There’s something about me that I didn’t pick up on until recently: I really like foreign artforms. Ever since I was young, I’ve liked things that were non-American. I, as many others, went through a One Direction phase throughout my adolescents. As I got older, I grew out of the phase and moved onto better things: a Norwegian web-series/show and my current endeavor is K-pop, the thing I least expected myself to like. Thankfully, though, my “obsession” for other cultures led to me meeting my best friend, Camila. I have always had an an eye for different cultural preferences, and it shows by the things I find interesting and dedicate time to understanding.
I liked One Direction for many years and even saw them in concert when they toured here. I specifically remember always having an interest in other countries and having a “favorite” country. For example, for most of my time in elementary school, I was obsessed with China. I don’t know what exactly got me into loving China so much, but I remember talking about it often and how I desperately wanted to visit there. It was encouraged by my dad and him talking about his friend from China and the various stories his friend had to share. He would also get me currency from China and other countries which always put a smile on my face and added to my appreciation of other cultures. Then I shortly thereafter moved into my One Direction phase and suddenly wanted to go to England. Who would’ve thought?
Although I look at my One Direction phase with a feeling of shame, if it weren’t for them, I wouldn’t know some of my best friends today. 1D led to me discovering the multitude of the internet and all that it offers for fandoms. I had a fan account for them and although I made that account near the end of me being a super fan of the group, I still use that account today for my new interests of the month. I eventually discovered a small Norwegian show called Skam that was mainly web based and with the discovery of that show, I met who I consider my best friend, Cami. So, in a way, I thank One Direction and my annoying 15-year-old self for creating that account.
Cami lives in Argentina and due to my odd obsession over things placed outside of the USA, I was able to meet people from around the world. It’s still so fascinating to me that even though she lives 5,000 miles away from me, we were able to meet and become extremely close and are still close after two years. The way we met was through a tweet of mine about the “karaoke scene” in Skam and how I hoped they’d sing a Queen song. She responded to it which led to a series of tweets of ours and following each other on our respective accounts. I soon messaged her and, as I like to say, a lifelong friendship was born. She was my first ever internet friend and if it weren’t for our immediate connection, I don’t know if I would’ve ever had the confidence to meet my other friends on Twitter (one of which I met this year in person) and keep an online presence. She’s one of my favorite people in the world and we both hope to one day meet each other in person so that we can cry over our favorite K-pop boys and other interests in person.
I love traveling, but I don’t do it far enough. The farthest I’ve been outside of the country was to Canada and I hardly remember that trip because I have a memory that lasts up to about a year of important information and events (I retain very pointless memories) so in a way, I grasp onto these other cultures as my way of being able to experience them firsthand. As mentioned before, I am currently in a K-pop phase which I never really saw myself going through, but based on my history, it makes a lot of sense. It was actually Cami who influenced my decision of getting into the music because I never had a particular liking for the genre. The industry surrounding the style of music tends to be very problematic but it’s also very easy to fall into their trap with their amazing dancing and catchy songs. Oddly enough, not following my previous patterns, I don’t really have a desire to visit South Korea because I would very much so like to travel all of Europe first. I also don’t speak their language, so it would be very hard to visit without feeling disrespectful to their culture.
After sitting down and thinking about this topic, I’ve concluded I enjoy learning new things about other places in the world. I’ve always seemed to find interests in other cultures besides mine for most of my life and due to my curiosity, I’ve met some of my closest friends through these interests. I hope to travel and actually be able to experience these cultures firsthand one day instead of living through screens and other people’s experiences.
E110 FA19 Class Blog 