JadeFalcon

I still can't believe it happened.

 

My imagination ran wild when the dates for Taeyeon's concert were announced and I realized the last night fell on my birthday. I started having daydreams of holding up a sign or something to get her attention and maybe wish me a happy birthday. I imagined myself getting up to sing a song with her.

 

Only in dreams, right?

 

The first concert was really emotional. For some reason Taeyeon was having trouble singing. When it seemed like she couldn't go on, the crowd sang for her. She nearly broke down during the first song, “I.” Yoona was in attendance and Taeyeon asked her to come on stage. Yoona helped give her strength and encouragement. She felt better but still she struggled. She stayed backstage a little longer than usual after each VTR.

 

Then came the talk part. I didn't know about the notebook you could sign and leave a message for Taeyeon. She chose messages to read and a mic was brought down to talk to the fan if they included their seat number. I started to formulate my plan.

 

Second concert. Halloween is Taeyeon's favorite day of the year. The stage was dressed up with large jack-o-lanterns and there was even a giant Jack Skellington. We were given jack-o-lantern lightsticks. Taeyeon was in a great mood wearing a Halloween themed dress. Taeyeon had a lot of fun picking people out of the crowd who came wearing masks and handing out signed cds. This time I wrote something in the notebook but she didn't read it. One more chance tomorrow.

 

The final show, Taeyeon was so happy and energetic right out of the gate. Her performance of “I" to start was easily the best of the weekend. She was so bright and cheerful, you could tell she was really feeling the love and support culminating from the first six shows.

 

Talk part coming. Here goes nothing. When Taeyeon was getting settled into her chair after getting the notebook, I yelled out (in Korean) that it was my birthday. She responded to other people yelling things in previous concerts so I thought this was my best chance. After I said it was my birthday, she wished me a happy birthday and everyone clapped. Then I said I had a birthday wish and asked for a microphone. After they brought me one, I said I didn't speak Korean very well and jokingly shook the mic like Taeyeon did when talking to foreign fans during the concert. I told Taeyeon I wanted to sing her a song and asked if she would sing with me. I don't speak any Korean so I want to say a huge thank you to my good friend @Moonsoshi9 who helped me with the phrases.

 

I was born in 1976 so I have an inside joke about Kangta and Taeyeon’s duet, 7989. I like to imagine it as 7689 instead. I sang Kangta's first verse but unfortunately Taeyeon couldn't remember the lyrics to her verse. The crowd helped her a bit. But here is the part that really touched me. She didn't want to give up and asked me if I knew Breath. Unfortunately it takes me a while to memorize songs so I haven’t gotten around to that one. She asked about other songs like Gemini but I don't have the lyrics memorized either.

 

She would say something and then I would have to apologize and say I didn't understand. She then realized I couldn't speak Korean. She asked where I was from in her cute English, and she seemed a bit shocked when I said America. She did her cute mic shake. Then she said “I love you" in English and “Thank you for coming.” We made hearts over our heads at each other, she said “I love you" again and I said “I love you" and “Thank you" in Korean.

 

The rest of the concert I was a blubbery mess. Taeyeon killed it. When it was time for her “last” song, U R, we cracked open the lightsticks we were given. Three or four rows each had their own color, forming a rainbow sea of lightsticks from the back to the front. As she finished the song, we all stood and cheered. Taeyeon’s eyes sparkled and shined brightly in the reflection of our love.

 

The encore chat was “Gomawo” and as she launched into the encore song Gemini, the entire crowd started singing along. Taeyeon was surprised and if possible she looked even happier. It was an amazing experience and definitely a birthday I will never forget.

Username: Jadefalcon
Country: USA
Amount: $50
Method (PP/CC): Paypal

Username: JadeFalcon
Country: USA
Amount: $20 sent to Room to Read / $20 via PayPal Gifts/Charity
Method (PP/CC): PayPal for Gifts/Charity

What an amazing weekend it has been. I arrived in LAX on Friday morning. I picked up American SONE and JimmyDean23 from the airport and went to lunch at In-N-Out. We came back to the airport just in time for the Girls to start coming out. Tiffany and Sunny had already exited, we actually walked right past Tiffany on her way to meet her dad. I was so close to her, I couldn't believe it. I managed to say, "Hi Tiffany, you look beautiful," before she walked away.

