So, for somebody like me, who is so obsessed with KPOP, and Korean culture in general, I was like "Why not?" There was no entry fee and I already have some general knowledge, so it's not like I really had to study ALOT. (Like for the questions up there, the answers are in this order: 12 [big explanation will be done at the end of the entry], 2002, and Seoul.) So I signed up for it, and a week later was the quiz, June 22, 2012. I received a confirmation on the Wednesday, and got totally psyched for the contest. The consulate also provided a 'study document' which was 128 pages or so, not including the indexes and references. To be honest, I didn't get to go through all of it cause I had to study for midterms at the same time.
The day came and I was super nervous. I knew I didn't have enough time to study all of the material, but I tried my best during the quiz. Some questions I was certain, some, I haven't even read because the information was at the end of the package. I finished the quiz with probably a good half an hour left. We were allotted 60 minutes to answer the 90 questions and it was all multiple choice.There were no questions in any way similar to the questions they posted in their intro paragraph up there. There was one question, which asked about which Korean drama does not exist. That question for sure I got correct. Ahahaha.
After finishing the quiz, I printed out the entire quiz and tried to find the correct answers. I still haven't finished, but I saw many questions which I was either definitely sure I got wrong, or kicked myself cause I got it wrong. Today I found out that I a) didn't win the contest, so I don't get to go to Korea b) I ended up in the top 30 of Canada, so a prize is coming for me in the mail. Yay!
I found this as a very cool experience, as I got to learn more about Korea. But I still have so much more to learn about Korea, like which dynasty ended the 3 Kingdoms dynasty. I am SO confused. There is a Silla in the 3 Kingdoms dynasty, and there is a Silla dynasty on its own. Gahhh~
So, remember there is that question up there, about how many people make up Super Junior? This is a VERY controversial question, well in the KPOP world anyway. There are basically four sides to this answer 1) there are 13 2) there are 15 3) there are 12 and 4) there are 11. To go through the answers, I will need to explain something. Super Junior is a group deveoped by SM Entertainment, and they debuted in 2005. At debut, there were 13 members, Ryewook, Shindong, Leeteuk, Kyuhyun, Siwon, Yesung, Eunhyuk, Donghae, Heechul, Sungmin, Kangin, Kibum, and Hangeng. 2008, SM created the 'sub-unit' of Super Junior M. The target market of SJ-M is China as they mostly released hits in Mandarin. The members of the sub-unit include Hangeng, Siwon, Donghae, Kyuhyun, and Ryewook. In addition to the original Super Junior members, SM debuted two trainees through this group, Zhou Mi and Henry. Since SJ-M is a sub-unit, with the addition of the two members, the count would be up to 15. This actually cause ALOT of trouble within the fans of Super Junior, ELFs. Some ELFs wanted to believe that the addition members didn't mean anything, and that they all in all rejected the two members. Therefore a small population of the fans created a movement, 'only 13', which was supposed to show how they disliked the two members.It was not a hate against the members personally, but it was the fact that SM had added people into the group. In 2009, Hangeng had contract issues with SM, and it ended up with him leaving Super Junior, SM Entertainment, and Korea all together. So then the count is down to 12 of the original. The newer members promote solely with SJ-M. In the same year, Kibum had voiced that he wanted to focus on his acting career and put in a temporary leave to the group, dropping their numbers down to 11. 2009 was not a good year for Super Junior as their member Kangin was charged with a DUI and hit and run, then later went to fulfill his mandatory two year military service. Then there were 10. On more cheerful times, Kangin is scheduled to make a comeback with Super Junior in July.
SO all that background for those 4 answers 1) fans who believe in 'only 13' 2) fans who are inclusive of Zhou Mi and Henry. 3) Fans who have accepted that Hangeng has left for good but still include Kibum 4) Fans who might not know the existence of Kibum and accepted that Hangeng is gone for good.
I answered 12 because I know that Hangeng is gone for good, and he is never coming back. Why? When he was here, he barely got to appear on TV, and his Korean wasn't that good anyway.