KGSP Korean Government Scholarship Program Q&A/FAQ

As I've gotten a couple of questions on both YOUTUBE, IG, FB and via TUMBLR, I decided to make a little post regarding my experience as a KGSP student and some of the questions I've gotten over the past 2 years. I got the scholarship in 2016, spent 1 year in Busan (at Busan Univ. of Foreign Studies in Namsan) and am now about to begin my third semester of my graduate degree in Korean Studies, at Yonsei Univ., meaning I have one full year left of my grad. school studies in Seoul.

DISCLAIMER: I am only speaking on behalf of myself and of my own personal experiences. Please do your own proper research. I am in no position to grant the scholarship, I know nothing of the exact current processes and I can provide no guarantees that if you do what I did, you will get the scholarship. I am not part of the committee that accepts or rejects students, and have no way of knowing exactly how they choose their candidates. Please refer to NIIED's website or STUDYINKOREA to read up on current regulations and requirements for the program. 

You may also check out LOLALOVESKOREA, who has an extended playlist of KGSP-related videos, where she answers questions and explains the procedure that she followed.

Now with all this said, let's get to it. The questions will be answered in random order. Feel free to ask below or on TUMBLR. If you want to remain anonymous or don't have a blogger ID, tumblr is probably the best way to go. All new questions will be added to this page as they come in, so feel free to check back later.

HOW DO I APPLY?
You apply either via embassy track or university track. The two processes are slightly different. I applied via embassy track. Regulations and requirements are altered every year, so please check out STUDYINKOREA's website on the matter.

WHEN CAN I APPLY?
It depends whether you're applying for a BA or an MA. The BA deadline is usually in Fall and the MA deadline is in Spring. Please keep an eye on your embassy's website or on NIIED/studyinkorea's website.

CAN I STUDY _____?
I don't know. It depends on your university and current regulations. Your best bet is to check the lists released with the first round of results.

SHOULD I LEARN KOREAN BEFORE GOING?
NIIED sponsors one year of intense Korean class to prepare you for the TOPIK test. Keep in mind that studying Korean language and studying for the TOPIK test are two very different things. I know many who get high level in the test, but cannot speak Korean to save their lives, so don't get discouraged if you don't do well on that particular test. It's garbage imo. If you learn hangeul before going, it'll be super helpful, so I definitely recommend that!

CAN I BRING MY WIFE/HUSBAND/PARTNER?
Yes, but they're not allowed to live with you at the dorms. All dorms are gender-divided. NIIED will not cover their living expenses nor give them an allowance either.

MUST I GET THE RECOMMENDATION LETTERS?
Yes and they must be written, signed and sealed by the person who's giving it to you. They cannot simply ask you what to write and then say they approve.

HOW HIGH A GPA DO I NEED TO GET THE SCHOLARSHIP?
I don't know the exact criteria for how they choose their candidates. The official requirement is no lower than 80% (2.8) on your most recently obtained education. To be fair, I think it's more important you have good connections to the institution you want to apply through.

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU USE AT LANGUAGE SCHOOL?
It depends on the language school and the teacher. At BUFS we used different ones depending on level and teacher of the class.

CAN I PLEASE SEE YOUR MOTIVATIONAL LETTER/APPLICATION?
No. My application is personal, as is my motivational letter and letter of introduction and I will not send it out for you to copy or get "inspired" by. I will also not reveal my study plan. I've gotten quite a few messages from young girls who want to go to Korea because they love Kpop. If you cannot provide a proper reason for studying in Korea on your own (other than kpop), you probably should not apply. You're there to study and get your degree, not to chase oppas and go to concerts.

CAN I CHOOSE THE LANGUAGE SCHOOL I GO TO?
No you cannot. NIIED places you outside of Seoul, if your degree university is in Seoul.

I JUST GOT ACCEPTED TO _____ UNIV. HOW DO I APPLY FOR KGSP?
The KGSP program is not for students who are already accepted to a university or attending a university in Korea. It's a program that has specific guidelines and a long and straining application process. You cannot apply for only a semester or the like.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GET IT?
It depends on the country and the number of spots they get. Only two people could get it from Denmark and the two of us that got it both had close connections at the embassy through either an internship or extra curricular work and events with the staff there. Having a personal relationship with people at the institution you wish to apply through will help you tremendously to make a good impression. You have to gather an insane amount of documents, fill out forms and do a lot of waiting. It's extremely stressful and very straining. The entire process and the many selection rounds stretch over several months, so it's a lot of sleepless nights and running around trying to get people to sign and provide documents for you.

