Kim Jongdae and his Wife By Rebekah Walton

Most of Kpop fans and EXO-Ls are excited by the news that Kim Jongdae (Chen) of Exo is engaged and soon-to-be a father. There are a few fans in Korea that are making a big deal out of this and wanting SM to kick Chen out of Exo. But, the rest of us sane people, understand that this is just a part of life and we are all happy that Jongdae is getting married.
In fact, here are some articles and other compilations that prove most of us are fine with Jongdae's wedding and baby:
https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/30-funniest-netizen-reactions-chen-impending-marriage-fatherhood/
https://www.koreaboo.com/lists/15-fan-memes-sum-protest-withdraw-exos-chen/
https://www.allkpop.com/forum/threads/a-compilation-of-best-chen-x-wife-x-baby-memes.364930/page-4
First off, fans have been trending hastags to show that they are with Chen for months now. They have even been telling SM to sue people who leave bad comments about Chen online. There are a great amount of memes about Chen becoming a father and so many cool youtube videos as well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DNf66taSXY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjKUlnSsLZE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLJ3hP5cwKw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-LifhpCJsQ&t=15s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vv47k-i9r_8
After we got the news that Jongdae was engaged there were many other celebrities who came out with news of their significant others and the fans joked Jongdae had started a trend calling it the Chen effect:
https://www.soompi.com/article/1380876wpp/sung-joon-pens-letter-revealing-that-he-has-a-wife-and-child
https://www.soompi.com/article/1382106wpp/crayon-pops-gummi-announces-marriage-and-pregnancy
https://www.soompi.com/article/1383694wpp/park-sung-kwang-announces-marriage-to-non-celebrity

Three things I would like to point out before I would like to let this issue be:

1. Jongdae or any other celebrity is not your property and their life is not something that you own or have rights over. (This has been repeated over and over by many people.)

2. The chance of you meeting your kpop star and getting married are very slim to almost none. Get over it. Write your fanfiction and move on with your life.

3. Bullying people to get kicked out of a group is not a good thing. Stop bullying others online and in real life! This is a real problem that has caused harm to many people.

Okay, that's my two cents: Now go watch Jongdae dancing to Baby Shark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlYQcHRUay4

(Updated April 29, 2020)
Jongdae's baby girl was born today! So, he really was telling the truth when he named his last solo album: April, and a Flower. Exo-L's are calling her Exo's Princess and Jongdae's flower. Here is fan art I found on twitter:

Kdrama Comparisions: Who did it Better? 100 Days My Prince vs. Shopping King Louie by Rebekah Walton

If I were to tell you the plot of these two kdramas it goes something like this:

A rich young man who has memories of the female lead whether he remebers them or not, loses all of his memory and gets lost, the female lead finds him.

Now, that he has lost all of his memory and has no memory of where he lives or who he is, the female lead and him are forced into living together. At first, the man useless and buys items that cause the woman to go into debt because he has no money of his own.

 The female lead forces the male lead to get a job, but, the male lead is found to be very bad at that job, until they find out what he is really good at and he regains his memory. For a time the female and male lead live apart since, the male lead was found by his family and regained his memory, but later on, the male lead goes back to get the female lead and they live happily ever after the end.

Also, to make it more confusing the female lead in these two kdramas are played by the same actress Nam Ji-hyun. The only real difference between these kdramas is the time period that the story is set in. Shopping King Louie is set in the modern day while 100 Days My Prince/ Husband is set in the Joseon time period.

Now, on to which Kdrama is better my opinion.
Shopping King Louie(myRating): 7.50 out of 10.00

100 Days Prince (my Rating): 8.00 out of 10.00

Shopping King Louie (September 2016): came first while 100 Days Prince is just basically a remake of this story set in the Joseon time period.
As I say with all remakes and orignials, it is not always fair to judge the orignial by a remake, because the remake has the potential of fixing the problems of the orignial because it came second.

But, when the remakes do not fix the problems of the orignial or make more problems, that's what shows the remake is really bad. So, to tell if this remake: 100 Days My Prince is a better, we must look at the problems of Shopping King Louie and see if the problems were in the remake or if they were changed in the remake.

