I was talking to my b/f and he said that I am immature because I love Shinhwa and other kpop artists.

He said that he associates that with 15-16 years olds, not someone who is about to turn 25.

Him and most of my friends don't understand why I like Asian dramas and music, since I am not Asian.

I just wanted to know whether really liking Shinhwa makes me an immature person and stuff.

Because of the things I like, I feel out of place, and I can't ask any of my friends because well they will just say that I am weird etc.

That's his opinion. -_____-

Tell your boyfriend that in Korea, it's common (and normal) for male gasoo and actors to have fans in their 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's--if not more. They go to concerts, buy albums, go to fan meetings-- just like any younger fan. He should give his opinion to some of these fans--and see where it gets him. *evil grin* There are tons of people in this forum who are in their 30's and 40's (I'm in my early 40's), too--who love Shinhwa, and many many other gasoo. You're younger than anyone in Shinhwa, by the way. -.- You can call 'baby' Andy 'oppa', too--because he was 25 in January.

You shouldn't feel bad at all. I'm not Korean either, and I have made a LOT of friends because I fell in love with Korean music (and other things) years ago--but my non-Asian, non-Kpop friends have never said one bad word about it. They would never think to make fun of me. They ask questions--but that's about it. One of my friends just asked me to send her stuff--she wants to see who I'm in love with. LOL

The guys in my avatar and banner? I am officially their noona. They-- like most of the gasoo and actors--always appreciate fans past their teens...and noona and ajumah (middle aged--55+ and past) fans can do things that the younger ones can't.

Never give up something you love (especially if it helps you cope with daily life) because someone else thinks you're too old.

You should get some other replies similar to mine, too.

Thank you soo much. You made me feel so much better
I really appreciate it.

^ Yep, MythnoonA said it well. There's nothing wrong with liking Shinhwa and Korean entertainment. I'm not a Shinhwa fan, but I do keep tabs on Asian cinema and I still watch lots of Hong Kong dramas.

Everyone has his or her hobbies and interests. I don't see why your boyfriend should think you're immature just because you like something he doesn't. I'm sure you don't ridicule him for his interests, and he should show the same respect towards you.

let's face it, ur bf is just jealous.

lol


And Shinhwa members are all older than 25... I mean it's not like your idolizing DBSG or Super Juniors...

Hajiman--we do. SS501, too. (I don't see them as 'idols', so I don't idolize anyone...they're my professional namdongsaeng deul[[they're mostly in their 20's, like my male friends]]...especially the ones I can talk to. )

they have the same kind of fanbase as everyone else.

lol i like SS501 too. yup i agree... i think you're bf just jealous about the attention you're giving to shinhwa.

I think its also cuz boybands aren't the current fad in the US and when i hear the word boybands, i think of BSB, Nsync and screaming preteens. The US market for boybands are probably preteens-teens.

is it weird if a guy in their mid 20's are into that stuff? i mean, the other way around, liking female gasoos and watching dramas?

Is it wrong to appreciate art and the artist(s) that produce it? No. Because that's exactly what singers are- artists.

I will always have a little fangirl inside of me, and the day I lose that, is the day that I cease to retain a sense of youth.

Also, what red-blooded woman, cannot appreciate a good looking male, (even if they are more junior than them)?

As for sasuke-kun, the same applies. You can like whomever you like. ( as long as you don't like pre-pubescent girls in a sexual way)

*goes off to post in the SS501 thread*

It's practically okay, eventhough it would be quite weird if you live in my country but have you seen bi's fan? in south east asia , His fan are practically can be called auntie or grandma.

When you're older you have more chance to meet them since you have the cash and you don't have to ask your parents permission to go to their concert.

No, I don't think it's immature.

This is interesting though, because 5 years or so ago, when I was a fan of BabyVox and I was in my early 30s, I wasn't worried about being accused of immaturity but being branded a pedophile.

No, its not immature. Your b/f was tslking out his ass, because its five guys. Im married with a kid and i love Shinhwa and my husband says nothing about it.

Thank you guys for your input.

I guess big part of it is that he is jalous. I find that kind of jalousy silly though. It doesn't matter how much I drool over Asian celbrities. The fact remains is that I choose to love and be with a non-Asian guy, despite personality clashes etc.

Since I live in Australia chances of me actually meeting people like Shinhwa are close to none.

