Jo Hyun Jae

 Should all acquaintance be forgot
And never brought to mind?
Should all acquaintance be forgot
And auld lang syne!

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne.
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!*

As part of EVER’s “Friendship Event” involving Jo Hyun-Jae fans from all over the world, WULIJOHYUNJAE hosted a Christmas party for JHJ’s international fans in Hong Kong on December 26, 2009.

On December 12, before EVER announced this event, some JHJ fans from different parts of the world already had a get-together in Hong Kong.  So the timing of this event was somewhat off for us.  We did not think we would be able to muster more than half a dozen people this second round.

Surprisingly everybody who came the first time readily committed.  Some were flying in just for the day!  And many Hong Kong fans wanted to join.  But we did not ask for enough T-shirts, so it became a “By invitation only” event.

Fans from different parts of China, Taiwan, Macau, Philippines, and Hong Kong gathered at a five-star hotel where we took a group photo before the Christmas tree in the lobby.

We took up our positions long before the photographer appeared, and we were goggled at in the busy lobby.  We proudly displayed our bright pink “Jo Hyun Jae – We’ll support you forever” T-shirt.  We looked very smart and presented a united front.

Then we went to a private club for lunch.  We toasted JHJ before and after the meal.  We talked about JHJ for two hours.  Some of the members were meeting each other for the first time, but there was no unfamiliarity, no distance at all.

JHJ has this unique power to draw people together — strangers who would normally never have met are united in their love for JHJ.  People who don’t even speak the same language chat with each other like old friends.  People who are quiet by nature suddenly become magpies (talking non-stop.)  And it is fun!

We are very grateful to EVER for organizing this meaningful event and for giving JHJ’s international fans the opportunity to get together.  We promised to see each other again on June 19, 2010 in Seoul — to welcome JHJ out of the army.

This second photo is taken in the hotel’s Executive Club Lounge — a sort of dress rehearsal.

BEHIND THE SCENES

- The invitation said 11:30 a.m., but fans arrived at different times — those who came from abroad arrived earliest; those who lived in Hong Kong were late!  (That’s why some didn’t get the T-shirt.)

- Everybody from overseas and those who did not get the T-shirt were given an EVER mousepad.

- While we were changing into the T-shirt (and listening to JHJ’s “voice message”) in our hotel suite, we were creating such a ruckus that it was a miracle our photographer (my husband) was not overwhelmed.

- Maybe that was why he did not take the same elevator down to the lobby with us.  There were many people in the hotel that day, so it took him at least another 8 minutes while we were all positioned before the Christmas tree.

- He told me afterwards that a friend of ours saw me in the hotel lobby but was discreet enough not to ask him what his wife was up to.  Good thing this man did not understand Korean!

- The boy in the photo is the nephew of an overseas JHJ fan.  He is half a fan too; he calls JHJ “Potato obba” (Big brother Potato — Seo Dong in “Seo Dong Yo”.)

- I’ve never done this sort of thing in my entire life — wearing a star’s T-shirt and posing for a group photo in a public place.  I bet this applies to most (maybe even all) of the other fans too.  The things we do for JHJ!

- The next day a source told us some Hong Kong fans (whom we don’t know) complained we did not include them — they would have come whether they get the T-shirt or not.  Well, we are shy, low-key people and we don’t socialize at all.  This is a first for us; perhaps not the last?

(*Editor’s Note: “Auld Lang Syne” is a Scottish poem written by Robert Burns in 1788 and set to the tune of a traditional folk song.  The title “auld lang syne” literally translates from old Scottish dialect meaning “old long ago” or “long long ago” and is about love and friendship in times past.  The lyrics in the song referring to “We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet” relate to a drink shared by men and women to symbolise friendship.  This song is well-known in many English-speaking [and other] countries and is often sung to celebrate the start of the New Year at the stroke of midnight.  Happy New Year!)