Got any questions that weren't answered here?

Leave them below or on TUMBLR.

Have a good one!

^3^)/

sunday aesthetics

I figured I'd use 'aesthetics' as I heard all the cool kids are into aestethics these days. aesthetics. I also noticed that the Danish term "hygge" is apparently trending on Youtube and in the bloggersphere. How did that happen? I saw hygge in articles about Denmark being the happiest country in the world a couple of times already, but I didn't realize that people are actually making it a thing online now. It's super funny to me, because the word doesn't translate into English very well, so every time someone is like "omg we're so hygge" it makes no fucking sense and majority of Danes seeing their posts/videos are probably all like "???????" hahaha.

Anyway...

I know, it's been a while. My blog has been silent for majority of the year and to be honest with you (if any of my readers are even out there anymore), I lost my mojo. I had so much shit to deal with since October last year, and applying for the scholarship back in January-June was so stressful that it was pretty much all I had on my mind for majority of the year. Now, you're probably thinking "Scholarship? What?" And yeah well.. I applied for the Korean Government Scholarship Program to get my MA in Korean Studies in Korea - and I got it. I got the scholarship. I am currently in Korea, studying at Busan University of Foreign Studies - however, I am not here for the actual MA. The program includes 1 year of language studies and 2 years of MA studies. I got here in August and will be here till July next year (most likely) finishing my year of language studies and then moving on to my actual MA studies at Yonsei Graduate School of International Studies next summer. If you're an OG reader, you'll know that Yonsei is the uni I went to for my study-abroad year back in 2012 and yes, kids, momma is coming home, haha! I can't wait. But for now, I'm enjoying some amazing times in Busan, and I've already been blessed with so many new, amazing friends and adventures. To be honest, a little part of me still cannot believe that I am actually here and that I, of all the people in this world, got her wish granted this past spring.

What else has been going on? I'm sure you guys are here for photos (especially the food porn), and I will give you that - no worries. But let's catch up a bit first, shall we?

1. I got the scholarship as I mentioned and am currently in Namsandong, Busan, with the peeps upthere ^

2. My birthday is coming up next week

3. I broke my leg about 3 weeks ago

4. Said broken leg didn't see a doctor until I felt forced to go to the hospital after walking on a severely sprained ankle for 10 days. lol

5. My ankle surprisingly was not broken, but I cracked my shin pretty severely and am now in a cast.. thing.. which is highly inconvenient and I can't walk around much.

6. I have the most amazing Bulgarian room mate and she and I are super similar, which our respective families find quite hilarious - we do too. haha!

7. Koreans love medication and I've been pretty much sedated for the past 2 weeks. I literally have no clue what's happened and don't even remember being in class at all. 

8. My parents sent me a huge box from home with tons of goodies for me and my roomie, as I - due to classes - won't be able to go home for Christmas. So here's to another year without Danish Christmas for me.

9. Next weeekend, though, my roomie and I organized a small Christmas morning gathering with out little group of 6 girls who've all grown quite close over the past 3 months. Can't wait for everyone to open their presents! Let's hope the last two ones arrive in the mail.. soon lol.

10. The medicine I was on was so strong that it scared me and I stopped taking it. I am going back to the hospital tomorrow (Monday) to talk to the doctor and get x-rays done again. Gotta make sure the leg is healing properly!

11. Invested in this VEGAN PROTEIN POWDER to make shakes and it's super super awful. Goodbye money. Goodbye protein gainzz.

12. That said, iHerb is quite nice! You can use my code LIN9012 for a 10% discount on your first purchase! Wooh! If you're a Dane though, beware of customs! :((

13. Oh, I'm also vegan/plant based now.

14. My beloved Ivan passed away the beginning of September, so that really sucked. I'd hoped he'd have hung in there till I get back in February. But he got his rest, I am happy that he is no longer in pain. 

15. Oh yeah, I'm going back to see my family in February! My only break from class is in February, wtf. Such stress :((

16. Due to the scholarship all I do is take TOPIK tests, I feel. It's awful.
17. That said, I get to speak and practice Korean all the time! Wrahh it's the best!

Alright, that's it. Thanks for reading, y'all (if you did at all, haha)!
Now to the photos!

