[fanmories] youngsun, korea
those of you who follow my blog would know that i recently started a series of blog posts on fans i've met. i'm calling the series fanmories, hee... that's fans + memories... yea, i made that word up. kicked off the series with tiffany, who's sort of like my first bae-fan-friend.now since that post, a few of you have actually dropped me comments and email to say you've enjoyed it. to be honest, i'm relieved. was half worried that you'd find it terribly boring, since it's not quite byj-related. anyhow, am going to continue with the series, but will focus more on the fans who are more active online, so that you will know who i'm blogging about. now this certainly doesn't mean i'm friends only with the online fans. the reverse is in fact true, since there're a couple of so-called-offline-fans with whom i'm actually more familiar.
okay, back to the fanmories series. next up, i'm going to bring you to seoul in november 2004. that's the time i met up with a korean fan, or any non-singaporean fan for that matter. i met up with youngsun onni.
although i was already fairly active on the bae sites then, i still hadn't met alot of fans. and i was mostly only familiar with the chinese fans, since i did mostly chinese translation. of all the korean fans, i was and still am most familiar with youngsun onni's name. i became a fan in late 2002, and her name started popping up on quilt and also on yong joon's then OB [managed under his agency at that time, since it was pre-BOF days]. she was doing quite a fair bit of korean-to-english translation.
i remember she was very helpful in sharing and updating information for overseas fans who might be interested to attend yong joon's autograph sessions, and she quite often also translated into english the live relay of autograph sessions. and coz i sometimes translated her english versions into chinese, i became quite familiar with her name.
youngsun onni started to be active online in 2003, which was about the same time when i started doing translation. because of this, her name became very familiar to me, and it was she who had said all this translation from korean, into english, into chinese... it's like a torch relay of love. i liked and still like that expression very much.
in all honesty, i've already forgotten how i'd gotten into contact with her. it must have been sometime in 2004, two years now... we were just exchanging the occasional email and also leaving comments on each other's postings. can't say i knew very much about her at that time. all i knew was that her command of the english language's mighty good and it's a great joy to translate her postings, coz it's so easy to understand. and of course, i had also noticed how considerate she was in sharing updated information about the schedule and arrangement and changes of autograph sessions and all that jazz. she also translated quite a number of root lee's interview articles that came out in chosun monthly that i love love love.
then in november 2004, i took my third trip to korea. i had started the annual 'ritual' of taking a holiday with my parents once a year, you know, kind of to spend quality time with them. that year, my parents had picked korea to go. i swear i had absolutely nothing to do with that, i left it to them to decide which country they wanted to visit. and of course, when mama said 'korea', i had no reason to say 'no'. anyway, i've written in quite abit of details about my trip in november 2004 when i met up with youngsun onni for the first time. you may click here to read the story.
that was the first time i was meeting a korean fan. and to tell you the truth, i was more than just a little apprehensive. it was rather different with tiffany, coz i already knew how she looked and i was also quite familiar with her through her postings and also our email exchange. but with youngsun onni, i was nervous!
first of all, i had absolutely no idea how old she was, what it was she did for a living, and what sort of personality, hobbies... i knew next to nothing! but other than apprehension and that bit of anxiety, i was mostly eager too to meet my very first korean fan. i'll have you know i even fretted over what to wear to meet her.
i had arranged to stay back for four or five more days in seoul on my own after my packaged tour with my parents. and had arranged to spend a day with youngsun onni, she wanted to take me to nami island in chuncheon. she was to meet me at my hotel that thursday morning.
not knowing how old she was, and what she's like... i really didn't know what to wear! i know, i know, i'm like so bloody shallow... of course you'll be telling me now it shouldn't matter, we're all sisters... blah blah blah... but it did matter so much! i so wanted my very first korean fan-friend to like me, to have a good impression of me and my singaporean counterparts!
if i had worn something mature and matronly, what if she turned out to be trendy young thing who would find me too boring? if i had worn something abit too young and trendy, what if she turned out to be a respectable and sophisticated lady who would find me too silly? if i had worn something abit more branded, what if she turned out to a simple homebody who would find me too loud? ah, decisions decisions decisions!
