Just came back home from TW. It has been so long since I updated…. and yeah I barely have time since I work everyday except weekends.
Taiwan has been fabulous! Both HJ and friends. 
It was hard for me though, because leaving and saying goodbye is always so hard, especially when we had three weeks of fun together every weekend. To realize that next weekend, there’s no fun, no Ahlia언니, no other unnies around… well it takes a while to get used to once again..
This goodbye is better than the last time, because the last time, I left not only with a heavy heart but also full of worries for Ahlia. Now it’s not so bad because I know things have improved, and she’s doing/living very well.
But it’s still hard, to say goodbye to all our happy moments. To how I will always find her hand reaching out for mine, to how as in love as she is with HJ, she is always a big sister to me and to the rest who’re younger than she is (should see how she worries for Joan when she couldn’t be found in the rain haha!). How she does make up for me, and how she always say “아아이~!!!” and sighed whenever we force her to take a picture, and how she says “에이~” whenever we belittle her ability to take care of herself/know her directions around the area etc, but is also clearly happy and amused by it. And I guess most of all, it’s the comfortable and safe feeling that her scent gives off. It’s not the Chanel. It’s a mixture of Chanel and her natural scent. Like flowers, like home. (perfume works differently on different people even if it’s the same bottle, same brand)
But at least I didn’t leave with a heavy and worried heart. I waved them goodbye, feeling nostalgic and sad at the farewell but also happy in a way, to see the difference now as compared to the time we parted ways in January.
I’m almost tempted to go for China’s FM, because the thought of meeting everyone, especially Ahlia again is very tempting. To be honest, this has very little, very very little to do with HJ. HJ is just HJ. I love HJ but not in the way most fans do. I love Ahlia and my friends in a way that is more important to me. It’s hard to explain I guess.
By the way, it feels so weird to type “Ahlia” because I don’t really call her that when we’re together, and with the rest. (I guess it’s also obvious that isn’t a real name. Among the Korean girls, we use everyone’s actual name, but in English it’s probably easier to use her online nick)
But anyway, I won’t go to China, because that’s too much. It’s time to settle down and work hard before leaving for Korea. I’ll have the time of my life then.
However, I’m very busy now when the ticket, hotel, flight and visa issues for China’s FM. China is just different from the other countries. Difficult to maneuver seriously and hard to know/find someone you can trust to do it. I have to secure everyone’s tickets and make sure all goes well. The difficult part is really the Chinese, but I’m getting better.
But it’s not like it’s really hard work, because the hardest job belongs to the friend(s) who are helping me in China. Friends I’ve made because of Hyun Joong and the fandom. I thank them, for doing the hardest job. My job is just to communicate, to be that bridge. It’s so much harder for my Chinese friends in China who had to do the rest of it. Thank you all for being so willing to help!
I am especially grateful to one of them, and really…. I’m going to have to send her something to thank her. You know how in China, it’s so hard because cheating and fraud is very common and nobody pays in advance for something they haven’t get, because it’s so unsafe and uncertain.
But I was lucky to find someone whom I know I can trust, and whom I know is helping me fully, sincerely and with all her heart, even though she doesn’t have to, and it’s not like we often talk or anything. I suspect this has something to do with her character – some people are just naturally helpful and they don’t ask for anything in return. I’m always on a look out for such friends~ it’s hard to find friends in fandom these days.. not with so many pretentious relations going around. But it’s not hard to find either, you just have to be observant really. For some, their intentions can be seen through right from the start. For others, you can easily tell.
Hopefully all goes fine!
Meanwhile…. having great days.
Not too long ago, I wrote an blog entry about delusional fans who created a Fanclub, calling themselves ‘Official’ and going around collecting ‘club money’ even. One of the admins later caused a lot of hooha because she apparently also claimed herself to be the ‘wife’ of Kim Hyun Joong, and even created a fake KHJ Facebook account to release statements that this girl is his wife.
In response to such delusional behavior damaging not just to Kim Hyun Joong but to the official HENECIA fandom, I wrote that entry, out of frustration and exasperation that the hard work done by other fan clubs and fans for Kim Hyun Joong may have been overshadowed just because of silly girls who go on paper and claim themselves as ‘official’ fan club, thereby misrepresenting every single fan of Kim Hyun Joong out there.
This matter is now over, because the girl has since taken down the ‘official’ label. So I thought this matter is already over and settled.
However, it is to my great surprise when my friend sent me an email with a link to this entry written by someone called Maru Ragasa. This entry is HERE. In this entry, she wrote a very long article aimed directly at me, saying that I have written a entry to accuse her mother.
…….???????????????????????????
What?
This is beyond my understanding, because any one who read the entry I wrote can clearly see from it that my entry is directed at fans who created a fake fan club to fool other fans. How is this entry related to Ms Maru Ragasa’s mother in any way?
Apparently, her mother is a fan from the Philippines and I remembered that she is one of the lucky fans who got to take a photo with Kim Hyun Joong, thereby achieving her dreams of finally meeting him in person at last. She also made it to the papers if I’m not mistaken. That’s about all that I know about her previously.
So imagine my shock and surprise when her daughter Ms Maru Ragasa wrote an entry directed at me, accusing me of something I did not say or do! Why would I write about an innocent elderly fan of Kim Hyun Joong who has gone all the way to support Kim Hyun Joong? In fact, if you read my entry again, I even mentioned the fans who have done so much – financially to support Kim Hyun Joong’s work. I understand that Ms Maru Ragasa’s mother has donated a large sum of money for charity, and as a result she won a photo opportunity with Kim Hyun Joong last year during THE FACE SHOP’s tour. Why, her actions are exactly what I compliment and am thankful for. Other than that, I have little idea who she is, what she does, and what happens afterwards.
So why would I write an entry about someone whom I don’t know and have nothing against?
This is going overboard and I think this entry has completely insulted my character, not to mention defame me for something I have not done at all.
As a result, I have written to Ms Maru Ragasa on Facebook, in hopes to explain my entry with her, and also to get her to do something responsible about this whole matter. However, I did not receive a reply, even though I know she is online, and has replied every other fan except me.
Instead, another fan who sent her a message to clarify the situation with her did receive her reply, and Ms Maru Ragasa remained adamant about what she wrote, insisting that I have been irresponsible with my entry and refusing to apologize.
