They say in life it’s the journey that matters, not the destination. What you learn along the way and how you change is what is most important. In a touching message for her 22nd birthday, Sooyoung referred to being a fan of Girls’ Generation as going for a ride on the “Soshi Express”, a journey being taken by more and more people every day. This is the story of how I boarded that train and became a SONE.
In the Fall of 2010, I was pretty big into playing Starcraft 2. I watched videos of the pros playing on YouTube and was getting excited for the first Korean pro tournament, the Global Starcraft League. I didn’t know much about Korea, but I was aware of the near-national-sport status Starcraft held there, so I wanted to see the start of the pro Starcraft 2 scene.
I tuned in, and before the tournament started, some music videos were being shown. “What the heck is this?” I said as I watched I don’t know how many identical girls doing some kind of arrow-shooting dance. I was confused. Why were there so many of them? Who is that girl with the big gorgeous eyes in the elevator? People watching the tournament on TeamLiquid.net (the main community for Starcraft) told me, “Oh that’s Girls’ Generation. They are huge.”
Then another video played, showing some cutesy girl playing around with a giant marshmallow. It turned out that cutesy girl was IU, and she was the announcer for the players in the tournament. People were telling me that she had an incredible voice, so over the next few days I started checking out who this IU person was on YouTube.
I saw the video above and was immediately hooked. She had such a great voice, and she played the guitar. Even that goofy MC was smitten. It was perfect. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying, but I wanted to hear more. It wasn’t until much later that I found out these songs were all covers.
At the same time, I kept seeing that “Hoot” music video before the GSL. It was growing in my brain like a virus, that arrow dance replaying over and over. It was so catchy. How can choreography of all things be addicting? To YouTube! I kept replaying that music video over and over because I needed to figure out who was who. I found out the girl with the big eyes was called Sooyoung first. Then there was this ridiculously pretty girl with the white fluffy hat, Seohyun. But I kept mistaking this other one, Yoona she was called, for that Seohyun girl. Were they sisters? Then there was one, the one with the voice. Wow she could sing. A friendly YouTube commenter pointed out that that particular member was Taeyeon.
I guess they do this stuff live too, huh? I was in awe with this video. Their outfits, their dancing, their singing, everything was so in sync, something I hadn’t really ever seen before. I couldn’t get enough of Taeyeon though. I needed to find out more.
I discovered these two videos and must have replayed them hundreds of times. She was beautiful, and her pristine voice captivated me. It was also my first exposure to some of Taeyeon’s off-stage personality, including her legendary ahjumma laugh that I would continue to find so endearing. Kangin’s genuine adoration of Taeyeon and how he was almost speechless that she just sang so beautifully with no preparation mirrored my own reaction. This girl was something special.
Apart from the few Taeyeon videos and “Hoot”, I was still watching almost nothing but IU. And then something happened. I was watching that acoustic IU video from “Sketchbook” where she played that “Gee” song. I had always thought it was quite good, but one day, months after I had first seen it, someone said to me, “Hey, you know that’s Girls’ Generation’s song right?” Brain explosion. I immediately YouTubed “Girls’ Generation – Gee”. My God…I watched it, and to be honest, right after the video ended I kind of just sat there blankly staring at the screen, like “that was very different from that acoustic ‘Gee’ song I’ve been listening to…” But then I played it again. And then a few more times. And the next day I was humming the melody to myself all day long. I started looking up more of their songs: “Run Devil Run”, “Into The New World”, “Girls’ Generation”, “Kissing You”. They were all so good. These girls were awesome.
But then…I found “Genie”. The legs. The song. The Seohyun popping out of the cake. It. Was. Glorious. These incredibly gorgeous marine girls were marching their way into my life, and I was powerless to stop them. When Tiffany said to “put it back on”, I respectfully obliged and pressed the replay button.
At this point I stumbled on clips from television shows these girls appeared on, compilations of cute and funny moments that introduced me to this brand new concept called “aegyo”. I would watch clips of that Sunny girl acting ridiculously cute, and for some instinctual reason, it made me laugh and smile. I think men are pre-programmed to enjoy this.
