Welcome to the twelfth edition of Soshified Spotlight. We’ve now officially been around for a full year. Hard to believe, isn’t it, considering how many people actually read this. But I digress. Anyway, for the big red notification that I really wish I didn’t have to include each month, but because some people unfortunately are still ignorant, here we go:

Just like every other month, we’re once again highlighting a regular member in Part 1, and a Soshified staff member in Part 2.

This month, we’re featuring yoong900530 in Part 1, and miss mirror monster in Part 2, which you can read here. yoong900530, or Zayra Louise, is a Filipino who is currently working and studying in South Korea. Like most of us, a lot of her free time is spent on Girls’ Generation, as well as Asian dramas. Zayra Louise can be considered a tomboy as well, having grown up with a lot of boys in her family. However, because of Girls’ Generation, she has left them for the time being to pursue her studies and her dreams in South Korea. She credits Girls’ Generation for teaching her a lot of values and inspiring her to be a better person, as well as making her life better overall.

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What is your first name?

– Zayra Louise, but I you can call me Zayra, Yra, or either Louise

How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?

– I found out about Soshified 1~2 weeks after knowing SNSD, so that was around January 2010. I got tired surfing YouTube searching SNSD videos, so I decided to find any sites related to SNSD to find more about them, I googled SNSD websites (i have a nature to search websites about the things/people that amuses me.). Soshified.com was second or third on the list so I decided to check it out. I was a pretty cool website to be honest (the white colored theme, i think that’s Genie themed layout.). I tried to explore soshified but there are some private forums so I can’t go and check it out. That’s when I decided to joined soshified, so I’ve been a member for 2 years already.

How did you come up with your screen name?

– My first screen name was ‘yraLouise’, a combination of my name, my mom doesn’t know I’m using this *almost* name so she will not have an idea that it was me because she’ll asked me questions why am I using that name. Then I switched to another 2 more screen names (`zay.ki.loves.SNSD~ and yoong900530) and now I end up with ‘yoong900530’ (my screen name is too obvious about my bias member), but I decided to change it to ‘YraKkuma’ last week and I hope my new username will be approve soon.

I take it the “900530” comes from the nine girls and Yoona’s birthday? What do the two zeroes in the middle represent?

– Actually, 900530 signifies Yoona’s birthday, May 30, 1990. So Yoona biased. And since you mentioned that the 9 signifies the girls, I think i’ll just signify it the way you did. (Editor’s note: I should’ve known that.)

What would “YraKkuma” signify?

– YraKkuma, just a random combination of my nickname, Yra and Yoona’s fave stuff toy, Rilakkuma. And I’ve been using this username in twitter since Yoona declared her love for Rillakkuma before. And being a delusional Yoona fangirl, there are times when I wish I was Rilakkuma. Hahaha. Just a random delusional wish.

Why the screenname change?

– So that people will know that the person in soshified and twitter are one? I don’t really know. Maybe this screenname became connected in my life in some way. I actually wanted my first screenname, but the Yoona declared her love for Rillakkuma so yeah.

Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country for both)?

– I’m was born and raise in the Philippines, but now I’m residing in Geochang, South Korea (sounds familiar? hometown of one of the Dangerous Boys, Huihoon) since last year.

If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?

– I haven’t been around Geochang because of school and work so I don’t know any good place around here and I’m a dormitory person, except for the good samgyupsal restaurant nearby. I really like it but I don’t know about the other people’s opinion since we have different taste when it comes to Korean food. We can also go to 수승대 (Suseungdae), it’s a famous place here for snow skiing and swimming. And I forgot to mention, Geochang has also the best apples in South Korea. Their apples are so big and tasty.

Suseungdae

Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?

– My life is about school, work and SoShi. I’m an exchange student from the Philippines and I work as an English Tutor in our college, details are kinda confidential so I won’t talk about it that much. I was a 2nd year college student taking up BS in Psychology back in the Philippines but after flying to Korea I stopped so that I can study Korean Language for the whole year. I’ll take a Korean Language test this month so that I can enter the college, I’m planing to take up Social Welfare since Psychology is not available in our college.

I spend my free time on my bed, in short I’m a lazy bum. I do have work but I have different schedules everyday, so my free time also varies. During my free time, I sleep or just surf the net and spazz about SNSD the whole day, or if I’m in the mood, me and my friends visit downtown for a while to kill time but not these days, it’s winter and the weather is killing me. If i’m not spazzing about SNSD, I visit9gag.com, watch Korean or Japanese dramas or sleep. I also love saving fansite pictures, I’ve posted some compilations in the photo section, mostly 2011 photo compilations.