Seohyun and Jessica came out next. They were absolutely stunning. After they took a seat in the SUV, we saw Sooyoung and Hyoyeon walk out of the baggage area. But instead of walking outside, they turned down the hall so we ran to the other exit. When they didn't come out, we went back. They must have stopped in the washroom, because a little while later, Yuri, Yoona, and Taeyeon came out and Sooyoung and Hyoyeon were with them. I called Hyoyeon's name a couple of times and held out a green gift bag for her. She took it from my hand and I said, "I love you Hyoyeon!" After that, all the Girls climbed into the cars and drove off.

Hyoyeon's Gift

Later that night we went for dinner. Ghost picked a place in Irvine at random and it turned out to be the restaurant hosting some of the concert stars. CNBlue was already eating when we arrived. There was a huge crowd of people in front of the restaurant. While we were waiting outside, CNBlue came out and B2ST went in, followed by SISTAR and KARA a little while later. They were actually letting people go inside and eat as well. They had the stars in a corner of the restaurant separated from the rest of us by a folding screen. By the time we were seated, B2ST and KARA had already left. We were seated right next to the banner the restaurant put up to have the stars sign, so when SISTAR finished eating they walked up right behind us to sign the banner.

Concert Day
I didn't have VIP tickets for the concert, so I entered the raffle for fan meeting tickets. I ended up winning a ticket for the CNBlue fan meeting. The organization was kind of poor as CNBlue was actually doing a dress rehearsal when they were supposed to be in the tent for our fan meeting. We ended up waiting 45 minutes for them to show up, and Yonghwa was missing since he was still on stage doing MC rehearsal.

After the CNBlue fan meeting we went back to stand in line with the other SONE who had tickets to the fan meeting. RageX and I were determined to get into the fan meet somehow. They ended up handing out extra stickers to people after everyone already went inside. I couldn't believe it. There we were inside the tent, waiting to meet Soshi. Again, because of scheduling issues, Soshi was waiting for their turn to rehearse. We ended up waiting almost 2 hours for the Girls, but as soon as they walked inside the tent, everything was forgotten. They are so beautiful up close and in person.

Fan Meeting Entrance (watch on Youtube for 1080p)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et9zoL9a7fg&feature=plcp

They had a dance competition where four lucky people got to dance in front of Soshi to LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem. Yoona was so cute lip syncing along to the lyrics and Taeyeon was absolutely adorable with her dorky dance.

Taeyeon Dancing (watch on Youtube for 1080p)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsZP9R4rz5s&feature=plcp

The lucky winner of the contest got to take a picture with Soshi. After that, we all turned around to take the group picture and then the Girls left. It was a very short fan meeting, but it was still amazing.

Fan Meeting Exit (watch on Youtube for 1080p)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHRk04oyzjY&feature=plcp
You can hear me calling Taeyeon's name and she turns to wave at me.

Airport Day
I had to wake up early to take American SONE to the airport. Before we left, I decided to check what flights there were to Seoul that day. On Korean Air there turned out to be two leaving, 11 a.m. and 11:50 p.m. Hoping they would be on the 11 a.m. flight, I decided to stick around the airport. When a bunch of other people showed up, I knew they were going to be there soon. Rickywong told me his group left the hotel the same time the Girls did. While Ricky, Eric and I were waiting at the entrance, Tiffany walked in looking like an angel. Our cameras immediately went up, then she started walking towards us! She asked us not to take pictures because she was with her family, so of course we dropped our cameras. I bowed and said sorry and thanked her. She was so sweet and kind. She disappeared with her family members after they dropped her luggage off.

