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I'm a Dutch arts teacher, teaching kids in the age group 12 to 17. I've always been interested in Asian art and design. Artists like Yayoi Kusama, Shiota Chiharu, Choi Xooang and Do Ho Suh for instance. And did you know that Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano makes very cool illustrations? Around 2014 I thought I'd check out some anime... I'd seen some when I was a kid, but some kids in school had gotten me interested in checking some new stuff out. Loved it!

Then followed J-rock (because of all those awesome anime songs), then the Japanese language... and then, well you know what comes next,... Japanese dorama and movies. Along the way I got into things like Japanese cooking and  literature too.

I also started listening to K-pop. Again: stuff that kids in school were listening to made me curious. 'Till then I'd had no reason to watch anything other than Japanese drama. But a little show called 'Moon Lovers' was getting a lot of buzz, so I thought "let's check it out"... I don't have to explain the rest...

The past 6 years I've been having so much fun watching cool dramas and movies, going to J-rock and K-pop concerts, cooking delicious Asian food... And It's so nice to have MDL around where like-minded people come together!

What else? Here's a list of stuff...

• My first Japanese drama was probably 'Gokusen'. Then I started watching everything that all those actors had ever done. My favorites from that binge fest are 'Hana Kimi' and 'Nobuta wo Produce', which is still one of my favorite dramas ever.
• One of my favorite Japanese dorama is 'Juhan Shuttai!', check it out if you haven't yet.
• I like the length of Japanese dramas 10 to 12 episodes of about 45 minutes. No second season. Short but sweet, so you can see a lot of different stuff.
• My favorite Japanese genre is slice of life.
• One of my favorite Japanese movies is 'Her Love Boils Bathwater'. And all five Rurouni Kenshin movies are awesome (marvel schmarvel... pfff)!!
• Every year I go to the Camera Japan Festival in Rotterdam. Four days of Japanese movies, food, workshops, exhibitions, a little market, and people who all love the same things. One week this is repeated in Amsterdam, but I like the Rotterdam venue more.

• The first K-drama I really liked was 'Healer'.
• Some of my favorite K-dramas are 'Stranger', 'Reply 1988', 'I am not a Robot', 'One Spring Night', and 'Chief Kim'. All very different genres.
• The last K-drama I absolutely loved is 'It's Okay to not be Okay'.
• Favorite actor or actress? That changes with what I'm watching. 

• Every once in a while I watch shows from other Asian countries. I completely agree with everyone on MDL that 'The Untamed' is an awesome show that was hard to say goodbye to.
• My favorite anime are 'Samurai Champloo', 'Mushishi', 'Howl's Moving Castle', 'FMA: Brotherhood’, ‘Natsume Yuujinchou’, ‘Kamisama Hajimemashita’, ‘Haikyuu!!’, and ‘Dororo’. Really looking forward to Chainsaw Man!
• I love Japanese music. My favorite bands and singers are ONE OK ROCK, the GazettE, BAND MAID, Yonezu Kenshi, and E ve. The first three I've seen live, as well as BABYMETAL, Sokoninaru, and Miyavi.
• My favorite K-pop groups are EXO and DAY6, but there are loads more that I really like.
• K-pop I've seen live: G Dragon, MONSTA X (twice), BTS, DAY6 (twice), GOT7, NCT127, Zico, Jay Park, Hyukoh, and SuperM.
• Going to concerts is my favorite thing!

ONE OK ROCK at 013 Tilburg (my own picture)

• I love Asian food, and I love cooking. Favorites are Japanese gyūdon and katsudon. And Korean bokkeumbap and ramyun.
• In 1015 a whole bunch of kids at my school started an after school club, called OTABU, where they can come together and share stuff they love, like drawing and gaming and food... It started out as an anime club but there are several kids watching Asian drama's too. Prefered music is J-rock and K-pop. Guess who they asked to join as the designated adult... :)