I noticed these videos all had these pink subtitles in them: Soshisubs from some website called Soshified.com. Like finding an oasis in the desert, I registered and was met with more Girls’ Generation content than I could believe: pictures and videos everywhere. A lot of the clips I had seen were from a show called “Hello Baby”, so I started to watch the series from the first episode. I don’t even like babies, but those nine girls were so entertaining I couldn’t help but enjoy it. Yoona and Yuri, whom I still thought were the same person, seemed like the best of friends, and I immediately latched onto their hilariously tragic story of bonding over not getting to hold the baby. Poor Tiffany had such a big heart but no way to show it. Jessica’s strange fear of cucumbers made me laugh. It was such an interesting show. I enjoyed these girls, but not really much more than as entertainment and good music. That all changed when I finished the next show of theirs I watched, “Girls Go to School”.
If there is one thing every SONE needs to see, it is “Girls Go to School”. After their “School of Rock” performance in the heat, with the girls all sweaty and exhausted but exhilarated nonetheless, Jessica collapsed in a heap, so tired from literally giving everything she had on stage. It was at that moment that I became more than just a casual observer. It was at that moment I became a fan of Girls’ Generation.
It was around this time that I realized I was getting more and more into Korean culture in general and not just the music. Girls’ Generation had opened a door into a world I didn’t even know existed. I had always thought of myself as fairly open-minded, but as I watched more and more Korean TV, I realized the only thing I had actually known about the country was that my Great-Aunt fought in the Korean War and Samsung and Hyundai were Korean. I acquired Rosetta Stone Korean and began teaching myself the language, doing the lessons for about an hour a day. I learned how to cook a few Korean dishes. The first Korean food I ever ate was bibimbap that I made for myself (I later had it in a Korean restaurant, and I did a pretty good job for my first try!). I even took a crack at naengmyun after hearing Jessica loved it, and it’s now my favorite Korean dish.
One of the major reasons for my newfound interest in Korea was “Invincible Youth”. Korean variety shows are so different from American TV, and I was fascinated by them. I loved how the idols actually worked on the farm. I loved how they bonded with each other. Because of G7, I started listening to so many other artists. I found T-ara’s incredible “Absolute First Album” because of Hyomin. I started liking Secret, Kara, Brown Eyed Girls, all of them. I went from Girls’ Generation and IU to all current K-Pop artists because of that one show. However, Girls’ Generation was too special to be dethroned from being my favorite. The moment Yuri and Sunny left “Invincible Youth” was legitimately sad. From Sunny holding back her tears until the show wrapped but then breaking down at the very end, to Wanggu saying goodbye to Yuri as she wept, everything was so emotional because something truly special had been created with those girls and that village.
I wanted to go to Korea. I needed to see this place with my own eyes. I wanted to be engulfed by the language and the food and hearing Korean music as I walked the streets. There was a K-Pop contest for Americans, held in Los Angeles by the Korean Cultural Center in partnership with KBS World. Audition for a chance to be in the finals and perform on stage for a television show. The grand prize: a plane ticket to Korea and a seat in the audience at “Music Bank”. I was a rather shy person. Could I do it? Could I actually get on a stage in front of hundreds of people? I created an acoustic arrangement of “Into The New World”, a song fitting for my quest to go East, and auditioned. I made it to the finals, got into my car, and drove to LA. All the other contestants sang to back tracks, but I got up on that stage with nothing but my guitar. The MC asked who my favorite member of Girls’ Generation was. “Sunny, because she can catch chickens.” The crowd laughed. I was nervous, but I tried my best. Afterwards some audience members came up to me and said they really enjoyed my version of the song. I didn’t win, but as I drove home, I thought to myself, “What if the plane ticket wasn’t the real prize?” Because of Girls’ Generation, I gathered the courage to sing and play the guitar in front of a theater full of people, something I could not have done before. Something in me had changed. No longer was I afraid of the unknown. When I got home, I took a leap of faith and signed up for the Soshified field trip to Korea.
