MoonSoshi9

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the lyrics to this song are just amazing. It feels like what the girls would say to each other. That they are becoming ladies but they are still the girls that have gone through so much together. Just an amazing song and further cements the fact that this is one of SNSD's best songs to date.

Thank you so much for translating.

Awesooooooooooome

Girls' Generation,

You have changed my life for the better. I've learned a new language thanks to you. I've met incredible new friends thanks to you. I've traveled to Korea thanks to you. You have given me so much that I don't think I can ever repay you with enough love and support, but I will always try.

I could go on for days about how much you mean to me, girls. But I will simply say, thank you. You deserve everything in the world, and I hope you get it. Your talent, sincerity, beauty, hopefulness, humility, all of it is a gift to this world.

I am so happy I am living in Girls' Generation.

Congratulations on your 5th anniversary. I and so many other SONEs will be with you today, and for the next anniversary, the one after that, and every one from now until forever.

Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, Seohyun, thank you so much.

지금은 소녀시대. 앞으로도 소녀시대. 영원히 소녀시대.

Thank you so much to the people who came today!!

We will meet each other again tomorrow~!

The CD is pretty, right? ^^

Translated by: MoonSoshi9

Soshified.com

Source: Official Girls' Generation website

had fun w/ daniel :)

A nice Taiwan schedule ^^ I was really thankful for Taiwan fans greeting me warmly~

I had a lot of delicious bubble tea and pineapple cake!

We will see each other again ^^

Translated by MoonSoshi9
Soshified.com

Source: Official Girls' Generation website

Warning: This is very long.

For SNSD in NYC - Round 1, read about SMTOWN Concert and the fan meeting here.

All of my pictures from NYC can be viewed here and downloaded here.

The third time in just over 6 months seeing SNSD, and it keeps getting better every time somehow. How can you beat seeing a solo concert in Seoul, or SMTown in NYC and the fanmeet? How about being right there with them for their American debut? How about getting to talk to eight of the members and getting their autographs? Yeah, this week was epic.

My flight arrived in New York just a couple hours late to be able to go to Letterman, and as soon as I checked into my hotel, I walked over to the Ed Sullivan theater in hopes of seeing the girls leave, but I had just missed them by about an hour. I met up with Soy and Thesarahbot at Times Square and we did some shopping at the Disney store to get a couple plushies for the girls. Disney sold out of dukongs! After that we all went back to our hotels to watch Letterman.

I slept for about 20 minutes before Letterman started, and then the show began. “Music by Girls' Generation” the announcer stated...It was real, this was happening, American late night television. “We'll be right back with Girls' Generation” It was getting closer. Then the girls came out and slayed a remix of “The Boys”. I muttered “Oh my god...” when Sooyoung began the first dance break. I couldn't believe I was watching this on CBS, on David Letterman. SNSD performed so hard and it was a perfect debut performance. The live band sounded amazing, the dancing was extremely crisp, and their vocals were impressive. After it was over I was just staring at my TV. They did it. I was so proud of them for their hard work, determination, and killer performance when it counted the most.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO9yFjodDtM

Around 2am Soshified trip friends got in from Boston and we headed out to the ABC studios to begin lining up for “Live With Kelly” which started at 9am. There were six people ahead of us already, one of which who had been there since 9pm the day before, and one from 1am. It paid off for them as they got to go backstage and meet the girls. It was cold. It rained. When SNSD arrived in their bus everyone ran over to see them, and by that time the rain had stopped(seemingly just in time for them). They were carrying Starbucks and looked incredible. Sooyoung especially blew us away. She is SO pretty in person. Taeyeon was adorable.



This is random, but we also saw Shining Smile and Flying Petals who flew from Korea together to take pictures and try to attend the events. They brought their own step ladders with them, how pro is that? They were really cute holding hands walking around. Shining Petals!

By the time they were letting standby people in there were over 100 people in line. They let the first six in and said that was it and told us to get in front of the SNSD bus to cheer on camera. We yelled out, “Just five more!” and a few moments later the producer came out and said “7-13 let's go.” We ran in, got our bags checked and headed quietly into the studio because the show had already started. We couldn't believe our luck. Kelly Ripa and Howie Mandel were pretty funny, and then after a pre-recorded spot with Jennifer Lopez, SNSD came out.



The studio was very small, so even though we were in the back, we were still pretty close. We cheered and said hi and the girls waved back at us. They were so cute warming up their voices. Sunny said “Hi Kelly~”, how adorable! Kelly introduced SNSD and then the performance started. We fanchanted as loud as we could. Kelly and Howie immediately turned around with a look of awe in their face when we yelled “GG” and did the Korean fanchant at the start. The girls smiled at the loud fanchants. Kelly was dancing with the song. We weren't expecting a skipped verse and shortened version so we were caught off guard for the dance break but we still fanchanted loud with a “SO NYUH SHI DAE” and Kelly turned around with a huge smile. She turned to Howie with a thumbs up and an amazed look when the girls dropped to the ground with the spiderman move.



Hyoyeon was definitely the crowd favorite. During her rap part she got so many cheers from the audience. They loved it! Also, Taeyeon's “My heart~” high note which she nailed got a huge reaction from the audience. They were really impressed by the girls' singing and dancing. It was a great performance and I couldn't believe we just witnessed their morning show debut in person, on the biggest morning show in the country.




Fellow Soshified trip buddy imyoona_ha yelled out “HAPPY BIRTHDAY SOOYOUNG!” right when the audience died down and the girls laughed. Kelly and Howie's shock on the broadcast about fan participation was not a joke, they were genuinely surprised and impressed. SNSD and Kelly bantered back and forth with a really cute and fun interview, especially Tiffany's “You gotta squat and pop your booty.” As the girls were leaving after taking a picture with Kelly, they all waved at us sones in the crowd, and Tiffany said to us “Thank you~” as Hyoyeon came over to our side a little bit and waved. Sooyoung gave us a heart over her head and Sunny waved at me and gave me a heart over her head. They really appreciated us being there for them. Afterwards we heard K-SONEs were extremely proud that we had done the Korean fanchant. I am glad that we could show that SONE has no borders.





Kelly came up to the crowd and started saying it was incredible how much we participated in the performance. She was curious what we were saying, and we told her it was the fanchants for the song, and she wanted to hear them again! She was really nice and fun during the commercial break. After the show she tweeted a few times how much she loved SNSD and their performance. She legitimately enjoyed SNSD and was impressed with them and their fans. We left right after that to try and catch the girls leaving the venue. We ran out to the bus and we got there just in time to see the girls come out to loud cheers from the rest of the fans who were unable to get into the show. In my opinion, as great as Letterman's performance was, the “Live With Kelly” appearance was absolutely perfect in every way. They had a great performance, fans were acknowledged for being supportive even though this was technically their debut here, and they had a fun interview that showcased some of their personalities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnRPEBqor2k&feature=related

Considering I had slept a grand total of twenty minutes in two days, this was the time to get a couple hours of sleep. After a short nap we all went to K-town for lunch, and afterwards as we were walking around we stumbled upon SNSD's bus outside their hotel. We arrived just in time to see the girls head out for interviews. A couple people managed to run up to the girls and get some autographs. Taeyeon walked out in this preppy outfit that just made all of our jaws drop. We couldn't believe how amazing she looked. Even the paparazzi paused just to stare. Seohyun was especially striking as she practically glided across the street looking like a real goddess. Everyone had the same reaction, that she seemed to be floating because she was so beautiful. We all said hi as they walked right in front of me, smiling and waving as they got on the bus. Talk about good timing...






