SHINee Fansign Accounts Part 1

I meant to write this post out months and months ago when I got asked a lot of questions about fansigns. So I hope this comes off as kind of interesting and not as bragging, cause that's certainly not how I intend it. I get a lot of questions asking about foreigners at fansigns and peoples reactions to them, specifically SHINee's. I also got some requests to share cute stories about SHINee so I figured I'd smoosh the two topics together and write a post about foreigners at fansigns with examples from people I know who have been. I've bolded the fan accounts so people can skip what I've written about my own circumstances and just fansigns in general.

Minho and foods

Ah so I should preface this by saying I feel a little weird about getting involved in this but it's getting out of hand. So as a few of you may know a pretty epic twitter mess started a few days ago over the account called Minho and foods on twitter. I asked around because I was initially majorly confused about what was going on and hopefully we can try and lay down an explanation for why this got so crazy so quick.

Kpop is, apparently, not real music.

So there are these forums designed mainly for teachers living in Korea. We exchange teaching materials mostly but I've found a particular brand of ignorant stupid which is really surprising since everyone on these forums chose to come live in Korea. You'd expect a certain amount of open-mindedness and receptiveness from people who move to another country and take up long term residence, but no; that's not what you get.

To Heart and Taemin: why we shouldn't compare them

Apologies first up for this post in general because I'm frustrated and it's never a good idea to post anything when you're angry, but I guess it's too late now. Also I'm very aware that most people haven't engaged in comparing Taemin and Kibum so just enjoy the read in that case ^.^ I have a bit of time to sit down at a computer and I wanted to write this because it's something I feel like I'm in a really really good position to make comment on. I was in the really blessed and fortunate position that I was in between work contracts during the To Heart promotions earlier this year and the Kpop gods showed equal divine providence by blessing me with summer holidays the same time as Taemin's Danger promotions. So up until now I went to every single To Heart recording bar 1 and every single Taemin Danger recording bar 1. I missed an Inkigayo recording because there was someone being a total douchebag asshole and a lot of SHAWols didn't get to go in because that person caused so much trouble. I'll explain that more later though. And I didn't go to Taemin's Arirang recording last Monday morning because it was on the other side of the city, really really early and only allowed 100 people in.

Taemin Solo Debut Weekend

So I remember saying a few weeks ago that no debut would ever come close to Noona Nomu Yeppeo in terms of how amazing and perfect it was but, even though Taemin's no rookie, as a solo artist his debut is sitting safely nestled with SHINee's in my tiny little heart.

Comeback rumors and magical Korean connections

I draw a lot of what I write about here from questions I get via ask.fm. It's a really helpful way to find topics to write about ^.^ Anyway this is just a short one, but I wanted to write about comeback rumors a little because I get asked what I know about this comeback date and that rumor and yada yada yada. Anyway so here's the truth: ...

How 12 year olds see SHINee in Korea o.O

Questions will occasionally pop up via ask.fm about how SHINee is perceived in the general Korean populace. I should start off by saying I hate generalizing people. I feel really stupid if I try and speak for an entire group, because there's always going to be people who have a different opinion on the situation. Truth is unless we take a poll of the Korean population we're not really going to know how popular SHINee is but I'll try and give you a vague idea from my own observations.

Key's completely awesome and here's a few reasons why.

Been writing a lot of research-y fandom issue serious business posts lately so I wanted to do something a little fun. I've been rewatching a few old fancams lately and decided I wanted to compile a few videos I totally adore so here we have it: The Key appreciation post ^.^

I have a lot of love for the rest of SHINee so I think I'll throw together a few posts like this for destress purposes in the future. ^.^

I dunno about you guys, but one of my favorite things come concert time is anticipating what sort of solo work SHINee's going to pump out. I'm very rarely disapointed. When SHINee World Concert 3 rolled around and there was no solos I couldn't actually bring myself to be too upset because we got solos at SHINee's Anniversary showcase and The Wizard.

Why everyone hates WGM

A lot of people asked me questions about this a few months back when the issue re-exploded over the Taemin Nae-eun advertisement in the Korean subways. Basically a group of TaeEun shippers chose to take at an advertisement in a large, very public subway station congratulating Taemin and Nae-eun on their ‘one year anniversary.’ Maybe this post is a little late, but I still get questions about We Got Married to this day so I figure people are still confused. As always, I hope this post doesn’t reignite any hate or drama: we’re hoping for the opposite. A little understanding of where people are coming from on all sides can only help, right?

I've seen this question answered a few times but there's still a lot of fans who are confused as to why We Got Married is despised as much as it is by certain circles of Korean SHINee fans. And really I don't blame anyone for being confused because I've never seen a fantastic explanation in English. So I'm going to attempt explaining as best I can after asking around a little and gathering a few different sources. This might be a little late but I hope it helps people understand just why Korean fans are so upset at supposed WGM shippers and the We Got Married franchise in general.

How International Fans can protect SHINee and their privacy

Before I even write anything more about this I want to make it clear that I really don't want to incite any hate or drama. I started this blog so I could share information and talk about issues within SHINee's fandom that are important to me. This is NOT a call to war or an invitation to attack anyone I mention in this post. I don't want people to spread hate or get angry. I'm hoping that people can become very aware of the behavior they are enabling by reblogging certain materials.

And now, for something different: A day in Apgujeong Garusogil

People ask me for recomendations in my ask.fm of places to travel in Korea every now and then and I can't say I'm much of a foodie expert nor do I think I can contribute much more to the numerous lists that exist online about awesome places to check out in Korea. But as someone who might share a few more interests with the average SHINee/k-pop fan travelling to Korea I thought I might share a few places I personally like to hang out.