Sunny pulled up next in a white sedan. She stayed in the back seat since the other members had not arrived yet. She was so cute with her head poking out of the window. Traffic enforcement made them move, so I think they circled around. An Escalade with Hyoyeon in the front seat pulled up next. I think Yoona and Seohyun were in the back seat. They stayed in the car for a while waiting for the other Girls to show up. Finally Taeyeon and Sooyoung walked around the corner, followed by Jessica, Sunny and Yuri. They all gathered and walked inside. The fans were great. We gave them space and the managers let us walk with the Girls all the way to the boarding pass checkpoint. We got to say our goodbyes. I told Sunny her hair was awesome and she replied with the cutest "Thank you!"

SNSD leaving LAX (watch on Youtube for 1080p)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ioy3V-8Stk&feature=plcp

After the Girls went inside, we ran into Tiffany again on her way to the boarding pass checkpoint. She was still with her family but we said our farewells. I told her I loved her and she laughed.

Username: Jadefalcon
Country: USA
Amount: $20
Method (PP/CC): PayPal

This is an awesome project, thanks to everyone who has donated, and especially to Soshified for putting this together!

I wasn't originally going to do a fan account for the Fan Meeting because I knew there were plenty of cams out there. I decided I wanted to write one so I could talk about my feelings during the incredible experience, things that wouldn't be picked up by the cameras.

A group of good friends who went on the Field Trip got together in the morning. We wanted to be close to the front so we showed up pretty much after Good Morning America finished, around 9 a.m. There was already a good sized line forming. We took turns leaving the line to get food and wander Times Square. The atmosphere was electric as the line continued to grow throughout the day. It was already reaching down the block, from 44th to 45th, along 7th Ave. Directly across the street from us was the billboard playing the SMTown and The Boys commercials.

Early in the afternoon the Girls' arrived. Luckily for them, I think the line had not quite snaked around the corner yet. They entered through a back entrance which we would have been queued up next to if Best Buy Theater staff hadn't moved the line the other direction. They were showing the MTV Iggy interview on the giant LED screen across the street. This brought cheers and screaming from the large crowd on the street below. People kept coming up to us because they saw so many of us wearing our pink Soshified t-shirts and cheering for the nine angels on the screen above. They wondered who those beautiful ladies were, and we did our best to promote the Girls and their new single.

When the interview ended, everyone went back to their spot in line to prepare for entrance. Security came around checking bags, letting people know that DSLRs weren't allowed. Finally at about 4 p.m., the line started to move. We were let in single file, made our way down an escalator and down a hallway where we lined up in two rows. SSF volunteers and staff were handing out official Girls' Generation heart-shaped balloons and glow sticks. People started blowing them up in line and ended up over-inflating the balloons. There were a lot of balloons popped within the first few minutes, which prompted us to try and get the word down the line to be careful with the balloons once we were inside so as not to startle Sunny.

Finally they opened the doors. Originally we were expecting seating throughout, since this was a theater after all. However, at one point during the day we found out that the front section would be standing. I was on stage left directly in front of Hyoyeon. There were 2 rows of people in front of me, so I was pretty close. People were starting to pack the theater and they played The Boys instrumental track non-stop. It's kind of interesting listening to just the backing beat. The Girls' vocals really bring so much more to the song.

While we were waiting for the Girls to get ready, they started playing music videos on the theater screen. Everyone went nuts, and even though my voice was shot from the concert the night before, I was fanchanting my heart out. I knew the Girls are impressed when foreign fans do the fan chants, and I knew they could hear us from back there. The MVs stopped playing and Cara, the MC, came out and told us it wouldn't be much longer before the Girls would be ready. But she wanted us to really cheer for them. The curtains closed as she was getting us all fired up, and then Jessica's opening line from The Boys started playing. Cara stepped behind the curtain and it started to open at GG.

There they were. The music started and the Girls stepped forward and launched into the dance routine. I lost my mind. They were so close, I could practically reach my hand out and touch them. If the Girls were exhausted, they did their best not to show it and they poured their heart and energy into performing well for us. They all are so much more beautiful in person. They're very photogenic obviously, but it's as if cameras are not equipped to fully capture their radiance.