Later we went to Shake Shack with Soy and Limmybum (one of the two people along with Taengdukong that Kelly was nice enough to bring backstage to meet the girls). That place has amazing burgers. After dinner we shopped around Times Square for a bit, going back to the Disney store and also Toys R Us for random goofy gifts for the girls.

The line at Best Buy wasn't supposed to start until 6am, but didn't want to take a chance, so we headed over at 12:30am, and there were already over 100 people in line. Sones were bundled up with blankets because it was very cold. Eventually, over 1,000 people were in line outside, and the Best Buy security and reps said they were quite impressed with how orderly all of us were. 300 people were let inside the store to line up to buy “The Boys” CD and get a wristband that would guarantee a spot in the fan signing.

Later in the day when we got back to Best Buy there were already hundreds of people crowded at the front of the door, lined up on either side behind barricades. Security came out and said they were calling the cops for extra security because there were well over 1,000 people outside the store and sidewalks were being blocked. They eventually let the people with wristbands into the store to line up for the fan signing. In line we talked to some Japanese media who said that “SNSD is huge in Japan. This is a big story”, and also a New York Post photographer who said he heard about SNSD on NPR in Iowa while he was covering the Republican debate. Best Buy reps said we could only get the inside jacket of “The Boys” signed, but many people had other plans for getting items signed.



It was almost time. We heard loud cheers, and I saw Yuri lining up to take a press picture with the rest of the girls. Everyone's hearts were racing. The girls took their seats at a long table and the fan signing began. I walked up to Tiffany and she greeted me with an enthusiastic “Hi!”, and I said “Hi Tiffany!” and gave her my “Into The New World” album to sign. She looked at it with a surprised look and exclaimed, “Oh, the original!” I told her that SNSD is really amazing and also thanked her for taking my letters at SM Town NYC in October and she said “Thank you so much for writing them!” with a bright smile.

Hyoyeon was next to her and she greeted me with a big smile. I said hello to her in Korean and she lit up with surprise, “Oh!” and we both said thank you to each other. Hyoyeon is so ridiculously hot in person and her voice is so cute. She has a really fun personality that makes you feel at ease and makes you smile. Sooyoung sat up and had a huge smile and bright eyes as she almost yelled “Hi nice to meet you!” at me because she was so excited. I said “Hi Sooyoung happy birthday!” and gave her a small charm from my old college, and I explained to her in Korean that it was from the best Christian University in America. The managers were pushing me to move along, so I started moving away from her and she leaned over and said in English, “Thank you God bless you!” Sooyoung really is a kind-hearted girl. To me, she has been the member that really goes out of her way to show her appreciation for foreign fans. She is amazingly pretty in real life, much more so than on camera. Her eyes are so big and bright and her smile is very warm. It was really easy to talk to her.



However, Yoona was next and she was not easy to talk to, but not because she was distant. Quite the contrary actually, she was super excited. She greeted me with a big “Hello!” and I replied “Hi Yoona!” and that was all I could come up with. I was literally speechless. Yoona, looking up at you with her doe eyes and a wide smile...You just can't prepare for something like that. I've seen her in person multiple times before, but this time, a foot away from me, I couldn't even think. She is the most beautiful person I've ever seen in my entire life. I had all these things planned to say to the girls, but Yoona was so disarming that everything just left my mind at that moment. I moved over to Seohyun who leaned really far forward with an excited eye smile and said “Hello~ Nice to meet you!” You know how I said Yoona was the most beautiful person ever? Well, Seohyun is tied with her. I was really shocked at just how pretty she was. She has such a baby face, naturally since she is the youngest, but she has really grown up and matured into a beautiful girl. I'll never forget the look on her face when she greeted me. She was just so happy to meet us. I said “Thank you Seohyun” to her in Korean and she giggled so cutely and said “Thank you” in English.

When Seohyun was signing my CD, Sunny looked over at me and pointed excitedly at my hat and exclaimed “Oh! Oh!” I was wearing her SPAO 515 hat (I may be a bit Sunny biased), which I knew she really loved from SM Town NYC in October. I waved at her really quick because I didn't want to ignore Seohyun, but when I got in front of Sunny I said “Hi Sunny!” and she also said “Hi!” really high and short, so cute. Tiffany might be the eye smile queen, but I'm pretty sure Sunny could dethrone her. She was so adorable! I gave her a small toy airplane and said “Catch Me If You Can fighting!” (She had just been cast in the "Catch Me If You Can" musical as Brenda). Sunny did her really cute high pitched laugh and said “Oh thank you!”, and her sister who was behind her also laughed. There was so much I wanted to say to Sunny, but with literally just a few seconds and Yoona unexpectedly sabotaging me earlier, it was all I could do.



Next up was Taeyeon, and she was so tiny. She's like this precious snow white doll, it's really fascinating. She was extremely pretty and after we greeted each other I told her “Your voice is really amazing” in Korean, and Taeyeon put her head back with her trademark cute ahjumma laugh. She said “Thank you~” in a high and cute voice. Her laugh...it is really an awesome sound! The last member was Yuri, and she was really beautiful. I think I was most nervous to meet her, but she was really outgoing. She was constantly smiling and held eye contact longer than any of the other members, even as I was walking away, so it was impossible to turn away from her. She said “Thank you!” about four times, it was so adorable.

As I left, I gave Soy the remaining gifts I had for the girls because I didn't have time to search in the bag in line. Korean media was there interviewing people, and they cornered me for an embarrassing clip because I couldn't even think straight after what I just experienced. Outside Best Buy, more than a thousand people were still there cheering, and everyone was spazzing over their newly signed SNSD items. We went behind Best Buy to the SNSD bus where another few hundred people were gathered and saw the girls get on the bus. Hyoyeon and Tiffany were so amazed they started taking pictures and fancams of all the fans. Tiffany doesn't lie when she says SNSD is honestly a fan of SONEs.



Afterwards, a bunch of us went to K-Town for Korean BBQ to celebrate the amazing night we had, followed by some hilarious noraebang. Partying with SONEs was so much fun, and since the trip to Korea, it was obvious that we have become really close. As strange as it is, being a fan of SNSD isn't just about SNSD, but also about the SONE family.



On our last day in New York we walked over to the girls' hotel just in time to see Taeyeon dart out with her manager. All the girls went and did things in the city like watching musicals and shopping. We saw Sunny come back with her sister in a cab, and everyone was surprised because she just walked right by us nonchalantly. Hyoyeon came back with her manager and as she was going in I said “Hi Hyoyeon!” and she turned around in the doorway to smile and wave. She was really outgoing with fans. As Sunny was waiting for her cab with her sister later on to go to the airport, I stopped about ten feet from her and asked for an autograph on my 515 hat, but then behind us a pack of rabid fangirls and paparazzi came running at her. She was absolutely mobbed with people right on top of her and she had to go back into the hotel. She came back out with bodyguards that got a cab for her, but the paparazzi was still right in her face. So rude, I wanted to punch those guys. As she got in the cab she turned to me and smiled, and even without makeup I still think she has such a charm about her.



