Jo Hyun Jae

A diehard JHJ fan second

wulijohyunjae | May 3, 2010 | 7:00 am

Our JHJ Fan-of-the-Month, prissymom, requires no introduction. If you are a regular visitor to our blog, you will have read her articles and seen her countdown photos. Even before she was invited to become a Contributing Editor, she has written more than anyone except wulijohyunjae (all of her own volition!)

We asked her to say a few words about herself and how she “fell” for JHJ, but she has given us the whole story of her life! (Just kidding!) Here is how she describes herself:

A devoted wife and mom first; a diehard JHJ fan second; and a businesswoman third.

I first “fell” for JHJ when I saw him wearing the priest’s robes in Love Letter when it first aired in the Philippines in 2004 or 2005. Having grown up in a strict Roman Catholic household and having had a Roman Catholic schooling, men in priest’s robes were not new to me. But the sight of JHJ in his priest’s robes practically took my breath away. Very bad reaction for a Catholic girl to have for a priest! Ha!ha!

For the first time in my life an actor, a Korean at that, captured my heart enough to make me watch a melodrama (a genre that I hate so much because I don’t like crying while watching – it gives me a migraine!). I am more of a bookworm than a couch potato or movie buff; but, again, for the first time in my life an actor and a TV drama took me away from my beloved novels.

But demands of family life and work stopped me from following Love Letter religiously. I didn’t even finish it! Nor did I follow JHJ’s career then.

After Love Letter aired in the Philippines, there were a slew of Korean dramas that followed. These dramas are more famous than Love Letter (i.e. Winter Sonata, Autumn Fairy Tale, Stairway to Heaven, to name a few). But none of the famous actors of these dramas ever affected me the way JHJ did in Love Letter. None of them made me put down my beloved books so I could watch them. None of them lingered in my consciousness as JHJ did.

It wasn’t until late 2007 that I finally gave in and decided to check out this actor that has been lingering in my mind like a beautiful memory. I tried to look for Love Letter online, but it wasn’t available. So I settled on Only You, which shocked me deeply! No trace of the innocent-looking young priest can be seen in the arrogant Han Yi-Joon! But JHJ as Yi-Joon, despite his arrogance, colorful wardrobe and shock-full of hair, still charmed me no end.

After Only You, I looked for more JHJ dramas. I shied away from Seo Dong Yo at first because I felt daunted by the 55 episodes. I watched his projects that were available online like Star’s Echo, Joy of Love, Forbidden Love, a few episodes of First Love, and of course the famous Only You TV Special (not necessarily in that order). Afterwards, I still couldn’t find Love Letter online, so I finally gave in and started on Seo Dong Yo.

Right from the first hoofbeat, I was hooked. I wasn’t working at that time and my daughter was away at boarding school, so I could sleep late and wake up late. I spent 7 days, with less than 3 hours sleep each day, downloading then watching the whole drama. To date, I have watched SDY more than a dozen times already.

By the time I finished SDY, other JHJ projects also became available online, like Three Dads One Mom, Love Letter (finally!), GP 506, and Sunshine. I was even able to find and download Dae Mang online; spent several days downloading it, but didn’t go crazy over it as I did over SDY. Finally, I was able to watch Untold Scandal late last year, thanks to wuliJHJ!

To date, the only JHJ projects I haven’t watched are his early works like Father and Sons, That’s Good, and the second half of First Love (still can’t find it online with or without English subs).

I don’t know when my JHJ addiction/obsession will end or if it will ever end. For now, I am enjoying myself immensely. Because of JHJ I have discovered talents/skills I never knew I had. Before JHJ and wuliJHJ I didn’t know that my writings were good enough to be published in a public forum. Before JHJ and wuliJHJ I didn’t know that I have a creative bone in my body to make picture banners! Because of JHJ I am now more computer savvy than before. I know that I still need to improve a lot. But JHJ and wuliJHJ have inspired me to venture beyond my comfort zones.

I was just supposed to write a few lines, but the words just flowed.

(Credit: Collage of photos of prissymom’s first love “Love Letter” by sasaroun. Thanks!)

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8 Responses to “A diehard JHJ fan second”

Ruby says:

May 3, 2010 at 6:32 pm

prissymom, thanks for sharing your experience. We may have come to know JHJ by different routes, but they all lead to our one and only “addiction/obsession” (your words.)
chingudaisy says:

May 4, 2010 at 3:04 am

Prissymom! you may have seen these already. If you haven’t, you might find something interesting in these snippets I’d like to share with you:

http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/47/Kaist
http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/19/Father_Son_Part_of_Johyunjae
http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/42/Poem_Recital_by_Jo_Hyun_Jae_from_Father_Son
http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/33/Good_-9JHJs_parts.flv
http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/20/Good_-_1Part_of_Johyunjae

Anyway, I’m so happy you’re very active here and at soompi. It’s always good to hear someone sing praises of JHJ time and again. Our Hyun Jae Nimm is so worth it.
wulijohyunjae says:

May 4, 2010 at 10:49 am

chingudaisy, your complete message has been sent to prissymom.
chingudaisy says:

May 4, 2010 at 1:46 pm

Thanks Wuli!
chingudaisy says:

May 4, 2010 at 2:58 pm

By the way, prissymom, I’ve got 2 more links on Kaist:

http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/77/Kaist_-_75_A_Part_of_Jo_Hyun_Jae
http://hjtalk.multiply.com/video/item/78/Kaist_-_75_B_Part_of_Jo_Hyun_Jae
prissymom says:

May 4, 2010 at 7:15 pm

Thank you everyone for your warm comments.

Daisy, kabayan (my fellow Filipina), thank you for all the links you provided. I am sure I will enjoy making my way thru all the links to JHJ’s early works.
prissymom says:

May 4, 2010 at 7:33 pm

WuliJHJ, please convey my thanks to sasaroun for the very beautiful Love Letter collage.
mo says:

May 7, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Hi chingu daisy! We meet here again!- Our friendship from many years ago on Ever. Thanks Prissymom!