Ah, my poor leg + ankle. To be honest, my ankle hurts a lot more than the cracked shin, though. It's still pretty swollen and it's been 3 weeks, wtf. I fell down from a stairway at a temple in Beomeosa, because I didn't see the gap between the staircase and the construction by the temple. So I just walked to the side as someone said "be careful", and I thought she meant 'Oh watch out, someone wants to pass you' - so I stepped out, fell down and yeah.. the rest is history - however sad. Haha! The stupid thing is that the temple trip (which was supposed to be followed by hiking up the mountain) was a trip arranged by our school as a "culture class" to experience Korean culture. My roomie and I were the only ones SUPER EXCITED about the hiking part! We were so stoked, dressed warmly and going up the first hill to the temple SO excitedly, while everyone else were mainly like "wtf ughhhh I don't wannaaa". Ironic that one of the only ones who REALLY wanted to go, got stuck in the administrations office because apparently they couldn't send me back to the dorm? It's pretty stupid bc after the office closed at around 5PM, I was stuck outside in the cold for about 20-30 minutes before someone came to pick me up. 

However.. while they left me in the administrations office and went hiking after I fell, I did get to experience the kindness of Buddhist monks and their love for acupuncture, the Korean hospital trip was interesting indeed and I also first hand experienced the terrors of not knowing what kind of medicine they were giving me. I later found out, though, that the reason I kept tripping, getting super sleepy and drowsy and didn't remember much at all, was because I was on a sedative AND pain killer.. 3 times a day.. originally given to last me for 2 weeks. I'm not sure how Korean students do that, though. I was in class, alright, but I was not.. THERE. lol. Scary indeed. Luckily I'm off that crap, now. We'll see tomorrow how the healing is going for the shin. I know for a fact that the ankle is gonna take a LONG-ass while to heal for sure.

Here's my dorm room desk area! Wooh!  This was taken shortly after I arrived and got settled, now I have more books and stuff here and there. Mmmhh, books ♡

And my side of the room. We have no fridge, no kitchen appliances are allowed and there isn't even a lounge on every floor like at SK Global (Yonsei) where you at least can put your stuff in a bag in a shared fridge. We got nothing, so we use our windowsill as the "fridge". The struggle.. lol. ((and yes, I brought my LoL plushies bc they remind me of epic game nights with potato pizza and RuPaul's Drag Race at NUDDELE's place, ok. ♡))

During a multi-cultural event here at BUFS, I got to be a traditional Korean bride for the hanbok fashion show! Huhuuuu! It was super fun, but also really difficult. We were on our feet for like 7 hours, not allowed to sit unless to get our hair done. Also the organizers had quite the challenge with my hair, bc it's quite short and super soft. What can ya do? They had to tie it up like 3 or 4 times before being able to attach the head piece and hair pin. It looked really nice tho! I felt SO pretty and people complimented me all night, haha! It was such a great experience!

What I eat most of the time - or at least what I used to eat when I could leave my room - boribap, fo' life! At the moment I chow down mostly on takeout bibimbap, tortillas with lettuce or cereal. Such party, very 좋아 - or maybe not. lol My roomie is the bomb, though, cause she runs to the store or the kimbap place and gets me food all the time! Freakin' luv her to bits!

Ahh my parents sent me so many goodies! *_* Nezumi also sent me a package with the most DELICIOUS berry granola, wraaahhh. She also sent me a pack of my favorite tortillas! Haha! Freaking love my vegan wraps, yo! Above is JUST the stuff from my parents though, holy shit. I got me some WASA crisp bread, lots of snacks and candy, new boots for winter (cause it's cold as fuck here, though the temperature shifts from 16 degrees celsius one day to -2 the next), Christmas tree, Christmas + birthday presents AND advent presents, some of my clothes from home and some pain killers + pads for lady-time lol. That may be TMI, but let's be real - Korean pads are HUGE. Even the small ones are SO WIDE they jam into your thighs and it hurts :(( rude much. 

This photo is also featuring  my crutches ^ haha.

Current read that my lovely German friend, Michelle lend me! It's super fun already and I can't wait to read further! She told me it was kinda strange, but the defiant personality of the main character reminds me of my roomie quite a lot, haha. So funny! Also love the way it's told in interview-style. I'm actually also reading a Korean book called "I'M" atm, which I'll tell y'all about in a later entry. Just thought it'd put it out there, haha. I'm so cultured, oh em gee.

Ahem.. anyway...

