Guest-blogging on Oddness/Weirdness last week felt like a Cloud USA reunion. :)
— Cloud cover by: Stephe, Co-Founder ^@@^
It was a blast indeed, being in the company of April, Stormy, and Ms. Oddness/Weirdness herself—Erika. Thanks for the invite, my friend. I enjoyed it!
Big ups to the other guest bloggers as well for rounding out the week with some doggone good reading—Nani of Nancakes.org and La Shauna of Asia24/7.
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Oddness/Weirdness K-Pop & Fashion Blog 4/15/2013— written by Stephe Thornton, CloudUSA.org
March 2012. cr: Kookbang DEMA.mil.kr
Regular Guy or Celebrity: A Soldier Is A Soldier Is A Soldier. Got That?
The Republic of Korea military forces contain two distinct types of soldiers – the ones who have chosen it as their full-time career for the long haul, and the ones who are interrupting their civilian lives in order to serve the 21- to 24-month mandatory term required of all South Korean males between the ages of 18 and 35.
Think about that for a minute. Really think about it – interrupting your life no matter what you are doing, leaving your place of business, your activities, your loved ones, your freedom, all that you have worked for up to that point, not to mention the salary that feeds you or your family for two whole years, whether you want to or not. I don’t think many people outside of a draft get the impact of it, at all.
Both regular citizens and famous Korean entertainers in South Korea, many of them, face this daunting life change every year, and I commend them all greatly for it. Even if a man is bursting with warrior spirit and loyalty for his country, hurling himself into the unknown of the military is no easy feat. So, just imagine if you’re not soldier material, imagine if learning to slit and gut someone with a bayonet or put a bullet in a head at one hundred paces isn’t something that you aspire to, but you enlist anyway to fulfill your constitutional duty and proudly support those of your countrymen who are career military. (Oh, and to stay out of jail and keep your family or future children from being ostracized.) How can any man not be respected for doing the right thing?
Well, the regular guys do get respect, at least. The celebrities blatantly do not, which makes absolutely no sense….
» You can read this article in its entirety and comment on the Oddness/Weirdness blog HERE.
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Oddness/Weirdness K-Pop & Fashion Blog 4/16/2013 — written by April Jackson, Pink Fashion Ninja
April’s Got A List and She’s Not Afraid To Tell You About It
First off a quick message:
Hello everyone, My name is April aka The Pink Fashion Ninja and I run a fashion/kpop blog called the Pink Fashion Ninja. I also Vlog about life in Korea! I wanted to address something before I begin my Kpop rant. 😀
I’ve gotten a quite a few inquires over the past couple years about people wanting to come to Korea for something other than teaching. By now we all know that teaching seems to be the only way to work or even get to Korea (or Asia) for a foreigner. Though this is mostly true, I want to use this time to share some thoughts and give hope to those you have dreams abroad.
Those who follow my blog know about my Fashion degree and about my aspirations to further my career in Asia. It’s been a challenge which is what I expected and…wanted. Sometimes when we really want something we take the more difficult/challenging route to get there. This can be for a lot of reasons but each with the end result of discovering something new about ourselves and achieving our goals. I want to say to those who have aspirations abroad to please go after them. No matter the color or your skin or background, go after what you want in life. There will be boundaries, walls as high as mountains, and language barriers, but don’t let it stop you. It’ll for dang sure be difficult, but if you have the drive, then you can get through it.
Many who’ve written to me have had a concern about being non Asian, specifically a woman of color (black, Hispanic etc.). The whole world can seem against you, but push forward. I can with certainty say this from experience. I’m 1000% glad I moved abroad and went after what I wanted in life. Many family and friends told me I was crazy and for a moment I thought I was. It’s now been 2 years and I am more happy than ever, have discovered new things about myself and my career journey has blossomed beautifully. Sometimes we have to start in an unknown place to get where we want to be. It’s like a board game, you might not start at the start point or anywhere close to but you will eventually get to the finish line. So to those who are scared to travel abroad because of challenges, or nervous to learn an Asian language because of cultural differences, don’t give up. No matter HOW crazy the aspiration is GO AFTER IT (Because I know I have some crazy dreams)….
Idol Beauty and An Inconvenient Truth
And 9 times out of 10 the 1st question is???? Wait for it….. “Are they gay?” Even with a decidedly masculine shoot like this one from L’Officiel Hommes Korea earlier this year. Don’t you dare show them a music video or concert footage.
Korea, and most of Asia, has a unique idea of what is beautiful in that it’s mostly the same whether male or female. They like large round eyes, small pointed noses and full luscious lips. A slim body line with long legs and lots of height fills the bill with both sexes too…
Cloud USA 
Cool pictures I liked all of them.
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Aww! It was so much like old home week, wasn’t it? It turned out even better than I thought, so I’ll probably have to try it again in the future. Thanks ever so much to u and April for participating! 🙂
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