This is the reply she has written to one of the fans, who have sent this to me:
To which, my indignation has now changed to frustration.
Erm, where in my entry have I criticized other fans’ english? I was talking about the ‘fake’ KEYEAST notice written by the fake fan club. They used poor, grammatically incorrect English that appears unprofessional. I am only commenting that the REAL KEYEAST would never have written such an English post with such poor English. As such, the fake fan club should just stop deceiving the fans. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE MY ORIGINAL MEANING.
Why did Ms Maru Ragasa take my words, and change it into something completely different? Why does ENGLISH have to do with her elderly mother? What does ENGLISH have to do with anything about Fan’s love for Hyun Joong. There are many many fans who read this blog and have written to me in English even though English is not their first language, yet their love from Hyun Joong is obvious and clear. I have never once felt that I am superior to them. Why should I? It’s just a matter of being born in different countries. SINCE WHEN have I criticized fans who love Kim Hyun Joong in a healthy and loving manner? Why, it is because of them that we could continue to provide so much support for Hyun Joong!
If language mattered so much to me, I would not have been friends with Ahlia, with the Korean unnies, with my Japanese friends, and any other fan who comes from a country where English is not their first language. This accusation is ridiculous and does not make any sense.
Besides, Ms Maru Ragasa says that I should be ‘responsible‘ for my writing. In case you haven’t notice, even though the entry I wrote is directed at the fan who created the fake FC, I have never once written her full name on it. I may have written that entry, but it was not to attack anyone personally, so this is why I did not mention the fan. Neither did I directly refer to the fan club except providing a link to their website.
HOWEVER, Ms Maru Ragasa, who claims that I should write responsibly, is certainly not practicing what she preaches. She wrote an entry about me, with MY NAME, accusing me of all kinds of things that I have not done. She did not even bother to check who I am writing about. She did not even reply me despite me giving her a chance to explain her sudden outburst on Facebook like this. How is that responsible behavior?
This is the kind of double standards that I now have no patience for.
Ms Maru Ragasa, please read my blog entry again, and think about it. In what way does it refers to your mother, whom I don’t know much about until today, thanks to your very long entry accusing me of things I have not done?
Please write an apology to me as well as to your mother, for randomly and unnecessarily causing distress to both of us for something that is not even related to your mother in the first place. Your mother is elderly and does not deserve to go through this kind of stress. I do not understand your intention of writing that entry to attack me, but if this is a genuine mistake, an apology posted on your Facebook as well as the removal of that entry is all that I asked.
It’s nearly 6am! Just a short entry for now. I took fan cams instead for KHJ’s HK FM! There’s a lot of videos so I guess I’ll have to work through it slowly.
But for now, here’s one video~^^ I chose to upload this one first because it has the “HJ who takes off his shirt” or 벗중 (beotjoong) that everyone likes. (2.10 onwards!)
Taking videos is so not easy…. I couldn’t move, and struggle to stop it from trembling – but I solved that by holding my breath. Wow! Fully understand how hard it is now for those who took Fancams all the time….
Anyway, I gotta say thank you ahlia언니 for the awesome seat!!!!!
Actually it is funny, because I was actually the one who arranged for everyone’s tickets, but I got her to do the seating arrangement instead – for two reasons. One: I’m overwhelmed at that time already, having to deal wth Singapore’s tickets, HK and Taiwan’s tickets. Grateful for Joan and Ahlia’s help subsequently! Second: the eldest gets to choose. I guess it’s a Korean thing. On many occasions already, I noticed how the best seats are always given without question to the eldest, and then accordingly to age. Not that it’s necessary, but that seem to be how it’s done usually.
Anyway, just a short “teaser”! I’ll upload the rest of the videos when I’m done ^^
Hey there!
Saw on your blog that we are supposed to email you if we have any question, hope I am not disturbing.
Well, I know you have been to Korea a few times, and even been to those Korean weekly music shows like Music Bank, Inkigayo and so (I am not sure which one have you been too though). I am going to Korea this June, and just nice for me, Young Saeng is having comeback at the end of this month, so when I am at my trip at Korea, I do want to try going into one of those music shows and see one of my favorite idol performs (YS and KJ are the two I have not see before, so yeap, I hope to see either one of them singing live).
The thing is, this is my first time going Korea, I have no experience in anything like this. I am just wondering is there any procedure on how to get into the Korean Music shows? I will pretty much appreciate if you can share some tips with me.
Thanks you for your time.
Here’s another question I get very often from the fans, so I guess it’s high time I get down to writing an entry about this too. I’ve been putting it off because I thought there are already some bloggers who have done tutorials and guidelines about music shows and how to attend them but for some reason I still get these questions.
I guess it is probably because no matter how many tutorials there are out there, most of you don’t know who they are. And it feels more assuring to hear it from a friend, or someone you know who have successfully gotten into the music shows than to read all these tutorials. So despite the many times I get this question, I can understand the anxiety behind why they’re being asked.
Since I gather that you girls want to hear mine and my friends’ experiences with Korean Music Shows, here goes ^^
Things you should know about attending Music Shows (Music Bank, Mnet Countdown, Inkigayo, Music Core) in Korea
Well, first thing first, I think it’s worthwhile to mention that one should really try to conquer their overwhelming fears and concerns about attending a music show in Korea. It’s not as hard or impossible as it may seem, even if you speak zero Korean and couldn’t read a single word. After we get this ‘fear’ aside, here goes some of the information that might be useful to you as a potential attendee of these events.
Korean Music Shows are weekly shows, free-of-charge for anyone who wishes to attend and watch the performances. They’re usually on Thursdays to Sundays unless in the case of any unforeseen circumstances.
Mnet Countdown (Thursdays)
KBS Music Bank (Fridays)
MBC Music Core (Saturdays)
SBS Inkigayo (Sundays)
Even though these shows are free and you can get to watch all the Korean idols that you love (assuming they are promoting), these things don’t come easy and as you probably already guessed, there are quite some ‘physical labour’ on our part. Most likely, you would have to spend at least half a day queuing to enter these shows, not to mention waking up early to make it into the list to enter. Depending on the popularity of the celebrity, the length of time you spend on queuing differs too.
