How I Store Kpop Goods (Photocards, Clear Files, etc.)

Part of what I love about Kpop is the additional goodies that Kpop album include, such as photocards and postcards. After getting into Kpop, I fell in love with collecting random memorabilia besides photocards and postcards, such as mini posters, A4 clear files, as well as fansite goods. I started collecting stuff like this about two years ago, and it wasn't until last year that I figured out a decent way to store these types of things. Here I'll be writing about how I store my Kpop goods. I mostly collect Infinite memorabilia, so I'll relate this post mostly to Infinite's merchandise (and somehow they managed to be mostly of Myungsoo).

So many Kpop albums now don't just include a standard sized photocard, but they're getting more creative and they're getting to be postcard sized and even A4 sized. I didn't want to just leave my photocards in the albums, so I decided to buy art portfolio books in several dimensions, to best fit my various sized cards. My smallest dimension one is for 4" x 6" postcards, which contains 60 sleeves. I bought this, which is actually just for postcards and not specifically to hold art, for $2 at Daiso, a Japanese $2 store, but sadly I haven't seen this product for a year or so now.

I use this one to store all my small photocards, as well as my 4" x 6" postcards (above); the small photocards can slide around a bit in their sleeves since they're so small, but the postcards fit so well. In this sleeve is one of the bookmarks from my You're Beautiful OST album; many of the paper goods from albums will fit in this size.

You can see that many of photocards fit in this book, including the typical trading card sized photocards like Infinite H's, 4" x 6" postcards like from Infinite's New Challenge and from Myungsoo's endorsement for Shara Shara, and Infinite's Natuur Pop postcard set.

My remaining three are official art portfolio books, that I bought at my university bookstore in the art section. I bought them all from the brand Itoya, and they all have 24 sleeves and are more expensive for much fewer sleeves, at about $10 to $20 each.

The smallest book I have of the art portfolio books is 5" x 7" (above), which is perfect for postcards slightly larger than the 4" x 6" postcards. This size is perfect for Infinite's Destiny postcards and the postcard set from the drama My Lovely Girl.

The next size up that I bought was 8.5" x 11" (above), which is also A4 sized or regular printer paper sized. I have a set of IU and Infinite bromide mini posters that are just slightly shorter than A4, and fit perfectly in this book. This is also perfect for A4 photocards, like Infinite's She's Back photocard on the bottom right, or cards just a bit larger than the standard postcard size, like Infinite's Be Back on the left.

And lastly, I have an 11" x 14" book (above). I have several A4 clear files, which are meant to store A4 sized paper, meaning that the clear file itself has to be larger than A4. The top is from Infinite's Rally 1 in 2013; the one of the left is the folder containing all the files. The bottom ones are clear files from Infinite's That Summer Concert 2.The clear files (and the folders they came in) are a bit smaller than the full dimensions of this book, so they slide around a bit if I'm flipping through them quickly, but this is the best I could do.

Also the mini poster included in Infinite's IDEA Photobook are just slightly taller than A4, so I had to put it in this book as well. On the left is the backside of one of Infinite's Natuur Pop endorsement clear files.

And of course the next size up would probably be my posters, but for those I just frame them up and display them on my walls or sadly roll them up into a poster tube.

Some people would rather store photocards in binders like collecting trading cards, but that seems too complicated for me and I'd be too inclined to collect every photocard from each album to complete the sets. Also because photocards come in so many dimensions, it'd seem too difficult to find sleeves tailored for each one. I've settled on my method with these art portfolio books, but I just recently ran out of room in my 4" x 6" book and have photocards waiting to be put in sleeves...maybe I will try the binder method some day, just for the smaller photocards, and have the larger cards in these books. The only downfall about the way I organize my cards, however, is if I get a new photocard and have to change the order of my cards, since the sleeves can't be moved like binder sleeves.

One Year Anniversary of OGSLA: Reflections on My Inspirit Life Over the Past Year

This post is just me spilling out my feels about all my Infinite-related experiences that started exactly one year ago today. I'll link my anecdotes with my previous blog posts so you know what I'm rambling on about.