Shopping King Louie problems: The male lead is a shopping addict and continues to buy items although he has no money and becomes very annoying because of this.

 The plot becomes somewhat  boring at one point in the story because there is little going on, so little, in fact the writers had to fake that he lost his memory again. A lot of filler in this show. The twists in this kdrama did not intrigue me to keep watching in the least.

One thing that the kdrama had going for it was the cute couple.

100 Days My Prince problems: The male lead is still buying items although he has no money, but at least in this kdrama the things he is buying seem more like neccesities than just stuff. He does not tend to keep buying items once he has bought the few items he wanted, and so, in general he seems more content than Shopping King Louie.

He was less annoying in this way, since he got fooled by a loan shark. Since the plot does take place in the Joseon Era, politics can come into the plot more easily, thus adding more storylines and make the story less boring.Instead of filler episodes, this kdrama seemed to be just the right length for this type of plotline and story.

 But, due to the politics angle, the male lead is a prince who is married before he meets the female lead again. That is seemingly not a problem as I initially thought it would be, though because in kdramas they get marriages annulled pretty easily or just get a second wife.

 But, deaths do occur in this story, so watch out as some of your favorite side characters may eventually die on screen.Despite this, the story was still an enjoyable watch. The main couple was still cute but the other plot lines were also entertaining to say the least. The twists in this kdrama were more enjoyable than Shopping King Louie and made me excited to watch more.

If I had to choose between the two, I would reccommend 100 Days My Prince/Husband everytime.

Taoris Reunion Day 2019 by Rebekah Walton

The New Year came and went, and some made resultions while others forgave and became friends again with former besties. One of these besties does include: Kris Wu and Huang Zitao. As far as we could tell they haven't talked in four years. But, now at the start of the year at an end of year awards music show, Kris Wu hugged Z. Tao. It was such a cute a sweet moment but, the hug is not the only thing that occurred. Kris Wu and Z.Tao proceeded to follow each other on Instagram and Luhan joined in on the fun. Our OT3 are one step closer to former a group together and making a collab. I would love to see the day when they make a movie together, an album together and or a cdrama together!

See this epic moment in the video links below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kdODidh5Lo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxSZpB6ShRE


They look so happy, too just standing next to each other before they hug.

Losing Hyuna and EDawn by Rebekah Walton

Well, now you have done it Cube. You been again labled a bad company. I get it, you were not to blame for the hate that your kpopstars got when they announced they were dating without your permission.....Or were you?

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you were just trying to protect them from the netziens, but, come on, this went a little too far.

Hyuna was your top star the one who you promoted above and beyond the rest of her group and even B2st, which is why they left and became Highlight. So, most people would think that you would be careful around her. Or at least allow her certain privileges you would not allow other groups or other people in Cube Entertainment.

And Pentagon was the one you were making money with now that B2st left and so, I thought surely you guys would make a decision to keep the most money coming in. Baekyeon use to get a lot of hate when they were dating but, no one discussed kicking them out of the company. That would be a stupid move by SM. And believe me, SM has made a lot of stupid decisions in the past. I mean, why are they know by their lawsuits? It's not because they were being smart. Yeah, they wanted money but, 3 of those couple have been avoided just simply by allowing Kris, Luhan, and Tao make their own albums and get their own movie deals. (I do not think Luhan would have left, if Kris did not previously, and Tao just needed rest.)

Anyway, also a stupid move on your part Cube, why would you allow someone to make a statement suggesting you were kicking Hyuna and E'Dawn out without even discussing it with them? That's why the two of them gave up on negotiations with you.

Yeah, you realized your mistake when your stocks fell but, it was already too late then. Now, Hyuna and E'Dawn are the cutest couple independent of companies in 2018. They will help get rid of the backlash on dating Kpopstars. And I am happy for that and them, but, Cube you could have been a part of that revolution and now, you won't ever get a chance to change kpop for the better. I am sorry, Cube, you failed.