My own experience with Kim Hyun Joong? Due to his overwhelming amount of overseas fans who somehow love queuing early, I’ve experienced close to 24-hours of queuing. ㅠㅠ
However the good news is that you don’t actually have to be really queuing, because it’s more of just stopping by, let the admin do the head count, and you’re free to go wherever you want until the next head count time slot, which is usually 5 hours later or more/less, depending on what is being decided.
Who starts the queue, and how can I identity where this queue is?
The people who will start the queue and manage the queuing system are generally Korean fans. Basically the first Korean fan will come with a piece of paper and write down her name as #1, as well as some instructions and her contact number of the piece of paper. This is the ‘queue’ basically. Any other fan who comes next will write their names accordingly on the paper to register their queue number.
To identify this fan, well….. just be a bit more observant okay? Check out anyone who’s holding a pen, a piece of paper, looking authoritative, surrounded by a few fans, etc. Just look out for this person. Sometimes this fan may run off somewhere (give her a break too… she has to go for her meals or to the washroom), so if you can’t find anyone, then try identifying this piece of paper, which will usually be stuck on a wall or the bark of some tree nearby.
Like this:
As you can see, it’s very unfriendly to foreigners who can’t read Korean, so even if you don’t know a single word, I suggest you try to memorize Kim Hyun Joong 김현중 so that amongst the many other pieces of papers around, you won’t identify the wrong one.
Call whatever number that is written on the piece of paper. Tell the person your name and ask for your queue number. She will update your name on her master list, so make sure you check again by clarifying your queue number. You may need to give her a phone number too, just for identification purposes (just any number) in case some other fan impose as you or whatever later on.
Don’t forget to ask her what time should you return to do the headcount! This is very important, because if you miss the head count, you’re out of the queue. All is fair in love and Kim Hyun Joong~
She is also probably Korean, so hopefully she knows some English to communicate. If not, you can wait around for her to return or ask someone else for help.
The whole point of queuing is because not everyone gets to enter these shows, and it has to be done on a first-come-first-serve basis. As a result, it is a good idea to wake up very early and come down as early as you can.
What time should I come to start queuing?
As mentioned earlier, it depends on the popularity of the celebrity that you like. For Kim Hyun Joong, based on past experiences, we had to start going down one day earlier to check the queuing conditions, to see if any fan has started the queue yet. Generally, if you’re desperate to be in front, go as early as you can?
If you don’t really care and just want to be in the show, I guess between 3-6am is good enough. For some idol groups, fans can come at 8am and still get in just fine, so… *shrugs* it really depends!
The queue intervals can get quite annoying too, because it’s always at a timing that is inconvenient for everyone. E.g. Head count at 12am and the next one at 5am. By the time you’re back to your hotel and ready to sleep, it should be 1am. And you have to get up and be out of the house at least by 4am+. (Don’t forget that being late means being out of the queue, so it’s always good to arrive a little earlier)
So all in all, it’s actually very tiring especially if you do this consecutively from Thursday and Sunday. Don’t forget too, that after Mnet Countdown, you have to rush to Music Bank to start queuing, so it’s consecutive nights of not getting enough sleep. I think I lost 3-4kg during the period I queued for music shows and I don’t think I want to do that again!
Of course, for me it’s a lot easier now because Ahlia has a car and we can hide from shine, rain and cold no matter what, so it’s really a lot easier. A CAR IS SO IMPORTANT IN SEOUL. Can’t stress the importance haha! You can always sleep in the car if you need!
Anyway that’s all in the past now, because for Kim Hyun Joong fans, KEYEAST has effectively abolished the queue system by implementing a different one – via online registration on HENECIA website on a first come first serve basis. The queue list will be updated on the website, and if your name is there, you’re in. If not, you’re out. Easier and nobody has to queue, especially in bitterly cold winters.
What do I need to bring in order to enter?
As there are so many fans, I guess they have no choice but to set certain ‘criteria’ for fans who can enter. Generally for idols with a lot of fans, it seems like only fan club members are entitled priority. So please do make sure you join all the relevant fan clubs and BRING IDENTIFICATION to prove that you are a member.
Most of the time, it is a requirement to have a copy of the celebrity’s latest (currently promoting) album with you, and/or a print-out copy to prove that you have purchased his/her songs online legally (e.g. Soribada).
Please also check if there are any official cheering goods that you should bring, for this can also be a one of the requirements before you are allowed entry. Cheering goods may be the official light stick or official towel. Based on my experience however… they don’t really bother to check this haha! But even so, you should bring it. I mean, you’re a fan, …right? Just bring it okay?
Pre-recording or Live shows? What are they?
Basically there are two ways in which you can enter these shows to see your idols. The first one is during Pre-recording, which is basically when the idol star will record his/her performance in advance. This usually happens for the first few weeks of promotions, due to the need to put in special effects etc. (Yeah it’s not all ‘live’ as they claimed)
The second one is called Live Show, which is basically what you watch on TV, broadcasted live.
The difference between these two is quite significant. For pre-recording, you will only see the specific idol that you queued for. If you’re lucky, you might get to see one or two more others who are also pre-recording at the same time. (I was lucky to catch Jang Woo Hyuk’s prerecording. He is awesome!)
For live shows, you get to see everyone basically, and it usually starts in the evening (close to when these shows are usually broadcasted on TV).
There are different queues for each, so don’t join the wrong queue. If you are attending, say, Heo Young Saeng’s Pre-recording (since he is promoting soon^^), find the correct queue list and join it.
To make things easier,
Pre-recording is 사전녹화
Live Show is 생방송
It seems impossible to join both queues though. You’re either on the pre-recording list or the live show. However, the first 10-15 fans in the queue for the pre-recording usually gets to go to the live show as well, so if it’s important to you to go watch the live show, do go early and queue.
Is there any other way to get tickets to the shows without queuing?
Well, yes! But unfortunately, only for Koreans it seems. They needed a social security number which foreigners would not have. Alternatively, you can ask your Korean friends to help you apply.
Online application to:
Mcountdown: HERE (Leave a comment and hope to be selected)
Music Bank: HERE
Music Core: HERE
Inkigayo: HERE (Click ‘방송신청’. You need a SBS account though)
*Mcountdown is friendly to foreigners, since all you need to do is to leave a comment.
