Fan Account of Meeting Moon Geun Young in New York (Part 2)
Part 1: Fan Account of Meeting Moon Geun Young in New York (Part 1)
After 20 minutes had passed since class ended and with no sign of Bong, I didn't think I would see her. Looking down at the gifts, I started to feel down. But when I looked up again, I saw the side view of a very pretty, kind-looking Asian girl. She was listening attentively to a student who was talking to her near the front desk.
Once it crossed my mind that she could be Bong, I gasped. I think I said "Ahhh!" in my head keke. I opened my eyes wide, with my glasses on, to make sure she was indeed Bong, and as I saw a bit more of her face and her eyes.. she looked very familiar keke. At that moment, without realizing, I started walking towards Bong carrying the gift bags in both hands to give to her.
Wearing her hair down like in her recent Chuseok confirmation picture, Bong was dressed very clean and proper in blue skinny jeans, and a hazelnut color peacoat that came down near her knees. She also wore flat shoes, similar to Converse, although I’m not sure if they were that brand.
From what I can recall, when I came near Bong, I raised my hands with the gift bags a bit towards her, bowed, and said "안녕하세요. 어, 여기요.. (Hello. Uh, here..).” Bong faced me, kindly said, “네, 안녕하세요 (Yes, hello)” and then bowed back. She is very polite, well-mannered, and respectful.
It seemed like she knew / expected me. I was surprised.. it felt like I was meeting a close friend, someone who I have known for a long time, not someone who I was meeting for the first time. It probably felt like that because I’ve seen Bong so much through her pictures and videos.
Bong put her hand in her left coat pocket, and took out a piece of paper. I then realized it was the same piece of paper that I wrote my short memo on for Bong!!! ^________^
Bong motioned towards the memo, and said, “혹시.. (Perhaps..)”, implying if I was the one who wrote the memo to her. A bit shy, I said, “네. (Yes.)” I was really surprised that she still had the memo and that she had kept it nicely in her jacket pocket! I didn't expect her to save the memo, so I was a bit caught off-guard when I saw her holding onto it lol. I wish I had written more on it keke.
I don’t remember exactly what else I said, but I remember bowing a lot LOL
Finally being able to meet her, I think I was completely starstruck, or should I say completely moonstruck keke. It’s hard to explain in words. Someone who you have always seen (in pictures and videos), but yet, at the same time, haven’t really seen (in person), to have her standing right before you, to be seeing her face-to-face.. it all felt so unreal. I remember even saying out loud to Bong several times in Korean, “Wow~ this is SO unreal~ (와~ 정말 신기해요~).” It just came out of my mouth keke. It still feels like it was a dream that I met her, even more so now that a couple of days have gone by. Sometimes I find myself having to remind myself that it wasn’t a dream ^0^
Even though I tried to jot down everything that I could remember shortly after at a place nearby, I couldn’t remember everything. Even while being with Bong, I wasn’t sure what was taking place keke. I’m just glad I was able to say something, even though I felt my voice shaking. I'm glad I prepared and practiced the short script in advance lol.
After handing her the gifts, I remember Bong saying something like, “이게 다 뭐예요? ^^ (What’s all of this? ^^).” I think I responded, “Um.. just some things that I thought you might like.”
CD Gifts
Since Bong's a big fan of Lee Sora's music, I picked up her Best album CD at a Korean store, and also picked up a Sara Bareilles CD that I thought she might also like.
I think Bong asked me in Korean, “Are you from here?” But I don't think I heard her at first, and kept thinking, “Wow~ this is so unreal.” keke
I mentioned that we had sent her some gifts for her last birthday. I tried to remember one of the names of the books that we sent, but could only remember the author at that moment, so I said, "어.. 그 신영복 교수님.. (Uh.. the Shin Young Bok Professor..)" and Bong knew and said, "네, '강의'요. (Yes, 'Lecture')." ^_^ keke I was nervous but so happy to hear directly from Bong that she received our gifts! (link: Birthday Presents to Moon)
Bong is very pretty and looks so innocent and kind. She has pearly white complexion and the cutest pinchable cheeks. It also looked like Bong was not wearing any makeup. If she did, it was very minimal and unnoticeable.
Oh, a funny thing happened keke. I initially was speaking to Bong in Korean when I introduced myself, but at some point in the conversation, without noticing, I unconsciously must have switched to English LOL. Probably because I was nervous and am more comfortable speaking in English.
So I think I asked Bong in English, something along the lines of, "How is your English class? Do you like it here?" And I think Bong responded in English, “Oh, it’s good. Yes, I do” or something similar to that. It was SO cute. Bong’s voice is so extremely kind and tender, but it all seemed to have gone by so fast that I can't remember everything exactly.
Another reason why I can’t remember everything that happened was because of Bong’s eyes. OMG, I can’t describe it. Her eyes are so round and big, pure and innocent! It was really like looking at Puss in Boots from Shrek. I was so drawn and fascinated by her eyes that I wasn’t able to remember much else. It was probably moreso because Bong looks at you very intently, genuinely, sincerely, listening to your every word keke
When I was unknowingly talking to Bong in English, I think I was talking pretty fast because I was nervous. I sensed that Bong was trying to focus on me, and it was then that I realized I was talking in English, so I quickly reverted back to Korean LOL.
Because I didn’t want to take a lot of her time, I bowed and said, “정말 감사합니다. 뉴욕에 좋은 시간 많이 보내세요. 안녕히가세요 (Thank you so much. Hope you have a great time in New York. Please go safely).” I bowed a lot keke. I wanted to respect Bong as much as I could.
Having felt bad for even going to Kaplan to meet her, since it is her private life, I did not ask Bong for a picture or an autograph. Still, I felt like and still feel like I'm on cloud 9 ^________^
Even though it was raining outside, and I was getting wet because I forgot to carry an umbrella, my mouth was hanging from ear to ear lol. The whole time I was walking back afterwards, I kept thinking, “Wow, she’s so kind. She’s the kindest, sweetest, nicest, most genuine, sincere person I’ve ever met in my life.” keke That’s really what I kept thinking. I remember someone even asked me if something good happened because I seemed to be in such a good mood. lol
On the above heart card, I wrote something along the lines as follows:
To: Geun Young / Bong
Happy belated Chuseok and
Hope you have a wonderful time in New York!
Sarigomtanghaeyo
~Soompi Moons
P.S. Although an eye camera is good too, hope you can store many memories as photos this time ^_^
The last, and also first, time Bong was in NY last year, she didn’t have her own camera. Although there’s a picture floating around of Bong taking a picture while in NY, she was actually using someone else’s camera lol. Bong told fans that she had no pictures ㅠ and stored her memories with her eye camera (her eyes) keke. So I hope Bong can store her memories with photos this time keke ^_^
I wish I could give Bong more things and nicer things. She’s someone who I want to give gifts to keke. I think it says a lot because I'm usually pretty frugal LOL
After meeting Bong, she’s even more than I had imagined (if that is even possible lol). It was a dream come true to have met Bong, and while I would love to see her everyday while she is in NY, I am not going to go back to respect her privacy.
THE END
credits to and translations by Soompi Moons
http://www.facebook.com/SoompiMoons
http://www.soompi.com/forums/topic/508-moon-geun-young-문근영
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