Category: College Life

Yes, talking helps!

Yes, talking helps!

by eastasianlover ♥ 1 Comment

Ok. I did say I would write a review but as soon as I start preparing, I watch something else and then I move on to the new thing and the cycle continues. So I have not been able to do any. Moreover, I find writing my everyday experiences easier and more interesting. My semester exams are also near so I haven’t been able to focus on anything (including THE EXAMS! God!! I am screwed!!!)

So I had been preparing an animation movie to send to companies for internship for past one month or so. I missed a lot of tests and assignments for that but I don’t regret it because I was happy doing the work. In my college, BITS Pilani, it is compulsory to do training for one semester and mine comes next sem. The companies are arranged by the institute only, but through some procedures you can change that. I had my mind set on doing my training in an animation company, so I prepared a video. But it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to be. Of course, it was my first attempt and some of my friends have praised it a lot but I myself am not satisfied with it. How will other people be?

Recently, I got to talk, heart to heart, with a long lost friend of mine. She was having similar problems as me like losing interest in her own discipline, wanting to explore other areas etc. etc. Well, I am one those few, who chose their own discipline. In India, it’s difficult to get your own choice of trade when you get a rank which lies in middle – not too high but not too low either. I left a lot of good colleges just to get chemical engineering at this prestigious institute. Now I have come to realize that this is not my cup of tea. We talked for one hour or so. And she advised me a lot of things like how I can improve in the given time for my training, by joining some courses while sticking to my discipline. I can think through my options too. And I was like “what was I doing?” I directly wanted to jump to a different field without any background. Just wanted to do it. She totally changed the direction in which I was thinking. Then again, she told me to talk to some seniors. As I am an introvert, I don’t have many contacts. But her advice was enough for me to take some big decisions of my life. This post, I dedicate to that friend. Thank you very much for helping me clear my mind (a 90 degrees bow to you).

Yes, I have a habit of solving problems myself. I don’t tell people my concerns and like to keep things to myself. But sometimes, when you don’t know what to do, where to head, telling your worries to a friend or even a stranger works wonders. Yes, talking helps!

PS: Another song, this time its from SS501. I have been randomly listening to various South Korean groups and stumbled upon this song just yesterday :  

My love saved my life….

My love saved my life….

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

Yeah, yeah. The title seems like I was going to commit suicide. My depression was not that bad but those times were not very good either. My grades were dropping despite me studying (I think I was studying but God only knows!). I was feeling out of the group because I didn’t join any club or department (being an introvert) and my hobbies were different from the friends I had made, so I couldn’t talk to them too. There were no common topics for us. All in all, I was very lonely (Don’t take it in wrong way!) I used to sometimes think if I was not fit for this place or how much better it would have been if I was born in some anime world.

Then one day, I stumbled upon K-Dramas. Now, if you are talking about K-Dramas, I have watched only two kinds – RomCom and Historical. My first drama was Dae Jang Geum (The Jewel in the Palace), a historical drama, which is about a girl, who becomes head kitchen maid even after being conspired against, by a lot of rivals again and again. After watching it, I was like how can people work hard like that? Just to make some dishes, she would keep awake for whole night. (I can’t have a night out even if I haven’t studied for an exam the next day at all, even today!) After watching some more dramas which were mainly romantic comedies, I realized, modern people are like that too. If you think they are just dramas and they don’t contain reality, then there are real instances too. Like, if you talk about their entertainment industry, the people are very hardworking. They sometimes keep going on without sleeping for days. For example, Super Junior’s 6th album’s title song – Sexy, Free and Single was shot in 3 days where the members didn’t get any sleep and had to keep dancing for long hours. Same thing happened for Girls’ Generation (SNSD)’s song – Gee.  Well, yeah that’s something you can’t verify but why would they lie about something like this. You can actually see such things from their makings. Other than music videos, their schedules are very tight – Concerts, Hosting, Acting, Variety Shows and what not. And when you hear such things and actually watch their very well made music videos (even the reality shows videos have a lot of video edits – small small cartoons and gags in writing etc.), you start wondering about hundreds of people behind and besides the entertainers – directors, technical staff, stylists and more who have to put lots of efforts too. Because I can’t do such things, I obviously get impressed. How can such things and people not inspire you?

Another thing which I watch are variety shows and reality shows.  The people are too funny. They don’t hesitate to make fun of themselves just to make the audience laugh and it’s the scene in almost all such shows out there in South Korea (Oh man! I have watched too many.)

Now coming to my main point, yes, when I was feeling very low in life, I came across such treasure by chance and I am very thankful for that. Even now when I am feeling even a little bit dispirited, all I need is some variety show episode with my favorite girl/boy groups or their songs. They make my day! (Yes, my day starts and ends with them only) I know you must be pondering how crazy I am. But I am sure; you also must have some songs like that in your life (not necessarily Korean).