I'm a Key bias, as most of you already know, so it's probably no surprise that I really like shopping and fashion. I also really like interesting foods so that's mostly what I'll show off. Me and a friend hit Garusogil for the day and walked all the way up to Apgujeong Rodeo. Quite a lot of walking as you can see:

So this is what our daytrip looked like on a map. Pretty intense right?

(Warning: picture heavy post ahead)

Why writing fan accounts is really hard

So this post is something I've been thinking about for awhile. I need to get some worries off my chest regarding fan account inaccuracies and why writing fan accounts is sometimes really complicated. I don't want this to turn into a pity me fest, I just want to confess a few things. I've been writing fan accounts publicly for only a few months now. I don't have too many followers on twitter, but I am aware that my fan accounts are spread in forums, re-tweeted and translated into different languages. The problem is that I make mistakes. I make typos. In the heat of the moment I write something and mean it one way, and without meaning to my words can have a different interpretation. It's something I've begun to really worry about as I see the problems bad fan accounts can cause. 

Fansites: Super Heroes or Super Villains? (I'm totally joking, please don't kill me)

So I'm taking a break from writing about Bonnie and Clyde and some other tedious little topics we're working on and I want to write a little bit about fansites. Mainly because people ask a lot of questions via ask.fm about this fansite or that fansite or just general questions.

A summary of Bonnie and Clyde as acted by Key - Part 2

I left off the last part with Key's epic fight with his brother and Bonnie. Now we're coming up on some of the most exciting parts of the musical!

A summary of Bonnie and Clyde as acted by Key - Part 1

As most of you know camera's and recordings are completely forbidden during musical performances here in Korea...or anywhere really. Unfortunately Musical's aren't like concerts where you can wait (a century for SM to get their shit together) and they'll release a dvd. So here's a summary of what exactly it is Key does when he plays Clyde Chestnut Barrow in Bonnie and Clyde the musical.

Why NOT to become an English Teacher in Korea

aka Common Misconceptions About Teaching in Korea

I get asked a lot of questions about being a teacher. I don't really intend to talk about my job or personal life too much on Jabiless, but this topic is really linked in with K-pop and SHINee so I want to address it here. If I got a dollar for every time someone told me they wanted to be just like me and live in Korea and see SHINee all day long I'd be rich. I completely understand where people are coming from though. If you just look at my twitter it looks like I SHINee all day every day. But that's certainly not the case. I want to explain why it is a terrible idea to come to Korea as a teacher if all you want to do is K-pop.

Why fansigns are a special kind of torture

I think there's a fair amount of interest for fansigns and how it is we get into them. I should disclaim myself now by saying; please don't be surprised if this post puts you off the idea of fansigns forever.

So if everything works out in your favor a SHINee fansign could be the greatest experience of your life. I'm not even joking. SHINee are really, at the end of the day, just 5 dudes but when you spend such a huge chunk of your time gazing with abject wonder at their beautiful glowing visage on twitter, seeing the real thing is a sensory overload like nothing has ever prepared you for. So you can just imagine what talking to them is going to be like.

The 5 crazy hardest things we've ever done for SHINee

It sometimes hits me how hard it is to get information about being able to do things SHINee-related in Korea. I still don't know everything there is to know and it's been a loooooong learning process. From Music Shows to free concerts to SHINee World Concerts to fansigns to special events, endorsement promotions and the list goes on, there are a stack of things you can do but....they're all super difficult. So here's the absolute hardest thing's we've done as fangirls. I hope you find it interesting~!

SHINee Blogging 시작~!

I write a lot on twitter now-a-days about various SHINee fan events I get to go to and often just feel like Twitter's 140 character limit is cramping my style. I'm a pretty wordy person and sometimes I just want to get my ideas out there and 140 characters isn't cutting it. So here we go; I'm finally starting a blog. Mainly because I fear Tumblr; I've heard so many horror stories from the deep depths of Tumblr land that I think I'll stick to old school blogspot.

I don't really want to reveal too much of the real me. My name is Min, I live in Korea and I'm 91-liner. I have 2 cats named Bonnie and Clyde and all my friends are fangirls. I have a hilarious close friend who commonly refers to fangirls as 'Magical people' and non fangirls as 'Muggles'. So I like to think I've surrounded myself with magical people~ SHINee being the most magical among us.

SHINee bring me a great deal of joy and happiness. Living away from family is sometimes kind of lonely, but I've never felt that pain thanks to SHINee. From debut they've only ever brought me joy and happiness which is why I've decided to open this blog. I want to write about my experiences and share them for a number of reasons. Firstly because I know living overseas as an international fan is super tough and I would have loved it if there were more English speaking fans sharing their experiences when I was stuck back home. And secondly because I worry about the distortion of information that happens sometimes. Unfortunately the only access we have as fans is via things translated from Korean to Japanese/Chinese to English. I can't say I'm all knowing or going to be 100% correct all the time but I'll try my best ^.^

That said, I hope anyone who decides to read my entries can give me the benefit of the doubt. I hope if I phrase something awkwardly or offend anyone in any way you can calmly let me know. I realize fangirls can often get really fired up; my greatest worry about writing like this is only that I'm opening myself up for hate. The internet sucks sometimes because of it's anonymous nature. I really would love to hear people's opinions and questions, but I'm not doing this to open myself up to any hatred or flaming (only the Minho kind allowed guys~) As my friend kindly reminded me: at the end of that day I'm doing this for myself.