Atlanta FAN*tastics 2 Fan Account – by Helen

CAUTION HUGE CONTENT

Let’s start from the beginning:
SCENE 1

The Wonder Girls announced they were going to do the opening act for the Jonas Brothers concerts.

Then JYPE (The Wonder Girls management company) posted an announcement about selecting people to join a group called the Wonder Girls Fan*tastics whereby you will get to meet the girls backstage and get some alone time with them – the catch? You will be handing out Wonder Girls fliers out to JB fans when they come out the concert and be full on advertising the girls ALSO that meant you’ll miss a lot of Jonas Brothers’ performances at the concert — I didn’t mind at all

Helen thinks: Jonas Brotehrs? PFFT! Whatever, I’ll not be caught dead going to a JB concert!

2 months before I leave for America – a skype chat with a friend online:

Helen (H): You’re going to JB’s concert in Atlanta?
Nova (N): Yeah – I have a spare ticket cos one of my friend is not coming so I might swap my ticket with Jeffy since he has crappy seats.
H: O___O HOLD ON! When is the Atlanta concert? How much is that ticket? HOLD IT!!
*runs off to find that the concert is on the 22nd Aug – the time when I’ll be in the US anyway*
N: Helen?
H: Nova – I’m coming to Atlanta – hold that ticket for me!

Next morning:
Helen: Mum, I’m going to Atlanta in 2 months to see the Wonder Girls?
Mum: O_O Are you for real? *not in that tone or those exact words but close enough*

SCENE 2

Auguest – a few days before leaving Australia – I went on facebook and saw Jeffy spazzing about being chosen to be a fan*tastic.

Why haven’t they called me?! Started feeling so bummed.

Emailed Nova and told her about Jeffy being a fan*tastic and how bummed I was.

2 Days before leaving Australia – went home and checked my email – the reply from Nova:

“I received two phonecalls from JYPE – we both made it into the fan*tastics!”

O____O …. =.=” oh right…i forgot – when I entered my entry to be a fan*tastic, I put her phone number instead of mine … lol

YAY! BACKSTAGE BABY!!!

SCENE 3

This was my flight schedule:

Melbourne (AUS) > Sydney (AUS) > LA (USA) > Chicago (USA) > Atlanta (USA)

The whole flights and transits at different airports all together was over 24 hours! Not to mention that I missed my flight from LA to Chicago and had to take a different flight there and almost missed my flight to Atlanta if not for it being delayed.

I arrived at the hotel sometime after midnight – 1 to 2AM (I can’t remember, I was too tired). Anyway, when I got to my hotel, I was tired and jetlagged so in my mind I was thinking, “Meeting the Wonder Girls had better be worth all this stress” – and that’s not just the physical stress but also the months of mental stress from my family objecting to this trip (oh the drama) and the stress of missing my flight. I thought, “If meeting the Wonder Girls turn out to be a disappointment then never again – never again!” – 24 hours was just killing me and I was also travelling alone for the first time so it was even more of a worry.

NEXT DAY – CONCERT DAY!

NOON

I met up with Nova and Jeffy for lunch but we didn’t end up eating anything but rather we went to the Aquarium because it IS the largest in the world – and it was HUGE! While walking around, we were waiting for th girls to tweet on whether they were having the Verizon Bus Dance Session but they never tweeted! So we thought it was cancelled.

So while we walked around the Aquarium, some JB fans saw us (we were all wearing Wonder Girls t-shirt) and asked us if we’re going to the concert later on. One of them asked me if I was a “Wonder Girl” O_O and I said I wasn’t but that we were ‘with’ the Wonder Girls. The JB fans asked if we had backstage passes and we said we were going to go backstage later to see the Wonder Girls. The JB fans started spazzing out and asking us to take them backstage (to see the Jonas Brothers) but we weren’t sure if we’d even see JB so we said we weren’t allowed (which was true too).

We all got a couple of stares while walking around in our awesome Wonder Girls tshirts.

5PM – 7PM

We thought we’d head over to the arena early to catch some Wonderfuls on the way there and also to hand out some fliers that Nova had made and photocopied. When we got there, there was nobody by the Verizon bus – only a few JB fans signing their name. Then suddenly a staff came and asked us if we’re there for the Wonder Girls and we said yes (we were draping Nova’s banners around ourselves by that point). She told us that they had just LEFT! O____O They never tweeted! When we asked Hana (Wonder Girls marketing manager) later on, she said that they initially weren’t going to have a dance session but then spontaneously changed their mind and forgot to tweet T__T. I was so bummed!

After that, the three of us walked around with Nova’s banners used as capes on myself and Nova whereas Jeffy was recording. Nova started handing out her fliers and people were curious. While lining up to get into the venue, we talked to 2 JB fans in front of us and they were curious as to who the Wonder Girls were – even asking what each girls’ name was. We gave them information on the Wonder Girls and such. It was good fun and hopefully gained new wonderfuls.