You seem to have found the real reason for his reaction to Sinhwa. However you have to ask yourself how much attention are you giving Sinhwa vs. your boyfriend? You can ask that question to your other friends. If it appears to your other friends that you are an "obsessed" fan of Sinhwa, then there may be a valid reason for your boyfriend's reaction. However if you causually listen to their music and watch their music video now and then, it's a different story.

hahha that might be it

lol it would be funny if u two argued so much about it that u broke up because of shinhwa lol..but i hope that doesn't happen hehe

He gets lots of attention. I think he just wants attention all the time

I wouldn't consider myself an obssessed fan, I mean it's not like I am going to go to Korea to stalk them or go nuts like some DBSK fans.

I am another good example. I am in my 30s but I like Jang Nara. And recently I start to like Han Hyo Joo, who is young enough to be my daughter.

haha i <333333333 kpop and i dont think i will ever grow out of it... it'll be one of my guilty pleasures till i die. and i'm totally content with that.

Ok, I'm turning 26 and loving Shinhwa isn't immature. I mean there's nothing immature about loving some singers. Then does that mean we, who are in our twenties, aren't suppose to like groups like them? Then are we only suppose to love Beatles or some old singers whom we haven't even heard of??? And since you've given enough attention to your bf, there's just one reason... i think he's jealous of Shinhwa. Let's face it, who wouldn't be jealous of guys like them? My ex-bf was also jealous of "S". hehe

Í'm a white dude from the netherlands, age 28, and i watch anime, and listen to J-rock.

so yeah. who cares.

well i''m older than 26 and i ama shinhwa fan .. even run a forum on it.. there's lots of 'us' out there.

nothjing wrong with appreciating talent and good looks *thinks wicked thought and runs away*

Which forum is it?


Yes...wicked thought

I had a dreams few days ago and Jin was there and I think Wannie was there...anywya it was good

Which forum is it?


Yes...wicked thought

I had a dreams few days ago and Jin was there and I think Wannie was there...anywya it was good

Define 'maturity'!

Well, I was 25 many many moons ago.. but I still enjoy Kdrama - a lot! In fact kdrama is the only one I follow closely, the only dvd or vcd i'm prepared to pay for because I think they worth it. I learn a lot from watching kdrama too while being entertained by their beautiful people, scenery, language and drama script.

I'm Malaysian and do not understand a word in Korean!

btw, what's shinwa?

OMG!!
Shinhwa is the LONGEST running Korean Boy Band :D:D
They are,
Kim Dongwan born in 1979
Park Jun Jin born in 1980
Lee Min Woo born in 1979
Eric Mun born in 1979
Andy Lee born in 1981
Shin Hyesung born in 1979

They have debuted in 1998 under SM Entertainment and moved to Good Entertainment in 2003. They are about to relaese their 8th album. Besides the soon to be 8 studio albums, they have 2 concert albums, best of album, albums where they chose their fave songs and two special winter story albums. They are also releasing their first Japanese single in June

Minwoo has 2 solo albums.
Hyesung has one solo one and he also formed Group S with Kang Ta and Lee Ji hoon who are awesome Korean singers/actors. Ji Hoon was in Wonderful Life with Eugene and Kang Ta used to be in the boyband HOT and he was in the drama Loveholic.

I have only been a fan for maybe around a year, but I realllly reallly love them

If you seen dramas, Gumiho and Let's go to the Beach, they had Jun Jin in them.

Phonix and Super Rookie had Eric.

Lovers in Prague had Andy.

Goodbye Sadness and the movie Spin Kick had Dongwan in them.

Dongwan and Jin are my favorites

Here are some pics

That's my Wannie



And the group



From top left, Andy, Dongwan, Eric
From bottom left, Hyesung, Jin, Minwoo.

Anyway that's Shinhwa They are the best ever

i dont know a lot of those but i guess not? my sister's bf never misses an episode of Princess Lulu and Dae Jang Geum on local tv.

i'm 27 and obsessed with 1TYM. (i like Shinhwa too. Ricdy >> argh so cute) i meet a lot of Korean 1tymers who are 14-16, makes me feel like an ajumah! and i am technically Teddy Park's noona (just by 2 weeks ). eek.

i don't think so. i'm also 25 years old and i love Shinhwa. and i have a friend who is older than me and she's a huge SHINHWA fan.