Addresses to each music shows:
Mnet Countdown 엠카운다운
CJ E&M
서울시 마포구 상암동 1606 번지
1606 Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Nearest Station: Digital Media City, Line 6, Exit 2
Note: I would advise you to take a cab from the station, since it’s actually quite a distance from the station.
KBS Music Bank 뮤직뱅크
서울특별시 영등포구 여의도동 18
18 Yeouido-dong, Youngdeunpo-gu, Seoul, SK
Nearest station: National Assembly Station, Line 9, Exit 4
Note: There’s actually two buildings – KBS1 and KBS2. I can’t remember which building is it, but anyway, they’re near each other, so if you see a bunch of fans hanging around, that should be the right one.
If you are at the correct entrance, just outside the entrance you should see a row of cafes and restaurants (Holly’s Coffee) and also a mini-mart across the streets. Check out the row of trees/ lamp posts for the queue list if you can’t find any fans there.
MBC Music Core 음악중심
MBC드림센터
대한민국 경기도 고양시 일산동구 장항동
MBC Dream Centre
JangHang-dong, ilsan-donggu, goyang-si, gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Nearest Station: Jeongbalsan Station, Line 3, Exit 1
Note: This place is far from central Seoul. Expect 1hr -1hr30min by taxi during peak hours. Apparently people aren’t allowed to queue outside the location, so you probably won’t find fans crowding around outside most of the time. I was always lucky because whenever I reach, the fans are usually around haha!
But they tend to move the queue to somewhere else (nearby) instead to prevent the guards from telling everyone off for messing about near the area. Just take note. Whatever it is don’t panic and always practice the obvious: Ask someone else – on the streets etc.
SBS Inkigayo
SBS공개홀
서울특별시 강서구 등촌동 58-1
SBS Hall
58-1 DeungChon-Dong Gangseo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Nearest station: Gayang(가양) Station, Line 9, Exit 10
Note: So near the train station! Love it! Just come out of Exit 10, turn left and walk straight ^^
How many people will they allow into each music shows?
The number differs for each, and there really isn’t a definite number. But it has been said that some stations allow more fans and some are quite small and restrictive.
If you ask me, it feels the same ^^;;; But I guess among all, Inkigayo and Music Bank are both harder to enter due to the small size of the hall. Music Core is easily the biggest, but it’s also very far. Mnet Countdown allows a lot of people to enter too, but the bad thing is among all the shows, only Mcountdown is standing-only, which I dislike immensely. I was once nearly consumed by hordes of BEAST fans when BEAST won that day, and I don’t want to relieve that experience again.
(Irrelevant info and ranting) However I like the area outside CJE&M (Where Mnet Countdown is) because there’s free wifi! And Ice cream! (The area outside KBS is not bad too since there’s plenty of food)
I HATE the area outside Music Core the most too, because there are gray caterpillars outside there, on the gray granite benches and please be careful, because they are pretty well camouflaged! Hate worms x 100000000.
——–
That’s about it! I hope this has been useful. I basically tried as much to remember whatever I can to make this as comprehensive and friendly as possible. Whatever it is, don’t worry about anything, and just go. Chances are, you’ll get in, and enjoy yourself. ^^ Take care while you’re at it and always check weather conditions especially in Spring/Autumn or Winter when it tends to get colder, especially at nights or early mornings.
Good luck~ ^^
Edit: I just remembered Young Saeng will soon be promoting his new album, so this should come quite handy for some fans who are going to support. Have a good time~ ^^
Despite how this week is so filled with many happy news, pictures and videos of Kim Hyun Joong’s successful fan meet in Singapore last Friday, we are having some little hiccups here because of another side issue that has been creating some unhappiness and discussion among the fans, particularly fans in Singapore. As a fan myself… I got to say I feel the same way…..
Honestly? Fans like THIS are the reason why many of us are afraid to let other people know that we are fans. Not because we are ashamed of being fans, but because there are some fans who are not only unpleasant, delusional (not to mention lying through their teeth, but that might just be part of their delusion. Hmm.), they are also extremely LOUD (Please see HERE cc: Ling), which unfortunately reinforce the negative stereotype of fans as crazy and delusional people who do stuff like stalking their idols.
I mean, honestly it’s fine if some fans want to spend their entire income purchasing their idols’ merchandises obsessively. It’s their own choice. Some fans just happen to feel they don’t mind doing so, and can even afford to do that. And really, I think it’s even fine if some fans want to do stuff like hiring a cab and stalking their idols around the country. I guess everyone has a right to do whatever they want with their own money and time.
Yeah, do whatever you want but it’s definitely not okay when there are fans who do crazy stuff and go on a newspaper to talk about it, as though they’re proud of it, and worse, misrepresenting the rest of the fans who may not do stuff like that, not to mention how we also frown upon such stalking activities, due to the likelihood of it causing harm and danger to the star.
Thanks to crazy fans who do stalking and portray obsessive and delusional behavior such as the group mentioned above, the rest of us are forced to deal with the negative representation of what we as fans are and do.
It gets even more serious when these fans openly accepts payment from other fans to join their ‘official’ fan club, possibly conning innocent and unknowing new fans out there who may not be as well-versed with the fandom. Fans, please be careful before making any payment to anyone anywhere, no matter what they say, always check twice, trice, about how legitimate they are.
And okay, maybe we’re being overly worked up about this. Maybe these people are ignorant, new fans too who have no idea that an OFFICIAL fan club recognized by KEYEAST already exists, by the name of HENECIA (Korea and Japan). But how should we explain the fake notice that they have the audacity to write and post it up on their webpage? (in bad English. I know English isn’t their first language, but can’t you at least try to fake it more, I don’t know, realistically? Like follow KEYEAST’s usual format or whatever?)
If it wasn’t for this blatant lie here, I would have kindly written off these fans as delusional and wacked, but otherwise harmless and ignorant about the fandom to not know any better; creating a fan club and calling themselves official in this manner.
But faking a notice to try to ‘prove’ this lie? A lie upon another lie, not to mention how this email also uses the names of KEYEAST CEO, KHJ and his PA without their consent or permission. Girls…. I’ve seen your pictures and you guys don’t look like young kids. Do you know that this makes yourself liable for legal action, due to wrongful and unauthorized usage of another person’s name and identity? Are you sure you don’t know any better or is there some other funny reason why there’s a need to try to fool other fans in this way?
