Do you know what a VIB is?

We are very aware that Korean culture is extremely status driven. Both men and women are serious about beauty standards and latest fashion trends. High end products bring social status and prestige (whether one can truly afford it.)

In the past decade, there has been a boom, especially with young, single women, of “fur babies.” The pet industry in South Korea has exploded with dogs (especially celebrity white Maltese puppies that can be carried in purses) and cats. For many, this is clearly a maternal substitute that does not interfere with their career or social lives.

Despite South Korea’s notoriously low birth rate, there has been a surge in luxury spending on infants and children, thus coining the term “Very Important Baby.” Affluent young parents can spend more than $2,000 US on a Mercedes-Benz stroller. In children’s clothing market , there is a surge of luxury brands meeting the demand of binge spending of parents. Child clothing spending has increased 33% in last two years (while the 0-14 age group declined 9.5 percent). Luxury brands, in particular, have seen noticeable growth in recent years. Monclear Enfant and Gucci Kids were the two children’s wear brands that posted the highest growth rates – 16 percent and 20 percent, respectively, between 2018 and 2023. Some savvy parents in a Korean Herald article indicate that when their children grow out of their designer brand clothes, they can sell them on a growing secondary market.

There will always be the parental instinct to give their children the best. But when is the best too much? There is an socio-economic factor as well: the pressure to keep up with other young parents is driving more spending on less total children. The government would love to have real babies becoming fashionable as a means of increasing the birth rate. The final question would be whether these VIBs will grow up to be spoiled?

hi

preparing for next season of events and marking stuff in the room plan. noticed we are going to have 2 groups of koreans in august. no one told me? but they are mostly interested in our work with seniors.
very weird how much interst just recently there was a group of koreans

also great news: the South Korean embassy will move to Tallinn from helsinki which means more events, more cooperation, an archive of DVD-s (yayyyyyyy) and books and whatnot and easy access to TOPIC and other tests and applications.

We are on the map.
Can I hope that the opening of Korean embassy will be accompanied by a kpop concert

otherwise some health problems I think I had bacteria or its something else. felt dizzy all the time and had pain in my ear. no pain today but still a bit dizzy. making tests and booked a visit to dentist also. it could be something from teeth and they are start to many infections. especially bacteria. will be ok.

Happy Friday, Beanies! Hopefully yall have better luck with staying cool, because we are being pretty much fried here))) Now with an established excuse let's get crazy... joking, it's a tiny bit too hot for that. I've been thinking about having a relaxing mood theme for once, can we? To cool down a little, yunno.

Ofc, the word relax doesn't exist in LYN's dictionary, which means we got a few new OSTs out of nowhere. Fine, not entirely, but I really know very little about these dramas, esp about INTERLACED SCENES – it's a thriller, I think... Whatever. Song itself – titled “Author” - is quite nice, tho I'd love to know the meaning and purpose of those weird noises in the intro. No subs yet, but with such title and dramatic delivery that's probably not a romantic ballad...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6AZnU8Cv8Q

… unlike “You are the one” from A BEAUTIFUL LIE romcom (?). Must admit, this is not the kind of a ballad I enjoy – too bland and generic, down to the title. MV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3OUy6N1Jzc

And lyric video with subs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF_wn4tose4

That's all soundtracks for now. Let's get back to online concert I talked about last time – I like many tracks from then, but if I had to choose just one (AJTL stuff is above any competition, that's without saying), “The night in Ulaanbaatar” would be it. Not very often he gets to cover a song this good on its own, and combined with his soulful delivery the effect is absolutely devastating. Lyrics are about missing an important person (a lover?), who's been long gone (99,9% dead, given the wording), on a quiet, windy night in Mongolian desert. Must say, it was NOT FUNNY of him to perform something like that a day before AJTL finale. Yes, the theme fits all too well, but still, why are you gleefully rubbing the salt in our wound, dude? Straight to the “Mood: lie face down and weep” playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ng8Rifr-XpI

Sometimes I just cannot with his troll attitude, honestly. You never know what you'll get clicking on a certified tearjerker's video – heavy emotional trauma in music form or a goddamn circus. Like here, in “Thinking of someone” (Taiwanese drama KO ONE RETURN's OST) - he's jumping back and forth between these two moods until it becomes borderline annoying. But hey, neck veins in HD (I promised yall!) can excuse a lot of things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jf_Sst_Zao4

Overall, he just looked sooo good that day – esp the hair, super soft. Maybe it's just me lamenting the fact he's been doing these “too lazy to shower prior, here's a hat/hood/wig to keep things proper” livestreams for ages now... I appreciate the effort, I really do, but come on, dude, throw us a bone or two! You still look very nice even all unstyled, I swear! Song is aptly called “Asking”, heh:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OSpA8ZDkBY

Monday is a big day, I'm leaving for South Korea \o/

Now, I'm hoping I didn't forget anything important, I kinda regrouped my stuff outside the suitcase.

I'm really excited! It will be my second time over there.

https://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2024/07/02/2366936/how-k-drama-star-kim-ji-soo-became-part-gmas-black-rider/

My interested article of the week was an update to Korean actor Kim Ji-soo who made 2021 a headlines about his controversial bullying incident. I am shocked and surprised that after Kim Ji-soo dropped from 2021's River Where the Moon Rises due to bullying controversy and his own military enlistment, he was now went into Philippine entertainment industry after his military discharge, I guess. He was now in GMA's Black Rider as half-Filipino, half-Korean Adrian Park and of course, he will soon launching his own musical career for the Filipino market. I can't believe why Kim Ji-soo just discharge, then landed into Philippine entertainment and I think I don't know if he still no longer returning to K-entertainment soon.