eventually, i decided on something simple and safe. i wore an old grey turtleneck sweater with black corduroy jeans with a black corduroy jacket. and i wore my high-heeled calfskin boots just in case she's tall. i'd heard about how tall korean ladies could be... and i'm like short and fat like a teapot! haha, and at this point, i'm wondering how come i'm spending so much time describing my wardrobe crisis when i'm supposed to be blogging about dear youngsun onni?! but you get the picture... it was an important affair for me, to be meeting youngsun onni, someone i do like and respect so much. i wanted so much for her to have a good impression of me, for her to like me. yea, i do know how silly i sound here...
that morning, i came down from my hotel room and took the elevator down to the lobby. the lift door opened and i knew immediately the lady standing right there was youngsun onni. don't ask me how we knew, we just did. hee, maybe it's that bae-connection... we're after all sisters, ya?
she was quite what i had expected. she's of medium height, quite slender and was sporting a rather short bob. she's quite simply dressed in pants. good thing i decided to do simple too. she's more tanned than i'd imagined though. oh boy, those korean dramas... they've sort of ingrained in me that korean women are all very fair-skinned. youngsun onni's best features have got to be her eyes. not big, but they're twinkly and intelligent-looking. there's always this rather alert glint in her eyes.
youngsun onni was very apologetic that morning. apparently the plan was to drive me to chuncheon to catch the ferry to nami island. but she had car trouble that morning, so she took the train to come to my hotel. no problem for me.... i've always enjoyed doing what the locals do anyway. so we took the train to the busport and from then, caught the chuncheon express bus. i can't remember exactly now, but it must have been a two hour drive or so.
along the way, we chatted alot about wuri yong joon, about how we became fans... and we also shared abit about ourselves. youngsun onni was very easy to talk to, and i felt comfortable with her quite quickly. it was fun...
can still remember some of the things we talked about that day. she shared with me how she's always known BYJ, but only really became a fan after WLS. she also shared how she personally thought the internet was a good thing to have happened, in that it helped to propagate news and thus helped form communities amongst bae fans... for an actor as low profile as wuri yong joon, the internet was and still is a great platform for us fans to help cultivate other fans.
i can also remember how youngsun onni was sharing with me that she had met up with satovic when she was in seoul. i didn't know satovic then, but of course i had seen her name on the quilt and remembered that she's one of the earliest fans hailing from the isles of japan. i can also remember youngsun onni telling me satovic had shared that she loved yong joon most in first love.
it's almost funny how i can still recall these little snippets of information from that trip. the bus ride was a breeze, probably because of the good company i had. it's also funny how fellow fans can easily find so much to talk about, to fill time in... the initial unfamiliarity and uncertainty melted away pretty quickly as we warmed up to our fave topic - wuri yong joon.
we got off from the coach, and took a taxi to the ferry terminal. it was a short ride, and we also didn't have to wait long for the ferry to take us to nami island. you do know what nami island stands for, ya? yea, that's where jun sahng and yujin had taken off to when they played truat in school. and of course, a decade later, the couple returned to the same place. i can remember how youngsun onni taught me how to say gyo-ul yeon-ga when we were on the ferry. that's WLS in korean... gyo-ul is winter, and yeon-ga translates into love song literally.
i know youngsun onni prefers to remain fairly anonymous, so i will not be posting any of her pictures, ya? but i will share some of the pictures we took at nami island that day. actually i've posted most of these pics in my bae journey.
this is where you get off from the ferry at nami island.
this is the entrance.
and i think this map thingy is just at the entrance of nami island. not sure if it's still there now though.
the words say: kangwon chuncheon nami island. feels great to see chinese characters there!
this poster thingy was just outside an ice-cream stall. did you notice that an ice-cream cone has been superimposed on the poster? so cute!
that's me with jun sahng! haha, when my mom saw the picture, she was actually fooled for awhile. she had asked me who that guy was... wakaka!
can't remember for sure now... but i think this was where we had kimchi fried rice for lunch. there's also an adjourning gift shop that was selling lots of WLS merchandise.
that wooden signboard reads: home of sonata, or home of love song.
am sure this would be a familiar sight for all WLS fans... remember how jun sahng and yujin cycled along this tree-lined path?
