culture, and I really like it, their food looks good, their ancient dresses look beautiful, and koreans are really polite, I really want to go to South Korea, it's a beautiful country. Everyday I learn more about this culture, and everyday I like it more, that's why I would like to share the marvelous characteristics of this culture through this blog.

1. An Introduction to K-pop

K-pop is a genre that has been gaining strength since the 1990's. Ever since the first boy band, named H.O.T, was formed, it has been an increasing trend in South Korea, all of Asia, and more recently in Europe and the Americas. With extremely choreographed dances and catchy songs, the talented members of the bands give their best in every one of their performances. When H.O.T made its debut, thousands of girls were hooked by their music, and started the phenomenon of K-pop fandoms, each one having a different official color, name, etc.

Companies are the ones that manage the bands, there are three major companies, SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment. These companies host auditions every 6 months or every year, and many young people go to seek their dreams, to be discovered, and if they pass, they become trainees and train for a couple years or more in order to make their debut as a band or solo artist.

Bands have different styles and ways of performing, but each one seeks a perfect performance, to make their fans happy and to show their talent. Bands make "comebacks" with new songs, promote them in music shows, variety shows, etc, talking about the concept of the song, the rhythm, etc.

K-pop is a very interesting genre, bands and solo artists are very talented and entertaining, if you listen to K-pop you'll listen to its unique and cathcy style, I, for instance, cant stop listening to it.

Here's a very popular k-pop song from the group Girls Generation (SNSD):