What about Korea made you decide to uproot yourself and start school over there, especially when you were in the middle of a college program already?

– I didn’t knew that our school have this program about Korea, but then one of my friends told me that she studied in our school because of this. So during my 1st year in college we just applied for fun, we didn’t got choose because there’s some problem about it so we just let it slide. Then during the 2nd semester I got into kpop, actually only Girls’ Generation. That’s when South Korea made a sense. Then when I was in 2nd year, my friend asked me again if I want to go apply again, I asked my parents and they said okay so I applied. I didn’t even know that I will make it since I heard there are a lot of applicants and it costs a lot too so I almost pulled out my application but there’s a part of me that I want to see the girls so badly that’s why I told myself that I will go for it. Being in the middle of my college life not that important for me, I just want to try new things and I will still graduate college no matter what happens, the only difference now is that I will also get a diploma from a college here in Korea.

What’s the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?

– I don’t know any interesting thing about me. But people here find me interesting because the people here who got to know me are shocked or either amazed that I’am a SNSD fan. They say I’m a girl, I’m supposed to like boy groups and stuffs like that. I don’t usually show to people I’m an SNSD fan unless you explore my phone or go in my room then you’ll know it. There was one incident when the Korean students went to our room and they were surprised to see SNSD posters in my bed, table and closet.

And about the interesting thing that has ever happened was knowing SNSD, because if it wasn’t for them maybe I’m still living in the Philippines stuck in school, no laptop, no twitter friends, no Int’l S♥NE friends, no work and no money.

For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?

– I’m a shy type but always the one who starts the conversation, once I know that we have same interest I’ll talk a lot. I’m a very talkative person, a little bossy (only on the times when I really need to be bossy). I also have a very loud voice, it’s like I swallow an amplifier a few days ago. Some people think I’m a quite person or either a stubborn one. I have a tendency to like and dislike things or people on the first place, like I won’t eat that food if I don’t like it’s appearance or smell or i’ll not befriend with you because I feel your aura is not that good. I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad one. But I can be your secret box, I can also be someone you can count on if you have problems. I treat my friends like they’re the most important thing, I’ll think about them rather than myself.

Tell us some things that most people don’t know about you that you think they should.

– Aside from from being a S♥NE, I was once a basketball player in college. I’m the tallest player back then (same height as Yoona) so they always put in under the death of being smashed by the biggest player of the other team. People don’t usually believe it since my body is too thin to play basketball. Like Yoona and Sooyoung, I’m a shikshin yet I don’t gain weight. Basketball has been my interest since childhood, I have 3 brothers so i always play boys’ game, never played with any toys related to girl stuffs. That’s when people thought I’m not straight (only for soshi) since 99% of our team are lesbians, I’m the only straight one.. I’m just boyish, having 8 boy cousins and 3 brother will make you one, trust me.

Is there anything big in your life that you’re working on? (This can be related to school, career, hobbies, family, friends, etc.)

– I need to have a good grades (means straight A+s) next semester and a good record on work so that I can watch SNSD’s concert this year, if ever they do have. I’m also planing to save money to buy a smartphone or iphone.

What are your interests outside of Girls’ Generation?

– Outside Girls’ Generation? It’s a pretty hard question. My interest has been focus in Girls’ Generation for the past 2 years. But for a lower level of interest outside SNSD, I think I do have. I like watching Korean and Japanese dramas randomly, I do like anime. I also like some kpop groups like F(X), SHINee, INFINITE to name some, I like AKB48 too but I only know maybe 10 members.

How did you first become a fan of Girls’ Generation?

– A cool question. So I was listening to random kpop songs (i don’t know the titles, just listening)around late of December 2009. I’ve already known 2ne1 and WG that time. So yeah, I was typing Park Bom’s ‘You and I’ in MS Word (I was a fangirl of Bom that time) then a random song played, some children singing a song so cutely (been listening to that song a few times before but never caught my attention until that time) which happens to be ‘My Child’. I stopped and searched the singer and song in my playlist, “My Child” by Girls’ Generation. I compiled all their songs, only to know I have Gee and Genie full album in my playlist. After that I try to searched everything that I can researched about them, from names to birthdays, MVs, albums and more. I watched all of their MVs, after that I watch their funny moments, a big thanks to ‘aienbest’ for the videos. And the most unbelievable part, I’ve watched ‘Genie’ MV 2 months before researching about them and I didn’t even give a single care about them that day.

