Most Popular AAK! Posts of 2015

Here is a quick look back at the most popular AAK! posts of 2015, by the number of page view.

Most Viewed Posts of 2015 (All-Time Posts)

1.  Lose Weight with Korean Diet

2.  The Ultimate Korean Looks List

3.  Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Korean Men

4.  Fan Death is Real 

5.  Can a Non-Asian Foreign Succeed in the K-pop Scene?

The top four posts of this blog have become the "perennials," as journalists like to call them. They will never die as long as the blog shall live.

Most Viewed Posts of 2015 (Written in 2015)

1.  What's Real in Korean Hip Hop? A Historical Perspective

2.  The Sewol Tragedy, One Year On

3.  You're Not Going to be a Doctor in Korea. Stop Fucking Asking.

4.  So How do You Become a Doctor in Korea if You are Not Korean?

5.  We did Nothing Wrong, and They Destroyed Our Stores

Another million pageview year for the blog, even though TK has been quite negligent with the blog toward the later half of the year. Thank you everyone for reading; I don't deserve it, but thank you anyway. Have a wonderful holiday season.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Best of the Worst 2015

It's that time of the year--the season where we all gather around and wallow in the Interweb's swill of stupidity! Despite seeing the examples of dumb questions from 2008,2009, 2010 (in Parts I, II, and III), 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, people simply do not learn.

The rules are the same as always: these are all real emails that TK really received from real people in the past year. Below, among all the shitty emails that TK has received, he has selected the douche de la douche, the crap de la crap. Other than redacting personal information, not a single thing about the email is changed or modified in any way. TK's comments and thoughts on the emails are highlighted in blue.

Onward!

*                        *                        *

You Are Not Going to be a K-Pop Star, Stop Fucking Asking

re: Please Help

Hello,

I'm 15 years old am thinking to go join the k-POp world after a graduate . I want to be a dancer and model. What company would I go for . I want a company that treats people well. Also I'm from Australia and am not Korean at all nor have any Korean background . I have green eyes and do not look Like a korean . Will that affect how I will do? Please help me . Is joining k-POp worth leaving my family and life behind?( my parents don't approve )

Is it worth being a model ? Can I be a model without wearing revealing clothes ? Do I have to speak Korean in order to be a be a k-pop idol?

I just want an answer via email. If I can get the answer faster that would be awesome.

ThankYou.

Yes, yes, "joining k-POp" is totally worth leaving behind everything you have ever known. Because all the best Korean talent management companies will line up for you, and you can pick and choose the best one among them. 

re:  KPOP

Dear Korean,

So I am well aware that these are commonly asked questions, but I would like to clarify on my own.

I am a huge KPOP fan, and hoping (maybe) to become a KPOP star in the future.

I am Canadian/Russian/Jewish, and none asian blood, or at least as far as I know, and quite obviously not at all asian to the eye. I do not speak Korean, but I will be learning soon (like next year or something), but I am guessing that I will have a large accent seeing as this is not one of my well known/practiced languages. Will any of this matter, or affect becoming a KPOP star?

Also, I am slightly shy, though working on it, but I do feel better in a group, so what happens to become a solo or group act? How do you get into the KPOP music industry, or more specifically, what must you do to get noticed, get a manager, get a group, or whatever is required?

I’m guessing that I have to live in Korea, but what part? I know that right now living in South Korea isn’t the best, especially for someone of my background (I do not mean to be racist), so would North Korea be just as successful?

Now, I do plan on finishing school first, so I’ve still got to finish grade 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12, so I am guessing that things will change quite a bit by then. Are there any expectations? So, height, weight, language, body type, looks, teeth, and so on and so forth, and can girls be in the same group as guys, because I recall seeing that once, but very rarely. Basically, what are the expectations, procedures, scheduling, etc.

This one may appear to be strange, but makeup and hair-wse, what is required? Because I have naturally red-copper hair, and am not a fan of dying my hair, as well as makeup.

Now onto dancing and singing. I consider myself a good singer, and so has one of the best vocal teachers in Calgary, but, I do not do theory, learn piano (I quit a while back, and have forgotten everything I learnt) or anything of the sort. Is this something I need to know?

And dancing is not really a forté of mine. I want to learn, but free-styling is absolutely not something I can do well, but with a given dance, it takes me quite a while to learn, and I’m not that great in the end. I know KPOP really concentrates on it’s dancing as a factor of the performance, but if I can’t dance, does this impact me severely?

This is one of a few emails. I tend to forget details, so I will include others in a series of emails spread throughout the years.

Thank you either way,

[NAME REDACTED]

Definitely try making it as a K-pop star in North Korea. Seriously. You will be making history. Group act sounds good--"Gulag Girls" has a nice ring, doesn't it?

(More ridiculousness after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com. But no stupid questions please. TK may have to kill himself soon if this keeps up.