The Soshified trip to Korea was one of those rare life-changing experiences. Meeting SONEs was amazing. Seeing Girls’ Generation live was amazing. I went to Korea as a stranger to everyone but came away with friends whom I still speak to every day. I had thought I loved Girls’ Generation before, but seeing them in person raised the bar. You think you love them, but then you see Tiffany point directly at you and wink, and everything else that exists in the world just disappears. You think you love them, but then you see Sooyoung look you dead in the eye and say in English, “Thank you for coming”, and you realize that you might not know just how much you actually love these girls. When they lined up for “Into The New World” and everyone started singing along, I was in a moment of the most pure form of happiness. I was watching the personification of my own journey into a new world. I returned from Korea knowing that I would support these nine girls as long as I possibly could.
Since then I have become a writer for Soshified in order to contribute to the fandom that had given me so much. Because of Soshified, I was able to have one of the most important experiences of my entire life, and I had to give back. Through Girls’ Generation I have been able rekindle my love of writing that I had long since abandoned.
I’ve been to SM Town NYC and got to see the girls up close at the fanmeet. I went back to NYC and got to support the girls at “Live With Kelly” for their American debut and met the members (minus Jessica unfortunately) at the fansigning.
Through all of this, as amazing as meeting Girls’ Generation is, the fact that I could share all these incredible times with friends I met in Korea was even more special. SONEs are a large family, sometimes dysfunctional, but a family nonetheless. People on the outside looking in won’t understand, but when you see Tiffany taking pictures of the fans taking pictures of her, you know that there is a special bond between SONEs and Girls’ Generation, a bond that transcends languages and borders.
All of these experiences have in some way made me a better person than I was before I knew about Girls’ Generation. I might be much poorer from spending so much money, but I am undoubtedly richer for having experienced it all. SMTown LA has just been announced. It’s another opportunity to see the girls, another opportunity be with SONEs, and another opportunity to experience something new. It’s the next stop on the Soshi Express, and there’s no getting off this train. See you all in California and wherever else this journey takes me.
Disclaimer: Views expressed are solely those of the author and are not representative of the Soshified community as a whole
Written by: MoonSoshi9@soshified
Edited by: bhost909@soshified, residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Photos and Videos by: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], Mnet, KBS, typ@soshifed, jessture.net, SM Entertainment
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What an awesome experience, very touching. Hands down!
Before i read this article, i never thought that those 9 angels is so “real”, damn “real”!
thank you for your wonderful sharing, now i realize i am not alone :P and i wish our soshi will always become our good experience now and in the future!
Thanks MoonSoshi for elaborating on your experiences. I’m sure most of the guys here can relate. Only instead of Hoot is was Oh! that opened this hidden door to a world of greatness. Also, Girls’ Generation helped to fill a void in my free time left by me getting rid of my video games. The semester that I discovered SNSD and Kpop, I got a 4.0 GPA. They motivated me, and I couldn’t see myself slowing down. If it weren’t for SNSD singing and dancing its way into my life through YouTube, I wouldn’t have come across this community of fans from which I’ve made real friends.
Also, “I Have a Lover” was pretty much why Taeyeon was my first bias. Kudos for putting that in your editorial :)
I’m a guy and I legitimately cried reading your article.
Manly tears. :'(
I’m so glad that you’ve became a better person by knowing Girls Generation and helping you come out and be more assertive.
Thanks for making such a wonderful article and contributing to this AMAZING fandom we call SONEs!!
GOD BLESS!
Gosh, you really wrote your story so beautifully,.
I can’t hold my tears from saw them although I just can saw them from my computer screen,.
They’re my spirit everyday,. :)
I hope someday I can meet them in live, so I can feel what others SONEs felt when they saw them with their own eyes,. ^,^
woow O_O your story is really amazing and congratulations on being able to perform in front of many. that confidence is indeed a prize. xD i wish my story could be interesting :P
WOW, yours artivle is very long. I am usually very lazy but once I read, it’s such an amazing article. You have such a remarkable experience. I won’t say long since you done all the writing. But I fell in love with SNSD thru their Bonding with each other, How they are so normal although they are idols, how they are so funny and cute. A girlgroup that live together in a dorm and was trained for 5 years? Where can you find? Only happens in Korea. Sure SNSD have not just introduce me their music but K-pop, and the whole Korean culture. Now I think that I know more about Korean culture and Korea than my own country.
