[Song] Flower Pot (화분) - Loveholic

"화분" is one of my favourite Korean songs. I first heard it on the Coffee Prince OST and liked it straight away, even though I did't understand a word of it. For a period after that I kept on playing it again and again many times a day. Every time I heard it my heart ached a little, such sadness and so full of yearning.

I haven't played this song for a while now, today I decided to put on Loveholic's "Dramatic & Cinematic" album while soaking up the sun in the garden, then "화분" came on and I remembered all over again why I loved this song. So I thought it is about time that I put up another song post, and here it is.

Korean Blind Dates

Education is seen as the most important key to success in Korea and competition is very fierce. Students are often studying too hard, or they may be attending single gender high schools, so dating is not that common among Korean high school students. Thus, many Koreans only have the opportunity to date during their college years or after graduating high school.

In Korea, being set up on a blind date is very common.

Source: Traditional Korean bride and groom figurines from www.danisl.com

[Song] White Love Story - As One

Coffee Prince is my very first K-drama and will always remain my favourite. I like all the songs in the OST, but "White Love Story" by As One is just the best.

"1st Shop of Coffee Prince" Synopsis

Go Eun Chan (Yoon Eun Hye) is a 24-year-old tomboy who is often mistaken for a guy. She works every job possible to pay off debts and support her mother and younger sister. Choi Han Kyul (Gong Yoo) is the heir of a big food company in his late 20s, who appears to be idle and prefers having no responsibilities.

Eun Chan accidentally meets Han Kyul twice, once on her food delivery round and once during a robbery. Han Kyul mistook Eun Chan for a pretty young man and decides to hire her as his "gay" lover to escape the blind dates arranged by his grandmother. Eun Chan accepts as she desperately needs the money.

After getting an ultimatum from his grandmother due to the blind date debacle, Han Kyul takes over a run-down coffee shop to show the women in his life that he is not useless. The coffee shop is named "Coffee Prince" and only employs good-looking young man in order to attract more female clientele. Eun Chan, in need of money, hides her gender and gets a job at the coffee shop and becomes one of the princes. Soon, feelings start to spark between Eun Chan and Han Kyul. Because Han Kyul believes Eun Chan is a guy, he starts to question his own sexuality.

[Song] I Love You (너를 사랑해) - Gong Yoo

Here is one of those "ahh.. so romantic" moments from my favourite K-drama Coffee Prince the final episode 17th Cup.

The night after Han Kyul and Eun Chan finally spent a night together, Eun Chan falls asleep while on the phone with Han Kyul, and he leaves her on speakerphone. He wakes up the next morning with a laugh when realise Eun Chan is snoring into her phone. He gives her a wake-up call with the song “I Love You”.

This song was originally sung by Han Dong Joon.

A Cunning Plan

Now I have got the tools, the next step is to work out a study plan around those Korean learning materials to ensure I get into a proper study and review routine. I have found the tips and advices from the Language Learning Advisor site very useful in formulating my own study plan:-

• How to Learn Languages
• Making a Realistic Plan

Step 1: Set Precise Goals

My goals in descending scales are:

• Ultimate Goal:- I want to read the original Korean "1st Shop of Coffee Prince" novel without getting out the dictionary too many times, and to understand at least 75% of the dramatised version. [I have read and loved both the English and Chinese translations of the novel, so it would be a great pleasure to be able to read in its original language.]
• Current Goal:- I want to complete "Integrated Korean" Beginning 1 and 2
• Specific Goal:- I want to complete one lesson from the text book and five lessons from TTMIK every three weeks

Why Korean?

This is how it all comes about:-

My discovery of the english subtitled K-drama "The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince" (커피프린스 1호점, a.k.a Coffee Prince) just before last Christmas, while my husband was away on a week long business trip and I was bored in the evenings and looking for some light hearted entrainment to pass away the time, and what a gem I found. The accompanying OST has since become my favourite album, and "White Love Story" and "Sad Thing" my most played songs.