wait... or was this where we had lunch..? errr... was this the same building as the picture from before, just taken from a different angle? oopsies, sorry... i really can't remember now... can anyone remember?
this is the gift shop for sure. i remember the people were quite nice, they gave me free WLS postcards!
ah... someone had the good sense to set up the 'snowman site'!
of course it wasn't real snow. it was autumn when i had gone there...
hehe, there's even a wooden bench complete with two small snowmen on it! am sure you all can remember that first kiss! and that's me, not youngsun onni... won't put up her pictures without her permission, of course.
after we left nami island, we ran into the hong kong fan club members at the carpark of the ferry teminal. they were there to support yong joon's launch of the image. thanks to them, youngsun onni and i managed to hitch a ride on their coach to visit jun sahng's house.
we also had yummy yummy dinner with them in chuncheon. some more pics from jun sahng's house.
to be honest, i was quite irritated to see how all the signages were in japanese. surely it ain't that hard to add just a line or two in english? there're overseas fans from singapore, malaysia, indonesia, hong kong, the north america... so on and so forth...
this is the entrance to jun sahng's house in chun cheon.
and through this door is the house. it's a very very very small unit, and we had to take turns to go in. and yea, you've to remove your shoes before going in.
they labelled the rooms. i think this one says jun sahng's house. actually the place's really small, probably not even 500 sq ft. the bedroom was so small i was kindda surprised.
this one says bedroom.
familiar? yea, this was where jun sahng came home to one day after school to find his mother in the house. he had lunch there, remember?
and this was where jun sahng had made a phone call to his mother, remember? he was telling her he wanted to go to the states, that was when he thought yujin was his sister.
after that, we also spent abit of time roaming the streets of chuncheon. am sure you would remember that's the special place where yujin had waited for jun sahng in vain on new year's eve.
that's me. noticed the handprint near my feet? that's choi ji woo's. the other slot's empty when we were there, waiting for wuri yong joon's handprint.
that trip in november 2004 was truly a memorable one because of youngsun onni. she made me feel so welcomed in baeland. and that gave me confidence to meet up with other fans elsewhere, so you could say that very pleasant experience 'empowered' me to meet more, and also to pass on the warmth and hospitality to other fans who may come my way.
besides, youngsun onni also helped me get a ticket to see yong joon at the blue dragon awards handprinting ceremony the next day. mind you, she didn't have a ticket, but she helped me get one from a fellow fan kwon ohkyeong on the KOB. how sweet of the korean fans, ya? i mean, that trip wasn't to see yong joon at all, so it was definitely an added bonus to be able to see him. if not for youngsun onni's effort, i wouldn't have been able to see him that trip. i also need to thank style for helping to arrange the ticket for me. i'll tell that story when i do my fanmories on style, k?
and i had so wanted to buy a copy of the image, but the book was only due out on the day i was supposed to leave seoul. my flight was in the morning, so there was absolutely no way for me to get a copy before i left. you see, kyobo bookstore could only start selling the books on saturday after the opening of the image exhibition at lotte hotel. click here for pictures from that exhibition.
but youngsun onni helped call up the bookstore, explained the situation and they agreed to let me buy the book on friday night, ahead of everyone else! yea, when i bought the book from kyobo bookstore, the image wasn't even supposed to be on the shelves yet! so... quite possibly, i was the very first fan to have bought a copy! all thanks to youngsun onni! i was bursting with a combination of pride, excitement and pure joy as i lugged the heavy book along the streets of kangnam ku.
once again, let me say 'thank you' to youngsun onni. i know you visit my blog from time to time. and i want you to know you've made a big difference to my bae journey, and you've made that particular trip very very very special.
that was that first time meeting youngsun, and also my first time spending so much time with a fan. wonderful and memorable experience.
i met youngsun onni when i went to korea for the fourth time in early 2005. i've actually covered the trip in great detail here. but i met up with youngsun onni again that trip. she didn't have much time that day, so we only caught up for a cuppa in myeong dong.
i remember very vividly she looked very beautiful that day. she was wearing a light coloured coat and she looked more vibrant and radiant than the last time i saw her. mmm... i wonder what her secret was. do you gals remember that the X-files first surfaced in january last year? dear youngsun onni knew i was so curious about it, she made a copy of that file and explained to me almost word for word what it had said about wuri yong joon. of course, i didn't think any of that was true, but there was so much news and stuff floating all over during that time, i couldn't help but feel terribly curious about it. youngsun onni's just so patient with me; god knows how curious i can be...