I was very lucky to be standing where I was because Taeyeon was right in front of me most of the time. Unfortunately Yoona seemed to roll her ankle when they dropped to the floor. She popped up for her rap line gingerly, and she toughed it out there until the end of the song. I have so much love for that girl. For all of them. They went through an exhausting schedule that weekend but they still wanted so badly to show up for us.

I won't go into much detail about what was discussed during the fan meet. Halfway has some great cams she took of the event:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIbga55-X84http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smp0BPJQct8&feature=channel_video_title

When they talked about what we go through as SONEs, staying up late to watch their comeback on music shows and what not, Taeyeon was so touched she was crying. I wanted to give that sweet girl a hug. The crowd started chanting "Don't cry" in Korean as soon as Tiffany mentioned that Taeyeon was crying.

After that segment, they had us bring out our fan signs. Mine was pretty big, I could have held it by myself but my friend Jason was kind enough to help me. I originally unfolded it upside down, and I could see Sunny and Hyoyeon waving their arms to tell me to turn it over. It was adorable. Unfortunately I can't link an unlisted fan cam that got a great shot of the Girls looking at all the fan signs. I could see Seohyun and Sooyoung pointing at it, it also looked like Tiffany pointed it out to Taeyeon. Mine was chosen as one of the winners, Sunny and Hyoyeon came up to the front of the stage and picked it out amongst their favorites. Hyoyeon seemed especially taken by my poster as she leaned forward to get a better look, and I could see her talking with Yoona about it after she sat back down.


The next segment was all about one thing we loved about each Girl. Taeyeon's singing was on the list, but because she was ill, they didn't want to pressure her into singing live. Jessica singing in English was on the list and I was one of the ones screaming for Almost when they asked the crowd what song she should sing. I heard it live at the Seoul concert and it was incredible, but on that stage, a capella, just her and us, it was the most beautiful performance I ever heard. My heart swelled and my tears welled up. Then we all had to laugh as Jessica reached the second line and it seemed like she couldn't tell if she should stop or keep going, and then lost the lyrics anyway. It was adorable.

The brought out Soshified t-shirts for the Girls to sign and throw into the crowd. We all thought it might end badly, but after much insisting from Cara and Tiffany to be careful, it turned out okay. Some people were squished, but I didn't hear of any major injuries. Unfortunately the Girls all seemed to want to really chuck the shirts, which left those of us up front out of luck. Congratulations to everyone who caught one, I hope they all went to good homes.

Throughout the fan meeting I kept flipping between different signs I prepared on my TouchPad. Most of them were variations of one of their names + saranghae written in hangul. Since I knew Taeyeon and Yoona were extremely tired from the MTV Iggy interview, I had also written a sign for each of them that said "himnae " I'm pretty sure Yoona saw it earlier, she gave me a smile and slight wave.

One of my goals was to try and get an ahjumma laugh out of Taeyeon. I flipped to my "Taeyeon Saranghae" sign and tried to get her attention. When she was looking at me, I made the "pabo" face from Gee and stuck my tongue out. I didn't get her to laugh, but she waved adorably at me. It was wonderful. I was standing over to Halfway's right and she caught the moment on her fancam. It must have been fate because Halfway is super Yuri biased and she swung her camera over at that moment because Tiffany was talking.
http://youtu.be/Smp0BPJQct8?t=14m4s

After the Girls' finished with their final messages (Sooyoung's English has gotten so good), WillC came out to start us off singing the chorus for Into The New World. This is my favourite SoShi song and when the Girls started singing along with us, I nearly lost it. My throat got thick and I could hardly sing, but it was the most beautiful, wonderful experience.

I just want to thank Soy especially, but also all of the staffers and volunteers who worked so hard all weekend to make the event such a huge success. This was the first ever fan meeting for SoShi outside of Korea and I think it went really well.

Thanks everyone!

Imperfection, ah yes, you saw the Weekly News Wrap. I might do more later... maybe for the next concert, haha! Gonna be hard to top these though. I'm sure your sister is talented if she's in art school, these drawings weren't very big (8x11 paper).

m4shmall0w, thank you for your kind words. The end of the second fancam was definitely the lowest point of my weekend, hehe. I'm not even sure why the driver opened the door that second time, nobody got in or out that I can remember, unless it was one of the managers.