We walked around and saw merchandise stalls. There were 2 stalls at different ends of the arena, one end sold WG tshirts (black tshirts with glittery WG logo at the front and ‘I am a Wonder Girl’ at the back) – the other end sold Nobody posters (the same as the cover for their Nobody single).

bought 3 posters and 2 t-shirts.

Then we found a WG stall set up with forms to preorder their ALBUM! Not the single – the actual ALBUM! And the first 1000 preorders get the album autographed AND the Wonder Girls laptop case (I thought I heard that was going to be autographed as well but don’t quote me on it).

Another Wonderful bet us to be the 1st to order but that’s ok because Nova was the 2nd to order and I was 3rd — followed closely by Jeffy.

The guy at the stall was impressed with Nova’s banners and asked us if we could distribute some fliers and tell people about the preorders which we were happy to do.

THE CONCERT

I sat next to JB fans who were only enthusiastic about JB and screamed like there was no tomorrow whenever a picture of JB was on the big screen.

First to perform was Honour Society and they sang 6 songs! Or was it 7? It just went on for ages! Then up next was the WONDER GIRLS!

I was holding one of Nova’s banners and was in a dilemma – to hold up the banner and scream like mad OR to do the dance and sing like mad?

I chose the latter – since I saw Nova had already had her banner up.

NO ONE around me was dancing! I stood up and started doing the dance and gradually the people beside me did it as well but they sat down pretty quickly after the first chorus. So it was just me dancing and spazzing out – singing and screaming for the Wonder Girls to the point where I think I scared some JB fans.

Jordan Sparks was AMAZING! If there was another person I came for – that would be for Jordan Sparks – she sure knew how to put on a show. AMAZING!

FAN*TASTIC MEET

SO after the openings, I left the show to meet up with Nova and Jeffy (we sat in different sections) and we went to the Verizon Bus to meet the other fan*tastics and Hana.

SKIP – MEETING THE WONDER GIRLS!

So Hana took us down to a basketball stadium where we were asked to stand in a single filed line (which we all did very obediently and I think Hana was pleased with us). There was a section of the stadium that was draped in black curtains like a mini room in itself and that was where we were to meet the Wonder Girls individually or as a group. Nova, Jeffy and I decided we’ll go as a group to meet them.
Suddenly the door inside the draped off area opened at HOLY MOTHER OF JEEBUS! The WONDER GIRLS came in! Yoobin even teased us by poking her head out from the curtained room and said Hi – I was second in line so was literally 2 steps away from her.

To be perfectly honest, my heart just stopped beating and I totally forgot to breath – and after Yoobin went back inside, I started leaning on Nova because I was totally out of it!

AHEM! I did calm myself down – somewhat.

So since Nova was first in line, we went in first. Nova went straight over to the 3 unnies while my legs refused to move so I ended up standing with Sun Mi and So Hee by the entrance where we came in. I was speechless.

So Hee saw me and came to introduce herself (not like she needed any introduction) and that finally snapped me out of my daze. I started sorting out the gifts I got them from Australia (cute little pouches that I filled with stuff) and said: “I got you guys some gifts from Australia.”

So Hee’s mouth literally formed an ‘O’ when she heard me. Same with Sun Mi – she was so surprised, it was adorable! I deliberately said “Australia” really loud so the others heard me as well. I looked over at the 3 other girls to see if they heard me and their eyes were so wide in surprise – ADORABLE! Ye Eun and So Hee kept repeating the word ‘Australia’ over and over again which was so cute.

So I gave them their gifts and Yoobin leaned over to hug me and OMFG!…let me calm myself down first…ok – so she stepped forward to hug me and I placed my arms around her without actually touching her in case I woke up because it was so surreal – I was not believing that it was happening! They opened the pouch to see what was in it and Sun Ye saw the Cadbury chocolate I bought them (the wrapping had pictures of Australian animals on it) and she was like: “Is this Cadbury? I love Cadbury!”

And I totally started grinning like an idiot.

Sun Mi and So Hee kept thanking me and I told them – “It is totally worth it. Seeing you guys make the whole 24 hour flight worth it,” and MISO was once again surprised – Sun Mi was like “24 HOURS!? O_O” and I nodded and smiled at her.

I then took out the Wonder Years CD for the Hall of Heroes contest and asked Sun Mi to sign it for Kam – to: Panda Alian – Sun Mi asked what my name was and I told her that I was giving this to a friend and if she could sign Panda Alien. She started giggling a lot when I said ‘alien’. So Hee also signed it as well but since Hana said 1 autograph each – I wanted them to sign my t-shirt so I got the girls to sign my t-shirt (so MISO – Sun Mi and So Hee ended up signing 2 of my items!)

Everything happened so quickly. I had to get over my initial shock of seeing them so I lost some time that I could have been talking to them! There are so many more things I needed to do but I totally forgot but I will try my best at the Toronto concert.