With that I’ll post aforementioned songs today:

PS : From my next post I’ll start with the reviews. Enough with the stories!

Girls’ Generation’s Gee (Kor Ver.) : 

Girls’ Generation’s Gee (Jap Ver.) : 

Super Junior’s Sexy, Free and Single : 

You want an East Asian boyfriend? Are you serious?

You want an East Asian boyfriend? Are you serious?

by eastasianlover ♥ 6 Comments

Yes, I very am. What? Can’t I like people from that part of the world? People from India do have boyfriends and girlfriends from Western parts of the world.

Anyways, this is one question I face almost everyday. Being a typical Indian girl from middle class family, I am not allowed to have a boyfriend. (I don’t have a problem with that. Is a boyfriend absolute necessity to live this life?) So, when my friends ask me if they should set me up with someone (they even find guys who are anime freak like me, such good friends they are TT_TT ) or if they see me with some guy and start teasing me, I am not left with a choice. The easiest way to tackle the problem is to say “I am not interested in Indian guys. “ Period.

Then they ask what I like about the ones “I’m interested in” and their eyes are so small and blah blah blah. Why? When you can go crazy over actors and singers from American series, why can’t I go wild about people from East? Is it a crime to be a little different in your choice? And what’s with small eyes. Does that even matter?

At first, it just started as a joke but after being asked from a lot of people why I don’t settle in East Asia only, I have seriously started considering the possibility. So let’s just say, “middle class” and “Indian girl” labels – Go To Hell!

That being said, here is another song from Super Junior : 

The story

The story

by eastasianlover ♥ 2 Comments

Greetings,

This is the story about how my love (or obsession?) for East Asia bloomed.

This all started when, one day, one of my classmates back in my school (I think it was 6th class) suddenly said that I looked Chinese. I mean, come on. Having small slanted eyes doesn’t mean you’re Chinese (no offence to anyone). But let it be!

Around the same time, a variety of anime started on Cartoon Network. Cardcaptor Sakura was one of the first anime I watched. After that came Pokemon, Beyblade, Captain Tsubasa, Ranma 1/2, UFO Baby etc. etc. and then started Naruto and One Piece. (Me and my sister used to get up at 6 on Sunday mornings to watch One Piece at 7 am!) Their old houses, falling sakura leaves and martial arts used to intrigue me as a child. I was so amused by their culture that I made it my aim to go to Japan once I grow up.

Later, I found a Japanese language learning book in my school’s library (It was due to envy towards my best friend who got French learning book from her brother as a gift but that is another story) and it was the final blow. I couldn’t get it photocopied because it was quite thick and I was afraid of my parents (Of course, it was my 10th class and if you are a good student, your parents would like you to concentrate on studies rather than “wasting” your time on such things). I used to copy the book in a diary myself during the time my mother used to go for her walk ( hehehehe ^w^). They still don’t know I have such a copied book!

Then my college. Now BITS Pilani is a place where, once you get your laptop (I got mine in 2nd sem as most of the people did here), you get access to vast variety of media. A lot of downloaders (I thank such people from the “bottom of my heart”) download movies, series and ANIME (and much more as you can expect and guess!). The old series which I could not complete because they stopped airing and some series I wanted to revisit, were all there. Now, my most enjoyable time started. (I did screw my grades due to that)

And then I was introduced to manga. After that, I started devoting around 16 hours(!!! <My poor Roomie>) to these things (f*** studies) and my curiosity and love for Japanese language and culture (and  people especially handsome guys appearing in J-Dramas) kept increasing. I started listening to Japanese songs (OSTs) and learning the language. It was fun.

Now since there is manga, manhwa and manhua (Korean and Chinese versions of manga respectively) can’t be left and it takes some time for a beginner to figure out which is which. So before I read manga, I read manhwa. Then came webtoons, K-dramas and ultimately K-pop! Chinese was almost the same too.

Its amazing how these things keep introducing you to other related things and you keep getting absorbed. Now I am all into K-pop and considering how their songs are copied in India, it increases my interest more (I am totally against it. These people just ruin the songs!). I think I should add frustration in the name of the blog……

I have written a lot more than I had planned to but it can’t be helped. Once I start on this topic, I can’t stop (I am the same with my friends here and they are now irritated >:-) ) In due course, I’ll keep posting J and K-pop songs and may be some of my fandrawings. Now that I have introduced you to my story, I can start for real from my next post. (I still haven’t figured out what specific things I would write – maybe reviews and more stories?)

Thank you, Gomawo, Arigatou, Xie Xie for reading this and here is a song from one of my favorite boy group, Super Junior (I found it yesterday and I am totally hooked to the song) :