oh yes, she also brought along with her two kyeong nam calendars with her during that time. one for me, and one for tiffany. let me tell you, the calendars were just great! so many nice pictures of wuri yong joon, so big too!
then i met her again when we went to seoul in april last year for the AS superlive concert. click here to read all about it. that time, coz we didn't have that much time, so we had to do a small dinner gathering. a small group of us, the singaporean fans, had arranged to have dinner with style and two other korean fans, and we had invited youngsun onni to come along with us.
it was terrific to meet up with her again. it was a pity that i didn't have time alone with her that last trip. but i can remember after dinner, she walked with me from the restaurant back to the motel, and we had a pretty good chat. i was sharing with her abit about some unhappiness amongst the chinese websites, and she understood what i was trying to say, and she had so much compassion and patience with me. it was always so good to see her.
and of course i also saw her very briefly at the superlive concert rehearsal. there was another korean fan amei with her at that time. amei used to translate chinese postings into korean, and she also helped translate the first two parts of my bae journey into korean. the three of us took a picture at yonsei uni grounds, and that's a picture i treasure very much. incidentally, youngsun onni also translated the final parts of my bae journey into korean last year. believe me, they were long, very long... so i remain eternally grateful to her for doing that for me. so, thank you youngsun onni and amei onni.
[and i would like to mention tomato99 and myonne at this point, coz they too translated the final parts of my bae journey into japanese. something i feel abit shy about, coz they're really long and 'messily' written... but all the same, it's a wonderful feeling to share my journey.]
and the next day... i think that was our last day in seoul.... very very very early in the morning, youngsun onni came by our motel with a bag of ionaide for the singapore fans. so thoughtful, so nice.
there's this game that i like to play. i like to ask people to describe themselves or others with five adjectives. i'll play that now... if you ask me to describe youngsun with five objectives, i'll say: intelligent, helpful, conscientious, thoughtful and kind. yea, she's all niceness.
one other thing about youngsun onni stood out for me. you guys would know i do lots of translation, ya? i believe i would have done maybe 500, or even 600 pieces by now. so while i may not be an expert, but i do know the process for an untrained person to do translation, and i would say i too understand what the work entails. i dare say by now i can tell a good and thorough translation from a not-so-good one.
youngsun onni is the sort who takes pride in her translation work. she seems to be the kind who would check the accuracy and also check for just the right words to use. as far as possible, she would try to retain the essence of the original piece too. yea, no shortcuts. so i think we overseas are blessed to have her as part of the love relay team, bringing us quality translation again and again. thank you.
and i can't wait to meet her again.
p.s. terribly sorry this one turned out so long, and also rambled on so much about myself instead of youngsun onni. sorry for posting the old pics too. but i thought it'll be a treat for both youngsun onni and me... you know, kindda take a trip down memory lane. that sure was one nice afternoon.
posted by bb @ 8/22/2006 02:51:00 PM
25 Comments:
Oh, bb!
Thank you so much for taking the time to introduce youngsun to us.
I recently had the pleasure of working with youngsun with some of satovic's writings, and she has been SO helpful and considerate.
I can't wait to meet her in person myself! And perhaps you can join us, too?
'youngsun unni'
she's really ONE korean sister that all bae-fans should meet esp the oseas fans.
guess i can proudly say that im the 2nd..yeah yeah only 2nd...person among the oseas fans to hv met her. 1st one? she's another one of my twin..inneke. why such? bcos she met unni 3 days before i did. hahaha..unni..if u r reading tis am i right with the days? hehe
if anyone of u plan to meet unni soon..remember she loves coffee and grapes ^^ n oh..her bulgogi is absolutely delicious !
bb i really hv to thank u on tis..as im reading tis it reminds me of those wonderful days we've had with unni. so thank u thank u ^^
bb thanks for sharing your meeting with youngsun. i had a great time reading every bit of it.
like flowerbossa and the some of the other baesisters, i also would like to meet someday baesisters from korea. i hope that this dream will come to reality.