Tiffany came out next, but we created a wall so people wouldn't mob her. It didn't stop the paparazzi from getting close and snapping unflattering pictures though. Tiffany waved at us as we called out to her saying “Bye Tiffany!” a few times when she got in her car, while some dumb girl was shouting out “Bye CL!” as a kind of stupid joke. Nobody laughed and it was really disrespectful. We left for a very late dinner and went back to the hotel, our time with SNSD officially being over.

I've watched the Letterman and Kelly appearances countless times since NY, and each time I'm overwhelmed by pride and memories of an amazing few days with SNSD. I don't know how I can top this experience, but as the trend with SNSD seems to be going, the next one will somehow eclipse this. 2012 will be an incredible year.

I really love Seohyun's answer about holding hands on stage. I never really thought about how they communicate with each other while they are performing.
They can get their thoughts across without speaking, it's so cool. Thanks for translating!

Ahh finally got around to reading this. It was an epic moment for sure. So happy that we could all give our gifts. I know for you and me Alain it was extremely important. So glad it worked out the way it did. It was fate!

I know it's been a while since the trip actually happened, but I finally managed to get everything written down and thought you lovely sones might like to read my rendition of the trip. I know a lot overlaps with what Michael wrote during the trip, but I hope you guys enjoy reading it and seeing some of my pictures. Warning, this is pretty long because I couldn't stop myself from reliving the trip ^^

My account of the concert and things not covered in this write up is over here http://soshified.com...p-kpop-concert/

We flew into Incheon International Airport after a 12.5 hour flight from San Francisco. A lot of us were pretty tired but once we got through immigration we were greeted by fans holding banners welcoming us to Korea along with a bunch of press. It had been reported weeks in advance that we were coming to see SNSD so the press was eager to interview us once we got there. Korea is very interested in their culture being spread around the world, so a bunch of foreigners coming all the way to Korea to experience that culture was very exciting.



After about an hour bus ride into Seoul we arrived at our hotel to check in. We stayed at the Riverside Hotel and it was pretty nice. They had a ridiculous breakfast spread for us every morning in the banquet hall. Here is the front of the hotel, the view from my room, and the street where the hotel was.





After we checked in it was pretty late so we went to dinner at a nearby restaurant and had Shabu Shabu. The first food we had in Korea was extremely delicious. Everyone was having a great time getting to know each other more and meeting people we had talked with online.



After dinner we went back to the hotel and crashed since it was late and everyone was tired. The next day we woke up early and had an awesome breakfast at the hotel and left for our first real destination on the trip. We went to the Korea Tourism Organization in downtown Seoul as part of a press event for our trip. We went inside the KTO and were followed by reporters asking for interviews. Inside there was a lot of different areas that showcased dramas, music, and other aspects of Korean culture. Naturally we gravitated toward the Kpop area where there were TV's playing SNSD videos. There were lifesize cutouts of various stars like 2NE1 and SNSD members in addition to pictures on the wall and bronzed handprints of other idols. Lots of people were taking pictures with the cutouts. It was pretty crowded in there because it was a fairly small area for over a hundred people to be walking around with including press cameras.





After we checked out the inside we went back outside to have the press event. The president of the KTO, Charm Lee, gave a speech about Korean culture and how KTO wants everyone to know how special it is, and how Kpop specifically is a very important part of expanding awareness of Korea. He was a very nice guy and very passionate about Korea. After his speech the press interviewed a few people and had us all do SNSD's cheer for the cameras. They made a few people dance while we all sang SNSD songs too. Those Korean reporters, they love seeing foreigners dance Kpop songs so much.






Since we were already downtown, the next stop was literally just walking across the street to Cheonggye Stream. This is a man made stream in the heart of Seoul. As we were all walking around, press was still following us and got some of us to do some interviews. The stream itself was actually pretty cool, and they even had a crew scrubbing it to keep it clean. That also reminds me, Seoul is the cleanest city I've ever been in. There's no trash, anywhere. Seriously you could eat off the sidewalk it's so clean. Near the stream there is this sculpture of what can only be described as some kind of ice cream cone thing and then the Seoul mascot, Haechi.








Right down the main street of Seoul is Gyeongbok Palace, the biggest palace in Seoul, and was originally the center of the city many many hundreds of years ago. It was absolutely surreal to see this huge sprawling palace with all these old buildings right in the middle of this massive metropolis. We witnessed a changing of the guard when we arrived. They had a guy banging on this huge drum while guards walked in from the side and replaced the guards inside the first courtyard while they were playing these old horns. After that we continued inward toward the center of the palace. There were three huge gates before you got to the main throne building, but the palace itself continued on forever behind it. There were so many buildings that were used for living quarters of the King and the Queen(who slept in a separate building!) and the King's concubines. Our awesome tour guide Angela explained that the main job of the King was to produce a son and thus required a bunch of concubines who actually held significant power. Very interesting. There was a large field and a pond that had a resting area in the middle of it. There was also a huge building that served as a museum but we did not go in there. I was blown away by the sheer scale of the palace. Once you thought you reached the end it just kept on going.









We visited the ancient political center of Seoul, so naturally we had to visit the current political center. We went to see the Blue House, the Korean equivalent to our White House. You aren't allowed anywhere near it so we had to grab pictures from a designated picture taking spot that had a lot of guards around it. Next to the Blue House is a reception center for gatherings. This is the building without the blue roof. Also near the Blue House was a fountain memorial for separated families. Separation of families due to the separation of North and South Korea is actually a serious issue in the country, with many families never getting the chance to see each other since the split.







We had some free time after visiting the Blue House to get lunch and shop around. We were in the neighborhood of Insadong, and as we were all walking down the street we saw an Innisfree store. That is a big cosmetic brand in Korea and one of the members of SNSD, Yoona, endorses it. It was absolutely hilarious seeing everyone go into this store and clean them out of every single Yoona item they had. A lot of people got photocards, posters, and random cosmetic stuff. Innisfree was certainly smart to get Yoona to endorse their brand. Sones will buy anything that has SNSD on it, especially foreign sones who rarely have access to this stuff. Speaking of that, every single 7-11 we saw we went in to buy Vita500 because guess what, SNSD endorses it. This vitamin drink must have had a huge increase in sales for the week we were there. Everyone was trying to collect all the bottles because they had each individual member on them. The plus side, that drink is actually really good and I want some right now... Insadong was a cool shopping area with lots of different stores and restaurants. A group of us had lunch at this place called Rice Story and had delicious kimchi fried rice. After lunch we were walking back to our meetup spot(7-11 where everyone was buying Vita500) we got some fried red bean paste balls(I forget what they were actually called). They were the size of a donut hole and had a faint chocolate flavor, sooooo yummy.