Wow, you’ve experienced one incredible journey. :) It’s unique that you slowly made your way into Girls’ Generation thru starcraft and IU. I agree a lot about IY. It opened a lot of doors for me and introduced me to a lot of other groups. I enjoyed reading your article and I hope Soshified organizes another field trip so I can join. :)
Wow I can totally relate to everything you said. Your experience made me think of mine.
Actually I had only known of korean dramas so thats what used to keep me occupied. However, I heard my friends talking about taeyang’s wedding dress and they said they said they loved that song. So I went home and searched it on YouTube. After the video, I saw run devil run on the side and decided to check it out. That song seriously captivated me. It is the first Soshi song I have ever listened to so it will always be special to me. I started reading the comments to figure out who was who and the first member I could recognize was taeyeon. She instantly became my favorite member for her singing abilities and because I just thought she was so gorgeous and charismatic. I remember getting extremely confused with seobaby, young, and yul. I thought they were triplets. After RDR I came across oh and instantly fell in love with that song, partly because the video has so much pink and I love pink haha. The third song I heard was gee and after that I slowly started watching videos of all their other songs. They were all so amazing! After that I came across hello baby and boy was I addicted. I then found soshified and my obsessiveness heightened. I also completely got taken into the Kpop scene after watching invincible youth. That show will always remain special to me because it introduced me to so many unfamiliar things that I now surround myself with daily.
Kara and 2ne1 are two of my other favorite groups but no one has anything on girls generation. I will always be a sone first and foremost no matter what. They are my role models and although I have come to love all the girls, taeyeon will remain my bias because she started my Soshi craze. I have turned my brother into a sone as well and my parents also kind of like them now. People on the outside truly never will understand this fandom; only a true sone will understand another one.
Whoops seems like I accidentally submitted my message three times, sorry!
Wow I can totally relate to everything you said. Your experience made me think of mine.
Actually I had only known of korean dramas so thats what used to keep me occupied. However, I heard my friends talking about taeyang’s wedding dress and they said they said they loved that song. So I went home and searched it on YouTube. After the video, I saw run devil run on the side and decided to check it out. That song seriously captivated me. It is the first Soshi song I have ever listened to so it will always be special to me. I started reading the comments to figure out who was who and the first member I could recognize was taeyeon. She instantly became my favorite member for her singing abilities and because I just thought she was so gorgeous and charismatic. I remember getting extremely confused with seobaby, young, and yul. I thought they were triplets. After RDR I came across oh and instantly fell in love with that song, partly because the video has so much pink and I love pink haha. The third song I heard was gee and after that I slowly started watching videos of all their other songs. They were all so amazing! After that I came across hello baby and boy was I addicted. I then found soshified and my obsessiveness heightened. I also completely got taken into the Koop scene after watching invincible youth. That show will always remain special to me because it introduced me to so many unfamiliar things that I now surround myself with daily. Kara and 2ne1 are two other favorite groups but everyone just doent
Wow I can totally relate to everything you said. Your experience made me think of mine.
Actually I had only known of korean dramas so thats what used to keep me occupied. However, I heard my friends talking about taeyang’s wedding dress and they said they said they loved that song. So I went home and searched it on YouTube. After the video, I saw run devil run on the side and decided to check it out. That song seriously captivated me. It is the first Soshi song I have ever listened to so it will always be special to me. I started reading the comments to figure out who was who and the first member I could recognize was taeyeon. She instantly became my favorite member for her singing abilities and because I just thought she was so gorgeous and charismatic. I remember getting extremely confused with seobaby, young, and yul. I thought they were triplets. After RDR I came across oh and instantly fell in love with that song, partly because the video has so much pink and I love pink haha. The third song I heard was gee and after that I slowly started watching videos of all their oth songs. They were
I can totally relate to this. Before I’m into Korean dramas only but when I saw Genie on a local music show, it opened a whole new world for me. It became a virus. It’s not like there’s no cure for this addiction but it’s just that I don’t want to stop my addiction to So Nyu Shi Dae. It became so contagious that even my 4-year old boy neighbor started to memorized the steps and the song and even proclaiming that Sooyoung is his girlfriend. It’s one of the best thing that happened to me. I can’t stand a day without listening to their songs.. Finding about Soshified.com is really like “finding an oasis in the desert” cause like an oasis Soshified.com really gives that joy, hope and fulfillment that a fan could ever ask for (except for meeting the girls live in person, but that’s A LIFELONG DREAM). Thank you for writing this article. This really voiced out the fans’ feelings about being a Soshi. It is indeed a ride that I’m willing to take and not planning to stop.