Your bf doesn't know what he's talking about. He probably just finds it annoying (i.e. jealous) so he tries making you look like the cheese ball. I know plenty of people in their mid-20's that still listen to lots of Kpop, Jpop, and Cpop that still fall in lust with the celebs.
In fact, there are still those older ladies that when they were young they obsessed over the Beach Boys, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, etc. that still talk about those celebs today. It's normal.
I can understand that it can get a little annoying if every word that comes out of someone's mouth is Shinhwa this and Shinhwa that, but I just think it shows support...which is great for the group and not so great for the surrounding crowd.

its a junjin forum >_< hehe

and don't get me started on the dream i had the other night >_<

like other ppl said, it doesn't matter.
it's what you like.
it's not as if shinhwa were some rapist group or something evil. they're just some dudes singin' and being pretty and stuff

Definitely NO! I'm turning 24 and I love Shinhwa and my dream is to marry Dong Wan! j/k

waah what's the on your sig? Shinhwa vs 1TYM fic? boo! j/k

narutaru, just make sure your bf never sees your sig "Kim Don Wan the most perfect man ever created"

your bf shouldn't take it so serious.. i mean it's a girl thing.. and it's normal to like korean group and other korean artist.. i'm not 25, but i'm not young either.. i'm 22 and i'm like crazy about dbsk.. and i don't care what they say about me...

maybe your bf is just jealous cause he wants more attention??

girl.. we are on the same boat
i just turned 25 =D and i am shinwa crazed as well...
my bf also is abit annoyed.... but it's ok.. i know it's normal.. and i dun want him to control whom i like and dislike in music/entertainment taste =P

[quote name='narutaru' date='Apr 14 2006, 02:05 PM' post='2262196']
OMG!!
Shinhwa is the LONGEST running Korean Boy Band :D:D

......................
Oh, ok, well I've seen Eric in Super Rookie then.. dunno who he was but he was kinda funny with all that comedic stuff. This drama sure has loads of good songs/ost.

Thanks for the info..

I'm in my twenties and I love shinhwa as well. You should not feel bad. Think about it this way. Shinhwa debuted in '98, right?! So let's say their average fan was 13-18 then. So after 8 years, wouldn't those people become 21-26?
Right... Also, I think shinhwa has been trying to appeal to a more "older" crowd now. Not that they can't rake in the teens and pre-teens.. But they're realistic guys, and I think we can leave that to the dbsk's and ss501's.

I was gonna say... "isn't it a bit immature of your boyfriend to get jealous because of that?" but then I realized that, really, it doesn't matter that much at all.

No, you're not immature.

And about dramas and all... people here watch dramas and tv shows like you'd watch any good sitcom in the US. I've been here for a few months so I wasn't shocked at all when my dad's pal, a very serious business man in his 50s, started telling me about his fave dramas. Better to watch some nice love story than those talk shows in US and other countries TV channels, IMO

Shinhwa started going for the post-teenybopper crowd when they did their photobook...that's what I think, anyway. Like every other male gasoo, they have tiny little fans to much more experienced halmuhni/halbuhji types--people old enough to be our parents--or grandparents. It's so stupid to me (and makes me angry) when someone in their late teens--18 or 19 --and adult in my eyes-- says things like omg, Shinhwa is so old!! (or any other gasoo under 30, or around 30) In all my times being a member of forums, I've never heard these comments from people (girls mostly) under 14. Do some of them lose brain cells as they get older? They expect Shinhwa--and any other gasoo around the same age--to be little boys always (no thanks><)--and most of all--they don't expect to age at all--but be 18 forever. -.-

Just in case anyone missed my original post in this thread--since I got into Korean music 8 years ago, I noticed something VERY different about the fans vs. fans of singers in the West-- the first time I saw someone concert on tv, there were some people who were at least--in their late 70's--standing and dancing in the front row. I thought--oh, that's cool--the grandparents came to see her perform...and then--I saw more and more older people--and then the ajumahs (55+ in this case)-- then the noonas, like me---and then the more I knew about music fans-- the more I noticed how diverse fan bases in Asia are. I don't know about the male fans--but every male gasoo/group/actor there is--has female fans of all ages--and this includes supposedly teen groups like DBSK and Double SS. You will find the more experienced fans do everything a younger fan might do--including going to concerts, buying the CDs and other stuff, and going to fan meetings. Many groups like Take (in my sig) have fan groups for those of us 20 and over only--no age limit. I can also tell you--because I've heard it for myself--that the guys appreciate their non-teen fans. (Besides, we can do things they can't--Jiejunwoo might already know this--but a couple of years ago, Junjin's older fans bought him a computer... Jang Woohyuk's bought him a new car. There's many other advantages to being a non-teen fan, too.)

I belong (yes, I mean Officially and otherwise ) to Take (sig) and V.O.S (avatar)--unofficially -so far- to DBSK and ss501 (they call me Wang Noona in the Double S thread xD--there are people in their late 20's and 30's over there-- including lunagal, who posted earlier in this thread).