So many vlogmas videos to keep up with! Wrahh! Freaking love December and I love that more and more of my favorite Youtubers are getting into vlogging as well : D I prefer vlogs over anything, tbh. I don't care for adverts or hauls and favorites videos anymore.. I wanna see what y'all are up to! Haha. Who cares what mascara you use, when I can see you feed your cat, make coffee and run to Trader Joe's for groceries instead >: D In case you're curious, I'm currently watching these vlogmas series:

HEYCLAIRE

JENNA MARBLES

TAYLOR R

NIOMI SMART

ZOELLA

STEPHANIE

MAXX CHEWNING

SAMANTHA MARIA

NIKKI BLACKKETTER

JAZMINE GARCIA

ASHLEY BROOKE

Ahh, isn't it just the best feeling to sit with your coffee in the morning and catch up on vlogmas? Favorite time of year, aaahhh~!

And a group shot of the KGSP BUFS 2016 peeps! WOOH!

Hope you enjoyed! I'll try to find the motivation to do more shit for y'all. Haha, I wanna film videos again too, but I need to pick myself out of the self-pitying "everything hurts and I can't fucking walk"-gutter and get my shit sorted. I will say tho that now that I'm off the meds, I feel much better! The side effects were so severe and I cannot BELIEVE that I don't remember ANYTHING from the past two weeks being on them. Talk about effective sedatives, lol. 

Have a good one, and happy holidays! I'll def. make a post about our Christmas funsies next week! And maybe even a mid-week post for my birthday, huhu! Alright, getting carried away here.. no more promises! I can't believe how much I missed blogging, though, haha. I feel so accomplished writing this.  I have midterms next week though, which I should be studying for, but my memory for the past 2 weeks is quite hazy, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm supposed to do or what's gonna happen. lol. So sad. What's also sad is that the first midterm is on my damn birthday, arhhh. How dare they!? :(( lol.

Stay well, y'all!

MUCH LOVE

♡

이게 더 좋을것같은데용!

I KNOW. I know. I... know.
Things are different and I apologize, but bear with me here.
Keep your fingers crossed until June 3rd and I'll update you all
(if any of you are even still here)

I got exciting news.
Please wait for me.

잘알고있잖아요.

다좀다르죠? ㅎㅎ힛

재밌는뉴스가있지만... 6월3일까지나랑좀기다려주세용!

기대!

^3^)/ ~ ♡

I'm not afraid of anything.. (except crazy-ass SNSD fangirls and fanboys)

Hello! It's been a while, yet again, and I apologize! I've been trying to record a Youtube video for the past week's time and it's just not been working out for me. I had footage for like 2 days of recording and I wasn't happy with any of it :C so boo my face. The first files had decent content but my face looked shit. The last files.. well, I looked ok but my talking was a mess. So yeah, I'm sorry you guys T_T the Youtube stuff will have to wait. Hopefully I can record a bit tomorrow. We'll see.

Anyway, today is a holiday here in Korea - Buddha's birthday, meaning no classes! Yay for Buddha! Yonsei celebrated the SUPER popular AKARAKA! festival this week, concluded with a huge party/cheering event with lots of stars performing, cheering chants and just tons of awesome things. 

It was a great experience, but it is indeed the first and LAST time that I buy a VIP ticket. I was in the second row up front and when SNSD were announced, people went BALLISTIC and pushed to get up front... which resulted in us up front being squished against a fence that almost fell over. Luckily some security fellas came to our rescue, but at that moment I was certain that I'd die. I didn't die though, but I DID get a rather large cut on my hand, which is super painful atm :C  I swear to Buddha fanboys are worse than fangirls, because most boys are bigger, wider and stronger than girls. Meaning they'll knock you over faster and harder. -sobs- It was not fun at all. 

After that, my mood was rather ruined and I couldn't enjoy YB (Brian Kim?) nor JYP performing. I was angry (pissed off, really) and rather scared that last night would be my last fucking day on earth. I said before on my blog (and ERIKA's blog) that fangirls are usually middle-school or early high-school in age. I was proven horribly wrong as about 500 uni students came furiously towards me. I don't understand why these fuckers try so hard to come further up front. It doesn't make sense! It's not like you can see more or get to touch them anyway -__-" Fucking idiots. 