“Like finding an oasis in the desert” lol that’s exactly how I felt when I found SSF, great article!! I feel so identified. You are right about this, once you get the soshi virus, there’s no cure :D
at first i didn’t even like snsd…i’m more to male idols…u know :) then my friend.. a sone show me a few clips of snsd.. then i started to look more of their videos… like Horror movie factory, hello baby and many more…after just 1 week.. i realized that i’m hooked to them..totally fall for their charms.. there is something about the girls that just grab my heart..maybe their personalities? got no word to describe..i just happened to like them..
almost 3 years now since i started becoming a sone..and always will be…
but, sometimes when i go through youtube videos, i can’t help to notice there are lots of antis videos.. as a sone i do feel sad though…
OMG I was so touched :’)
I love the way you write. Jeongmal!
Every time I read this type of articles I cry. I just can’t help it.
Soshi Family FTW ♥
Thanks for posting this article. :) I’m forever a SONE!!! This makes me love the girls even more now. I’ve liked other girl groups in past such as The Spice Girls. They were the first girl group I fell in love with back when I was 12 years old and I remained a fan until they disbanded 5 years later. Over 10 years later, I really liked the (Making The Band 3) R&B girl group Danity Kane. I liked them because they were all lead singers unlike most girl groups that I knew of. Unfortunately 3 years after Danity Kane became a group, they broke up and then I stopped supporting girl groups after that. I could never get into the Pussy Cat Dolls, Dream, Girls Aloud, and All Saints. They didn’t stand out to me AT ALL.
I got into K Pop music because of BoA in 2009 and I’m still a fan of hers to this day. If it wasn’t for her, I’m not sure if I would have been a Girls Generation fan to begin with. I remember on the USA Billboard website billboard.com they had a new K Pop music chart section. There was a article I was reading and it just so happened to be about Girls Generation. I’m not sure what it was that made me read the article and then watch “The Boys” music video in the first place. I wanted to see who these girls were and what they were about. Once I watched/listened to “The Boys”, I became really hooked to that song! That was the beginning of my love for the Girls Generation! Out of no where, I started looking for more Girls Generation music videos and fell in love with their songs! It kind of took me a while to get all of their names right because there’s so many girls (I know all their names now!) Seeing 9 girls dance like the Rockettes was nothing that I’ve ever seen before in my life! Usually most girl groups have one lead singer and the rest are backup singers. Plus you always have at least one girl who is a just an okay dancer, but is a better singer. Girls Generation is so different…from their songs to their dance moves I’ve become a big fan! I want to see them live so bad…hopefully one day that will happen. I watch their Japan 2011 concert all the time and always feel like I’m there with the rest of fans. :) What’s cool now is that my younger cousin who didn’t know who Girls Generation were likes them now because I showed her some of their music videos on Youtube. I feel proud to spread my love for Girls Generation to another family member. I love all you sones…we’re a family. :) From the USA to around the world!
Oh hey, a fellow SC2-er, what up bro :D if I ever make it to MLG or GSL and win, i’d totally make a S♥NE pylon-formation before leaving the game :P
oww, such a great article! i love sone stories… u are so lucky! all what u have done, i see it as a far far away possibility for me… im sad but… thankfull! :’)
At first, i hate K pop, i don’t understand what are they saying and the meaning of subtitles.
two of the first songs i saw was Sorry Sorry and Nobody, and later on, Genie.
Next is “Oh”, at that time i’m curious about Girls’ Generation as they hit number one on The Philippines no. one Music Channel, “MYX”.
And after “Oh”, their repackaged album “Run Devil Run” came in our television. I became more interested in them, because of their Exotic beauty and singing and dancing skills. But not good enough to beat Justin Bieber’s “Baby” in Music Charts here in Philippines, so they stuck up in number two.