Exactly one year ago from this day, November 8th, 2013, marked the true beginning of my Inspirit life with Infinite. I was standing 30 feet away from Infinite as they were performing in their own solo concert, One Great Step in Los Angeles. I can't begin to express all the emotions rushing through my mind as I relive the memories of seeing Infinite for the first time. It's all such bittersweet and still surreal; as an international fan, seeing my idols perform in my home country is such a dream come true.

The hours after the concert, I was so sad that this was probably the last time I would see Infinite. Little did I know, a month later my dad would suggest me to study abroad in Seoul for the following summer! And so I started my side blog about My Seoul Adventures, which are mostly just me releasing my inner Inspirit.

So from June to August, 2014, I studied in Seoul and had my own Inspirit tour! Besides fangirling over the Infinite endorsements (Pepsi commercials, Lotteria, Elite, Shara Shara...) and merchandise (past concert goods, endorsement goods...), my first official Inspirit experience happened when my Korean Inspirit friend (who I met at my home university and was the backbone to my adventures) took me to Hoya's family restaurant, where I met his dad! And the following day, I was able to relive my OGSLA feels by seeing Infinite perform at the Brilliant Motor Festival, one of those free Korean concerts that I used to only see photos of on Twitter! Later on, I also went to Dongwoo's restaurant, and met his dad, who's just as 4-D as his son!

Then the low point of my study abroad came, when I visited Sungyeol's family restaurant and saw Sungyeol myself, standing inches from me. I was so ashamed of myself that I thought to ban myself from being an Inspirit and I wanted to go home...as my first time seeing an idol off stage, I didn't know how to act and therefore my actions came off wrong, though I still feel I'm not in the wrong (especially as an international Inspirit that didn't know any better).

A week later, I finally bounced back and was a full Inspirit again, though Sungyeol went from being my second bias to...I special place in my memories that I just don't know where to place, as it's an experience well learned. I visited the Infinite Tree Forest and felt at one with Infinite! My love for Infinite had been restored.

This was all during Infinite's "Back" promotions, and so I applied for Infinite's fansign event! Of course I didn't win, with the few albums I bought. I also hung around two of Toheart's fansign events in hopes of catching a glimpse, and I ended up hearing Woohyun's voice!

And then the highlight of my trip, going to Woohyun's family restaurant and being greeted and served by Boohyun himself! He was so grateful that an international Inspirit came all the way to Korea to eat at his restaurant, and was the sweetest. This experience, I treasure the most.

I also visited Infinite's hair salon, famous for when Infinite had an interview while getting ready for the 2013 MAMA show. This honestly wasn't that special. But what was definitely worth the visit was Box+, the clothing store where Hoya filmed his scenes for "Man in Love," and Nana Piercing, where Infinite got their piercings! To think, Hoya touched that door handle, sat on those stairs, Sunggyu got his latest two piercings in that store...

And later on I also visited the Mangwon area, including Infinite's favorite restaurant, their old dorm, old practice room, and new dorm!

And my study abroad came to an end on August 10th, but Infinite was holding their That Summer Concert 2 series from August 7th to the 16th! I extended my stay and celebrated the end of my trip with Infinite, a more than perfect ending. I got the full Inspirit experience by camping out overnight to purchase concert goods, and then I went to TSC2 Day 5 and Day 6!

Just two years ago, I had just started learning about Infinite, and then the past year I got to live and experience the Inspirit life with all of these experiences! This has definitely been the most memorable, amazing year of my life and I will continue to wallow in my sadness of never seeing Infinite again, but being able to see them, both in my own country and theirs.

My Seoul Adventures

It may seem that I am on a hiatus, but it's only because I've made a new blog for the time being. I'm currently studying abroad in Seoul(!) so I've made an alternative blog, My Seoul Adventures, which is mostly about my Inspirit life in Seoul. Please bear with me as all of these blog posts are not properly arranged and how I constantly change my watermark.

Here is a table of contents of my blog posts:

Introduction: Studying Abroad in South Korea

Day 01: The Arrival

Day 02: Myungdong, Gangnam, Fish Market, Dongdaemun

Day 09: Hanbok!