I think more past-their-teens- people would post in the other forums (they do in Korean dramas) if it weren't for the biased and sometimes stupid comments from some of the younger members. Just because we aren't as young as they are--doesn't mean we're not young too. In our 20's to 40's, we're just babies to some of the older fans.

narutaru --I'm glad you feel better--that's the way I felt when I found out I wasn't alone, either. Some of us almost got into an argument with a girl---I think she was 18--last year--who thought it was 'sad' that Shinhwa and other groups still had 'older' fans--when they should be 'over' things like that, and move on-and my friend (26--leader of an official fan club) nearly took her head off-and other non-teen fans came and backed her up. They're going to have to pry my gasoo deul from my cold dead hands before I will give them up willingly. ><

Maturity has nothing to do with age, really--since some of the 55+ fans can be 'teenyboppers' also-- the only difference is the age. If you ever see the way some of the over-55 fans act--you'll see what I mean.

Something Hayao Miyazaki (in his late 60's) said stuck in my head-- he said he made Howl's Moving Castle for 60-year old girls. Too bad more people don't understand.

MythnoonA, I am quite moved by your post.

thanks for that insight Mythnoona - your posts are always so thoughtful.

I'm glad shinhwa appreciate their older fans as do other groups, and i wish that could be the same of the makority of younger fans, but sadly no.

i think i remember a while back getting into a debate in a music thread here when some girl commeneted that anyone over 26 that liked shinhwa was sad and needed to get a life.

but as i said then and i say now - being a fan of shinhwa has given me so much more than she could get - i gte to learn about another cultutre, i learn Korean, watch dramas and without Shinhwa (esp. Junjin) i would not have met my best friend here on Soompi

I didn't know that Junjin's older fans had bought him a computer, but my junjin forum raised $400 for the SOS orphan village in Seoul Korea as a 'gift' for him rather than send him something that he might not appreciate or wont last long (i can't even think what to get my dad as a present leta alone someone who probbaly has 98% of waht he wants materially) - i'm still waiting on the certificate so that it can be sent to him. Its something we'll do every year i hope

i just wish that GoodEnter would make it easier for international fans to join their site and fan club and/or create an official forum for us. I'm sure they'd be interested to know how farspread their fanbase really is.

don't feel so bad about it. there are other nonkoreans here who watch kdramas and listen to kpop ... like me!

and i just started watching Xman - and learned about Shinhwa. i knew they were a boyband and knew who eric, KDH and minwoo - i only found out who the rest of the members are last week

I am 21 and I have taken a strong intrest in korean culture and japanese culture i am in no way korean or japanese in fact i am half spanish/half white i have a phillipino friend who questions my listening to korean pop artists and j-pop artists i say cuz i like the beat and sound of the music there is no shame in liking something that no one else likes or understands being diffrent is what i am about i even have watched many korean, japanese, and chinese movies there is nothing wrong with liking that stuff you are everything you want to be do not let anyone stop you from liking something that they think is weird or something that they just do not understand.

yup.. there is no shame in it at all I only have 2 friends in London who like the same things as me, and none of us are asian at all. I just spent all weekedn with one of them watching all the shinhwa love letter episodes from season 1 i never laughed so much before and i dare anyone to tell me thats a bad thing.

There are people i know that don't get why i like the things i do and moe than likely alot of them will look down on me for it and yes - that makes me sad, but it will never stop me revelling in my 'wierdness' and unique taste hehe.

to other people we are diffrent because we are into other cultures, they just do not respect or understand people's intrests

Let us have our dreams and live in our own world's if you are intrested we will be glad to share our intrests with you, try to understand, instead of just being blind and thinking "oh that's weird".

Don't change for anyone if you change for someone it can only mean you do not respect yourself.

I sometimes get curious about how a Korean celebrity would react if they were asked for an autograph by somoene from a place like Australia who isn't Asian etc.

i intend to find out puahahaha

me too. I want to learn how to ask for autograph in Korean

well.. chuseyo - means 'please give me/please may i have'

so just hold out a pen and a cd and say that with as much cuteness as you can manage *giggles*

i'd like to know as well actually, though i think shock will be a reaction judging by the reaction i get in restaurants when i ask for a cup of tea in korean

unless i've been sayingt he wrong thing all this time *howls with laughter*

i have a far more disturbing kpop-related issue at hand. i just, and i mean just now, discovered dbsg or dbsk or whatever they're called, and i was watching their mv for "rising sun" and i was thinking a couple of them or maybe just one of them was really hot, and then i looked at the infamous soompi dbsk thread and realized

they are all waywaywayway the heck younger than i am. i mean they're just kids. ugh.