Like dotty_pig, “Run Devil Run” was the song that make me like Girls Generation, and the first song that introduced me into the K pop scene.
Proud To Be A SONE ♥♥♥
Thank you so much for your article. Girls’ generation really has their own ways of attracting us to them just like magic. My life was so extraordinary than before I knew them, and there wasn’t a day that I didn’t think about them. I really envy you since a haven’t met the girls yet but i know someday i will. And everyday I try to get someone into this life by introducing the girls to them. So proud to be a sone. =)
Aw, great article! I love how you felt that change after you got more and more into Girls’ Generation. I can agree to that; I have become a much happier, open-minded, optimistic, cheerful person because of Girls’ Generation. And I definitely want to learn Korean and learn everything about the country that gave us SNSD! Thanks for sharing your experience! I really enjoyed it! :)
Run devil run was the song that got me liking SNSD :)
Great..great ..great article Jon.
Thank you very much, I have dust in my eyes…..
A really nice read, took me back too and made me think about my own boarding on the SoShi Express.
I nearly had the same experience but instead of SC2, it was on a IT related website that I stumbled on the girls.
As I kept browsing the website, I found an article regarding the new intel processors (bam.. babababam~), so here I am, reading the piece of text but something caught my eye at the end of the page. A video. I told myself “Oh well, might as well watch it since I’m bored at work and all”. Clickity clic, here comes Visual Dreams. At first, since I was watching asian girls, I assumed it would be a japanese song. Since I had an history of anime and manga, I can obviously tell if the song is in Japanese or not…
Song not in Japanese : check.
Hell, just what kind of language am I listening to ? Wait, the song is rather catchy, I think I like it, woah, the blondie girl is ridiculously cute, the one with the short hair too. Hmm, ok, this needs further investigation.
So that pretty much was my first reaction when I first came in contact with the girls, after that, I started to look for more songs, thanks to YouTube related suggestions, I came across Run Devil Run, Gee, Into the New World, Hoot, Genie… Dear God Genie. I also found old videos of the girls performing on different songs and doing some awesome choreo. God knows how much I’m a sucker for well executed choreos. My YouTube quest was quite fruitful as I spent minutes, then hours browsing multiple videos. Their Win Win episode, their dance battle with After School, Horror Movie Factory, bits of Hello Baby (personnal note, must get those asap) and so on. Deep down, I knew I was in for a new ride.
My craving started to take another dimension, so I tried to get some more info, add the fact that I was starting to get frustrated not to know the name of the different girls. I had to fix that, so I started to browse the common site to gather info quickly : wikipedia. So now I knew the name, next step, attach the right name with the right girl ! Onto google ! While doing my own education, I found an awful lot of link redirecting to this website, what was it again ? Ah, Soshified.
That’s when I registered to the forums, it was just the board back then. First thing I did, go to the video section to feed my hunger. I watched MTV SNSD, GGtS, Horror Movie Factory (again), Factory Girls and so on. Then I started to watch Invicible Youth. That’s when I became a full fledged Sunshiner. God, words can’t begin to describe how much I love this show. It made me feel so much better after watching it ! It really acted like an anti-stress pill and helped me in so many ways. Then, the online streamer went down and I was unable to watch more episodes of Invicible Youth. Miserrrrrrrrrrry ! Ok, now was the time to reach another level, that’s when I became a donator. I did donate to the soshified staff not just for the sake of getting access to the download section early, but as a token of gratitude for their spotless work on the whole show. I know how much work is needed to sub a show and that was the only thing I could do to show my appreciation. Me being a SONE was now a fact.
Just like you MoonSoshi9, thanks to the show, I started to take interest in other groups and now, my playlist is full of KPOP artist. All thanks to SNSD.
Now looking at the bigger picture, I’m now a full fledged KPOP fan. I’ve a crapload a Korean artists in my playlist (my credit card is still having nightmare), I’ve attended my first KPOP concert recently (KBS Music Bank @Paris), watched other shows (watched all the Running Man, next target, Family Outing), I’m slowly getting in K-drama and I’m one of the admins of the biggest SONE group on Steam.
Hexen, Proud French SONE and always will be !