I guess the thing that kind of pisses me off as a fan is how misrepresented I feel. Fans are already having a hard time being treated seriously, and over the years we have all made progress – in terms of the charity that we do to try to help KHJ. E.g. LKHJ has done a charity project (remember the ‘socks’ project?) to help the victims of the Japanese Tsunami in 2011 last year.
Fans have also established some form of proper conduct unofficially among ourselves – such as how it is unanimously agreed that obsessive behaviour such as stalking is frowned upon. Peer pressure kind of helps to remind fans to control their temptation to stalk him, and if they really do, they at least keep a safe distance far away and give the star the privacy and comfort that he deserves.
Fans have also gathered their power and do a lot of support activities, such as bulk buying to support his albums and digital sales. Fan clubs have even collaborated to try to do support activities during KHJ’s official events, such as preparing small gifts and tokens to give out to all the fans.
For this fan meet especially, there has been some kind-hearted fans who have donated money to help the younger fans who couldn’t afford a ticket, so that everyone could go and attend KHJ’s event together and have a good time.
As fans, we have worked hard to make progress, partly because we believe this will help Hyun Joong in a realistic way, and also because I think subconsciously everyone is really tired of the negative stereotypical image that other people often associate fans with.
I mean, hello? Fans are not just crazy people who have no life and spend all the time queueing, buying merchandise, screaming and worse, stalking their idols okay? I’ve met a bunch of incredible people with respectable careers; many of them are highly educated, some even hold positions in higher management, some are married, have children and families and they have other things to do in life than just dreaming about Kim Hyun Joong, okay?
It’s kind of insulting to belittle fans and assume that just because we scream a little at concerts and fanmeets, this automatically assumes we’re all crazy, failures in life and have nothing better to do.
I would say some fans I know are even more successful than most people I know out there who AREN’T fans. This is not to say that being a fan makes you more successful. But just as we fans don’t judge non-fans, don’t we deserve the same treatment too? None of us are judging your hobbies either, so why judge ours?
Let’s say you’re a stamp collector and you are happy to pay thousands of dollars to collect a stamp, which is no more than a piece of paper to some people but whatever, we aren’t judging in the same way, we’re happy to pay to go watch a concert or fly to some other countries to watch them.
Why should certain hobbies be considered more ‘sophisticated’ while others are just delusional and obsessive? Talk about double-standards yeah?
We’re happy and we’re not crazy. We know there are other things more important in life other than collecting an autograph. We do other things too and as fans, we have all made a lot of progress towards being the kind of fans that support our stars realistically, in a way the benefits them and hopefully also benefits society.
Most important of all, we know that after that two hours of screaming and cheering in the performance hall, we go back to our reality, where our lives belong. Mothers go back and tuck their kids to sleep, working adults go back and prepare for the next day at work, and student fans go back and pick up their books and notes again.
It’s hard for others to see that sometimes, because fandom has long been associated with some kind of delusional and fanatical element that it’s hard for most people to judge it fairly. It’s fine, because we know we’re working hard and one day others will even come to see how normal we actually are.
I guess it’s annoying to have some random group of fans coming by and moving all of us a step backwards by going on paper and waxed on about their stalking activities, oblivious to how disturbing that is for Kim Hyun Joong who is just as much a human as we all are, and don’t deserve to be disturbed on his private time outside of official events.
And worse, they have to lie about it and make up fake notices to try to get people to follow them. That’s just wrong.
I’m really glad that KEYEAST gave us a very timely reminder than there is only ONE official fan club for Kim Hyun Joong, and this fan club is called HENECIA. Please refer to the translation of their notice, much thanks to Quainte501 for doing it up. In future, I really do hope there won’t be any of such misunderstandings and strange fan clubs popping out of nowhere to claim themselves as official. Do whatever you want, but don’t label it official and lest misrepresenting the other work that we do for Kim Hyun Joong in the fandom, okay?
For new fans who are hoping to join a fan club to support Kim Hyun Joong, the next round of membership for HENECIA 2012 will be coming pretty soon, once the 2011 membership is up. So please keep a look out for this! ^^ Let’s support Kim Hyun Joong in a way that truly helps him, and doesn’t sully his name or the fandom in any way. ^^
I am going to start a new series specifically for the questions that I often get from everyone. It’s getting harder and harder for me to answer to these questions privately, and it’s boring repeating the same thing over and over. So in future, if it’s a question that I think many people are interested to know, I’ll write an entry about it. Please feel free to ask anything you want to know. My email is wonderrrgirl@gmail.com. ^^
Q: When you started learning Korean, where did you start? I’m trying but there isn’t much options here, like classes and such. - Niiece
I get this question so many times that I think I should just write a post and refer everyone to it in future if they ask again. This is actually a question that many new learners of the language are curious about, and I have to admit I have neglected it simply because I didn’t had that kind of trouble with figuring out where to go or what to do back then. Since many of you are interested to know the journey, here goes.
Where it all started
I started becoming interested in the language in January 2010, after watching a Korean variety program “We Got Married” – specifically Kim Hyun Joong and Hwangbo’s segment. Needless to say I became hopelessly in love. HAHA well not exactly, but I did become so intrigued by Kim Hyun Joong as well as the language that after finishing the program, one of the very first things I realised was how much I really wanted to understand what they’re talking about on the show.
Prior to this, I have never been very observant about Korea except for my interest in North Korean politics. It just never occurred to me to find out about Korea, and the fact that I didn’t watch any Korean dramas prior to this didn’t help either. So I would say my encounter with the language is really quite a coincidental one – and also one of the greatest things that happened in my life!
First stop: MEMORISE THE HANGEUL CHART!
I started learning Korean language ON MY OWN actually. Before you go off thinking I’m some kind of language genius, sadly I’m not. It’s just that much to my surprise back then, Korean hangeul is actually very easy to learn on your own, as long as you have a little bit of patience and time. I went googling for the hangeul chart and started figuring it out, eventually discovering how to read each strokes and the sounds in one day. It however took me about one week to memorized the whole chart completely without referring to it.
After memorizing the Korean hangeul chart, I could read every single Korean word I come across. Tada!
Unfortunately, that’s not all that is, because just knowing how to read Korean characters don’t mean much if you have no idea what each word means, or if you have no idea how to form a sentence with it.
