Blogger Recognition Awards 2020

It’s Christmas Day!! Happy Christmas to all those who are celebrating! I’m taking a break from the regular type of post (I’m ALMOST up-to-date) to do a little end of year appreciation for everyone’s hard work in the blogosphere through this difficult year. Thank you to all of the wonderful bloggers out there for keeping the community going with new content each and every day!

A huge thank you so much to Una and Lina of Hallyu Reviews for nominating me and for truly making the content of this blog feel seen! Please make sure to check out their blog – I love reading their personal views on the latest Korean content and getting reminders to pay a little more attention to certain artists, dramas and much more!

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THE RULES

1. Thank the person who nominated you and feature a link to their blog in your award post.
2. Post the award banner somewhere on your blog.
3. Share the reason why you started your blog.
4. Share two pieces of advice that could benefit new bloggers.
5. Nominate a maximum of fifteen other bloggers.
6. Tell your nominees about your award post so they can participate!

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I feel so honoured to be nominated for this award, not least by some bloggers who I admire so much and whose posts I look forward to reading. As the year draws to a close I look back on how much Jei’s Kulture Notes has grown, even though I only set it up in August! I’m having an amazing time keeping up with this blog – it has made me a better consumer of media, making sure that I spotlight some lesser known content as well as the content people would expect of me. Taking a more inclusive approach has found me some new favourite artists, and has enabled me to be a little more objective rather than focusing purely on my favourites. Although I don’t know how long I can feasibly take this approach (since I only have time these days because of the current global situation), I’m loving doing it whilst I can, and want to thank everyone who has read, engaged with and appreciated my posts.

1. Share the reason why you started your blog.

Actually I don’t even really have a rational reason for starting this blog (haha!) but the idea came to me as I was watching the final episode of ‘It’s Okay To Not Be Okay‘. None of my close friends were watching the drama at the same time, and even if they were, my friends don’t get so ranty about shows…. and I had a lot to say about that show. I just had this intense feeling of wanting to express my thoughts….. so…. I just started writing. And then before I knew it, I had posted it on this blog. I don’t know what made me suddenly decide to add music to the blog, but I guess it made logical sense – Korean music is a huge part of my life and adding that section meant that I would be posting more regularly than letting this blog fall into slumber whilst waiting for me to finish a KDrama every month – so here I am.

2. Share two pieces of advice that could benefit new bloggers.

I am still quite new myself, but I guess one thing that I have been discussing with friends a lot is the sentiment of, “You set your own schedule, not anybody else.” What I mean by this is that, in life it is totally natural to have ups and downs – there will be moments where you feel like you’re lacking the drive or energy to post, but that’s okay. You are the person who dictates how frequently you post, which means you are also the person who dictates whether you take some time off – your readers genuinely won’t even mind (and they might not even think twice about the break). Allow yourself to take a break whenever you need it and set your pace to match what works for you in the current moment.

Secondly, write about what you know and about what you want to write about. Words will flow easier if you’re writing something you care about. You might think that people won’t be interested in a specific post, but you’d be surprised – a lot of the time, the post that I think will draw the least interest ends up drawing the most. Write for yourself, without worrying about page visits or reach – that will make the whole experience of blogging a whole lot more fun and interesting!

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I want to shout out and show appreciation for the following bloggers (aside from @HallyuReviews) whose hard work and efforts keep me motivated and driven:

1. Katherine Does KPop @katherinedoeskpop
2. Dramas Over Flowers @dramasoverflowers
3. Musings On Asian Dramas @kjtamusings
4. SeoulPop @seoulpop
5. In Asian Spaces @inasianspaces

Have a wonderful festive season all, and a marvellous end to the year. Heres hoping for a bigger and brighter 2021.

GIF made by veriloquentmind (I’m missing Yixing from this but I’ll take what I can get)