Day 15: Infinite Hoya's Family Restaurant

Day 16: The Brilliant Motor Festival K-Pop Concert in Songdo Experience

Day 22: Infinite Dongwoo's Family Restaurant, Lotteria, and Not Attending Toheart's Sinchon Fansign Event

Day 23: SM Pop-Up Store and Not Attending Toheart's Myungdong Fansign Event

Day 20-25: Purchasing Infinite Concert Tickets

Day 25: Myungdong Station

Day 29: Infinite Sungyeol's Family Restaurant

Day 31: Grand Mart

Day 33: Music Korea Kpop Shop in Myungdong

Day 37: CNBlue Minhyuk's Family Restaurant

Day 37: Infinite Tree Forest

Day 38: Entertainment Headquarters and Infinite's Hair Salon

Day 39-42: M2U and Applying for Infinite's Fansign Event

Day 40: Infinite Woohyun's Family Restaurant

Day 43: Revisiting Minhyuk's Restaurant, Infinite Tree Forest, Infinite's Salon and Woohyun's Restaurant and Trying Cube Studio Cafe and Coffee Cojjee

Day 44: Namsan Tower, Duck Boats and Yeouido Hangang Park

Day 46: Cofioca and Box+

Day 47: Edae Shara Shara and Revisiting Woohyun's Restaurant

Day 48: Myungdong Shara Shara and Myungdong Station

Day 48: Box+ and Nana Piercing in Apgujeong

Day 48: Infinite's Favorite Restaurant and Old Dorm

Day 49-50: Infinite That Summer Concert 2 Venue and Camping for Merchandise

Day 51: Kim Hyun Joong's Restaurant

Day 52: Revisiting Dongwoo's Restaurant and Infinite's New Dorm, Old Dorm, Old Practice Room and Favorite Restaurant

Day 53: Failing to Reach Heaven and Reaching The Kingdom

Day 54: Infinite That Summer 2 Day 5 Concert Experience

Day 55: Infinite That Summer 2 Day 6 Concert Experience

Day 56: Revisiting Myungdong Station, Attaining Heaven and Resting at a Sauna

My Dentist's Encounter with Infinite

I usually don't post blogs like this one, but today I had a unique experience of my dentist sharing his bystander account (not fan account since he didn't even know who Infinite was) of spotting Infinite.

I've never been a fan of visiting the dentist until today.  My dentist, who immigrated to the US from Korea some time ago, brought up the fact that I like Kpop, and Infinite in particular.  I've never talked to him about my interests other than small talk, but somehow my brother had mentioned my obsession to our dentist during his appointment a few weeks ago.  My dentist then began his story of how last year, 2012, he boarded a commercial flight from Incheon Airport to Thailand.  Suddenly teen girls were taking photos of my dentist, or so he thought.  He turned around to see a tall, slender, very good-looking guy and assumed the photos were of this mysterious prince charming (those were my words, not his).  Then seven good-looking guys boarded the plane and sat in first class with their crew while my dentist sat one row behind them.  He asked the stewardess who these people were and she replied, saying they were Infinite, a popular boy band.  My dentist goes on to say that once he arrived at the Thailand airport, there were other Kpop groups there as well for some Kpop concert and that fans were going crazy.

Me: If only I had a closer relationship with my dentist, he could have met Infinite for me!  But I'm sure they wouldn't want to be bothered on their flight.

I later asked my dentist if it's common to see celebrities at the airports, and he said it's not really common.  But some target celebrity sightseeing would be at broadcasting centers like KBS and SBS, and certain streets and hangouts at Gangnam, because that's where many celebrities live.  He then said how it's true that celebrities' appearances and normal people's appearances are from two different worlds, which throws me back into reality that Kpop stars are rare in the world's population.

The Awakening of a Korean Wannabe, Part 2

These past few months my obsession for kpop group Infinite has skyrocketed more so than anything else, so much that majority of the Infinite songs I downloaded starting in late December have been played two, three, even four times as often as songs I had downloaded in September 2010. I have been so obsessed that I even watched the Google+ Album Release Press Event Hangout on Air at 8PM and the Google+ Hangout with Fans at 5AM despite having a final at 8:30AM. But it wasn't until the Google+ After Party with Fans Hangout that I had another revelation...

For those unfamiliar with Infinite's schedule, they finally made their comeback on March 21st (yesterday in KST) after 10 months of individual activities. Infinite first aired the press conference of the highly anticipated song, Man in Love, and corresponding mini album, New Challenge at 12PM KST. At 9PM KST, Infinite had a more personal video chatting session with 7 lucky Inspirits, one from each Inspirit community and I think two from the Korea community.

