Hello again, and welcome to the second installment of Life of a K-pop Expat in Korea. Last week, I touched briefly on one of the biggest misconceptions I, and many other fans, had about coming to Korea and getting to see your bias face to face.

So this week, I decided touch on something much more close to home: just how big, or maybe how small, K-pop is in Korea.

I still remember the first time I went to K-Town in New York City. It was the day after the BigBang concert in 2012 and I was absolutely floored. There was one shop I went into that had a make-up store inside as well as a section for CDs and DVDs and then tons and tons of books. And the music they were playing? You guessed it... K-pop. Before that time, the only place I heard K-pop was through my headphones or speakers. The only place I saw idols or an album was through my computer screen. So while in the store in New York, I felt like I was I heaven.

Now imagine how I felt when I arrived at the Incheon Airport in Seoul, Korea this past May only to be greeted by a large banner saying "Welcome" adorned with none other than BigBang. That's right, the first people to welcome me to Korea, besides the airport staff, were the members of BigBang. Well, from a poster. But still, I'll take it.

Fast forward a few weeks. I was lucky enough to move to one of the larger cities in Korea, meaning there was a downtown area. I was never one for shopping in the States, especially just wandering around and window shopping, but since I've come to Korea, that has changed. Not because I buy a lot of clothes, honestly there aren't many things that will fit me around here, but because of the atmosphere, A.K.A. the music.

After a year of walking around, listening to K-pop with my headphones on, it was at first odd to walk around downtown Daegu and hear K-pop songs that I recognize blasting from the stores. But now I've gotten so used to it that I actually recognize more songs than some Korean music lovers I know. Some songs I love, some I could care less about, and some that I don't recognize, but they definitely help attribute to the amazing feeling I get walking along the streets.

Then, there are the signs and advertisements. I'm not extremely well versed in K-pop group names or what singers look like. In fact, I can usually recognize a group's song and sound sooner, and sometimes better, than I can recognize its members. So I had no hope of recognizing every advertisement, I knew that, but it still seemed like around every corner there was another K-pop idol or group featured in an advertisement. Yes, that is a little bit of an exaggeration. Maybe 1 out of every 3 or 4 adds features a K-pop idol or group, but compared to the number of singers in the US who are in advertisements? It seems rather large.

So K-pop must be huge, right? The music is playing everywhere and the idols are on ads on almost every street corner. That means everyone must know them, right?

Buzz! Wrong. As big as Kpop may seem, I've discovered something since I arrived. Something huge. It all started the first week I was here, right after I had my first chance to explore downtown. I had seen the ads and heard the music blasting from stores that I passed, wo while I was a little surprised to hear a BigBang song come on in the coffee shop, I was almost waiting for it. As soon as I realized what song it was, I smiled and said "Oh, I know this one."

"What do you mean you know this one?" one of the Korean teachers asked me.

"This song," I replied. "I listened to BigBang before I came to Korea." I didn't come right out and say I was a K-pop fan. Why? Well, due to the comments and remarks many people had made in the US, I was still a little shy about admitting my love of Korean music. But surely it would be okay in Korea! Surely people here would understand!

... Nope.

"Who is BigBang?" came the answer. I looked at the Korean teachers I was with, trying to hide my shock.

"You don't know who BigBang is?" When they shook their heads no, I continued. "You've never heard of Daesung, Seungri, Taeyang, G-Dragon, or TOP?"

Finally one of the women said "Oh, wait, I think I've heard of TOP before. Was here in a movie?"

I confirmed that, but then let the topic drop. I was shocked that every person I was with, 3 foreigners and 3 Koreans, had no idea, or pretended to have no idea, who the group was. G-Dragon was advertising for The Saem. His face was all over. Daesung had been on Family Outing, a popular show back in the day, for its entire run. And TOP had been in I Am Sam and Iris, not to mention 71: Into the Fire. Heck, he had won awards for that movie, which might be why he was the only one one of them recognized.

So why was it that I saw K-pop everywhere while the adults around me had no idea about it at all?  The Age Limitation. But that, my dear friends, is a story for another time. For now, I shall end this on the note that if you know and like K-pop, you'll enjoy seeing it and hearing it everywhere in Korea. And if you don't like K-pop, you can ignore it and still get around fine. But if you don't like K-pop, then you probably are on the wrong site or you're about to like it now.