This would have never been possible without the support of my field trip friends, love you all!

Absolutely awesome! This was right before I got my letter to Seohyun up in the studio! ><

Your drawings blow my dinky letter out of the water~ T.T Great job man! Persistence always pays off~

Your letter was amazing though, Seohyun skipped lunch to read it! These Girls are so wonderful, it's nice to be able to prove our love to them like this from time to time, even though I'm sure they know. And the fact they accept our gifts the way they do and take the time to read our letters shows they love us too.

I LOVE BEING A SONE.

Please bear with me while I lay out a little background.

When SM Town NY was announced I wanted to prepare a gift on the slim chance I could somehow run into the Girls. I decided making something myself would be more special, so I came up with the idea of sketching portraits for them. I didn't know which concept I wanted to do, I was almost going to go with the 1st Japan Album photos. SM town was rapidly approaching and I hadn't yet started to work. Then The Boys comeback was announced and the release date set. When the first teaser picture oif Taeyeon popped up on the Girls' website I knew I had it. This was going to be perfect.

Working at a feverish pace, taking about 3 hours per drawing, I tried to draw each piece within a couple of days of each teaser being released. I fell off the pace towards the end, but this gave me time to formulate presentation of the sketches. I decided on gluing cardstock to an 11x14 photo matte on 3 sides and sliding the drawings into the opening. The Girls' can drop it in a frame if they wish (it would be beyond my wildest dreams if they put these up in the dorm). It turned out amazing, if I do say so myself.

Matted Photos


Gift Box


On the day of the fan meeting we were wandering around Times Square looking for a place to eat. All the restaurants on Times Square were either closed, ridiculously overpriced, or both. We turned down a random street to get further away from the Square when we saw it, the SM Town bus. We had stumbled onto the W, the hotel at which SM was staying! They were loading luggage into a random charter coach bus and there was a crowd of people behind the barriers the hotel had setup. We immediately forgot about eating and camped out to see who was coming. There was one black tour van parked behind the coach, onto which luggage was also being loaded. I did not have my gift with me so I ran back a couple of blocks or so to the line for the fan meeting where I had left it with some other Soshified members with whom I was lined up. I made it back to the hotel just in time for SHINee to come out and get in the black van. I regretted not having my wife's gifts for them. She had to fly back that day for work.

We waited a little while for the van to drive off and it looked like no one else was coming any time soon, so we ate brunch. When we were done, the SM Town bus which had been parked a block away from the hotel was gone but the coach was still being loaded. A few minutes later the SM Town bus came around the block and parked across the street. Teddy Riley came out at some point and people were taking pictures with him and getting autographs. Finally they finished loading the coach and it drove away after Teddy got on and was replaced by the SM Town bus.

One by one we saw the SM artists come out of the hotel; Kangta, Super Junior, f(x) and DBSK. I must have missed BoA because of traffic (at this point we were across the street on the side of the bus with the door. Two black vans pulled up behind the SM bus and we figured those had to be for Soshi.

After the SM bus pulled away, I struck up a conversation with the van drivers. Of course they couldn't tell me where they were going but we were almost sure the Girls would be coming out soon. I joked with one of the drivers about just having him leave my gift in the van but of course he couldn't do that. I showed him the drawing of Taeyeon and he was impressed enough that he said he would talk to the manager and see what he could do.

The way the vans were pointed on the one-way street, the doors were on the street-side. We decided to wait on the far side of the street to have the best chance. It was a risky decision because we would be screwed if traffic came right when the Girls came out. We heard the screaming from the barricade area first. And then, right behind the security vanguard and managers, Sooyoung strode elegantly out from between the parked vehicles. She looked stunning. She was followed by Hyoyeon, Yoona and Sunny who all looked drop dead gorgeous. They all smiled and waved as we held aloft our gifts, but they couldn't make a move to grab them.

