[ASHLEY] Yeah. I feel like a lot of us had similar experiences like this where we lie
for popularity or act kinda dumb, when we were younger.
Do you remember any?
[PENIEL] Do you?
[ASHLEY] There's a big event once a year in New York called Chuseok Festival.
It's once a year,
and the hottest Korean artists come out.
There was Seven, Brown Eyed Girls,
Chaeyeon, and all the popular artists at the time.
All the Koreans go there.
But..
you don't need a ticket. It's a free show.
Instead, there's a backstage pass.
But only the people who had connections with the company in charge could get the pass.
Since people would be so jealous of the pass and wanted to come along,
when I was in 7th grade?
Since my dad worked in the company related to it,
I thought that I could ask my dad for it
and I told my friends that I could get the pass and that they should go with me.
I then told my dad and he said that he wasn't even an important person at the company,
so he couldn't just easily get passes,
but I was like 'You have to, or I'll be embarrassed.'
So my dad asked everyone around him,
and got two passes for me.
Then.
Um...
It felt nice, but then I felt really sorry afterwards.
Because I felt like
- [ASHLEY] I put him in a tough situation because of my pride. - [PENIEL] When did you feel bad exactly?
- [JUNNY] It wasn't just yesterday right? - [ASHLEY] Yesterday...
- [ASHLEY] I was thinking about it again like 'oh that was too much.' - [PENIEL] You might've only just felt sorry now while reading.
- [PENIEL] Just now. - [JUNNY] Like, "we should switch topics".
[ASHLEY] Sorry dad...
[PENIEL] If it was 7th grade, like 10 years later...?
[JUNNY] I think I was really self-conscious.
Weren't you all?
Like about what songs you like?
- [JUNNY] These type of things? - [ASHLEY] Yes! x2
- [ASHLEY] "You like it?" "Me too!" - [JUNNY] "I like it too."
- [PENIEL] "I like it too!" *look up on YouTube...* - [JUNNY] Even if you don't know.
[JUNNY] So you listen to it at home.
- [ASHLEY] Yeah. x3 - [LOCO] Yeah. That happens.
[ASHLEY] It's a relief if you can listen to it at home,
but if they ask right there, 'What's your favorite song?'
..."I like them all" :'D
[JUNNY] "Which track do you like best in the album?"
"What? For me, the 9th track."
"But..there are only 7 tracks in the album."
- [JUNNY] That's where it goes wrong. - [ASHLEY] That's right.
[JUNNY] "There's the special edition..."
"The extended edition."
Right.
- [ASHLEY] Peniel- - [PENIEL] I..
[PENIEL] I don't really remember anything.
[JUNNY] Can you please
just remember one thing?
One?
[PENIEL] Well, I don't really remember anything that happened in America.
[ASHLEY] What about after becoming a trainee?
- [PENIEL] After becoming a trainee? - [ASHLEY] Yeah.
[PENIEL] A trainee.
What did I do?
But
since I'm a foreigner, whatever I did, they were just a little fascinated.
The other trainees.
I had some American jelly.
And they were like 'Wow, is that American jelly?'
I guess they were curious.
They asked things like, 'Is it American gum?'
[ASHLEY] Then you must have been very popular when you were a trainee.
- [ASHLEY] Did they all like you from the beginning? - [PENIEL] I was
somewhat popular.
They found me interesting.
Asking stuff like , "What's it like in America?"
I don't really know.
I wasn't really interested in music when I was in the States.
[JUNNY] He's right.
When I came to Korea, a lot of people asked me.
My friends asked me, "What's it like in Canada?" "How do you do this in Canada?"
"What food do you eat in Canada?""
Everyone thinks
I just eat Canadian food all the time at home.
I say, "I eat kimchi stew at home, too."
"My mom makes kimchi stew for me."
Then they say, "You have kimchi stew?"
- [PENIEL] Yeah, that's right. - [JUNNY] It was like that.
[JUNNY] It was like that.
[PENIEL] Right.
[LOCO] I..
- [JUNNY] Feel free to speak comfortably. - [LOCO] That's what it is, right?
- [LOCO] Doing certain things to gain popularity? - [ASHLEY] Yes.
[PENIEL] Yes.
[LOCO] Something just came to mind,
you know, like shoes.
[JUNNY] You like shoes.
[LOCO] Most of the time,
we try to wear popular shoes.
[PENIEL] Right.
- [ASHLEY] Padded jackets, too. - [JUNNY] Especially shoes.
- [LOCO] I guess - [JUNNY] Yeah, right.
[LOCO] You feel the need to keep up with the trends.
- [ASHLEY] So, like asking the parents. - [LOCO] Right.
Right.
Asking your parents to buy them for you?
And
I don't know if it's because of popularity,
but I don't think I was good at going a different way.
[ASHLEY] Me, neither.
[LOCO] Right.
When I'm asked to do..
[PENIEL] Isn't it because you're nice rather than popular?
[JUNNY] That's right.
[LOCO] It think it was more like because I wasn't good at saying no to people,
In fact, there was a good deed doer award given every year.
And I received it every year
from the first grade of elementary school to the third grade of high school.
But when I think about it now, I think it was because I couldn't say no.
I mean..
[ASHLEY] Do students vote for that then?
[LOCO] I think so.
[PENIEL] You were popular then.
[JUNNY] I know.
- [LOCO] Even for class president... - [ASHLEY] Do teachers let you do it?
[ASHLEY] Did you become a class president?
[LOCO] I mean..
What's it like in America?
There's a classroom president, right?
Do they elect a class president twice a year?
- [JUNNY] There's no classroom president. - [ASHLEY] We don't have any at all.
[JUNNY] There was no classroom president.
Some are chosen to give a speech at the graduation ceremony.
When I graduated,
Student representatives come out and give speeches.
- [PENIEL] A speech. - [JUNNY] They do that.
- [JUNNY] That's all they have. - [LOCO] I see.
[JUNNY] There was no president for just a classroom.
[PENIEL] American public schools are
a little like universities.
As in the classrooms keep changing.
- [JUNNY] We moved to different classrooms. - [PENIEL] We moved to different classrooms.
- [JUNNY] And so your classmates change. - [PENIEL] Whenever we went to a different subject.
[PENIEL] We moved to different rooms.
[LOCO] Like a college in Korea.
- [JUNNY] University. - [PENIEL] It's not like we're in the same class
and teachers come to the class.
A classroom president, no.
[LOCO] But in Korea, in the first semester,
the class president and class vice president are elected.
In the second semester, we have another election.
But students don't know each other well at the beginning of the first semester.
[JUNNY] Right.
[LOCO] We have to pick the class president then.
Without knowing each other well.
[JUNNY] How?
[LOCO] I don't know
if I looked a bit reliable then,
but I became a class president at that time.
- [LOCO] It was either class president or vice president. - [PENIEL] Always in the first semester?
[LOCO] Yes. I think so.
[JUNNY] I guess people saw you as a good person.
As a first impression.
We have to judge each other when we first meet.
- [PENIEL] First impression. - [LOCO] Yeah.
[LOCO] So I was almost always a class president.
[PENIEL] I think you were popular, but you just didn't realize.
[JUNNY] You were just popular.
[ASHLEY] Right.