Welcome to Part 2 of the November 2012 Soshified Spotlight.

Just like every other month, we’re once again highlighting a regular member in Part 1, and a Soshified staff member in Part 2.

In Part 1, we featured Deemas28, or Dimas, an economics graduate who has changed direction and is now focusing on the two bands he plays in, including BGJKT, which covers Girls’ Generation songs with a rock/metal twist. If you have not checked out their work, make sure you do so. They are quite a talented group.

In Part 2, we shall be featuring jyhwang, or Jinyoung, a SoShi Subber–Korean Translator here on Soshified. She actually lives in Hong Kong, though she plans to move to California for school. She has also been a flower girl for events featuring a couple of Korean celebrities. In addition, Jinyoung is also a “Drama Queen”, though not in the sense that you would assume. Read on to learn more.

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What is your first name?

Jinyoung

How did you find out about Soshified and why did you decide to join?

I actually think I googled “snsd fansite” or found Soshified through youtube or something because I really wanted to join a Girls’ Generation fanclub/site.

How did you come up with your screen name?

My old screen name used to be “brokenbracelet” and that’s the name of Michelle Branch’s first album. Now it’s jyhwang which is just my name. Very original haha.

Where are you originally from, and where do you currently reside (city and country forboth)?

I’m Korean but I’ve been living in Hong Kong all my life.

If we were visiting you where you live for one day, where would you take us? Why are these places so significant?

I would definitely take everyone to this street in Tsim Tsa Tsui just because it’s a street filled with Korean restaurants and supermarkets. Also a shopping mall in Mong Kok with all the kpop merchandise!

Tell us a little about your life. What do you do full time and in your free time?

I’ve been working as an Educational Assistant in a kindergarten and in the holidays, I work in sport camps for children. I’m heading to university in California hopefully in January so I can’t wait for that! In my free time, it’s either all taken up by Girls’ Generation or I’m watching Korean drama/shows.

What are you going to be doing at the University of California? Why there?

I’m going to be studying early childhood education to become a kindergarten teacher. I always experience living in California so why not go to university there?

What’s the most interesting thing about you and/or that has ever happened to you?

I’m a pretty boring person if you take away kpop from me but I guess the most interesting thing that happened to me was when I was forced to be a flower girl for numerous celebrities like Cha Taehyun and Bae Youngjoon. Hopefully I get to meet Girls’ Generation next?

How did you get to be a flower girl for those celebrities?

My mom’s friend contacted my mom saying they needed a Korean girl to be the flower girl so my mom forced me into a hanbok and made me do all these events. I was really young then and I didn’t like wearing the hanbok so I complained a lot. Now when I think about it, it’s a pretty great experience.

For people who are first meeting you (like most of us), how would you describe yourself?

I’m pretty outgoing? So we would dive straight into conversations and my friends told me that I never shut up about Girls’ Generation so I would probably get along really well with fellow fans. I’d like to think I’m funny but it’s weird saying it myself.

What do you think makes you funny?

How can I answer this question myself?! Haha I asked my friend and she said “I think you’re funny but I have no idea how”. I’d like to think that the things I say can be quite funny but they’re probably laughing at my face or something half the time!

Tell us some things that most people don’t know about you that you think they should.

I like to dance? I actually made a Kpop dance club with a couple of my friends when we were in high school. Every year there’s this event called ‘Evening of Music and Dance’ and there’s a Korean dance section so we decided to take the section and I REALLY wanted to do a Girls’ Generation dance which my friends weren’t so enthused about so I ended up teaching a group the ‘Into The New World’ dance and we performed it! It was so hard to do everything in such a limited time (I think it was two weeks? Probably not since I have a goldfish memory) but it definitely just made me respect Girls’ Generation even more.

Is there anything big in your life that you’re working on? (This can be related to school,career,hobbies,family,friends, etc.)

Nothing I would say big!

Nothing big? No future goals or current projects?

Just working on getting experience in teaching. One of my future goals worth mentioning is to spare up time so I can translate more

What are your interests outside of Girls’ Generation?

I love English and Korean music. My friends would tease me that I only love “slow songs” but it’s so nice to just relax and listen to or just leave it on in the background while you study or when you’re on the computer. I also used to be obsessed with playing my guitar after being inspired by Michelle Branch and self taught myself how to play but I don’t play as much anymore because there’s no time. I also love sports especially football and field hockey. And I watch a ridiculous amount of tv shows and Korean dramas. When Fashion King was on, my dad would always call me drama king/queen because of the amount of dramas I watch (he didn’t know drama queen also meant being an overly dramatic person and that kings were for guys).