Singapore Cambridge Language Centre
I spent about three months memorizing some vocabulary before finally deciding that it is time for me to attend lessons. So I began with the only language school I know in Singapore – Cambridge Language centre. There are plenty around Singapore, but I went to the one near City Hall. From the school, I relearnt the Korean hangeul chart and corrected some past misconceptions I have about the pronunciation.
I also discovered that my prior knowledge in knowing how to read Korean characters helped greatly, because while most of the students are struggling to memorize them, I don’t really have that problem. It helped me to focus on stabilizing my basic foundation instead (pronunciation for each stroke etc).
I was lucky to have a lot of time in 2010 (that’s the year I finished my A’levels and was enjoying my 8 months worth of holidays while doing an internship with MOE and later working at Starhub’s HQ), so I spent almost every day studying Korean language, memorizing vocabulary and learning new grammar on my own.
In August, I started university in NUS, but because I wasn’t sure if I am really interested in the language or just merely learning out of a short-spanned craze over Kim Hyun Joong, I didn’t want to pursue it in NUS. So instead, I dropped lessons and continued studying the language on my own without lessons. I learnt grammar and vocabulary everyday by reading Korean tweets from the boys, and reading news articles in Korean. There were many words that I don’t know, and many new grammar, so I basically spent each night searching the dictionary and writing them down. I researched on the grammar that I don’t know, and memorized them too.
NUS Korean Language
In December 2010, I decided that I have become serious enough about the language to take it officially in NUS. The reason why I took so long to decide is because it’s not a simple decision in my case. Learning Korean in NUS runs risk with jeopardizing my CAP (GPA) score, because on the whole, languages are a lot harder to score – or so the popular opinion is among the students.
As crazy a fan I was by then, I wasn’t ready to make a reckless decision to take a language that I might just drop after I get bored, and ruined my CAP score. It was a good decision, because I started and finished my first semester in NUS with a good more-than-4.0 CAP average which is crucial in making my life easier in subsequent semesters since this score sets the foundation for me for the rest of my time in NUS.
So anyway, I took a placement test in NUS and I was allocated finally to a real class in NUS!
I admit I try not to do too well for this test, because I didn’t want to go too high a level. It will make it hard for me to score in the exams. (Hey, it’s a dog eat dog world. I gotta think for my CAP score. But at least, unlike many out there, I didn’t lie about my ability in the language and pretend to be bad just so I can go into Korean Level 1. 
I did took a placement test!)
Anyway, I would consider my time in NUS Korean language as my real official class, because this is where my Korean language improved rapidly. The school’s program is great – because for one thing, the teachers spoke only Korean to us. My teacher did not know much English anyway, so she couldn’t use English even if she wants to. So she went on with lessons, explaining grammar and sentences to us ALL IN KOREAN. We were all forced to follow, because if you don’t, you’ll fall behind. When grades are concerned, students tend to work really hard. ^^
We have homework every week, regular tests, oral examinations, and a Korean skit. There are in total 6 hours of Korean language a week, so we kind of have to deal with Korean frequently, instead of just studying on when we go for lessons. This is a very important thing, because if you want to learn a language, you can’t just expose yourself to it only during classes. In that way you will never learn anything. One of the reasons I credit my rapid progress was due to my early efforts in attempting to expose myself to Korean language every single day, when I read those news articles myself and tried to use Korean whenever I can. I was lucky to understand at that time that language is hard work, and the only way you learn is by exposing yourself to it as much as you can, even if it’s easier to just use English. Forget using English, and try as much to think, write, and read only in Korean.
It was so hard at first. I struggled just to talk to a Korean friend. Now that I think back, it seems so far away… back in those days when I struggled so much just to form a sentence. But it’s all these hard work that makes the improvement so rapid, now that I think about it. I’m glad I somehow had that kind of strength to persevere on!
An even greater challenge – Speaking in Korean
In May 2011, I travelled to Korea and stayed there for almost a month. This is actually my second trip. My first trip was years ago, back when I was still a kid. For this trip, it’s where I was first forced to speak in Korean language, and needless to say, speaking, unlike writing and reading, was incredibly hard. I am not used to thinking quickly in Korean, and replying. I am also not used to Koreans speaking directly to me in such a fast speed that it’s hard to catch what they’re saying. I had a very hard time I’ll say… haha!
However I got to know some Korean friends (the jaksal boys actually), who used Korean to talk to me, so for the first time, I realised that I could actually manage a conversation in Korean language via kakaotalk chat, almost comfortably without much hiccups. Previously I only read news articles and do my own studying, so it’s hard to tell if I’ve really improved or not. Then I found myself having a comfortable conversation in Korean with one of my friends, and I was quite surprised, but it was a good discovery indeed. For the first time, I felt a sense of accomplishment.
In July 2011, I returned to Korea again, this time for a short trip of about 10 days. This is the trip when I properly met Ahlia and sat down for dinner and drinks with her. She spoke to me in Korean mostly, and I guess I got by with stammering Korean, sign language and ENGLISH (the simpler words anyway). Thankfully Junyeon knows enough English to be the translator for everyone, so most of the time I guess we all got by happily.
In August 2011, Ahlia came to Singapore for the first time, and this was when I was put in a situation where I now have no choice but to force myself to speak in Korean. She is the only Korean, and I am the only person she could speak to. So we spoke… in Korean. I was surprised to find myself slowly speaking in Korean, still awkward but more and more sentences are coming out from my mouth miraculously. I credit Ahlia for being the one to take away my fear and uneasiness with speaking Korean.
It wasnt long before I discovered that she is incredibly talented at communicating with people. I said this because Ahlia is innately aware of another person’s language ability, and she adjusted herself quickly and spoke Korean with words that she feel the other person will understand, and spoke in a speed that is easier to absorb instead of rambling on in fast Korean. She also have a good grasp of what a foreigner is trying to say in Korean, despite the strange accent, unusual sentence structuring and stammering speed. She made me feel comfortable, almost confident, to speak to her in Korean without having to feel conscious about myself.
We spent about a week together in total, in Singapore and Malaysia, talking so much about so many things – about our lives, our journey with Hyun Joong, her problems, her encounters with Hyun Joong, her family and work… we basically talk as though we are both from the same world, who speak the same language. I don’t know how we did it. By the time she left, my Korean seemed to have skyrocketed in just a matter of days.
