Ep 1: How Did We Get Here? Our K-Pop Origin Story

Hello everyone! Welcome to the very first episode of The Waygook Noonas! We are two k-pop fans who lived in Seoul between 2010-2015 and got to experience the second half of the greatest era of k-pop, the second generation. Since this is our first episode, we thought we’d introduce ourselves and share our back story.

Rebecca and Alyssa were introduced to k-pop in two very different ways. Alyssa was first introduced to k-pop through BoA’s song on Inu Yasha, Every Heart, but she had no idea she was Korean at first. A lot of Korean artists promoted in Japan during this era, and if you weren’t familiar with the language, it was hard to tell at first. When she was studying in Japan, a classmate told her she was actually Korean, which made Alyssa look up Korea and the music there more.

Meanwhile, Rebecca was introduced to k-pop through The Colbert Report, when he was in the running for the Time 100 most influential people. The Clouds (aka Rain’s fan club) throughout Asia decided that they were going to vote for Rain, and he ended up taking the top spot. Stephen Colbert, in his character era, started a fake beef with Rain. A few months later, Rain was in the movie Speed Racer, and Rebecca went to see it out of curiosity and enjoyed the movie. The next year, Rain won the Time 100 Most Influential list again, which brought the beef back up and ended with a hilarious dream sequence where Rain and Colbert battled on a DDR machine.

Meeting In Japan

Rebecca and Alyssa first met when they lived in Japan in a production of the musical Oliver! Both had become aware of a group called Tohoshinki on their own while living in Japan, but when they became friends, the single Mirotic was released in Japan. And they both fell. Hard.

Japanese version of Mirotic by Tohoshinki / DBSK

When they realized that Tohoshinki were actually the Korean group DBSK, and that the song had a Korean version, they both realized that the Korean version caught their attention more because it sounded a lot sexier. As Rebecca puts it, a j-pop version of a song is like a date where the guy picks you up, brings you flowers, takes you on a nice date and maybe it ends with a hook up at the end. The Korean version though? The audio equivalent of a hook up in the back of a club because you just don’t have the patience to wait.

Alyssa was lucky enough to get tickets to their Tokyo Dome concert, and Rebecca told herself that she would go to their next concert. Then the group broke up a few months later. 😭 Both Rebecca and Alyssa moved back home to Canada and the US and attempted to go back to “normal life”. Both of them got bored of their small town North American lives pretty quickly though, and both decided that they were going to give South Korea a try. At this point, they weren’t super close friends, but when they saw their individual plans were lining up, they decided to hang out so they weren’t tackling this crazy country alone.

Moving to South Korea

Since they both knew they were moving to Korea, and knew that one of their favourite groups in Japan was actually from Korea, they both got to know the current k-pop scene. Rebecca discovered SHINee’s Lucifer and Alyssa discovered 2PM. The music scene was shifting as well, with the Hallyu Wave turning its attention to North America. The Wonder Girls were touring with The Jonas Brothers and released their single Nobody in English, and k-pop groups with fluent English speakers was becoming a popular feature.

Since Rebecca and Alyssa bonded over their love for Tohoshinki/DBSK in Japan, their first k-pop concert together was JYJ’s concert at Jamsil Olympic Stadium. It was a massive concert in an open air stadium at the end of November, so they both were freezing the entire time, and they didn’t really know what to expect, but they were hooked.

After JYJ, the concerts didn’t stop. They went to see Rock of Ages with SHINee’s Onew, JYP Nation and 2AM’s concerts, but during this time… They both had discovered another group that ended up changing the trajectory of ALL of their”one year in Korea” plans.

Shut Up, It’s U-Kiss (and Braaaave Soooound)

Around the same time, in fall of 2010, a group released a song that caught a lot of their friends’ attention:

시끄러! (Shut Up!) by U-Kiss.

Rebecca was introduced to this group and song by one of her best friends, Eda, and since Eda knew Rebecca very well, she knew exactly who and what to show Rebecca to make her fall. Alyssa had already fallen because of the EatYourKimchi video, so by the end of 2010, they both were very ready to learn more about this group.

And that is where we will leave you for this week!

Important Vocabulary

Waygook (외국) – Foreigner
Noona (구가) – a Korean honorific used by men towards women who are older than them. The literal meaning is “older sister” but can be used towards any woman that the man has a good relationship with.
Tohoshinki (東方神起）The Japanese name for Dong Bang Shin Ki. They are also commonly known as DBSK or TVXQ. Just to make things extra confusing
Shikkeureo (시끄러) – Ranges between “Be Quiet” to shut the f*ck up, depending on your tone. Casual language, don’t use with strangers.
Bbali Bbali (빨리빨리) – A Korean cultural concept or mindset where the goal is speed and efficency, wanting near instant results. The literal translation is “hurry hurry”, and in many situations, it can feel like a “hurry up and wait” scenario.
Bi (비) – Korean word for rain, and the name that the performer Rain is commonly known as in Korean.
Saja (사자) – Literal translation is lion, but also means messenger. The most famous use of saja as a messenger is jeoseong saja 저승사자, which is the Korean version of the Grim Reaper. This double meaning is used excellently in K-Pop Demon Hunters
Bias – Term used in fandoms to identify a favourite group or performer. That person is biased towards that group or person.