I'm baffled by the fact that I've been in Korea long enough to have a blog post about nostalgia and kpop. When I first arrived in Korea in August of 2011, I was pretty dazed due to the different landscape, language, and overall lifestyle. My orientation group was able to bond quickly over our shared perplexedness. I'm sure those colleagues would agree that these are the songs that defined that era in Korea. They're the songs that we tried to sing along to as they blared from storefronts and/or the songs that every student chose to perform at school festivals that year. The songs that were released during this time were actually iconic. The most bizarre part is that listening 6 years later, I actually understand some of the lyrics which used to just me... well... noise mixed with the odd English word thrown in... nanana... wow, fantastic baby.
1)에프엑스 (fX) - Hot Summer
We literally landed amidst a hot, humid summer in Korea... and from what we understood from the chorus, it was singing our blues.
2) 2NE1 - 네가 제일 잘 나가 (I am the Best)
This song. is/was. everything.
3) T-ara - Roly Poly
Songs #3 and #4 were popular choices for student performances in the winter of 2011.
4) Wondergirls - Be My Baby
5) Block B - Nanlina (난리나)
I remember this being a popular "teacher! music video!" moment amongst my first batch of high school students.
This was a personal game-changer for me. This album could very well be cited as the reason I stayed in Korea longer than I intended.
7) Busker Busker - 벛꽃 엔딩 (Cherry Blossom Ending)
Not exactly a favourite due to the fact that it has been replayed ad nauseam every spring for the last 5 years.
8) Super Junior - Sexy, Free & Single
This was a fave simply due to the more-hilarious-than-usual use of English lyrics
Sexy, free, and single I'm ready to bingo.
9) Wondergirls - Like This
This gives me all the summer 2012 feelin's.
10) Psy - Gangnam Style
Did I mention that the music during my first year in Korea was iconic?
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