In December 2011, I made my third trip in 2011 to Korea, and stayed for a month. By now, I have finished the first intermediate Korean course in NUS, and Ahlia immediately commented that I could speak comfortably now. We spent so much time together, at times only just the two of us so I could completely immerse myself in Korean language. By the time I return to Singapore in January, I felt that I could actually live in the country without too much problems hahaha! My Korean teacher wrote me a comment recently (as an end-of-semester feedback) that ever since I returned from Korea in January 2012, my spoken ability has improved beyond expectations. (THANK TO AHLIA!)
Well, from then onwards, I basically am at where I am now. Nowadays, it is no longer a challenge to write/chat in Korean language, something I do so often with Ahlia, with the Korean unnies, and with TK오빠 that it doesn’t feel like I have to try hard or anything anymore. It just comes out naturally.
Speaking wise, I am still only mostly comfortable with Ahlia and the Korean unnies. For some reason, I struggled to speak Korean with TK, but this is more because of my complacency than anything else. Since TK knows English so well, it just feels silly to try speaking in Korean, since his spoken English is x 10000 better than my spoken Korean. But he doesn’t like that though, and is forever complaining that it’s not fair – that I don’t speak Korean at all and he has to speak so much English. (What is there to be competitive about?! HAHA) But well, I’ve been putting it off, saying that I’ll speak to him in Korean when we are in Korea. We’ll see about that in July when I go… I’ll update about that ^^
——–
So to summarize, I think there are a few important points to note so far, based on my own experience in learning a new language.
First thing first, you got to need a lot of perseverance to carry out all the hard work and effort behind learning a new language. I know it’s hard to sit yourself down to study a language, especially boring stuff like grammar and memorizing vocabulary. But trust me, if you do it, it’s going to help you achieve that sense of accomplishment much earlier than you believe you can.
Second, expose yourself to Korean language as much as you can. This means watching Korean dramas, Korean variety shows, read Korean books, Korean news articles, tweet or blog in Korean, write to friends in Korean, every single day ensure that you read/use/speak Korean at least once. This is to force your brain to become familiar and comfortable with the language.
Think about how you learn English/Chinese/etc as a child, and why it was so easy back then. There are many psychological reasons behind why a child learns much faster at a certain age, but one important factor is because when we are young ,we are so exposed to a language that we learnt it quickly. My written and reading in Chinese is bad, but I could speak Chinese comfortably without stammering or stopping, and this is because I grew up hearing it, from watching TV and speaking to friends. Same thing with Korean. Be exposed to it, no matter how hard or how uncomfortable it gets. Your effort will pull off in the long run.
Before I move on to the third point, it’s important to remember than even when watching dramas, shows, or reading Korean books, bear in mind the kind of sentence structures they’re using. Are they ending politely, formally, or casually in accordance to whom they spoke to?
This is a very important thing to learn, because Korean language is as much about culture as it is a language. A language come about and was developed over hundred and thousands of years because of the development of the community’s culture. An inability to understand or appreciate cultural differences makes language acquisition difficult too, because you will find yourself making a lot of mistakes that might even cause misunderstandings if you’re not careful.
I often see people make mistakes, such as referring to Hyun Joong as ‘현중오빠’ (Hyun Joong oppa) only to call him “너” (you) later on. “너” means you, and in English it doesn’t mean anything except ‘you’, but in Korean ‘너’ is a rude way to call someone older than you are, no matter how close, but because foreigners are not used to such cultural differences in language, they often miss that part out without knowing why it’s offending.
Be sure to take note of this! I’ve written about the difference between speaking formally and casually, so you may want to read THIS. ^^ I also talked about using the word 오빠 HERE, and touched on cultural aspects of the language as well.
Third, get yourself a Korean friend(s) if possible. Find them, and take the initiative to get to know them. Some people might have a harder time, especially if you don’t hang around places where there are plenty of Korean people e.g. a university is a good place to find Korean friends. The world is so international today…. you can easily find anyone from any nationality anywhere.
If you are lucky enough to travel to Korea often, this should be an even easier task for you. Otherwise, even going to Korean restaurants and make friends with the staff there helps too! It doesn’t really matter where they come from, or what they do. A friendship is formed based on both parties’ interest in each other as ‘individuals’ not what they do or where you find them. I guess it’s hard to just go up to a person and talk to them suddenly, but if you actually tried that on rare occasions, you may be surprised to discover that most people are more friendly and happy to be approached by a friendly and sincere person than you think.
A Korean friend is extremely important because there is probably no way to speak in Korean unless you have a Korean friend. It is hard talking to non-Koreans in Korean, because there isn’t a need to, and this kind of encourage complacency and eventually both parties will revert back to speaking in a language that they are both comfortable with.
I was extremely lucky to have Ahlia, and subsequently many other Korean friends who gave me plenty of opportunities to speak in Korean. They gave me the practice that I needed, the guidance i needed as well when I needed help and also the confidence to speak to other Koreans in Korean subsequently. Speaking is also the hardest skill to master for a foreign language in my opinion, as well as listening (which is slightly easier because you can practice listening by watching dramas). So if you really want to master this language, it’s more than just flipping your textbooks. It requires an constant effort to step out of your comfort zone and get to know people.
Lastly, keep yourself motivated in order to persevere on. Whenever I was feeling discouraged, I find that Ask A Korean’s blog on language acquisition always helped me a lot. He wrote an fantastic article on learning a foreign language and how he eventually did it, and I was very inspired by his efforts in doing so. For me, I like logic, and this guy is logical. There are no short cuts in it except hard work. And he proved that he did it via hard work alone.
This is logical explanation and it motivates me to know that the problem lies on me, not the language or my ability. The ball is in my hands and it’s up to me to decide what I want to do with it.
To all Korean language learners out there, 화이팅 합시다~!^^
This week has been one hell of a hectic week for me. I’ve just finished exams on Wednesday and that already feels so far away. HJ came on Wednesday and on Thursday, I met TK오빠 and we went to Universal studios Singapore. Finally, I’ve been to the one in Singapore, though admittedly it’s not as impressive as the one in Osaka because Singapore’s USS is so small. But we had a great time taking every single ride in USS (my favorite is the scariest one, whatever the name of it is, the one where your feet is dangling in air as the roller coaster run in super high speed), watching the performances, playing with kids who were in the queue with us, shopping, dinner and taking the cable car back to the main island.