Sungmin not in the SJ comeback by Rebekah Walton

This is all ridiculous. If Elfs want to prove that they are a more mature fandom than everyone else than they should prove it by not hating on Sungmin's wife Kim Sa-eun. Stopping hating on him and his wife, maybe he did somethings that you believe are wrong, but come on, it's been two years you should forgive him already. 

These are reasons why some Elfs are supposedly upset:

 He gave all the gifts he got from fans to his wife, the fans wasted their money on him not his wife, he should waste his money on her

My argument to this is:

He should be able to do what ever he wants with his own presents. They were given to him. No one has any say over what he can do with them. Also, that means he knows his wife would like your gifts, you should be complimented that he liked your presents enough to give him to his wife. Besides, he gets way to many presents to keep them all anyway.

That is the only one that I wanted to address but others are addressed  in an article on Soompi:

https://www.soompi.com/2017/07/10/super-juniors-sungmin-indirectly-addresses-various-rumors-surrounding/

So, maybe you felt he announced his marriage in a wrong way. Get over it, it was because of fans in the first place that he didn't know how to correctly announce his marriage. Are KissMes still mad at Eli for getting married and not telling us for two years? I guess some of them are, but really they shouldn't be. He thought he was doing what was best for his wife and at the end of the day that is all that really matters.

We don't matter we are just fans, who should truly matter is their family. In fact, I think every kpop star should avoid telling people they got married for about a year or so. We should not make their significant other suffer just because they married a kpop star.

Anyway, enough on that. Elfs who are hating on Sungmin and his marriage you are the reason we can't have Sungmin back in this comeback. So, you have no one to blame but yourselves. The members of Super Junior do not owe us anything. Sungmin should have been in this comeback. And that is why I am upset with you. We could have 8 members in a comeback, not 7.

Ukiss' Eli and His Wife by Rebekah Walton

I knew someone was going to do this. Eli from Ukiss was married for a year and had not told the fans. He also kept it from his company and his members.

Before his marriage was announced, I said this was going to happen. In fact, if I were in this industry in Korea this is exactly what I would have done. There are just too many fans that would have hated on my husband because we got married or were dating, so I would keep it a secret until our first child, or possible second if I could keep it that long.

The interesting thing about them is the 11 year age gap, and his wife is older. But, frankly, I have seen many kdramas with large age gaps and I shipped those couples so I have no issues with age gaps as long as the couples look good together and they do, so I don't care.

Eli might be the first Ukiss member to get married but we have an ex-Ukiss memeber Dongho who got married recently.

Pictures of that couple: Shin Dongho and Kim Seehee
and their son, Shin Ah-sel. (Dongho is no longer in the entertainment business and is living a pretty normal life with his wife and son.) Asher Shin (I believe this is his English name).

Eli even added in a cute thank you for his wife and mentioned his child in their Ukiss album Stalker.

It reads,''And also I  want to thank my wife for always standing by me when times are tough and always having my back when no one does. And after 10 months of pain thank you so much for bringing our angel into the world! ^^I love you! Michael I love you too!''

Recently, Eli was on a show called Mr. House Husband. We got to see a little into the life he know lives as a married man and father.

Here is the link to the show:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIvVQ_9dO8I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-PFhDxBa5U

I just want to Thank Eli for Finally telling us so that we can congratulate him and see how cute his family really is. Some fans might be upset that he kept from Kissmes for so long, but, my respect for this man grew when I found out. He was trying to not hurt his fans and not have his family bashed publicly by fans. Kpop Fans are not that tolerant of their stars getting married and so what else should the Kpop stars do?

I think that keeping this information from us was the only real option I see.  In fact, I feel bad for him he spends hardly any time with his family because Ukiss is more popular in Japan than in Korea and so he basically lives in Japan. I hope he gets on a constant show such as Superman Returns so he can spend more time with his wife and child.

Pictures of the young couple: Ellison Kyoung-jae Kim and Ji Yeon-soo (she is a model)
and their son Michael Min-soo Kim.

