Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Meeting new sisters


When I blogged about our outings with the Joonsfamily sisters Kelly, Jos and Jessica, our dear sister Jelen asked : “I always wonder what will be the feeling of meeting you guys, will I be tongue tied, shy, talkative?”

Hahaha Jelen, you’re so cute. If you asked me this question a few year ago, I would really be tongue-tied. Imagine, living in the remote Siberian land of Toronto, how did I ever expect to meet any diehard BYJ fans? (Hehe, although I do admit I am the luckiest to have both gosijo and ivy there) Now here I am in pseudo Baeland (aka Japan, as princess refers to), I probably have bumped into a Bae sister every time I walk out the door and not even realizing it. The other day, my son yelled to me while we were riding the subway, "Mama, is that woman your sister? She’s carrying a BYJ bag, aren’t you going up to talk to her?" Errrrr…… well, not really, not unless I want people to think I am a desperate 'gaijin' housewife!


Dear sisters, the fact is, unless you are a party animal or a UN Ambassador (and are drunk at the same time!), how many people can go up to a total stranger and immediately pour out their hearts and souls about their dream man whom they’ve never met, who happens to live thousands of miles away and doesn’t even know they exist?! Hahaha, maybe one kind, YES, only Bae sisters can!

Well dear Jelen, I am not qualified but if I really have to answer the feeling of meeting a new Bae sister : tongue-tied, shy or talkative? I’ll say, “hehe, All of the above!” I personally find most Bae sisters I’ve met so far are charmingly ‘low key’ (just like Yong Joon), what keeps the gatherings so warm and lively is simply the sincerity and pure love for our prince. I'll share my personal guidelines :

1. Be natural

Yong Joon has said it many times before, “he always wanted a pure, sincere, trustworthy woman who strives to improve herself.” We do feel our best when we behave naturally, and then we’ll let the friendship flourish. If I feel really shy and conscious, hehe, it’s perfectly fine to just sit and listen. (or in my case in Japan, 'try' to listen :)

2. No expectation

Isn’t it true that if there is no expectation, then there is no disappointment? Then anything good happens will become a nice surprise. But as a human being, we do have requirements and expectation on ourselves, that’s called ‘motivation’, but it would not be fair to impose them on others. Just like Yong Joon, he’s a perfectionist and is extremely harsh on himself, but he’s never demanding of others.

3. Think Yonsama

Yeah afterall, he is the reason why we know each other in the first place! I guess this is the only preparation we need for our gathering :

- how we know about him, what attracts us most, where we surf for news and pictures
- bring along favorite books and memorabilia to share
- exchange BYJ ‘business’ cards (I still haven't prepared mine, embarassed :)
- if anyone had a personal encounter with him, then she’s guaranteed to be the ‘star’ of the show! Be prepared to share the story in every minute detail, hehe, preferably with pictures to show for it too :)

It’s not a problem to repeat any BYJ story over and over again, Bae sisters will never get tired of listening to anything BYJ!

4. Trust own intuition

Just like meeting any new friends, there are always some sisters whom we feel closer to than others. That’s perfectly ok, we don’t have to be bosom-buddies with everyone we meet, otherwise we’ll need 48 hours a day to socialize, right? It’s intuitive human behavior to have an impression of people we meet, but not passing judgement.


You can say BYJ family is probably a homogenous yet the most diversified group of women gathered for the love of one extraordinary man. We come from different countries, upbringings, age groups, professions, with our own languages and cultures. We have very diverse personalities, interests, hobbies, goals, outlooks in life and attitudes towards others. Even though we love the same man, interestingly enough, I find in real life our sisters' tastes in men are all very different. That only proves our prince is universally gorgeous and outstanding who appeals to women from every corner of society. Best of all, BYJ family can recognize and celebrate these differences and exist harmoniously; complementing, supporting and caring about each other.

I really like a card that a dear sister sent me recently, it says, “Think kindly, act gently, care deeply, give freely.” This simply is as beautiful as our Yong Joon!

15 comments:

bbmag said...

hey, this is a nice one... great advice too! except that i wish you'd written this before my first bae meeting :p

i would hazard a guess that all of us feel that first pangs of apprehension and uncertainty about meeting bae sisters, esp the first time... and hehe, the 24 hours leading up to the meeting is quite possibly the worst, probably keep wondering if you should just cancel :p

but gotta say i do have some thoughts on this topic too... maybe one day, i'll blog my own out too :p

thanks for sharing, jaime :)

p.s. glad we'd met :)

Hydee Pole Photography said...

Hello jaime,
Completely agree with you.
I have admired him since I was single got married and still adore him. And now I am meeting friends from various parts of the world and could talk about things not only about BYJ. It's amazing how he affected us in different ways and warm our hearts when it gets cold.
I know about meeting people and the expectaions. I suppose friendship starts somewhere and flourish through time. It's been a pleasure knowing you ;-)
hyds

Anonymous said...

Hi Chinggu!

