when two worlds collide

So yesterday was my first meeting at a manga school in Jakarta since signing up for a photoshop class.

Before getting to the point, there are some things that you should know. You know what manga is, it's a form of comic originated from Japan before beginning to develop worldwide. Since the school itself was established by a Japanese, so you get the picture that everything in the classroom is dominated with all Japanese culture.

The place was peaceful though, with only a few quiet students scribbling their brush pens on a customized paper while the sensei (the Japanese lady that established the school) was explaining in front of the class with a sweet Japanese accent, and when she went out from the classroom for a minute or two, you'd hear her speaking in Japanese with a staff or on the phone.

Other things that complete the Japanese-ish vibe are Japanese songs played continously in the classroom (they even played Arashi songs!! How cool was that?), the Japanese magazines all over the places, with some Japanese-scribbled illustration works displayed in the wall.

Get the picture? Okay.

Anyway, you know that these days I've been really into Korean culture. It's been a while since I've kind of taken a break from listening to Larc en Ciel, NEWS, and Hey! Say! JUMP, apparently hypnotized enough by Kpop. So when I entered the classroom for the first time, I felt that my longing deep down moaned in satisfaction. I was like "Oh I miss these stuffs!".

With all thick Japanese vibe filling the room, I imagined that maybe the staff members and students are still fond of Jpop no matter how Kpop has widely developed. I thought I wouldn't bring up a question whether they like Kpop or not.

But not until...

The other class with whom I shared with was over, right before mine is too. So as the students were stepping out of the classroom, new ones entered - consisting of three teenage girls - and they were unexpectedly louder and noisier than the previous ones, who were effin' quiet. Guess what they were talking about...

(I write according to what I remembered, since I was working at my drawing at that moment)

Girl #1: "...oh yes, I know Dongho! From Ukiss right? He's such a sweetie!"

Girl #2: "Sure he is. Oh do you know Ukiss' song called Bingeul Bingeul? It goes like... *singing the song in Korean*"

My ears - unfamiliar to hear a foreign language spoken in such place - quickly perched up.

The girls entered the classroom and noticed me and my other classmate (of the same class) still working on our artwork. They went up to introduce themselves.

Girl #1: "Do you happen to like Kpop?"

Me: "Yes!" *surprised*

Girl #2: "Really?? What band then?"

Me: "I like all bands but my most favorite one is Super Junior."

*imagine seeing biased girls screaming and yelling when it comes to talking about their favorite artists. yep, that's what happened after that in response to my answer*

Girl #1: *taking a breath after screaming* "I can't believe!! Another ELF!! I met another ELF!" (ELF: Everlasting Friends or a name for Super Junior's fan)

Girl #2: "Which member is your favorite?"

Anyway the third girl is kind of quiet. So she just listened.

Me: "Kyuhyuuun!! *excitedly*"

*Another scene of screaming and jumping in excitement among these girls. I would call this situation as epic*

Girl #2: "Favorite pairing?"

Me: "Um...*I'm not getting used to picking my favorite pairings, but okay*
Kyumin - Kyuhyun and Sungmin (???)"

Girl #1: "Aww...too bad. I prefer Eunhae - Eunhyuk and Donghae - though."

Me: "They're fine too!"

Actually I wanted to mention something more about this Eunhae more and how Eunhyuk used to like Donghae for REAL years ago, but so little time we had since my class was almost over.

Sensei's assistant then came to us and happened to be involved in the conversation.

Sensei's assistant: "Ooh, you like Kpop too? I love Brown Eyed Girls, especially their Abracadabra song and their dances!"

HA! That place was unexpectedly dominated with Kpop fans, eh? Much to my surprise. I thought the girls coming and Sensei's assistant herself would be talking stuff like "Do you listen to Arashi?" or "Do you watch Dorama? Watch this anime? Read this manga?" Well, I didn't expect but I kind of hoped that the talk would at least support the atmosphere of the place. It was a place with strong Japanese vibe. Those kinds of talk would at least support it.

But then these girls just came up and finally, we ended up talking about our interests, which comes from Japan's neighboring country itself, Korea. We talked really loud after that, joined with sensei's hilarious assistant. The Arashi song playing softly in the background was slowly faded with our laughter and our Sorry Sorry singing.

I felt kind of awkward though, but all in all, it was a good moment of unexpectation and surprise.

Meeting Kpop fans is the last thing I thought would happen in that place, but well, a trend is a trend, and it's everywhere. Yes, I've met Kpop fans almost everywhere: in my jazz course, in my violin course, and also in my English course (though a friend of mine in my English course isn't too biased).

Thank goodness, Sensei herself was not at the classroom at that moment. She was outside for a moment or two. I imagine she would be like.

"What are you talking about?" ^^

私は日本と韓国の大衆文化を愛する。^__^
(trans=I love both Japanese and Korean pop culture)