The next stop was one of the most touristy things we did on the entire trip. No, it was definitely the most touristy. Went went to a place to learn how to make kimchi and try on traditional Korean costumes called hanbok. We had some ginseng milk while making the kimchi which was really good. Since I like to cook Korean food, making the kimchi was fun for me, but trying the hanbok on was just a bit too awkward for a tall white guy. The kimchi we made we donated to orphans instead of taking it with us. Having kimchi is like a right in Korea, so they needed it more than we did. There are even special kimchi refrigerators. It's served at every single meal. Certainly kimchi is something that Korea is famous for.

After that we went to Sinchon-dong which is an area where a lot of university students hang out. Ewha Women's University is in the area, and it was a very lively shopping area. There was an Innisfree so naturally it got cleaned out of the Yoona goods. This huge department store was in the area with a large courtyard in front of it. As we were walking back to Sinchon station to meetup for dinner we went by an Italian restaurant where part of a tv show called Running Man was filmed. We just completely stumbled upon it and some people in our group recognized it.











Our dinner was at a restaurant that is known for its samgyetang, which is ginseng chicken soup. It was really really good. It was very hot outside, and this soup was actually really refreshing due to the light flavor, even though the soup itself was served boiling hot.




Halfway through dinner our trip leader pulled three of us out to do an interview we had agreed earlier to do. The three of us went down the street to a cafe where we met with a few reporters from Chosun news, a respected news agency in Korea. We spent about 40 minutes there answering various questions on how we found out about Kpop and SNSD, how our life has changed because of SNSD, what we like about Korea, how we paid for the trip, what it's like actually being in Korea, things like that. I represented e-sports by telling the reporter that I found out about SNSD through watching Starcraft, and one of the reporters got all excited because she was a fan of the GSL.

After the Q&A session we went outside and the photographer had us sing and dance some SNSD songs(see I told you they love that stuff). It was pretty fun talking with the reporters after the Q&A. I was happy because one of them complimented me on my Korean pronunciation. In the press conference for the concert, SNSD member Yuri specifically stated that she read this particular news article and was very happy after seeing how they have touched foreign fans' lives and that we were now interested in Korean culture. This made me extremely happy to hear that she read about me and saw my picture. I cannot really describe that kind of feeling, knowing for a fact that Yuri actually read about me and saw my picture. As a fan, I don't think it could get much better than that outside of sitting down with them personally and talking to them.

The interview ended and we got in a taxi to quickly make it to our next schedule. Everyone else had already gotten to the venue and the three of us were very close to missing the show because of the interview. We went to see the Jump show. It's a kind of martial arts comedy play without much dialogue. It was actually hysterical. The story was of a family meeting a young man who was courting the daughter, but when you removed the guy's glasses he turned from this shy guy into a total badass who would fight anyone. Their was a pair of thieves who came into the house and fought with everyone. The uncle had a drunken boxing fighting style which was awesome to see in person, and he was so funny acting it out. The whole show was really entertaining with the fighting choreography and the comedy was seriously funny.

This incredibly busy day was officially over at this point as we got back to the hotel around 11pm. However a bunch of us decided to head out to Dongdaemun night market to check out some of the nightlife. We took a taxi there around 11:30pm and walked around for a bit in the market and also went into one of the department stores. These stores are huge, unlike any store I've been in, like 10 stories of clothes and stuff. You go in and haggle with the vendors over the price of stuff. It was SO much fun haggling with this guy as I bought a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. I was conversing in my basic Korean and he in his basic English. It was pretty funny but we were both able to understand each other and the guy was super nice and friendly. I ended up knocking the price down by 40,000 won(~40 bucks). I caught back up with everyone outside and we got some street food. I got a fish cake, which is like this fish breadlike type thing on a stick smothered in sauce. Very yummy as a late night snack walking around the market. It started to rain pretty hard and it was impossible to find a taxi at 1am because so many people were hailing them down. We went inside one of the other department stores and our awesome trip leader treated us all to patbingsoo and a waffle covered in ice cream. Holy crap these desserts were good. The waffle was crispy on the outside and soooo soft on the inside, and the patbingsoo(shaved ice with red bean paste, fruit and ice cream) was delicious. We caught a cab back to the hotel after this around 2am. Dongdaemun night market was a highlight of the trip for me. So much fun hanging out with everyone late at night talking over dessert and street food.









That first full day in Seoul was so packed we were dead tired by the time we got back to the hotel. We woke up early again the next morning and headed out to Namsan Hanok Village, which has traditional Korean residences and buildings. It was really interesting to see all the old style architecture and how the buildings were laid out. Also interesting was learning why everyone sits on the floor over there. Back in the day the heating system was done by heating the floor, so people sat on the ground to stay warm. From the village you can see Namsan Tower as well.







Close to the village was Namsan Park. This was a nice park up on the mountain a bit pretty much right below Namsan Tower. You could see a lot of the city even though it was still hazy. If you watch any Korean dramas you'll notice the staircase here. It's been on a lot of them, and variety shows, too. It's pretty cool to see these places in person after you've seen them on TV.







After Namsan Park we went back down the mountain into the city to Namdaemun Market. This traditional market was so packed with people and vendors it was incredible. It was like a maze in there and you could easily get lost if you weren't paying attention. Just walking around was an experience. You would walk by some vendors and hear Kpop coming out of the stores. The smell of the street food was everywhere and made you want to stop all the time and eat everything you saw. As we were walking back to our meeting place a Korean ahjussi(older man) grabbed my arm and pointed at me saying "migook migook!" which means "America". It was hysterical. He had this big grin on his face. I told him that I was from America in Korean and he almost fell over and asked if I could speak Korean so I told him a little bit but I needed to go. He waved goodbye as I left. That ahjussi was awesome. It was kind of surreal being such an extreme minority there. White people are exotic in Korea. White people who can speak Korean are even more exotic apparently, considering how surprised every single Korean I met was when I spoke their language to them.






Next stop was Music Core at MBC studios in Islan about 30 minutes outside of Seoul. This was an awesome experience. I wrote all about it in the first blog linked up top, check it out if you haven't seen it yet.

After Music Core we headed back into Seoul to eat dinner. We went to this restaurant in Insadong and had a full course meal with side dishes. The main dish was haemultang which is spicy seafood soup. It was so delicious. There was crab clusters, mussels, clams, shrimp, everything in there. I accidentally bit into one of the peppers though, holy god in heaven was that thing hot. Some of the side dishes were bulgogi(delicious meat) and japchae(the clear brown noodles, SO good). After dinner we walked around and shopped for a little bit, hit up Innisfree for more Yoona goodies.









Having just stuffed ourselves on amazing Korean food and looking for something to do, we went to Myeongdong, one of the biggest shopping spots in Seoul. For our group, this was because of two stores, SPAO and Everysing, which conveniently are in the same building. We walked right there and spent our entire time in Myeongdong in that building. Luckily we got to see a lot of Myeongdong anyway because it was kind of halfway down the main street. I write all about these stores in the first Korea trip blog up top, read it! For now here are some pictures of Myeongdong. The Shinsegae department store is owned by Samsung. Samsung owns a LOT of stuff in Korea. It was so busy and crowded, but that is what makes the experience awesome. It was so lively seeing everyone shopping around at all the cool stores. Shopping at night in Seoul is one hell of a good time with all the people and street food.