Happy Friday, Beanies. Hope you've all had a lovely week. We had rain nearly everyday here. It's a wet, cold and moody winter for sure. The excuse to drink bottomless cups of tea and wear sweaters all day is an upside. And the sky. We get the most breathtaking winter skies. The blues, purples and pinks, especially at dusk, are flawless shades that don't seem to repeat. It's magical.

Anyway, I spent most of my work week doing mental health fist aid training. The number of things that can go wrong with the mind are astounding. From stress that can lead to pyschosis to depression that can end in suicide. The spectrum of mental illness is varied as we know. Not that we should live in fear of things going wrong. No. More like we shouldn't take our mental health for granted. It's not guaranteed it will always stay the same. The good news is that if we take care of the mind, heart and spirit with the same interest and vigour we pour into our physical appearances, our mental health can improve and thrive. It just takes a little work. Cheoncheonhi cheoncheonhi.

THIS WEEK IN 9TAILEDVIXEN'S THOUGHTS WITH LOTS OF F WORDS:

(A) I twisted my RIGHT ankle while walking home from Aerial Yoga (or rather limping because my LEFT ankle is only almost just back to normal but still a bit sore.

And now if all the measures I am taking to deal with my newly-twisted ankle don't work fast enough, I will have to cancel Aerial Yoga classes for the coming week.

FML! Eff the uneven roadsides with mini potholes and zero pedestrian sidewalks in the country I reside in. And eff my tendency to be randomly clumsy kicking in right at the point where I have just about mastered doing the Hip Lock and Hip Key at Aerial Yoga.

Currently consoling myself with the fact that RM from BTS is way clumsier than me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4F-aTXNsZYk

(B) This Week In Korean Women's News

1. ‘Selfish’? South Korean woman who promotes unmarried, childfree life becomes YouTube star

South Korea has declared its super-low birth rate a “national emergency” but one YouTuber has found happiness and success promoting the opposite ideal.

“Not getting married is my greatest achievement,” says Seen, adding that she had never considered becoming a “good” wife or mother as the ultimate purpose of her life.

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/family-relationships/article/3269135/selfish-south-korean-woman-who-promotes-unmarried-childless-life-becomes-youtube-star

2. South Korea politician blames women for rising male suicides

This week in "OH FFS!!!":

A politician in South Korea is being criticised for making dangerous and unsubstantiated comments after linking a rise in male suicides to the increasingly “dominant” role of women in society.

In a report, Seoul City councillor Kim Ki-duck argued women’s increased participation in the workforce over the years had made it harder for men to get jobs and to find women who wanted to marry them.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cml2kvd2dvno

@lapislazulii I can’t believe how excited I am to be 1 sleep away from finally seeing all your hard work in preparing for the DB book club discussion on The sense of wonder by Matthew Salesses. I know you are going to compose a reminder on this post sometime soon but I just couldn’t hold back any more😊I hope we have a lively discussIon on your fan wall as there are a few beanies who expressed an interest and said they were going to join us.

@db-staff When I clicked on the Atypical family thumbnail under Recently completed at the bottom of the main page, it took me to Frankly speaking posts. Can you please fix that? Thank you.

Completed The Good Bad Mother! I was hooked and binged watch it. Sacrificed my sleep in the past week to finish it! The characters are very well written!!

Currently watching Perfect Marriage Revenge! This is makjang daily drama level of acting haha! So much angst! 😂

I read the book The Fox Wife by Yangsze Choo thanks to a recommendation from @indyfan. It was great! You know the first love/knew each other as children trope? I loved how it showed up here. Very refreshing version of many things I'd seen in dramas. I think the POV character's voice was what made it so good.

I recently watched a youtube video about The Burning Sun scandal, Sulli, and Koo Hara and it made me wonder why Koreans are so hateful to women but not men. I know the simple answer is misogny and partriarchy and all the historical stuff but seeing that video reminded me of watching a drama (I don't remember what it was) and the discussion here about why do women continue the cycle of mistreatment. A young woman becomes a wife -> the mother in law is super hard on her -> young woman becomes a mother in law -> she's super hard on the daughter in law. And it just kinda baffles me because the mother in laws KNOWS what it's like to be in those situations and rather than not be monsters in law, they continue the cycle.
Sidenote: as I was writing this, I think the drama was Divorce Attorney Shin

Back to the burning sun and the female idols. Around the time that all went down, the female idols were being SKEWERED by netizens. Just all the nasty mean comments for no reason. Like even if you didn't like them, the level of hate was ridiculous. Meanwhile the burning sun guys, to this very day, still have fans who show up for them meanwhile female idols are still scrutinized to hell. Why does nothing change? I don't understand the logic behind this. And these are women! Women supporting predatory guys while hating on female idols.
And then y'all have folks who will invoke those idols to make a point to the point it almost cheapens their loss.

In 1992, Mike Judge introduced the world to a comedic duo known as Beavis and Butthead in a short film in an animated film festival of films designed to shock and repulse the audience. This duo became a series for MTV and many pearls were clutched. Many articles were written about their popularity among youth because they thought that these two idiotic, antisocial characters were being idolized by the youth.

Its creator's original intent was to mock the stupidity of middle aged boys. But, in doing so, became a vehicle for mocking society at large for its misunderstanding of the creation and its subsequent response.

Many people have similarly mocked Extraordinary Attorney Woo for being exploitative and mocking autism. However, they are missing the point of the show. Regardless of her flaws and limitations, it is the main protagonist who is the normal one in the show and her strangeness only serves to highlight the "normal" behaviors of normal people. Whether it is the rigidity of the legal system, or the romantic failings of her coworkers, Attorney Woo constantly questions the status quo as being strange and highlights its weirdness and hypocrisy.