Speaking of crazy fans I also attended the Dream Concert 2013 last weekend and the show was awesome! Spite the hosts (Goo Hara (KARA), Onew (SHINee) and Dujun (B2st)) having to re-take a few introductions (because of other artists getting in the way or some lights going out) it was bomb! AND I GOT TO SEE EXO LIVE OMG! Kris' voice is so fucking sexual I can't even.. Let me tell you, and all girls can verify this (straight or gay) - a guy with a deep voice is just.... -sigh- sexual. Ok. Sexual. My favorite performances were definitely SHINee, BTOB (these guys never disappoint!), T-Ara (which is surprising as I don't like them lol), 4Minute (even though Hyuna wasn't there T_T), U-Kiss and of course EXO. Though we couldn't see EXO that clearly (our seats were actually pretty good) they were so dope and ugh.. Kris' part... unf. Sadly, there've been some rumors surfacing here and there (especially on Tumblr, the land of dumb and delusional) about T-ara having a black ocean during their performance -__-" This is NOT TRUE. I don't know why some people find joy in coming up with lame rumors to make other fandoms look bad (it's just as stupid as going onto one artist's Youtube to compliment them by bringing another artist down). T-ara were rooted and cheered for just like everybody else. End of discussion. Maybe people saw footage that was recorded from the floor. The floor (VIP section and where people, who won tickets, were seated) was mainly dark because majority of people seated there didn't have any light sticks. That's it. The only group who appeared to lack support was EvoL. Not surprising though, I think there were some BLOCK.B fans among the crowd. huehuehue. Oh well, it's not EvoL's fault that nobody knows who they are nor that Stardom is a rather shitty company when it comes to artists' rights and promotions. -__-" 

Other than that, I've been doing the usual. I've been shopping a bit here and there and actually got my first "red" lipstick. It shows up a bit more fuschia/dark pink on the picture, but oh well.. I like it anyway! ^__^)/ I also ordered my Yonsei jacket (which will be dope as fuck!!) - I'll show it on the blog when it arrives. Also, I'm waiting for a package from my parents : D yay! They shipped it out Tuesday last week, so it should be here soon ^__^"

I started watching Death Note again! My all-time favorite anime/manga ever! I think the story-line kinda died with L, but I still love watching it. All episodes where L is present are just fucking bomb and Kenichi Matsuyama does his interpretation of L in the live movies SO WELL! Can you believe that he went from a justice-oriented, gentle and super smart person like L to play the main character of the psycho in Zeni Geba? My mind still cannot wrap itself around that. It's mind-boggling and fucking awesome! If you guys haven't seen him in Zeni Geba yet... look it up, watch and love it! It's so epic!

What else has happened... I did an un-posted OOTD here + a face shot of me before and after makeup. The photos probably aren't taken on the same day.. I dunno. lol. When do I ever know? But I think the OOTD is from Denmark Day (more info below) and the blank face is from.. last night while the makeup face is from today.

DENMARK DAY

On to Denmark Day! The event was held at Global Lounge here at campus on May 8th and 9th and we even got to meet the Danish ambassador of South Korea! It was so cool : D We had put up different sectors for the event where people could see pictures and products made by Danish companies and we were even sponsored by awesome companies like Denmark Milk, LEGO and Maersk! It was beyond rad and the people at Global Lounge said that this was the most successful Global Day they'd ever participated in! : D It was SO BOMB! Thanks to everyone who came! : D Here are.. some pictures!

Dev getting ready to rock'n roll!

We had a gaming section where all the boys ended up : P If someone won the game (I think the game was called 'Winning' (oh the pun, huh?) - some sort of soccer game) they'd win awesome prizes sponsored by Hummel!

You could also take a picture at the event, like Denmark Days' FB page and upload your pic to it, like the Danish Embassy's FB and then put your email and full name in a bag in order to possibly win the lucky draw competition.

We gave out free Danish birthday cake! (layer-cake (lagkage) made with sponge cake layers, vanilla custard, fresh strawberries, whip-cream and chocolate chips)

Happy guests! The guy in the middle came back the day after too : P damn cake-freeloader. Hoho! He was actually a performer at the show last night. He did bboy-ing ^__^)/ pretty cool!

Danish ambassador! We were also featured on the DANISH MINISTRY OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS' website! I dunno why so many people were in those pics at the end btw. 80% of them didn't even participate in the arrangement nor set-up of the event. LOL.

Kat in her true element as a viking!

The Monarchy area of the event : D

Royal Copenhagen had their own table at the event as well! I don't know who wrote that stupid sign tho.. >__< ugh typos give me eye-cancer

 Maersk and LEGO were there too! It was so cool!

and of course our most treasured person of all - H.C. Andersen! The writer of many traditional Danish fairytales (that most of you probably know too).