We all went back to the hotel after Myeongdong. We had to rest up because the next day we would be going to the SNSD concert. We woke up early and in the morning we went to breakfast at this place near the Korean War museum. There were so many tanks and planes used in the war, it was incredible to see this stuff up close. My great aunt served in the Korean war so it was remarkable to see all this stuff in person. I can't even think of the stuff she must have seen.






After breakfast we went to the concert venue. Please read all about the concert in the first blog linked up top. I went into extreme detail. I almost want to write about it again just to relive it because it was so amazing.

Everyone was completely blown away by seeing SNSD live in concert. It was a magical experience that nobody will ever forget. We went to dinner right after the concert to this awesome Korean BBQ restaurant and had Korean style grilled duck. Oh my God this stuff was so good. I don't know how the Koreans do it, but their food is freaking amazing. You put the duck on the grill which is on every table and then when it's cooked you put it in a lettuce leaf with a bit of garlic and this red pepper sauce. It's spicy but delicious. I got our table a bottle of soju to celebrate the concert. We got Jinro soju(gotta represent e-sports, LiquidJinro fighting!). This stuff is cheaper than water, literally. 3,000 won for a bottle(~3 bucks) and it's maybe the equivalent of a bottle of wine in alcohol. It was really good. You pour it in a shot glass and sip it, or you can one shot it. The flavor of the soju meshed so well with the bbq. Coupled with the other tables drinking their soju and makgeolli and cooking the bbq, everyone was in such a great mood and having a fantastic time together drinking and eating as one big sone family after the concert.







The party continued back at the hotel where are our amazing trip leader(seriously, she was a complete and total boss) got us all a bunch of cakes to celebrate. She got a lot and after everyone had finished and gone to their rooms there were still a few of us in the lobby hanging out raving about the concert and she practically force fed us the rest of the cake. We sort of complained, but not really because it was damn good cake.



The next morning we woke up early and had a delicious breakfast at the hotel then left for Lotte World! This is an amusement park in Seoul that is half indoors and half outdoors, attached to the absolutely HUGE Lotte department store. It's an entire city block and maybe 15 stories high. Lotte World itself was actually a lot of fun. We went on some rollercoasters, some rides, one "Adventures of Sinbad" was a lot like Pirates of the Caribbean. We went on the Gyro Drop outside, and I wish I had time to take a picture from the top because you could see so much of the city from way up high, but the ride drops you unexpectedly. This little Korean girl next to me was so scared screaming the entire way up and down, but had the biggest grin on her face after the ride was over, it was so cute. In line for one of the rollercoasters, people had written stuff all over the walls. We spotted quite a few cheers for various Kpop idols. We made our mark though, letting everyone know we were there that day. Lotte World was a cool little fantasy land with the ice rink and various actors in costumes. There was a marching band playing Kpop songs on the stage as well. One of the traditions there is to wear headbands with bows, bunny ears, cat ears, or other cute things on them, and a ton of the girls were wearing them. Guys get dragged along by their girlfriends into doing it too. A few of us guys in our group played along with it, getting bows and bunny ear headbands to wear. When in Rome right?













After Lotte World we went to an area to learn a bit about Korean ginseng and what makes it so special. Apparently 6 year old ginseng is the best and you can only buy it in Korea since they don't export it, and it's ridiculously expensive. Then we went to KBS studios in Yeouido, which is in the financial area of Seoul. We went to the filming of a tv show called Immortal Song 2, which you can read all about in my first write up on the trip up top. We walked around for a bit in Yeouido before the filming started. It's a very nice area with restaurants all over the place.





Immortal Song was a blast and afterwards we went out to our last dinner together. We had bulgogi and it was delicious. Everyone was having a great time drinking soju and makgeolli(rice wine) and enjoying everyone's company on our last night. We had a few toasts to our tour guides and trip leaders and organizers, as well as to our girls in SNSD a few times. The party continued back at the hotel late into the night as we celebrated a successful and amazing experience in Korea together.





Our last day was upon us, and some of us wanted to make a last ditch attempt to find one special item that we couldn't get the other day when we went to SPAO. We all wanted a certain hat that was very rare because it's very popular, so we went back to Myeongdong early in the morning. Unfortunately we got there too early because SPAO didn't open until 11am and we needed to be back at the hotel by 11:30am to get on the bus to Incheon to make our flight. It was pretty funny because I was able to explain in Korean to the SPAO guy that we didn't have a lot of time and asked if he had the hat we were looking for, and he said they did. So we decided to take our chances and stay til SPAO opened and get our hats, and haul ass back to the hotel in a cab as fast as possible. We walked around Myeongdong for a bit and went into this music store to buy some albums. The nice ahjumma(older lady) was kind enough to give me a couple free posters for buying stuff in her store. This added to my quickly growing collection of SNSD goods after Intel gave us a ton of posters and DVDs and other stuff I bought and got for free from nice ahjummas and ahjussis throughout the trip. SPAO opened and we got the hats that they had in the back and got back to the hotel just in time to get on the bus. Mission successful. The hat in question is the 309 hat up front. Taeyeon is extremely popular and all of her stuff sells out ridiculously fast.







When we got back to the hotel we said our goodbyes to people who were staying longer and got on the bus to Incheon. At the airport we had one last meal together. The food in the international terminal was actually ridiculously good. I had been wanting naengmyun the entire trip and I finally got the chance to have it. It did not disappoint.



Our flight was actually shorter coming back, only 10 hours. I was sitting next to this Korean ahjussi along with a bunch of other people from our group. This guy actually recognized us from the news in Korea and he was a fan of SNSD too so we were all talking to him about the girls. He loves Yoona and Seohyun, not bad ahjussi, not bad. It was awesome, one to be recognized by some random guy on a plane, two that he was a fan of our girls. It's true, SNSD is the nation's girl group. They are national treasures and extremely important to Korea.

Once we reached San Francisco the group of us still together said our goodbyes and went to our respective gates. This group of people on this trip, were some of the most amazing people I've ever met. We all had instant connections and became friends almost immediately. Over the course of our week together in Korea we became friends that continue to talk to each other almost every day now. Going to Korea with Soshified was one of the best decisions I've ever made, and to think how close I was to not going, I would have regretted it more than anything. Sones are amazing people, from all walks of life, all ages, genders, nationalities. And yet everyone is the same, we all love our girls. Visiting Korea would not have been half as fun were it not for the amazing people that joined me.

Korea is an absolutely amazing country. The people were incredibly nice and welcoming. The food was some of the best I've ever had, in any country. The sights, the smells, the sounds of Seoul were truly unique. Seoul is without a doubt the single greatest city on the planet. If I could go back right now, I would. Since I've gotten back I've had actual withdrawal, and actual depression because I wasn't in Korea anymore. I've done a lot of traveling to a lot of very cool places and I've never felt that way. Most other people who went on this trip say the exact same thing. Seoul is magical. If you ever get the chance to go, you must. You will never want to leave.

Awesome thank you for the translation. Such a great article. Our girls really are diverse looking at their answers to the interview questions. Especially Taeyeon, that goofball!