^^
hey there flowerbossa!
thanks for making time to read through my rather 'messy' and definitely long post. but it was a rather nice process for me, writing this... as i get to relive the memories :)
sure, why not? would love to join you if you meet up with youngsun onni one of these days.... but where...? korea? mmm, sounds great!
i keep seeing the name 'inneke'... strange how come there're three of you, but you're twins and not triplets... :p
yea... me too believe all overseas fans who visit bae sites should meet youngsun onni, if possible. haha, we should all buy her a drink or something.
oh? i didn't know she likes coffee and grapes... :)
harlow there liezle!
thanks for reading through this long post :)
me too hope your dream of going to korea to meet these bae sisters will come true. soon too, i hope :)
aja aja!
Hi bb,
Thank you very much for sharing with us your meeting with Youngsun, please don't worried your article is not long at all, I would like to read more.
Like Flowerbossa and Liezle, I hope to be able to meet her and our Korean sis someday in Korea.
PS : bb, I love love your pic with jun sahng, it must be funny when your mom asked you who is that guy, ha ha.
Harlow there bb!
Reading yr post makes me wants to visit Korea!
You did a good job! I always like yr long n messy rambling, very original.
For someone like me who doesnt know much about BYJ your posting is like reading his encyclopedia.
I am still waiting for the continuation of your YJ's trail on his life during the Scandal's and April Snow's day, if there is one.
By the way, hv u wore the new sizzling red shoe?
Jen
hey bb!
i really enjoyed reading your fanmories. it was most interesting. please continue to write as you do so very well. i hope to one day meet all of you! thanks for sharing!!
pretty bb!
Sounds like you found a wonderful baesister. She sounds as nice as you! I love reading your so called messy blogs but to those of us bae-bies
they are the GREATEST!
Want to hear MORE!
Hi, bb!
I have known YJ since the early part of last year. I could see her name when I was reading old postings, but I didn't know how much work young sun nim had been doing for the KOB and families.
Wow, she is devoted fan and she has done a tremendous amount of work for the families.
Thank you for sharing young sun nim's story with us.
suehan
hey camille!
you know you're one of my greatest blogders! you always make me feel that it's okay to just ramble... thanks for your support all these 300-over days. i really appreciate it, you know...
and yea, i had a really good laugh when my mom asked me who that guy was... yea, if only... think i'll just faint away if he were to hold me that close!!
hi hi jen,
so you're waiting for the continuation of the trail huh? yea, next up supposed to be WLS, then yes, close2yj has written about the scandal too, and yes, AS will be after that. you know, if you read chinese, you can read the original thing on loveyongjoon website. click here to read it.
and hey, thanks for reading my fanmories. and it's really a big relief to know you haven't found it so boring you're switching me off. thanks thanks....
oh, and about the shoes... i haven't picked them up from my girlfriend yet, will do so these few days, i reckon...
so soon...! can't wait!
hey vegas!
as with the rest, really appreciate your taking time to read the fanmories, even though it's more personal and relevant to me, than it is for you. so, thank you so very much for being on this trip down memory lane with me.
hey mrs a!
they are messy, aren't they? serves me right for always not planning my writing beforehand. i like to just start and let the words flow on. it's a wonder you guys understand me at all. i mean, i just write on...
but i enjoy the process of this type of unplanned writing. i just let my thoughts take over and it's nice to see where i end up at the end of it. hee.... and sometimes i end up remembering things that i thought i'd forgotten! but haha, more often than not, coz of how unplanned things are, i end up missing things that really oughta be included... hee...
i'm horrible.
but thanks for putting up with me.
hi hi suehan!
oh... so you became a fan early last year? you should share your story with us someday, like how on earth did this angel of a man fall into your life when you're miles away in the states...
know what? people like youngsun onni, tomato99, joanne, yourself... and many others... you do alot of translation and your names are definitely familiar to us. but because most of the time, it's just translation, we don't really get a chance to know you. i mean, those translation pieces are not really your thoughts, but i personally do so want to know you ladies better.
so... do share your story one of these days when you feel like it, k?
