This past October, I was invited to lead a workshop on blogging for undergraduates at the Southeast Regional Conference of Asian American Leaders (SERCAAL) conference. I had just finished my first workshop rotation and was heading to the next room when I heard, “Ahn young!”
I looked up to see a young Asian American student smiling at me and I holla back with an “Ahn young!” of my own. She then held up her keychain which was a mass of metal trinkets each with the face of a pretty Korean girl emblazoned on the front. I figured they were a music group, but not having had cable in over 3 years meant I was severely out of the loop on the Korean pop cultural front.
“Who are they?”
“So Nyuh Shi Dae.”
[Insert sounds of crickets chirping]
“They’re also called Girls’ Generation,” she continued.
[More crickets]
The white girl from Georgia standing next to me (visiting the conference with her Asian American sorority sisters) chimes in, “Wow…You’re not that Korean, are you?”
Damn. I wasn’t prepared for this grilling. But my new Asian American friend seemed so bubbly and outgoing, that I just let it slide. I’ll admit it. I had no clue that there was a 9-member girl supergroup called Girls’ Generation. Perhaps it’s because I’ve instituted a new rule that I cannot listen to artists who I could have babysat at one point.
I ran into her later in the conference hall where she called me over to sit next to her. She asked me about my blogging and told me that she ran a website as well. She opened up her laptop and brought up one seriously legit-looking website. The same girls dangling from her keychain had their glossy images popping up on screen with mod fonts and features. My jaw dropped and I asked her if she had designed the site herself.
“I have my people do it.”
By people, she means the staff she oversees on her website Soshified, “home to the largest international fanbase” of Girls’ Generation, which includes 10 moderators, a co-admin, and a graphic designer. She casually dropped that her site receives upon hundreds of thousands of hits per day from diehard fans of the Kpop girl group. She’s appeared in Korean media and gets asked for autographs by Soshified followers. She’s also just in her first year of college.
During a break in the conference schedule we hopped into my economy rental car (a Kia Rio, naturally) to kill some time. It was interesting talking with an Asian American who, though not Korean by ethnicity, had such a genuine love and respect for the culture and had turned that love into a bonafide transnational phenomenon. And shoot, if she thought I was a cool Korean, she must truly be culturally open-minded.
For me as a Korean American who has spent all her days in the United States, it was a tiny glimpse into how influential Korean pop culture is and how it transcends nationality, ethnicity, and race. I still couldn’t pick any of these artists out of a line-up (well, I do know BoA is at least), but nevertheless I can appreciate their impact on a broader level.
My new friend, known by the online alias of Soy to her legions of website members, calls me “unni” (and she should considering I am almost a decade older than she), which I dig. Though, we got into an arm-twisting, shoving match at the counter of a frozen yogurt shop over who would pay for dessert. She beat me and slipped her card to the cashier before I could. I let a dongseng pay for me. Unni, FAIL.
Sylvie Kim is the Film Editor at Hyphen magazine, runs a blog called The Antisocial Ladder, and is on year one of her “professional student” career plan.
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Haha You met my sister, kind of amazing since she’s in a collage in florida(not gonna reveal)
I am younger then her, since she’s the oldest in our family… D: I hope you had fun learning about snsd ^^
Im happy I discovered this website, I couldnt discover any knowledge on this subject before. Also operate a website and if you want to ever serious in a little bit of guest writing for me if possible feel free to let me know, im always look for people to check out my site. Please stop by and leave a comment sometime!
gurls did u know that girls generation will have a concert hre nxt yr. it will be great yay ill watch pls comeXD:)) hey aniel r u from dominican college ur name is sooo familiar cause thrs a grade 6 thre she super popular
nice article:) u have a great dedication its realy wonderful i realy love girls generationXD:))
wow, meeting of 2 great unnie… lol…
A member of Soshified from Malaysia here…
just like any other fans, hope you’ll get to know SNSD more,
try listening to their songs, maybe you’ll start to like them…
and soy!!! what about the subbers and so much more????:D
Oh My God ! Absolutely superb asian girls!
Love this post
I think you should hear it often but your story is great .
really sweet article! I admire Soy’s dedication and love for SNSD. =)
Thanks so much for sharing =)
I’m a big fan of Girls’ Generation here in the Philippines.
And you’ve able to meet our forum founder, Soy!
You can join in the forum as well!!! We have 56,537(66936 actually) members and counting.
Annyeong…
Hi..you are so lucky to discover our LOVELY SNSD thru our Soshified founder, Soy!
im from MALAYSIA and a big fan of SNSD and our SOY too..
love those girls…u should get to know them too..fo sure u’ll love them..
like we do..
thanx for sharing!! kamsahamnida!!
bye.
Nice article, It was so interesting that it felt like reading 2 lines ya’ know.
I’m glad that you know a bit of Girl’s Generation, because the more you know about them the more and more you want to know. It’s the power of nine.
Bye :D
Annyeong…
Wow… awesome… you meet face-to-face with Soy
I’m from Indonesia and Soshified member as well
Btw Nice blog Unnie :D
Anh young! -waves and bows- You met our Soshified founder, Soy! Yay! It’s a great day for bonding! I hope you’ll join Soshified and we can all help you get to know SNSD on a much broader scale instead of just a k pop group. And it won’t really be one sided, You can all teach us a few things about Korean culture, traditions, and how it interacts with the world.
-bows- Thank you.
I had a good read. Can’t believe you girls had a fight just so that one of you cud pay for the dessert. Haha!
“I have my people do it”
LOL. Soy sounded like a CEO of some big company who just sit around on her big chair all day and yet cash just flows in like a river.
That’s an awesome entry! Thanks for sharing!
this is a nice article :D thanks for giving us nice credits :D
hahaha…lol soy :D
we Sone’s are Thanking you :D
more blessing to come .
i hope you can support the girls in the future :D hahaha I’m sure you’ll love them.
w0w!! you’ve met our founder “Soy”!!
jjang!!!
we are the members of Soshified and Soy s our founder,,
we hope that you will join us at the International Site of SNSD …^_^
this was a great article.. thanks 4 making one,,, :))
Nice article!! Soy and Soshified rockss!!! Soshi Fighting~!!
“I have my people do it.”
ROFL
“which includes 10 moderators, a co-admin, and a graphic designer”
What about the legion of subbers? :P
LOL ..you know Soy unnie from Soshified??Nice..:D And I’m a member of Soshified as well..Soy sounds like Tiffany here,kekeke~..Nwayz..Great Article on Soy and Soshified..Soshified JJANG~!!
Oh, haha, you met our soshified founder. =D
Yeah, Soy pretty much has a fan-following of her own. =P
“I have my people do it.” <- Yeah, pfft, I can imagine that one.
Anyways, thanks for writing this. Reading it brought a smile to my face.
I wonder why…o_o
Stay healthy Kim-sshi.
That was an awesome read. Go Soy!
The Who and Girls’ Generation lol
Thanks for writing such a nice article on Soshified/Soy.
Hi, I am a SONE and a member of Soshified :)
I like your article because of its reality. and I am glad that you got to meet Soy and know about Girls’ Generation.
Hwaiting!
WOW!!!You know our forum founder Soy!!!SNSD HWAITING!!!Soshified HWAITING!!!