Hey guys. I wrote up a fan account about all the Kpop related activities we did on the SSF trip for some other people. I figured I'd share it with you all. I hope you enjoy reading it!



Korean press met us at the airport and it was surreal being mobbed by the press as soon as we got there. There was a crowd and people were waving banners welcoming us, too.



We did a TON of other stuff like visit various shopping places and palaces and other touristy stuff while in Seoul. I won't really talk about that here, but I'll write some stuff up later and post it somewhere if you want to read about it. Or you could also go to Soshified.com where a lot of stuff has already been written by some excellent writers. The only things about that stuff I will talk about here are going to SPAO and Everysing, as well as Music Core and Immortal Song.

SPAO was pretty sweet.



Naturally everyone went for the birthday number hats. I got Sunny and Yuri but they were out of Taeyeon. Luckily some of us went back the day we left and they had some in stock in the back. There was so many awesome clothes related to SNSD and SuJu, and a ton of huge posters and pictures of the girls.




On the 4th floor of the SPAO building is Everysing, a store devoted to SM artists. Needless to say, most of us were in heaven, and most people spent the majority of their time up there. They had so many posters, albums, photo cards, photobooks, folders, all that stuff. I ended up buying a couple framed autograph pictures of Sunny and Taeyeon. That store made a lot of money on that night. 100 sones came in and cleared out a lot of stuff.





One of the other things we did was go to a recording of Immortal Song. A KBS reporter was there to do a story on us(media followed us around a lot of the time). I actually talked with this particular reporter for a while because she had interviewed me multiple times in the days prior at the Korean Tourist Organization and at the concert, and she remembered me and came up and said hi. Her name was Hyoyeon! Quick aside, we met the head of the KTO and there was a ton of press. They interviewed a lot of us and got people to dance and sing. KTO was pretty cool, they had a section for idol stars.





Anyway, back to Immortal Song. Unfortunately cameras were not allowed so I didn't get any pictures of it. They gave us awesome seats right in the center and we participated in voting for the singers. Shin Dongyup mentioned us a few times as he was mc'ing the show, saying that they had foreigners who loved kpop in the audience and we would be voting. Hyorin was drop dead gorgeous and SO SO SO cute. She performed with DJ DOC and got some LOUD cheers from us. Her voice is crazy good. When she was on the podium when the lights go on the ground she pulled her hair in front of her face, it was the cutest thing ever. Jiyoon from 4minute really surprised me when she performed. Really nice vocals, but her dancing was so damn good. She got us all on our feet, which was pretty funny because the Koreans just sat the entire time and clapped. Shin Dongyup made a joke about us REALLY loving kpop that got a lot of laughs from the audience. SuJu's Kyuhyun performed a ballad with g.o.d.'s Son Hoyoung and did an extremely good job. Great singers! G.O. from MBLAQ did a jazzy song with Baby V.O.X's Kan Miyoun. She was so hot and they were pretty entertaining. The last performers were Jay Park and Moon Heejoon from H.O.T. They performed Candy and just KILLED it. Their dancing was sick. Jay Park did some break dancing and they were just amazing. We were on our feet cheering so loud and even a few of the Koreans got up with us. Apparently, KBS said we were the best audience they had ever had for that show. I can believe them. As we left, KBS cameras were filming us all voting for who the winner of the show should be.

Music Core was siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiick. Once again, cameras weren't allowed, but I managed to sneak a few shots in. Please forgive the bad quality, I didn't want to get caught. Ushers were grabbing people's cameras left and right though so I didn't want to try my luck anymore after this which explains the no pics of Immortal Song and the concert. We were able to cut in front of the line of people, which I'm sure made Korean fangirls very happy.




We went in for rehearsals and also the live show. So we got to see most everyone twice. It's pretty interesting though, some of the stages were pre-recorded, like Miss A and 2PM. While their pre-recorded video was playing for the TV audience though, they still came and performed for the fans. All of the artists that performed were really good. I didn't care much for GP Basic because it's pedo, but CHI CHI was surprisingly good, given their train wreck of a debut. Lyn was SO good. She has such a nice voice. I seriously lost it for Hyuna though. Our section was cheering so loud for her. She is SOOOOOOOO hot in real life. Like holy hell. She looks much skinnier than on camera, too. MBLAQ was really good, but Jesus Christ the fangirls. They were so loud. I was deaf in my right ear because they were all right there. T-ara came out and a few of us T-ara fans in our group were doing the Roly Poly fanchants really loud. I definitely lost my voice for a bit afterwards. They were awesome even though they wore sweatsuits hahaha. Speaking of T-ara, Jiyeon is a total boss. During rehearsals she was hauling ass after their rehearsal to get back to the MC area. I have respect for that girl, she works very hard. 2PM came out and literally brought the house down. Their stage was pre-recorded so they were kind of goofing around on stage and then got into it. They even ran up into the crowd until a crazy fangirl got up and ran after them and an Usher had to grab her. I wasn't too fond of Put Your Hands Up, but after seeing them do it live? Totally legit. Their was so much energy in the studio. Everyone was standing and dancing along with the guys. They are great performers for sure and had a lot of fun with the audience. These pictures were all I could get. They were from rehearsals, except for the shot of the MC's. That was right when the show started.





After the show ended, we were met with a pretty nice surprise. We got to meet 2PM and T-ara!!! I was secretly praying for something like this to happen the entire time, so I was pretty excited. We were led onto the Music Core stage and then the guys of 2PM came out and shook some people's hands and took a picture with us. Yes, Nickhun is a damn good looking guy in real life, I'll admit it. Taecyeon was awesome though. He was goofing around with us in the back when we were taking the pictures. I got to shake his hand as they left.



After 2PM left T-ara came out to say hi. Oh my God they are gorgeous. Eunjung...oh my Eunjung. She was dancing around like a goofball. Boram was this cute little thing you just wanted to pick up and put in your pocket. Jiyeon was a total boss with her dark eye makeup and looks even prettier than you can imagine. Hyomin was a sweetheart. As they were leaving I called out her name and she turned around and smiled at me. My heart melted right there. Qri was very pretty and Hwayoung looked really nice. Soyeon was such a cutie. I only wish T-ara would have stayed longer, but I am really thankful they and 2PM took time out of their schedule to come meet us.



Now for the best day of my life. The SNSD concert. We arrived at the venue at about 10:30am to line up and buy some concert goods. There were already a TON of people in line because the previous day we heard that a lot of stuff sold out very fast, especially Taeyeon items(she is the most popular in Korea it seems).



They had a Vita500 booth set up on the far end of the line where you could play a small memory game and get some free stuff. There was a board with 20 spots and you had to find the match to the SNSD member the cute girl pointed to. I got a Vita500 poster and a Sunny laminated print, surprise surprise, Taeyeon wasn't available, and I got there as soon as we showed up! At least I got a picture of her and her friends.



After a long wait, I got to buy my concert goods at around 1:30pm. Luckily Taeyeon stuff wasn't sold out yet so I got everything I wanted. The brochure is amazing. It's huge and has a bunch of pictures in it. I spent about $100, but I heard of some other sones spending upwards of $400. Even after all that time, the line for goodies was just as long as when we arrived. After I put my stuff on the bus it was time to get in line for our section.