and... yea, youngsun onni has done quite abit. on the more public arena, she's sort of like one of the bridges that link the korean fans to the non-korean english-speaking community of fans. and on the more personal level, she's also a godsend to a few of us. i know how patient she always has been in answering my many questions... :)
Thanks bb for introducing us to youngsun nim. I enjoy reading about other sisters and how you ladies help each others out. She sounds like a very nice lady and we are sure lucky to have her. Can you please link us to some of her works so we can get to know her better?
hey jaime,
ask and you shall be given!
here's the link to some of her works.
hi bb,
I knew you would include youngsun eonni in your posting one of this days. Though I have not met her in person I can sense that she is really a wonderful lady. She was gracious enough to entertain Northstar and Pinky (fellow baewatch members) when they visited Korea even though they have not exchanged greetings online. She also translated some of my postings in KOB. I do hope to meet her one of this days.
Dear BB
Have you been back from your Trip to Australia?
Wow, so honored to be the 2nd appearance in your series 'Fanmories'!
Thank you for reminding me of one fine autumn day in Nami Island!
That was my first visit to the island as a WLS location.
You are one of my first off-line Bae sisters.
So I was much nervous with the thought of meeting you first time, too^^
On seeing you, however, your familiar look made me comfortable.
You looked quite Korean^^
Several days ago, I visited Nami Island again.
I've visited it several times since our first visit.
After some renovation was made there this April,
it seems to have been losing the WLS atmosphere.
So sorry for that!
BTW, you spoke so highly of me that
I have to hide myself for good not to disappoint other bae sis, haha.
See you in Seoul!
PS: Here are so many Bae sisters I know! I'm sending my love to you all^^
harlow harlow youngsun onni!
you're here you're there! and i'm so sorry i didn't know you like grapes, else i would have gotten some for you!
know what? that trip to nami island was my one and only visit, not just my first visit, so it's terribly precious and special to me. thanks for bringing me there. and hehe, i'm glad to be the first to visit a WLS location with you!
really? nami island's not the same anymore? then i must say i'm very glad to have gone earlier, and not later.
and you just made my day!!!! i looked quite korean?!!! i sure hope i still look quite korean... hehe... actually i've been told i look korean and i've also been told i look abit japanese... the funny thing is i've never thought koreans look like japanese... so, who's right..? but if i would so so so want to look korean! mmm.... i think i just need to lose 50 pounds, all in the name of trying to look even more korean!
hehe, you know.... you're one of the most familiar names to us, the overseas fans, so it's perfectly natural that many of us would want to meet you. i know you've always been terribly kind and would try and make time for us... so thank you very much!
and please... i speak nothing but the truth, so hehe, no need to hide, my dear sister :)
and... i really hope to be able to make a trip to korean soon... haha, i love how you said 'see you in seoul' with so much certainty. in fact, you've said it with more certainty than i would have... haha... hee, do you think they serve grapes in gorilla? shall we go there? oh, i want to go to tea loft too!
you must have gone to these places everytime us the overseas fans are in town... hope you're not so sick of them that you don't want to go with me when i'm in seoul.... :p
and yes, see you in seoul!
and hi hi marissa!
me too hope you'll get to meet youngsun onni one day. and yes, preferably in baeland.... :p
Hi, once again thanks for the fanmories, and the youngsun onni sounds mighty nice. Looking at the pictures of the nami island brings back the fun time I had on the island. I went in April this year so not knowing how much it had changed from its original look. To answer your previous question if I visited park bof while I was in Korea, no, I didn't, as I went with the packaged tour, and freedom was not in its dictionary. Next time I intend to visit jejudo on my own, hopefully, so I can go where I want to go, see what I want to see and shop till I drop, haha...
Anonymous from Perth
hehe, me wondering if i should call you perthling, or anonyperth or.... :p
okay, decided to call you perthling... since 'anonymous from perth' is really kindda cumbersome to type and call out.... hee... hope you don't mind, perthling :)
oh, you can't do everything in your first trip... so, hehe, save jejudo for your next trip la! at least you got to go to nami island, and better yet, you got to step on the very soil that wuri yong joon walks on! and breath the same air... it's exciting isn't it?!
and... thanks for coming by again! how's the weather down under? getting warmer? or still wet? it was pretty wet when i was there last week, but that's okay, since they're having a water crisis...
Post a Comment
<< Home