Anyway, I got those Kpop songs from my friend, so a big thank you for her too. I was a simple Bieber fan back then… and during that time, I almost saw SHINee in front of my eyes, since they visited Philippines before. My friend works in the place where they performed and asked me to go there to watch but I have class so I said no. One of the biggest mistake I’ve made that year.

Who is your favorite member and why?

– Yoona (even my family can answer this). Why? because she looks perfect in my eyes. She’s the member who caught my attention, Sorry Sorry perf in MuCore should take the blame. I love everything about her, she’s one of the best person I’ve known in my whole life. She’s been through a lot and I admire her strength to stay strong and put a smile on her face even if she has problems. Yes, she’s strong but she’s too fragile. She works hard so that she can show people what she can do, she not the type who works hard to let people see her as the best but she’s the one who works hard just to show people that she’s something (antis criticize her by saying she’s nothing). She knows her weakness so she works hard to improve it. She’s a very loving person to the people around her. She always shows the real her in every way she could but people think that she’s faking it. She’s doing it not to impress people but to let them know the real Yoona. This is why she’s my favorite member, don’t worry I do love all 9.

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation song and MV and why?

– I’d say ‘Genie’ and ‘ITNW’. ITNW has that cute/simple/special feeling and Genie has the sexy/cute aura, and Genie is the first MV i’ve seen. If you’ll include non-official MVs, I’d choose ‘Way To Go!’ over the two, that MV shows a lot of things about Soshi, it’s hard to explain about that ‘things’ i’m talking about.

but all in all, i love all Girls’ Generation MVs.

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation moment and why?

– All hugging moments and the ‘지금은 소녀시대’ moments, who will not love those moments. Those hugging moments shows a lot of emotions, it also shows the achievements they made since debut starting from trainee days till now. And the ‘지금은 소녀시대’ moments, I feel like a proud momma every time they do this chant. It shows the love between SNSD and S♥NES. Telling us that whatever, wherever, whenever it’s always “Right Now ! It’s Girls’ Generation”. I also love their moments in variety shows and reality shows. My favorite were GGTS, Hello Baby and Dangerous Boys for reality shows and Win Win and Intimate Note for variety shows. The moments being created randomly during those shows are the best. It shows the dorky, emotional, funny, serious sides of the girls.

How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?

– They have impacted my whole life, BIG TIME, because of them, I became a happier person. Also, I’m not the one who makes simple things sentimental, but because of them I learned to have a collection of sentimental things. I learned to cherish friendship, family, work and school. It’s funny how they make me happy by just seeing them smiling, I guess those happy moments in my life shows how they affected my life in a good way.

How did the girls make you more sentimental and cherish the things you listed?

– The sentimental things are the merchandises I bought, it’s so sentimental/important to me. The album’s plastic cover, it’s still alive. I don’t know but I don’t want to remove it I also learned to take care of the things that mean to me.

About the other things, let’s just say I have the same perspective with the girls. I’m living away from my family and friends, I’m working and studying at the same time too just like them.

What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?

– The thing that I like about Soshified is that it’s a very solemn place for each and every S♥NE in this world. Soshified became a bridge to make friends from different countries who has same interest. Soshified also makes the girls proud of us by doing charity works. It’s one place where all members’ hearts beats for the same passion, the girls. Soshified also provides us a lot of things like subbed videos, and photos. In soshified, I love exploring projects area, seeing every projects successful makes me happy. I also love fanfic and pairing section, add SSF radio too, one of the silent listeners of the radio.

Is there anything else about you that you would like to add?

– I would like to thank Soshified including me in Soshified Spotlight. I hope in the future we can make more successful projects together and more power to Soshified. And by the way February marks Soshified’s 4th Anniversary right? Happy 4th Anniversary to us ~ FIGHTING SOSHIFIED.

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Huge thanks goes out to Zayra Louise for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement.

You can also read past Soshified Spotlights by clicking on the “Soshified Spotlight” tag below.

Stay tuned for Part 2, which is here.

Compiled by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Image courtesy of: yoong900530@soshified
Graphic by: cioco@soshified

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