The chosen fans ranged from the quiet, cheering-from-the-sidelines type to full out Korean wannabe fangirl. Please note that I'm not bashing any degree of fangirling, but rather simply making observations.

I have always been more on the shy, self conscious side so I hadn't considered myself as a fangirl who threw herself out there. But then I started wanting to learn Korean, and immerse myself in their culture. I realized from my previous 'The Awakening of a Korean Wannabe' post that I'm not a Korean wannabe, but watching this Hangout confirmed it for me. Several fans were Caucasian and clearly were learning Korean. They understood Sung Kyu's questions when he spoke in Korean and they actually responded back in Korean! I was astounded at how dedicated they were and how they were actually able to communicate effectively. Another girl spoke in English but was very bold, always asking questions directly to specific Infinite members and even giving Hoya her heart. These fangirls had a much further degree of obsession than me, heading toward being a Korean wannabe if they're not already there. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong about learning and loving another culture, and being a "wannabe," I just don't want to go that far and shun away my own culture. I'm simply impressed at these devoted fangirls and how they're dedicated, bold and not afraid to show off their devotion and I know I'll never be like that. I'll simply admire my idols from afar.

Why Kpop? My Journey into Finding My Music Identity

I was always the difficult child in the family, having to be different from the beliefs of my brother and parents.  On deciding on the design of each of our bedrooms, I was the oddball out, choosing light flooring instead of dark, a doorknob instead of a door handle, a bench instead of a deck and a sliding door instead of a regular hinged door.  I'm also very old-fashioned, in the sense that I prefer outdated technology (I have an antique rotary phone).  This same stubbornness applies to my music preferences. I despised pop music because of the typical American messages they presented and because of how overrated they all were.  Instead I listened to musical soundtracks that displayed elegant meaning and a story behind each lyric, as well as oldies (50s-90s) that laid out music genius, values and catchy tunes.

Though I was passionate about these two genres, I felt that something was missing.  Then as I was first exposed to fictional band ANJell of You're Beautiful, and then kpop bands CNBlue and FTIsland, I soon found that piece that I had been longing for but hadn't found.  Kpop always lifts up my spirit no matter how stressed or low I'm feeling.  Watching the slickness and synchronization of kpop dance music videos impresses me.  Once every couple of months I do get sick of listening to only kpop, but that feeling quickly fades and I'm back to jamming to my current favorites, CNBlue, Infinite and Teen Top!

I have always been ashamed when people ask what music I listen to, because I don't want others to think I'm shallow for listening to music I don't even understand.  Yet this same situation applies to many others.  American and British pop singers have such an international fan base, yet many of these fans don't understand English.  There are also songs produced in English that other English speakers can't actually understand, but still enjoy (Sean Paul's 'Temperature' comes to mind, as well as rap songs).  But to address my personally not understanding the lyrics of kpop, it may be true that I'm being ignorant by listening to music where I don't know the meaning.  Yet this helps me listen to music more enjoyably, because I originally strayed away from pop music to avoid the valueless lyrics that reflect its society, or at least its artist's views (I'm referring to the first verse of Katy Perry's 'The One that Got Away').

I have been thinking about why I started listening to and how I became so fixated with kpop, out of all the genres out there, and wanted to share my thoughts.  I hope I didn't offend anyone, because that was definitely not my intention!  I have full respect for artists such as Katy Perry, because they are well-put together and have gained so much respect and support from fans around the world, which is an unimaginable accomplishment.  I am just not fond of their music :/

The Awakening of a Korean Wannabe

This blog post isn't a review or recap of anything, but more of the identity crisis I must get off my chest and rant and my life story, all wrapped into one post.

I must be the most oblivious person ever.  Everyone else around me can blatantly see it, everyone but me (this reminds me of that One Direction song...).  It wasn't until two hours ago my friend was mentioning Korean wannabes (not that I was one, but someone else), and that got me thinking of how I was close to that stage of my obsession.  I even looked up the definitions of 'Korean Wannabe' and 'Kimchi Korean' on Urban Dictionary, and that confirmed it for me my revelation.