Kdramas...kpop idols....Bad acting? by Rebekah Walton

Okay, first I would like to say maybe I am not the best judge of acting or whether it is bad or not, because I have no clue how to act at all most of the time, and people say I react weirdly in real life and do not act like normal people. But, frankly, most people who are so called ''bad actors'' I cannot tell at all. I have no clue how to identify these people at all. A lot of people comment on a kdrama and tell me that a kpop star in it is a bad actor or something, and I haven't seen anything that would make them think this way. Frankly, as long as you are not saying your lines and your stage directions such as Gag Concert or you do not happen to be as bad as any of the actors and actresses (excluding Sterling Knight, and the uncle) in Elle: A Modern Cinderella Tale, you are a good enough actor for me. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zzw0zUQoPB4

That's the trailer, you can also watch the full film on youtube for free, and no one cares. I am not a good actresses and therefore how can I even judge acting that is better than what I can do, in fact, how can anyone else judge the actors if they cannot do it themselves. But, this may sound like I see bad acting for what it is and don't care and that is not true. I cannot even tell bad acting when I see it, unless it is as bad as the movie mentioned above. To me, if a certain character acts a certain way, that is the way their character acts and it is normal.

Some people say well, bad acting occurs when you cannot feel with the character, but, I do not remeber a character I have not felt with unless they were annoying or evil, and then I just feel annoyed, but, then again shouldn't you feel annoyed it has nothing to do with bad acting or not. So, I have no clue what anyone is talking about when they say someone is a bad actor, if an actor acts immature and over the top, isn't their character just immature and over the top, why would that be bad acting. If an actor has no expression in certain situations, isn't that the character?

There are characters like this. I did not write the script and I do not act like most people so, why would I assume that this character would be normal or have a normal reaction (whatever that is or means, I cannot tell you if that is normal or not, nor do I believe that there is a normal person in this world.). So, if you say a person is a bad actor because they kissed weirdly or it did not look natural, or they had a blank expression the entire time, or was stiff, how can you be the judge of that? (Not that I could even tell that even if someone pointed it out.)Maybe, the director or scriptwriter wanted that type of character. How can you know what they were told to do when they were acting? How do you know that this is not how that character would react?

Also, I wanted to mention for those who like Fantastic I am currently annoyed with the main girl. In the episode I watched, eventhough the main character knew he was bad at acting and wanted help, she just laughed at him and did not even pick up his phone calls. She needs to get over that grudge and move on and help him out, it's not even worth it to hold a grudge for that long. Eventhough some people may have found this first episode funny, I did not I was depressed the whole time and definitely was piting the main guy who our girl was laughing at for his bad acting.


 I mean, it's really rude to do that to him, and I hated the fact that they are going to get together, he is so much better than her. She does not deserve him. It is unfair to laugh at a guy who just needs some guidance in acting and would love some help. Stop Laughing help him out already! Ugh, that is so annoying, if I asked for help in acting please give me help instead of laughing at me. I know I am bad, just help me out, give me an example to go by and maybe a mirror to practice in. But, I am going to have to continue watching this drama for Ji-soo, maybe I will skip parts with the main girl.

Wu Yifan now as a Chinese Actor and Singer by Rebekah Walton

I just recently saw an interview with Yifan. He looked really calm and happy. He was more relaxed than I have seen him in a few interviews. He said he does not care about his idol image anymore, and I am very happy for him. He should relax and not care the burden he did as a kpop idol. It was very hard for him, and this way we get to know him better.

Looking over all the projects he is now in, it's official Kris Wu has become an actor and it won't be long till he will be one of the most famous Chinese actors. He has got several hollywood movies in progress and many stars are now his friends and backing him up.

Journey to the West 2	Tang Sanzang	Male lead
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets	TBA	TBA	[63]
xXx: The Return of Xander Cage	Harvard "Nix"	Supporting	[46]
Europe Raiders

I am so excited for him and I can't wait for those movies to come out! I know he will do a great job and I keep cheering him on!

Recently, Kris Wu also joined Jackie Chan's company as an actor. 