We also took a group photo with the Wonder Girls and I stood next to Yoobin and So Hee. Honest, So Hee was never my favourite, I like her but never really noticed her as much as the other girls – HOWEVER, this experience totally changed that!

So Hee is the sweetest girl ever or maybe I’m bias because she approached me first. All the girls were so gorgeous and sweet – it’s hard to explain in words. I really could not believe how pretty they all were while standing in front of them. It still feels like a dream now – a whole day after the concert – I still can’t believe it all happened. If I didn’t have the posters and tshirts and photos and videos AND the fact that I’m in the US to prove that I was there, I would totally believe that this was all a dream.

After the meeting, we went out and waited while the others had their turn.

I don’t know whether we were like that but every other fan*tastic after us who met the Wonder Girls, came out with this dreamy and dazed look on their face!

We then spotted a whiteboard where Jeffy and I started scribbling Wonder Girls advertisement everywhere – over JB fans’ writing – and others gradually came to join us in our epic Wonder Ops mission. After that, as we waited for the Wonder Girls to finish meeting the last people, one of the fan*tastics asked us if we knew the Nobody dance (HELL YEAH!) and suggested we danced for the girls while she turned the song on on her cellphone.

We ended up dancing without the song played – instead we started singing the it. The girls poked their head out from behind the curtains and was enjoying the show ^____^ they clapped at the end and Sun Mi did some sort of seal clap and pretended to cry before disappearing behind the curtains (Nova saw this – I missed it).

FAN*TASTIC

We headed upstairs to receive flyers to hand out. Nova was holding her banner and Jeffy and I handed out the fliers to people outside the venue. Then I suddenly lost sight of Jeffy and Nova so I handed the fliers out myself by one of the entrances. The sheer amount of people who came out from the doors was just – WHOA! I held up the fliers and started screaming out: “The Wonder Girls – Opened for the Jonas Brothers Concert tonight and for more concerts to come! Debuting in the US with their Nobody single and their album is coming out soon – Preorder inside the venue!”

I kept repeating that over and over and over again.

I didn’t even have to go up to people at that point because people started hearing me scream and came to me asking for fliers – I was surrounded by people wanting a flier at some points. A lot of the parents were interested and got fliers for their daughters. They asked me more questions about the Wonder Girls like where the girls were from and I started going on a info surge and told them about WG’s 2 years debut, how popular they were and still are in Asia and that Papa Jonas invited them.

It was fun handing out the fliers and talking to a lot of JB fans or JB fans’ parents about the Wonder Girls. They were genuinely interested, the ones I was talking to. There were some who just shook their head whe I handed them a flier but I was fine with that. I’d rather they NOT take one than took one and throw it in the bin or play frisbee with it (like it happened in San Jose).

I stayed outside until hardly anyone was coming out anymore. Then I went into the foodcourt area where a lot of people were buying snacks and drinks (I so needed a drink after all the yelling and screaming). I handed out fliers to people lining up at food stores and people sitting down and eating – I wasn’t screaming anymore but I was waving the fliers around so people can see it.

A few young girls came and ask for fliers and a little girl (after seeing the flier) was like: “OH! So THAT’S what they look like!”

I thought that was cute.

By the time I went back to the Wonder Girls’ stall where they were having the public meet and greet, the line had dwindled down. I thought about going in line but Hana said we’d get a chance to take photos with the girls after – that never happened.

The fan*tastics were doing an epic job teaching the JB fans that were in line the Nobody dance.

When Yoobin’s rap started for the last time since they were about to leave, all the fan*tastics started rapping along with the music and Yoobin rapped with us. When I said “Nobody nobody nobody nobody but you!” – I pointed at Yoobin and she pointed at me as well ^__^ and NO – there was no one behind me and she actually looked at me (EYE CONTACT!) I was ectastic!

They started leaving and the fan*tastics followed them until they got to the elevator to go backstage again (I think). While they wanted for the elevator to arrive, we started saying goodbyes and ‘Sarangheyo’ – random stuff. I screamed out (I have no idea where I found the strength to still scream) “COME TO AUSTRALIA!” and Yoobin looked over at me and screamed “I WANT TO COME TO AUSTRALIA! SEE YOU IN TORONTO!” – because I told them I’m going to the Toronto concert as well.

Even though I didn’t get to talk to Yoobin at the Fan*tastic Meet and Greet, I had a lot of awesome moments with her. The hug – the small eye contact – her responding to my “COME TO AUSTRALIA” and Nova said Ye Eun and Yoobin kept looking over at our way a lot.

I wonder if they’ll remember me when I see them in Toronto.

Ye Eun and Sun Ye are holding the aussie pouches i gave them ^^ and Yoobin is holding the pouch and the Keroro Frog that Nova gave her — and we’re all holding Nova’s epic banner

Credit: MoLteaser/helen @WGspec

Powered by: Wordpress | Hosted by: Starszz.com | © 2012 Wonderfuls World