The most beautiful love stories in imagined worlds and in world’s history do not necessarily start on a good tone. And that includes mine. Before I got caught by this Super Junior fever, I used to be a hater, a full-pledged KPOP hater.
It was the time when Wonder Girls’ Nobody , 2ne1’s I Don’t Care, and Super Junior’s It’s You were all battling with other foreign and local songs for the top spots on hit charts on MYX (a local music channel in the Philippines). *For more things KPOP in the Philippines Scene* Having a natural connection with music, that time, I always make sure that there’s a time in a day that I would solely devote myself on the said channel and take a look on its hit charts. But being a hater of everything Korean Pop, I, for the moment, changes the channel whenever a KPOP song pops up on the TV screen, and would go back again when it’s finished playing.
You might ask me a reason for this. Well, maybe because I just don’t see any MUSICALITY on them. Repetition of words is just an evidence of lack of artistry for me. And they are all gay. Well, that’s what I think.
And then a not-so-famous Super Junior variety show came on my way, Exploration of the Human Body. That was on the first quarter of 2010. A roommate of mine on our university’s dormitory offered me to watch the show. She told me that the show is not just laughs but also facts, and added that the guests on the show are some CUTE KOREAN BOYS. I would have been very glad to accept the offer, but with the inclusion of the words “Korean boys”, it’s a sorry sorry for her.
Days and weeks passed but that roommate did not give up on me, even turning her laptop’s volume up just to distract us her roommates or maybe to arise a curiosity on us that maybe she’d hoped would make us just take a peek, just a peek. And fortunately (and thankfully), she did. It started on peeks, continued on asking names, then concluding an episode, and eventually led to finishing the whole show.
THE BIG CHANGES: ON FAMILY RELATIONSHIP, ON MUSICAL APPRECIATIONS, ON BIRTHDAYS, ON BEING A FAN
Never had I thought that that would make new perspectives in life, not a new life, for me. I never thought that KPOP is not just a musical genre but also a lifestyle. I’m changed and continue to change. And so I’ve listed here the biggest changes in my life, so far, ever since I became a fan girl.
One thing I have noticed since I became an ELF (EverLasting Friends- name of Super Junior’s fans or fan club as a whole) was the strengthened family bond of us, and that includes me, my sister, and our beloved ‘Tatay’.
Just a few months after I got head-over-heels with Super Junior (by the way, I have set March 19 as somewhat an anniversary of Super Junior and me because that was the day that I liked them on Facebook telling the whole world that I am a fan of them, quite clingy hihi), my younger sister followed. It was just an admiration or infatuation in passing at first but continued on a love that is still growing, and learning. And because of that love for the same group of people, the nights when I’m at home are almost sleepless. I am studying at a different place, not on my hometown, and so I always look forward on those nights whenever I go back home. We talk about our fan-related dreams, what if-s with Super Junior, and the talks eventually lead to discussions on other things non-SJ including school crushes, family’s dream house, and church matters. Honestly, Super Junior made me and my sister the “bestest” of friends (as any other siblings must be), and I would be forever thankful to them for that.
As for our beloved ‘Tatay’, he will be accompanying us, me and my sister, this Thursday for the Super Show 5 in Manila. Need I say more? \m/
Prior to liking Super Junior, I was blunt about birthdays. I don’t celebrate much on my birthday, not much more on other’s birthdays. I thought that greeting someone on his/her birthday is just a “pakitang-tao” or hypocritical thing. But being a fan girl and having seen how Super Junior members and fans alike celebrate each other’s birthdays, I have come to know what birthdays really are, have gained a greater understanding of someone’s life, and a better appreciation and gratitude for mothers and for our Father in Heaven. Plus, memorizing birthdays is now a happy challenge for me, not a requirement. Just think about the 15 birthday celebrations of Super Junior members every year. How appreciating!
ON MUSICAL APPRECIATION (eventually leading me to the type of music that’s really me)
Admit it or not, KPOP is a musical genre. And even though I got swooned by SJ through their personalities and not through their music per se, I would say that I got a deeper appreciation and bigger perspectives when it comes to music and the music industry. As for Super Junior, other than being idols in the Korean entertainment industry, they do musicals, guest on musical variety shows, participate on Drama or Movies soundtracks, and even host a radio program, and so with that, you would discover something new if you really follow their whereabouts every single day (and what I mean with REALLY FOLLOW is REALLY FOLLOW). Name it: songs, artists, bands, from the same genre and even from other genres.
And after all that’s been sung and done, that’s where I discover the type of music that I really like, KOREAN INDIE. From Taru to OkDal, Annyeong Bada to The Black Skirts, K-indie is the kind of music that brings out the best of me. Truly, SJ+K-INDIE a day keeps the doctor away.
Repetition of words is not a lack of artistry, it’s an art actually.
Let’s face it. The KPOP FANDOM IS REALLY WILD. And when you’re a fan, you would risk your studies, your future, and your life for the sake of the fandom. I did not say that you would give up, you just RISK.
And with that, I’ve realized what it takes to be fan, what are the things expected of you, what really is a fan. Being a fan girl of Super Junior led me to love more the other music artists and celebrities that I admire before Super Junior and even those whom I admired after Super Junior. It’s not enough that you just like his/her/their songs, watched all of his/her/their music videos, FOLLOW HIM/HER/THEM ON Twitter or Instagram. It’s on the moments when you’re caught up on something that involved him/her/them that you have to stand by his/her/their sides. It’s on letting them feel that he/she/they are loved, even if the whole world hates him/her/them. It’s on sharing that unlimited love and admiration for your fellow fans. It’s on continuing to influence the world even through simple things because of that big love. It’s on touching and changing other people’s lives because of that unchangeable love.
And for that, let me use a favourite quotation from another artist that I love, Taylor Swift: truly, “I’m a fan of fans.”
"Endings are always harder than beginnings. Getting out of something is always harder than getting in."
There are times when quitting SJ seems like an option. There was actually a time on my more than three years of being an ELF when I totally erased SJ in my mind and is really ready to quit the fandom. But I accidentally switched the TV channel to Arirang and the TV screen reveals a laughing-Donghae and the rest of the gang following suit. All the readiness and the “agam-agam” ay naglahong parang bula. I just can’t quit on them. Because I know, I’m changed.