YunJaeisback2015 by Rebekah Walton

I may not be a Cassiopeia or even been a fan of kpop for six years or more,but, I can even appreciate the reunion of one of the best friendships ever in kpop.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nGTx6kgzQ8
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=983KKpiQiq0

 http://discussions.viki.com/t/yunjae-is-back-t-t/7305

You can read all these articles about their departure from these articles and a youtube series on their lawsuit:

http://www.hellokpop.com/news/sm-entertainments-lawsuit-history-over-unfair-contracts/
http://popdust.com/2012/11/28/sm-entertainment-and-jyj-settle-contract-dispute-but-the-drama-looks-far-from-over/

https://thejyjfiles.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/110314-court-hearing-the-reason-why-jyj-had-no-choice-but-to-sue/

https://tvxqlawsuit.wordpress.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFeXKDhN-lg

But, regardless of why they left, SM should have no right over what they do now or who they hang out with. Eventhough this should be the case, look at all these articles:

http://koalasplayground.com/2014/12/30/jaejoong-abruptly-no-show-at-mbc-drama-awards-amid-speculatation-of-sm-interference/

http://onehallyu.com/topic/234478-jyjs-kim-junsu-obliquely-refers-to-sm-entertainments-disturbance-of-his-activities/

http://www.allkpop.com/forum/threads/official-list-of-injustices-suffered-by-jyj.7223/

http://beyondhallyu.com/k-pop/sms-shady-dealings-author-confirms-forced-jyj-new-k-pop-book/

http://www.allkpop.com/article/2014/07/c-jes-reveals-jyj-is-receiving-unfair-treatment-cant-stand-on-the-main-stage-for-the-2014-incheon-asian-games

All of these articles prove that SM basically blackmails people into not letting JYJ do anything now that they are not part of SM.


This is of course is an unfair injustice that SM has also tried to do Kris, Luhan, and Tao. But, a new law has passed that should end this unfair treatment.

http://www.kpopstarz.com/articles/259972/20151201/jyj-law-passes.htm
http://www.allkpop.com/article/2015/11/the-wait-is-over-jyj-will-finally-be-back-on-tv


So, how did this reunion occur? SM did try to stop it, but, since it's the military, they obviously did not care.

The rumor was going around that they were going to stand on the same stage, but, soon reps from the festival made sure that they stated that nothing has been confirmed. As it was, Yunho stood on stage as Jaejoong sang off stage. But, I really think that the military just said whatever to SM, because they even played ''Hug'' a song they were both in back in the days before the lawsuit over loudspeakers.

Yunho and Jaejoong also talked and conversed with each other's family at the event like the old friends they were indeed.

Most kpoppers are sad when their idol leaves for duty because it means two years of waiting, for the OT5  Cassiopeias it was a blessing in disguise.

Thank you Korean military!

Asian Fan fiction by Rebekah Walton

I am currently writing my own Asian Fan Fiction. The thing about Asian kpop fan fiction and other fan fiction about boy groups is that we are writing about real people. Real People not fictional characters. But, in these stories like most  fan stories these real people become characters that have one factor or characteristic that overshadows the rest.

For example:

Exo members are sterotypically like this in fan fiction:

Xiumin- loves eating, food, and has abs, looks young but is the oldest, could be mature but does not have to be

Luhan-playboy, wants to be called manly but is not manly

Kris- Cold city man, Dork, Leader

Kai-Playboy, First love of many


Chen- Sings well, well defined cheekbones, jokester

Suho- respected older authority, incharge, emotional

Tao- scary at first appearance but adorable later on, easily frightened, clingy to Kris or protective of Kris

Lay-perfect angel, innocent, something to do with unicorns and or healing

Chanyeol-clingy, happy, emotional,

Baekhyun- loves eyeliner, narasstic

Sehun- Cold  city man, loves to tease others

D.O.- good cook, no one wants to deal with his wrath, short tempered when it comes to Baekhyun


Whether these people are like that in real life it really does not matter.
They have become that way in fiction. It is interesting to note because of this factor people who are not into kpop can write a story all about Exo, Super Junior, 2PM, etc and never listened to any of their songs or seen them on a show. If you read the right fictions, you will only have to read about two maybe one and half fictions before you can write your own on the group.