Wow! These are very useful advise to us. Wonder how we'd react if we ever get to really meet. But all I can say that meeting other Baesisters here in the Philippines have been a very wonderful experience to me as well as meeting Mariko who is all sweet and nice.

Maybe if we do get to meet, how's tears of joy, hugz and kisses? I am sure that we'll have sooooo much to talk about and a lot of non-stop laughter, wouldn't we?

I am very sure that behind that funny lady who writes all these delightful post in this blog is actually terribly too nice and so down-to-earth that I have no words to say but THANK YOU SO MUCH for being YOU!

Love lots,
judy

jaime said...

Hi hi princess,

hehe, me too, so nice to have met you. To be honest, I was very nervous that time (probably dazzled by your beauty :), that explained the 'stunned & dumb' look on me.

Yes, please share your thoughts when you have time. I still remember you blogged about deciding what to wear before meeting youngsun nim in Korea, so cute!

love .. .jaime

jaime said...

Hi Hyds,

Thank you for reading this. Wow, you've been through major life changes while being a fan. Happy to hear that you stick with BYJ throughout these times, you are a true fan :)

Have you met some Bae sisters too? in Korea or where you live? Yes, it's amazing that some of us can become 'beyond BYJ' friends, huh?
Please take care!

love ... jaime

jaime said...

Hmmmmm chinggu,

I am still debating whether I should wear a helmet or go for the full armour look when I get to meet you. Who knows what weapon of mass destruction you are going to use on me next time? But regardless of the life-threatening risk, I am still willing to climb mountains and swim across oceans to meet you :) Cos I know we are going to have a blast (literally) when we see each other, right?

Have a nice day w/ your glorious chores! (me too)

love .. .jaime

Anonymous said...

Dear Jaime,

Hi! I really made you think with my innocent question dear sis, but now I'm so glad that I voiced it out because your advised can be very helpful to us new baebie ( I can still consider myself new after 2 year of following YJ trail as well as sharing everything about our favorite man with all of you).
As I am reading the comments of BB & hyds & judy, I can really feel the happiness,warmth & excitement of each and everyone of you when you all finally got a chance to meet each other. I can imagine that you are all like long time friends that has lost touch for a long time that feel a little shy at first but after a while discover the same warmth and camaraderie and went your separate ways feeling fulfilled and happy and experience that will stay with you all your life.

omg, here I go again being a bit overly dramatic when I just want to say Thanks to you for sharing your thoughts and time with all of us.

God bless & have a wonderful sleep and dream of YJ.

always,

jelen

jaime said...

Dear jelen,

hahaha yes, you've really made me THINK, which happens to be my weakest trait :) Hehe, I am not really qualified to give you advice, but I am just sharing my thoughts. Please feel free to share yours too. Btw, do u have any Bae sisters in your city?

Thank you very much for your warm comments, and your wonderful artworks in soompi :) You have a sweet dream too!

love ... jaime

Hydee Pole Photography said...

I only met them here online. I live in a countryside here in the UK and doesn't know many people. Because of YJ I have now friends from different parts of the world. It would be great if we see each other someday. Perhaps one day! I agree with jelen..

Just a message to Judy, did she say she's from the Philippines?

Anonymous said...

Hi again Chinggu and gals!

Helmet or full armor, you say? Hehehehe, might have to meet with with my invisble force field/shield then, huh? No WMD from me but maybe Weapons of Mass Seduction from you? Hahahahhaha!

To hyds-Yup! I am from the Philippines. I am Chinese but born and raised here and I always see your name at the KOB and sometimes at Quilt. Enjoy the hilarious post of this Chinggu!

Love,
Judy

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaime,

I'm not sure Jaime if there's a baesis near my city, as far as I know we share the same country but nobody has ever volunteered from what city they are, hehehe... maybe nobody yet is comfortable meeting another sister.

Thanks for liking my BYJ fun artwork and thanks for the appreciation *blush*blush*

Jelen

jaime said...

Hi Hi Jelen,

Sorry if you don't mind, are you from the States? I know what you mean, it's better to be careful and safe than being casual about meeting strangers online. I think a lot of sisters met through 'referrals' by others? Am I using the wrong word 'referral' or s/b introduction? Hehe, you know what I mean. I am sure when it's the right time, you'll know about it, sorry to sound like a mother:)

regards ... jaime

Anonymous said...

Hi Jaime,

Nope, I am a present in my own country, Philippines, We used to work abroad a lot but this time my hubby decided to stay put for 5 years at least.

Your not being a mother dear Jaime, I appreciated what you said it's not wrong to be cautious.

have a good day.

Jelen

jaime said...

HI Jelen,

Ahhh, you are in the Philippines now. So you know there are some sisters in soompi from the Philippines, right? Unfortunately the Baewatch fan group no longer exists, so there isn't any official gathering. Have a nice day!

love .... jaime

MsRetta said...

Hello Ladies

I just fell in love with BYJ....saw a photo and it just pulled me in. SO I watched April Snow,Winter Sonata and The Legend..which I love...

I dont know what it is about BYJ ...he just captivates.

I am in California, United States and I am so glad I found this site.

BYJ dreams to you all