How did you first become a fan of Girls’ Generation?

I was watching television and the ‘Kissing You’ music video came on and I remember I was asking the television who the group was haha. The song wouldn’t get out of my head either.

Who is your favorite member and why?

Tiffany always! I have this really crazy idea (wish) that I’m somehow related to her even if it’s a long lost distant cousin’s cousin kind of thing. I would joke around with my friends that she’s my long lost sister because of the same last name and we both have sisters named Michelle. It might not be that crazy though because I had a friend who had the same last name as me and she actually turned out to be my long lost distant aunt or something. Tiffany’s just so inspirational with everything that she’s gone through and her voice is amazing. When I just got into Girls’ Generation, my favorite would change literally every day.

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation song and MV and why?

My favorite Girls’ Generation song was always Baby Baby but I think recently Forever is going to take that spot because after seeing it live at their concert with all the emotions, it was unforgettable. Favorite MV is almost impossible to choose but I’ll say Into The New World because it has mushroom Fany!

What is your favorite Girls’ Generation moment and why?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRVM9THdSU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m18s (the video should start at around 2:18!)
My serious answer: This is actually a really hard question to answer and I left it for last to answer. All 9 girls at the beach in the first photobook in Japan have got to be one of my favorite Girls’ Generation moment. They look so happy and they’re having fun! They look like little kids when they all line up and walk together, it’s so cute haha

How has Girls’ Generation impacted your life, in specific areas or even as a whole?

Girls’ Generation definitely made an impact in my life. To talk about that impact in full detail, I’ll probably write pages and pages. Before Girls’ Generation, whenever someone would talk about how a band/group saved their life and how their eyes would light up just talking about it, I never understood it and always brushed them off as an obsessive fangirl or fanboy but now I understand completely. This quote pretty much explains it- “Never underestimate a girl’s love for her favorite band. Never think even for a minute, that she won’t defend them to her death. Because it’s not just the music that makes that band her favorite. It’s the guys, the gals. It’s the fans. People whom of which she has interacted with thanks to the band. That band might of saved her life, or just made her smile everyday. That band has never broke her heart and has yet to leave her. No wonder she finds such joy in her music.”
– Alexander William Gaskarth

Would you be able to summarize Girls’ Generation’s impact on you then?

The quote pretty much summarized their impact on me but to add on to that, Girls’ Generation is like your best friend that you can always rely on? I’m really bad with my words and it sounds so silly but when you’re feeling down, you can watch their shows or listen to their music to cheer you up. In return, you support them and when they achieve something, you’re so proud. I feel like I’m a better person now because each of them taught me important things for example Tiffany taught me to stay strong no matter how tough it gets and to always follow my dreams.

What do you like most about Soshified, and why? Any section in particular you’re attracted to?

I love the style section! It’s in my routine to visit that section whenever I can and it’s so easy to browse through. There’s of course the organized videos section which really helped me become a bigger fan when I first started liking Girls’ Generation.

Why did you decide to join the Soshified staff, and why the particular job you have now?

I decided to join because I finally had the time to do something for Soshified and I wanted to help in some way so I decided to apply as a translator. Oh and actually before being a translator for Soshified, I applied to be a radio DJ but I couldn’t get it to work because my internet connection wasn’t great so I never got the chance. It was really funny because my friend was so excited about it; she created an account on Soshified just to listen to me. I would love to give it another chance if my internet ever decides to cooperate.

What exactly do you do? Do you enjoy this position? What do you like about it?

I haven’t had the time to translate because I’ve been going through some things but usually I would either translate UFOs, news articles or videos. I love translating UFOs the most because the girls’ responses are hilarious and they never disappoint us fans.

What is your favorite project that you’ve ever been involved in?

I don’t have a favorite project (yet!) but if I had to pick, I would say translating Tiffany cuts in Strong Heart.

Any interesting experiences when interacting with members?

There have been a few experiences where I would read the staff skype chat and either laugh to myself or be very confused haha but apart from that none yet! I’ve met some great people though and I’m sure there will be interesting experiences to come.

Is there anything else about you that you would like to add?

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to do this interview! And if someone actually read all of my answers, thank you!

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Huge thanks goes out to Jinyoung for participating in Soshified Spotlight this month. As usual, you can submit nominations for future Soshified Spotlights if you’d like to participate or if you’d like to get to know a fellow member better. Instructions on how to do so can be viewed at the Soshified Spotlight Solicitation announcement.

You can also read past Soshified Spotlights by clicking on the “Soshified Spotlight” tag below.

Compiled by: residentbenchwarmer@soshified
Graphic by: cioco@soshified

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