I decided to do some research and find out the most popular member of Exo based on the number of fictions written on them :

According to  Asian fan fiction:
1. Kai
2. Luhan
3. Sehun
4. Kris
5. Baekhyun
6. Chanyeol
7. Kyungsoo
8. Suho
9. Tao
10.Yixing
11. Xiumin
12. Chen

According to Wattpad:

1. Chanyeol
2. Sehun
3. Kai
4. Baekhyun
5. Luhan
6. Kris
7. Suho
8. Xiumin
9. Chen
10.Tao
11.Kyungsoo
12. Yixing

I used the names that had more tags for stories.


The weird thing comes when you compare these facts to the members popularity in Korea: (2014 and 2015):                                                 

1. Baekhyun                               1. Xiumin
2. D.O.                                         2. D.O.
3.Xiumin                                      3. Baekhyun
4. Kai                                           4. Kai
5. Sehun                                       5. Sehun
6. Chanyeol                                   6. Chanyeol
7. Chen                                         7. Chen
8. Luhan                                        8. Suho
9. Suho                                          9. Lay
10. Lay                                           10. Tao
11. Kris
12.Tao


According to popularity ranks in other countries the fan fiction are in order of popularity from the country of:
 No country has the popularity rank in this order I understand how it could be this way if you combine China's 2014 ranking (OT12) with the USA ranking (Ot12, OT10).

China                                    USA                                       Combine
1. Luhan                            1. Kris                                          1. Kai (became 1st by default)
2. Kris                                 2. Luhan                                      2. Luhan(China top)
3. Sehun                             3. Kai                                           3. Sehun(China 3rd)
4. Chanyeol                        4. Chanyeol                                 4. Kris
5. Lay                                  5. Sehun                                     5.Baekhyun (China OT10)
6. Baekhyun                       6. D.O.                                         6. Chanyeol (Korea OT10)
7. Tao                                 7. Lay                                           7. D.O.
8. D.O.                                 8. Baekhyun                                8. Suho (Korea OT10)
9. Kai                                  9. Tao                                           9. Tao (USA)
10. Chen                          10. Chen                                         10. Lay 
11. Suho                           11. Xiumin                                      11. Xiumin (USA)
12. Xiumin                         12. Suho                                        12. Chen 

Here are some I reccommend: (All of these except the ones with urls can be found on http://www.asianfanfics.com/)

On Ebb

The Untitled 2Young Project:http://www.yynation.org/fanfic_author_scuttler_ch_1.html

We Are Dating

Chances Are

The Paranormals

A Real Pain In The Neck

How I Met Byun Baekhyun

When Jong Dae becomes Chen

Epilogue: Reunion

8 Years Later

After He Left

We Are One

Neverland

The Definition of Home

Perfect Kiss

Story of Us, What is Virtual Anyway?!  :http://www.yynation.org/fanfic_story_of_us_ch_1_missing_you.html

Here are the ones I have written:

Reunited with the Galaxy

Onew's Chicken Girl

Guardian Gang

Warning for all those reading Asian fan fictions: I had to search to find good ones, there are a lot of stories out there that are not really my cup of tea. I avoid reading certain types fictions and therefore, there are a lot of fictions that I exclude. 

I do not recommend you going on to Asian fan fictions and reading all the stuff there, I recommend you know first what you want to read and search for that, it is easier and you can exclude a lot you prefer not to read.

But, for you guys who want to watch fan fiction live action, check out Exo Next Door, it's a web drama that definitely feels like fan fiction I have read. I found it really funny and entertaining.

How I got into Kdramas by Rebekah Walton

It all started back when my siblings got into anime. I still watch the occasional anime, and I have liked a few shows such as Ouran Highschool Host Club, Sailor Moon, Parts of One Piece up to Alabasta, Bleach, Itazura Na Kiss, Maid Sama and Cardcaptor Sakura. But, I am not really into anime anymore, I don't really read watch them unless I am re watching something. In 2010/2011, I heard about the live action Japanese drama of Ouran Highschool Host Club. I decided to watch that and that.