After the event one of the guys asked us what we wanted for dinner and we'd been craving pizza all day.. so we asked for pizza! He'd given us the impression that the pizza would be ordered for us only (we were 5-6 Danish people + a Korean that wanted pizza) so we could share among ourselves, because some of the others wanted chicken, some wanted noodles etc. Sadly all the Koreans decided to eat most of our pizza (as the pizza arrived first) and after watching our precious pizza disappear, we found out that they had actually ordered something else for themselves already - black bean noodles and mandu (fried dumplings) + some pork stuff. Rather fucking annoying as we barely got any food while they shamelessly ate most of ours AND their own. -__-" Rude. 

After everyone had left we ordered our OWN pizza, though, (pics above) and then enjoyed it with a Korean guy who stayed to hang out! We also watched the old Danish movie (oldie but goodie!) Martha. It was a brilliant night! : D (spite people eating our pizza :C )

That's it! hope you enjoyed : D Even though it was rather long >__< Can I just add that the weather is INSANE in Seoul atm? We get 14-20 degrees celsius at night and 25-30 during the day T_T I'm cooking and boiling like a lobster here! ughh! I will try to get my shit together and film soon! Maybe Sunday? We'll see :C ugh if only I had the brains to talk today.. I've been making no sense at all throughout majority of the day. -sigh- Hope you're doing well! : D

MUCH LOVE

xoxo

(speaking of EXO (lol) their new teaser pics have been revealed WOOOT ASFGHJKL)

Jay Park rocking MCM in his music video for 'JOAH' (박재범의 '좋아' 뮤직비디오 x MCM스타크)

I've been getting a lot of referrals from Google directing people searching "Jay Park MCM Joah" etc., so I figured that I would do a quick basic post on his backpack! As you all know, I'm a huge fan of MCM and therefore I'd be happy to touch upon the brand for you guys! Hoho~  

Jay Park is not only rocking some epic BOY LONDON gear in his recent music video for the (super awesome!!!) song JOAH ('좋아'), he's also seen dancing around in an alley wearing the beautiful red MCM Stark backpack. As Jay's version not only has the basic studs on the top part of the front of the bag but ALSO has studs on the sides, I'm guessing that his bag is a custom version of the Stark, made especially for him. It is not uncommon for kpop stars to hit up the PR people (or designers directly) of MCM to request certain customizations done to the bags that they want to buy; 2ne1, Key (SHINee), 2AM and especially G-Dragon are well known for doing exactly that.

Jay Park's bag appears to be a medium size (I'm judging by the fact that he's short and it looks "normal sized" on him, lol) MCM Stark in red, customized with extra studs on both lower sides of the bag and on the top middle of the front (by the logo). The regular version of the Stark varies in price (and size) from W495,000 to up to W675,000. The bigger the bag is and the more studs it has - the more expensive it'll be, as all studs are attached by hand.

The smallest size of the MCM STARK is set to W495,000 in the webshop (approx US$500) while the medium (and most popular size) is W555,000 (approx. $560). MY OWN BAG was set to approx W670,000 (I got a discount though) and is also quite popular still. Actually, just to add to the coolness of my bag in particular, the dark blue color has completely sold out of stock and is no longer available in store - even celebs are actually still requesting the exact color and model. Suck eeeeet! LOL.

Pictured: MEDIUM Stark

FACTS
Size: W33 x H41 x D17 cm.
Material: Cowhide
Price (Korea): W555,000 (approx US$560)
Colors: Red, beige, white, black, cognac, orange, pink
Where to buy: MCM store, WEBSHOP

Beware of fakes!!

(my friend shared this ugly pic on FB lol. 

For some sort of contest to win a knock-off bag)

Ugly-ass fakes of the MCM bags are all over the place (especially in Asia) and cheap stores are shamelessly copying everything from the shape to the actual brand logo of the bag. The price of the original bag is expensive - yes, but think of it as an investment. I've dropped my bag, scratched it against brick walls, accidentally stepped on it and ripped it open quite viciously a few times. I also carry heavy books and a laptop in it, yet it hasn't lost its shape at all! You are paying for the quality of MCM - not just the pretty gold logo and the 3 letters. Sure, you can probably get a cheaper copy, but if you ever come to Korea with that.... lol. People will easily recognize that yours is fake and they will probably laugh at you for even trying. I'm not saying that you should buy the real deal because I did (nor because people in Korea will die laughing if they ever see you with a fake), I'm just saying that you should really consider what you are paying for. You can pay half of the MCM bag's price for a knock-off, but keep in mind - the quality will ALSO be a knock-off.