But let me explain myself, starting at the beginning.  I am a Chinese American who learned Cantonese as my first language, but lost a lot of my 'native' tongue as I got older.  I used to be so proud of being bilingual, but now I am incompetent at communicating in Cantonese with others outside of my family.  I might sound 'banana,' but I try not to be.  I love all Chinese food and the holidays that we celebrate and the family values.  But it's hard mixing my Chinese and American cultures together.

I attended a very small kindergarten through 12th grade school that was predominantly white.  School had a much larger influence on my life than my family, and soon I was obsessed with the Olsen twins, Lindsay Lohan and Disney Channel.  But it wasn't until just before 10th grade that I had found my true interest in Asian pop culture (refer to my first post, 'Introduction').  That same summer I had started watching Hong Kong films like Echoes of the Rainbow and Bruce Lee, My Brother, two of my most favorite movies ever, and listening to music by Aarif Lee (who starred in both those films).  Soon after I watched my first Korean drama and loved how many of these movies and dramas had such meaningful story lines (I'm referring more so to the Hong Kong movies) and how the relationships were much deeper than what I interpret from American pop culture.  From 10th grade onward, I had been shutting out all of the American media, because I hated the messages they portrayed.

But I never realized just how bad my obsession became, not even after naming my blog 'My Seoul Obsession' or when writing my post 'Disclaimer About My Blog,' or even when I told myself that I wanted to  speak Korean and eat Korean dishes and whatnot.  There are some who fully label themselves as Korean wannabes, but I could never mask and be ashamed of my real identity as a Chinese American.  From here on out, I will take my interest in moderation and continue to embrace my own true identity.  There is so much psychoanalysis I could do with this, such as how maybe because I was losing my Cantonese heritage that I wanted to start over with another Asian culture, or how constantly being surrounded by Caucasians for 13 years drove me to such extremes.

This entire 'Korean Wannabe' thing is something I don't want to be labeled as and was probably the underlying reason why I was so iffy on creating this blog.  I would never want to be considered a poser, and to even consider thinking and wishing of myself as Korean is ridiculous (like some do); how could I just shun my own culture like that?  The bottom line is, I'm just interested in knowing more and being exposed to other cultures.

Thank you for reading this entire post, if you did.  I was so stressed about all of this and had to put it all down into a post.  I've written essays about this too for high school and college applications, and now finally onto my blog just for the sake of getting it all out.

Thank you once again for reading, or skimming, or even glimpsing at this post!

Disclaimer About My Blog

I would just like to point out that my obsession for Korean culture was originally based on dramas which I understand are only a mere fraction of Korean culture. I do realize that the culture shouldn't be simply based on these generalizations made by watching dramas, so I just think of these dramas as a way to expose me to other realms of Korean culture, such as kpop, food and beauty.

Bottom line: Though my main obsession was caused by carefully selected, perfect Korean idols, I understand that Korean culture as a whole is different.

I have been thinking about the content of this blog post for quite some time now, which was the main reason why I was so iffy about creating a blog about 'My Seoul Obsession' in the first place. I hope you all understand that I respect the culture as a whole and don't expect it all to be just like in the dramas.

Introduction

Welcome to My Seoul Obsession!

I started watching Korean dramas in July of 2010. I've seen a couple of Hong Kong films while growing up, but it wasn't until I saw a Korean drama that I fell in love with my Asian culture.

Over the summer of 2010, as I was hanging out at my grandma's. I stumbled in on her watching the 3rd episode of You're Beautiful-the water photo shoot scene. This was the first time I've been exposed to a drama first hand (for years my Vietnamese friend bugged me about dramas-I just thought she was weird then). I fell in love with the characters, the music, EVERYTHING. From then on, I've been watching dramas nonstop and listening to Kpop and OSTs.

As I was watching You're Beautiful a week later, I was at that same water photo shoot scene when my 3 cousins walked in and then they got hooked on Korean dramas and music too. Now, Korean dramas and kpop are all we ever talk about!

It has been over two years now, and my love for Korean culture is as strong as ever. Kpop is all I listen to, kdramas are all I watch, Korean cosmetics are all I use and I wish Korean food was all I eat.

In this blog I'll post my encounters and exposure of anything Korean. Enjoy!