For a while that was the only drama I watched, and it wasn't until after I saw the anime, Itazura na Kiss and loved it that my journey into kdramas continued. The first kdrama I watched was Playful Kiss the drama based on Itazura  Na Kiss. I also then watched It Started with A Kiss and even watched part of It Started with a Kiss 2,(my first Tawianese dramas)  (I tried to watch the Japanese live action version, Itazura na Kiss(1996), but I couldn't finish it, and dropped that.) before I went back to see another Korean Drama.

I cannot be sure of what I watched next but, You're beautiful was one of them. To this day that is still my number one favorite drama and I have watched around 90 or so. I was at first a kdrama closet fan, as I went to college for a semester by myself (2^nd semester my sister came with me), and I had no room mate and made literally no friends. When I wasn’t in class or doing homework, I spent all my time in my room watching kdramas. In fact, I would say I probably watched more than half of those kdramas in that year alone.( I did go to a semester of Bible college before that first semester and I would watch things only at night and early in the morning as not to disturb my 4 roommates. But, that semester at my new college was really when a became a fan, I watch way more than the occasional drama at Bible college.) My semester at the new college was early 2013.

I was still a closet fan for a while and it wasn’t really late 2013 when I decided to tell everyone. Or rather, when I told my parents about it. They did not seem to mind as much I thought they would so I started to openly talk about them using kdramas as references for real life and stories to tell other people. I met a few people at college who watched kdramas, but I did not have time to hang out. When My Love from the Stars came out, everyone knew that I was really invested. While waiting for my English class after chapel I would watch the new episodes of My Love from the Stars as they came out. Because I watched these using Viki (I watch shows on both Dramafever, and Viki and I have paid for both, but, I prefer the awesome comments and I like the subtitles better on Viki.), I was able to watch episodes sometimes with no subs at all because I could not wait. I remember in particular episode 16, where I watched the conversation between Do Minjoon and Yoon Jae. It was so awesome that I understood a lot of that conversation.

Around that time, I met a Korean girl going to my college and she invited me to spend time with her, her roommate, and her boyfriend as she watched an episode of My Love from Stars with no subs whatsoever. It was to practice her Korean while she was over here. She seemed very impressed that I could understand the episode and therefore laugh at the right times and be totally invested. (Thankfully, I had already watched the episode with subs, so I could understand it all. I also could understand enough to know what the summary of conversations were. Therefore, I would have the right reactions at the right time.) We watched it together and I enjoyed also her little comments like, ‘‘gwiyeobda’’ and small phrases that I understood while we were watching.

I did try to get my sisters into kdramas, and at first, it did not work as well as I thought it would. My older sister watched My Girl with me, but, I made a fatal mistake. I did not watch the drama before I showed it to her. She finished it one morning while I was asleep. Apparently, she did not like the fact that they had to separate and that it took so long for them to get together. But, since I still haven’t watched the last three episodes, I still really can’t say what she really disliked. Not that she hasn’t watched kdramas since then. She watched quite a few dramas, including You’re all surrounded, My Love from the Stars, Queen In Hyun’s Man, Skipbeat, Her Lovely Heels, and Bride of the Century.  My oldest sister who is now married, has watched only parts of kdramas so far, but, I gave her two for her wedding present and one of them included, My Love from the Stars, so I expect she will love the ones she watches. My younger sister likes watching Chinese and Tawianese dramas and several times watches different kdramas than me.

 Just recently, I got to force my younger brother to watch a couple of kdramas. He enjoyed for the most part the ones he watched. I know what each of my family likes so, I tend to only show them dramas that I know they would like watching. My dad has to work in New York for his job, and before he left, I made everyone watch My Love from the Stars (I edited it to be 14 hours instead of the 21 hours. This meant I took out most second lead parts and the whole past girl that Song Yi looks like. I left in most funny parts except Do Minjoon getting jealous since our second lead was no longer a second lead, and her actress friend never became evil. My siblings insisted that they hated these parts.) My parents like it well enough, and I even showed my mom You’re all surrounded she love it. I think I need to do her reactions to kdramas and kpop sometime, she had very different reactions than other people. My mom even got so used to reading the subs that when we watched a movie without subs she was confused and then realized it was all in English.

This is in essence, how I got into kdramas.