From this point I have no pictures because I was not risking getting booted out for using my camera. There was tons and tons of press there. I got interviewed a few times as did many other Soshified members. The press had us cheer a lot and dance and sing for the cameras. It was pretty fun, but some people were getting very tired because it was HOT and a few people were getting sunburns. Plus we had been standing all day and we were about to stand again for 3 more hours at the concert. I saw some Japanese fans dressed up in the yellow Mr. Taxi outfits and the blue and red Hoot outfits. They got some cheers from the sones waiting in line haha.

At 3pm we started to go into the arena. Our section was Standing B which was right in between the center stage walkway and the right side walkway. We were right up next to the main stage. Before the concert started UFOs(texts to/from the SNSD members) were being shown on the screen. A few Soshified members were able to text that Soshified was there and we all cheered when they were displayed. Yuri, Hyoyeon and Jessica texted that they really missed the fans and were eagerly waiting to see us, we just had to wait a bit longer. There were all the members' Vita500 commercials playing on the screens and every time they came on the crowd cheered. There was also this one annoying commercial for GMarket and it played so much that by the time the concert started we were all chanting along to the commercial. The k-sones thought that was pretty funny. Also before the concert, that KBS reporter followed us in and interviewed me in the standing area. It was so loud I had to practically yell into the mic. I can't even remember how many interviews I did. I did one with 2 other Soshified members that Yuri actually mentioned at the press conference that she had read, which basically made me fall out of my chair. SM had been showing the girls all of the coverage of us and they were going to try and recognize people in the audience. Nice for me since I was on about 5 different news stories haha.

The time finally came and the lights went out and the intro video started playing. Everyone was getting super excited. The first song was Genie and the girls emerged from the diamond cube in the center of the stage. Yoona and Sunny were on our side. You guys have no idea how pretty Yoona is until you've seen her in person(this will be a recurring theme for all members). Cameras are not enough to capture her beauty. Genie was explosive with fireworks and Rapper Hwang(Tiffany) making the crowd go wild. Then they went into "you-aholic" and "Mr. Taxi". When "Mr. Taxi" started everyone was excited, then they heard the lyrics. They were in Korean instead of Japanese! The crowd went NUTS. Then they did "I'm in Love with the Hero" which was so great. Half the girls went up on wires almost all the way up to the ceiling and the rest were down below on the stage holding up wings. Epic song and performance.

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After a short video the girls came back and sang "Let it Rain" in Korean. Great song and the crowd really appreciated the lyric change from Japanese. All the girls sounded so amazing during this song. They really have a lot of talent. After this song they came up front on the main stage and introduced themselves. I couldn't really understand all of it, but I did catch some stuff here and there. Yoona said she missed the fans. Tiffany said hi to us in English. The next set of songs were "Snowy Wish", "뻔 & Fun", "Kissing You", and "Oh!"

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During this particular set of songs, I pretty much died. Tiffany and Hyoyeon came over to where I was standing, which was off to the right a little bit and right at the front, not 15 feet from them. I was showing a heart sign with my hands and Tiffany saw me and did the cutest heart over her head and smiled and waved at me. Tiffany's eye smile is absolutely killer in person. Nobody would be able to resist it. Then Tiffany finished up her part of the song, turned to me and winked. I almost fell over. Hyoyeon saw me too and smiled and waved. Speaking of Hyoyeon. She is straight up hot, no lie. I don't know why cameras are unfair to her sometimes because in person she is simply HOT. She was giving so much fan service all night. Sunny also came over my way and gave me a heart over her head with the brightest smile. I love Sunny so much, this was one of the happiest moments of the concert for me. She is beautiful in real life. Sooyoung also came over to my side and pointed at me and waved. So pretty, those legs are no joke.

During "Kissing You" and "Oh!" the place was just electric. The fan chants were so loud, it was amazing to experience it first hand. After this, Hyoyeon came out for her solo stage in a stunning white one legged leotard and just slayed Rihanna's "Please Don't Stop the Music". Her voice was just great, which is awesome because she is not known for her singing. Her dancing was, as expected, powerful and sexy. Next up was Jessica singing "Almost" by Tamia at the piano in a flowing feathery dress. Her voice...oh my God. Seriously, it's angelic. When she got up from the piano and was slowly walking down the center in that dress, it was just so elegant. Some Jessica fans were said to have been bawling their eyes out, and with good reason.

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Then came probably the biggest surprise of the concert. Sunny's solo stage. She sang Britney Spears' "3" and was incredibly sexy during her performance. Now the surprising thing wasn't cutie Sunny being all hot, it was her outfit. That black vest with the center cut out of it to reveal the black bra underneath and that pink jacket...As soon as the crowd saw it they went WILD. The day after the concert when the picture of Sunny popped up online everyone on the trip was buzzing about it haha. Everyone had it as their phone wallpaper it was so funny.

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Tiffany and Taeyeon followed up with "Lady Marmalade" and as expected, killed it. These two have some of the best voices in any language, period. When Tiffany hit the high note near the end of the song the crowd just erupted. They looked so good together playing around on stage. Definitely one of the best performances of the night.

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After another video(all of which were so well made) and wardrobe change, the girls came back out for "The Great Escape" and "Bad Girl". The audience was totally into "Bad Girl" chanting along with the "oh oh oh oh oh" so loud. Another video was played and then came my personal favorite moment of the concert.

Rocker Taeng. Taeyeon came out in this black feather coat and leather pants and just straight up rocked the house with the intro to "Run Devil Run". It's just amazing how much she can do. Her voice is just...the best. I can't think of any other way to say it. Taeyeon is just the best there is.

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After RDR they performed "Beautiful Stranger" and "Hoot". During "Beautiful Stranger" they pulled a huge glass wall in front of the girls and they start trying to break it with these black batons. It totally worked the performance and was such a cool concept. Then they did "Hoot" but halfway through some of the girls flew up to the ceiling on wires and it was a hard rock version of the song. It was so cool. Afterwards, Yuri came out to do her solo stage "If" by Janet Jackson. That girl is hot. She's getting her curves back after working out so much and it was just an awesome performance by her, very hot. Then Sooyoung came out for her solo, "Sway" by Dean Martin. She did a killer ballroom dance and had excellent vocals. It was a very cool performance. Those legs go on for daaaays.