This is JessiesBoy's fan cam. My apologies for the language in the background. People there were really excited. (Warning: R-Rated Language)


Traffic started to come again and I was forced back across the street by the oncoming cars. I could see the driver speaking to the manager across the street about my drawings. I was able to lip-read the words, "they're really good" from the driver but manager hyung was stern and said no.

Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Yuri stepped out, beautiful is an inadequate word to describe their radiance. Traffic was still coming and I was blocked from getting across the street. Just when I could safely cross, they were almost in the van. I got there in time to watch Tiffany accept MoonSoshi9's individual letters for the Girls and a dukong, and for Yuri to accept halfway's Minnie Mouse Statue of Liberty. I tried to extend my gift box but I was blocked by one of the managers (you can see me holding it up at 0:16 and me again at 0:35 wondering what to do).

Another JessiesBoy cam. (Warning: R-Rated Langauge)


The Girls got into the van and the door slid shut, possibly on my hopes forever. In vain I pleaded with the managers who were moving around the vans having discussions with each other. I even showed the drawing of Taeyeon to the same manager with whom the driver spoke but it wasn't enough to soften his heart.

Dismayed, I tried to stay on the street-side by Taeyeon, Tiffany, and Yuri's van, alternating between holding up my box and making hearts over my head with my arms. Eventually, one of the managers motioned for us to get back on the sidewalk. When I made it to the sidewalk, something was happening at YulTaeNy's van and I think I heard someone say the door had opened. I sprinted around the back to the street-side of the van. I held my gift out in both hands and bowed deeply. When I picked my head up, Yuri was leaning forward, holding her hand out to take my gift. A true sweetheart, kind and caring. The driver started to close the door but I managed to successfully pass the box off to Yuri. She didn't have to make the effort to accept my gift but she did anyway, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

Once I had successfully handed off my gift, I stayed on the street a while longer grinning like an idiot, waving and making hearts over my head. At some point the door opened again and Yuri and Taeyeon moved to the middle seat with Tiffany. In the following fan cam, you can barely see Yuri holding the box. In the first frame you can see pink on the box under her arm and I'm pretty sure that's the cover I made so it looks like she already opened the gift.

JessiesBoy cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sgo8CR_HWtM
Halfway cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3yGo_LR8yM

When I finally walked back to the sidewalk I could hear people start to shout excitedly, "They're looking at them!" meaning the drawings. Then everyone started pointing at me yelling, "He drew them." Someone said they were holding the pictures up for the camera and Taeyeon was holding her portrait. I was too stunned to say anything at this point. I could do nothing stand there with a huge smile on my face. While I couldn't see through the tinted windows, just knowing they were in there looking at my drawings was more than I could have ever hoped for.

Sadly, word reached us that they were beginning to stamp hands for entry into the theater in order to prove that you had been in line at that point. We had to run back to our spot in line, but not before I took a few steps away from the van and dropped to my knees ecstatic with the knowledge they had not only received my gift but were looking at the drawings right in front of me.

Later that afternoon, after the Girls had arrived at MTV Iggy, I was wandering around Times Square with sungx418 looking at the long line to get into Best Buy theater when I ran into the van drivers again. I thanked the driver who talked to the manager for me even though it didn't help. He was the driver of the other van holding Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Sunny and Yoona. He told me was describing the drawings to the Girls and how good he thought they were. Apparently one of the Girls wanted to see them and the driver said he was given permission to take the gift from me to give to them. I'm very happy I was able to deliver the gift myself though. Everything worked out perfectly in the end.

[EDIT: Added a great cam by Halfway that shows Yuri holding my box with the drawings and the cover on the outside, plus the Minnie Mouse she gave her. You can also see Taeyeon waving the dukong Moonsoshi9 gave and at one point the letters that he wrote.]

Wow, the Girls have been busy and so have our wonderful translators. Thank you so much!!

I love being part of such an amazing fansite. Each year you really step up your game. We want to show our love to the Girls year-round, but anniversary time is really special and I love what we do here each and every year.

Nice job!! You guys are so lucky, I bet that was awesome! It's great when we can show the Girls how much we love them all the way around the world.