I haven’t done all these touristy things in Singapore for many many years, so it actually feels all fresh and new to me.
His favorite ride – apparently not because the ride was particularly fantastic but because he’s a fan of the movie. I hereby conclude that all guys I know likes Transformers. They get so excited about it. I even know a friend who like, suddenly sat up and snapped his fingers and go, “아하!” (ah-ha!) like he won something, when the transformers came on as part of the commercials before the movie. Why? To be honest, I don’t quite get the hype. I guess I’m just not into robots and machines.
Anyway, after the scariest rides, we decided to take a break. Actually, he decided he needed a break, haha! I think the previous night they had too much alcohol. So we played with the camera again. Wonder why the photos turned out to be in this color?
If you cover the lens of your phone camera and remove it swiftly while snapping a picture at the same time, it comes out with this kind of effect. ^^ Try it!
Korea Uni’s new cap! It’s actually TK’s and he brought it to hide his hair later should it become wet, but i stole it so now it’s mine. WEEEEEE!! I am so going to wear this in September during the Yonsei VS KU competition, the hottest university competition in Korea where the two biggest rival universities fight it out with each other. I’ve long heard of this competition from TK and it’s apparently so exciting that tickets for it run off very quickly!!! I’m from neither universities but hahahaha just wanna go!!
I was super tempted to buy this gingerbread face back! But I reminded myself I hate soft toys and I will very soon kick it aside like how I did with my other toys before my mother gave it away.
TK kept laughing at the shrek one for some reason. There’s Fiona too! But Shrek with lipstick is a little strange, so I didn’t want to take a picture with that….
Reminiscing about final days in Singapore..?
I guess this is a site that everyone should take at least….^^
Anyway, we went for dinner too and I gave TK his goodbye present – something I observe that he seems to like.
After dinner, we both had to go back soon. I had another meet up with my korean classmates, and he…. being the youngest and the maknae, needs to go help his hyungs to clean their rooms. I asked if it is actually necessary, and can he also ask them to help clean HIS room. He said that no, unfortunately, that is not possible, and yes, he had to go clean their rooms. It’s clearly not easy being youngest haha!
Anyway TK is youngest because he is a year ahead of everyone in his year. He is born in 1989, but is already 1 more semester to graduation. The rest of the guys are all between 1988 – 1986. Even though they’re same year, but by year, he’s still younger, so the maknae does all the work. (But similarly, the maknae doesn’t need to pay for dinner or anything when they go out, so I guess all in all, it’s not really that unfair haha)
We took the cable car back anyway!! My first time since like…. MORE THAN 10 YEARS!
Actually that tower thing kind of reminds me of namsan tower. Another good example of city wars.. haha. And I am too short so only half of my head can be seen. (TK is 181cm, so … you can guess my sad height 
)
This is supposedly our last outing in Singapore before he leaves home for Korea. Time flies indeed! I think he is quite sad about leaving, and feeling half nostalgic and all. When we went to his residence to get the stuff and return the keys, he kept sighing and looking around, and asking “Really? Is this the last time I’ll see this?” It’s the best time to use the phrase 시원섭섭하다. I couldn’t understand how he felt of course, since I hadn’t had this experience yet, but I think when I go to Korea for my exchange, I’ll be doing the same thing.
I’m really glad and happy to meet TK오빠 in Singapore, by pure chance and probably also fate. Our friendship was easy, with our ease of talking about everything, similar paths, his proficiency in English and my ability in Korean. It was comfortable and easy. This semester has been quite stressful, and I’m glad that after those nights, and at times just when I was feeling so frustrated with some stuff or some people, he would always appear at the right times and help me forget my difficult day. It’s kind of amazing how one thing leads to another, how a project brought me to know yubin, and later TK.
I don’t think it is very sad even though this will be a farewell for quite a while. In fact, I feel really glad to have a friend so far away whom I could connect so well with. And… I’m looking forward to writing letters – that’s if, I could sustain it. Patience is never my forte, haha! But I’ll try ^^
He wrote me a letter on a postcard he got in Dubai before leaving. He was in Dubai last week, a trip he made alone to somewhere that far away. It’s a picture of Dubai’s skyline. Dubai is one of the most amazing cities I think, because every structure is so incredible. I love cities, and he must have figured this out from how we occasionally talk about my upcoming internship. Here’s a picture of it, though I’m blurring out the contents:
It’s half Korean, half English. I could barely make out the Korean words, but the English was fine. I’m going to reply to this soon!!! Maybe in HK when I get a postcard or something. ^^
The thing is, I only have his hometown address, but he is living in Seoul now. (Actually, he is in military reservist at the moment) His address in Seoul is uncertain until he gets accommodation near KU, so before that happens, I can’t send anything yet, and it’s my turn to reply! I’m afraid it will take a while… I don’t know how fast it takes, but even when I send Ahlia stuff via EMS, it took like 4-5 days, which to me, is REALLY REALLY FREAKING SLOW.
Oh well, but that’s snail mail for you. It’s still fun though. ^^
Looking forward to July…. we must go traveling!!! And I can’t wait to go Yeosu to visit the rest. It’s amazing how many bonds and ties I’ve build with Korea over two years. It used to be just Kim Hyun Joong. But he indirectly brought a lot of friends from Korea to me. It’s one of the reasons why I find it so hard to leave Korea, other than the fact that I love it. But I don’t love it because it’s Korea really. I love Korea and miss being there because it’s hard to say goodbye to friends. I will probably die when it’s time to leave next year in January. I cried my eyes out when I had to part with Ahlia earlier this January too. I don’t think it is really good for me to deal with so many farewells now….
But on the other hand, I also kind of look forward to it. It’s hard to leave, it’s hard to say goodbye, it’s hard to be the one leaving. I’m okay somehow when I’m the one sending off another person, but I can’t take how I have to be the one to leave. I guess in a way, I kind of understand how TK felt too, glancing around the surroundings that have become familiar to him for the past five months.
Even though I am afraid of how farewells can affect me, I still want to go. For some reason…. I just know that Korea will be a place I will always come back to, even years down, because of all the friends that now have a place in my heart.