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Seohyun was up next and she came out with a cute tap dancing number, "Stuff Like That There" originally done by Betty Hutton in 1945. Seohyun never ceases to amaze me. She is goddess like beauty in person. She is super intelligent. And she can do anything. The fact that she picked up tap dancing for this one song is just mind blowing. Yoona finished up the solo stages with a BANG. And from where I was standing I had a pretty darn good view. She performed "4 Minutes" by Maddona and was just awesome. Like I said earlier, after seeing her in person, Yoona is godtier, no doubt about it. The only fancam I could find is half the Seoul concert, then 2nd half is from one of the Japanese concerts. In the concert I went to Yoong kicked the bar over at the end like the boss she is.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=GE6TvyerT5I

After Yoona made everyone's nose bleed, the girls made everyone cry. A video was played showing a child who lost it's mother, and as all sones know, it's a very emotional topic for these girls since Tiffany lost her mother at a young age. As the video was playing Sunny, Seohyun, Jessica, Tiffany and Taeyeon sang "Danny Boy" and it was amazing. The 5 best singers in the group performing a classic song filled with emotion was enough to get most people bawling. Had to get a fancam from Japan again, hopefully more get released from 7/24 concert.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=t3XbzpA5FhY

If people weren't crying yet, they DEFINITELY cried during the next performance. The rest of the girls came on stage and they performed "Complete". It's already an emotional song between the girls and the fans, but k-sones planned an event where once the song started, people in certain seats lit up green colored light sticks instead of the pink that everyone else was had. The effect spelled out SNSD and had hearts under it across the entire audience that was in the seats:
소녀시대
♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

One of the things that makes me love this group is how much these girls love the fans. There is such a mutual love between fan and artist it's really quite difficult to put into words without actually being able to experience it first hand. Even though there are so many fans, they go out of there way to try and reach as many as they can no matter how hard they have to work or how much they have to sacrifice. The fans go out of there way to show their love for the girls, by buying gifts, sending care packages, buying newspaper ads on birthdays, traveling around the world to see them. They know how much we love them, and we know how much they love us. If you aren't part of the fandom it's not possible to explain it any more than that. It had been a really long time since SNSD was home since they had the arena tour in Japan so the fans missed the girls, and the girls missed the fans. That love was on display for the remainder of the concert. During "Complete" Sunny started crying during her part, and at that point pretty much everyone in the audience also cried. Everyone I talked to after the concert was like, "Yep I was pretty much bawling my eyes out." Incredibly moving performance.

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The girls went off stage and then came back on this huge boat that went around the outer ring of the stage as they sang "My Child". It was a cute performance with Taeyeon acting as the captain haha. Jessica smiled and waved at me at the end of the boat ride. Sigh, so pretty.

A hilarious video of Key and Taemin from Shinee was played where they keep thinking SNSD is doing everything for them when it's really all in their head. At one point Taeyeon and Sunny were feeding Key and the crowd was going like "Oooooooooh" haha it was pretty funny. I think everyone, especially me because those two are my favorite, was pretty jealous at that moment.

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The girls came back on stage dressed up in cute shiny pants and sailor-ish type outfits and sang "Naengmyun", "HaHaHa Song", and "Gee". "Naengmyun" was so much fun. There was so much energy in the audience and the chants were louder than at any point in the concert. Everyone was singing along, it's such a happy and fun song. The same went for "HaHaHa Song". Then the mother of all fan chanting happened during "Gee". The chants of "Gee gee gee gee" and "no no no no no" were deafening from the standing area. The amount of energy in that arena was just insane. People had been standing for almost 3 hours straight at the concert alone and they were all still fired up. My legs were killing me but I didn't even really feel anything until after the concert.

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The girls talked for a bit, thanked everyone for coming, and were going to close the show with "Forever". Yuri was standing right in front of me for most of the song. She smiled at me and waved a few times. She has such a pretty smile. It was another emotional performance. SNSD always says this song is meant for their fans because the Korean name of the song is "I Want to Dream With You Forever". Taeyeon was out near the middle of the stage and at the climax of the song she had tears streaming down her face when she hit the high notes, and at the end of the song as she was thanking the fans she started to cry again. The girls all left the stage and chants for an encore followed soon after that. One k-sone had a whistle and would blow it twice, the crowd would respond with "EN-CORE" all in unison. It was SO loud. I had never heard an encore chant like that in my entire life, and I've been to a ton of concerts.

After what seemed like 10 minutes the girls came back on stage dressed up in the official concert t-shirt, feathers in their hair, shorts and leather boots. They all went to the stage and stood in a single line. Everyone knew what was about to happen and then we heard those 3 notes that every sone can recognize instantly. They performed "Into the New World" with a lot of passion. I tried to sing along because it's one of the few songs I actually know all of the Korean lyrics to, but I couldn't do it without getting choked up. For me personally this song means a lot, but for all sones and the girls themselves it means a lot because it is SNSD's debut song. I looked around and saw so many fans crying during this song, and those I talked with afterwards also admitted to it. As soon as the first 3 notes of the song play, sones just get chills. This fancam gives a good idea of where I was standing for most of the concert.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=6W25L73zlK4

After that they performed "Himnae" and the girls were running all over the stage. This song has so much energy in it. They went up into the seated sections to get closer to the fans there and were super energetic. They came back to the front of the stage for one last talk before the end of the concert. They asked the fans to continue supporting them and to promise to support their next album. They said goodbye in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese, and Tiffany and Sooyoung especially thanked us Soshified members for coming all the way to see them, and that they really wanted to see us. Well we didn't get to meet them because some whiny k-netizens threw a hissy fit, but this way of meeting is good enough in my mind. Taeyeon showed some rare aegyo which made me and many others laugh. Then they said they would close the concert with "Fantastic". It was a great song to end on. Very happy and optimistic. That didn't stop the girls from crying though. They saw how happy we all were and it made them even more emotional. Taeyeon was standing in front of me for a minute just standing there looking out into the crowd with tears coming down her cheeks and a smile on her face. She saw me waving at her and threw her head back with the trademark Taeyeon ajumma laugh and smiled at me. It was the perfect way to end the concert. Sooyoung came by and I held up my Soshified towel and she met my eyes and thanked us for coming, in English. You can just tell how much they appreciate us being there.

As we were leaving the venue more reporters grabbed us for interviews, and I did a couple, said the concert was daebak(amazing, she loved that I used Korean haha). In all, it was a truly wonderful experience. It's hard to explain all the emotions you feel when you see SNSD live. Throughout the entire concert the girls show you everything they have. They leave everything out on the stage. You cannot help but love them even more(if that's even possible) after seeing them live. Thank you Soshified for making this experience possible.

-Pictures and fan account are by MoonSoshi9, T-ara and 2PM group photos by typ, fancams are credited to their original owners
Follow me on Twitter! @MoonSoshi9

Thanks for the translation!
One of the many things I love about Sunny is how competitive she is. She always wants to be the best at whatever it is she is doing and gives 100%.
You could really see it when she was on Invincible Youth. I'll never forget her being a total boss and catching chickens when nobody else could do it.
Imo she was the star of that show by the time she and Yuri left. In short, Sunny is amazing(pun possibly intended).

"Even if I don't watch TV, the kids are their own variety show"

LOL. Can we put this on TV please, I'd watch that show

Wow the girls are making you work with all these UFOs ahaha. Thanks for translating again.

Yuri's pretty funny making all these jokes about being in a Taxi and that she is out of breath from it.
I wonder if their choreography is particularly difficult for it?
They must be working really hard for Mr. Taxi release. Ahh I can't wait for it, it's going to be awesome.

It kinda feels like they are getting really excited for this release and are unwinding from all the work by talking to fans, which in turn gets us all excited!
Oh and am I alone in thinking that Yuri is absolutely hilarious? I love her humor so much