Some moms spend most of their day at work. While other moms stay at home with the kids. This supermom does ALL of that and MORE. Babelpop, a joint effort of mom and kids, is a website that shares the love of Korean pop culture—whether it be about celebs, dramas, movies, music, style, news, everything! If your mom scolds you for staying up late at night watching Korean dramas or look at you weirdly when you sing SNSD’s “Gee”—chances are, this cool mom just might join you, and even tell you things you don’t know about the latest in the who’s who of the Kpop world.
Babelhead, whose real name is Jinhee (not to be confused with the manly Ji Jinhee), had no clue about Kpop before the birth of babelpop.com.
IT’S ALL ABOUT Y-O-U!
Age:
“Let’s just say that I graduated from college before any of the members of SHINee were born. In fact they could all be my sons.”
Mental age (^___^):
“Somedays I feel geriatric. Most days I feel like I just graduated from college and wonder where my three kids came from.”
Location:
“I call Honolulu, Hawaii home, but we’re really a nomadic family.”
“Real job” (okay, blogging is also a real job, but this is what the real world calls “real job,” *sigh*) :
“I have career ADD. I’m a lot of xx’s: ex-consultant, ex-fashion designer, ex-lawyer. Now I develop educational iPhone apps based on an early learning curriculum I developed for preschoolers called True Learning. Here’s a shameless plug for my apps: Letters A to Z , Numbers by True Learning and Alphabet Air (coming soon).”
If you’re in the middle of a huge crowd & a friend is supposed to meet you, what do you think is your distinct attribute that will make your friend recognize you from afar? Like when they see you they’ll say, “Ah… That’s Jinhee!”
I will be the one staring into my iPhone checking Twitter or FB and laughing. I’m a little addicted.
Brief background about babelpop.com:
“At first my kids and I were tossing around Babble Pop because gossip can sound like a lot of babble talk. But then we thought about the Tower of Babel where suddenly people couldn’t understand each other due to their language differences. Since we were trying to bring Korean entertainment news to English readers, we ended up choosing Babelpop.”
In three words, describe babelpop.com: “Community, Sharing, Fun”
Let’s take a trip down memory lane… What/ who got you into Kpop?
“My good friend Kengi was crazy into Kpop and Kdramas. We were law school classmates. I was the ahjumma among all the 22-year-olds. Whenever we had our study groups, he would go on and on about the latest kdrama or pop group. He would do things like tell the other study group members which stars we most resembled. Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about. Every few weeks his hair style would change to resemble some new Kpop idol. After a year of this, he finally convinced my family to watch Palace (Goong/Princess Hours). This was followed by My Sassy Girl. After that we were hooked. Tragically, Kengi passed away suddenly in his sleep at the age of 27. In his last email, he told me to watch 200 Pound Beauty. Last year, as a family project, my kids and I decided to create Babelpop as a tribute to Kengi and his love of Kpop and Kdrama. I’m sure he’s laughing in heaven at my ineptness right now. Really wish he were here to help me make heads or tails out of all these girl and boy groups. And whenever the kids and I see some crazy new hairstyle, we think Kengi would have rocked it for sure.”
***
Are/Is there any particular TOUCHING comment/s that was so inspiring it made you bawl your eyes out as you clutch your chest ala Suju style, and made you want to continue blogging forever and ever?
“Because I don’t write my own blog posts but instead feature and link to other bloggers’ posts, all the kudos are for the original blogger. Although I have felt the love for my site in general on Twitter for sure.”
If you haven’t experienced having an anti/pro commenter, how would you deal with situations like that? What would you like to tell the anti-commenter? The pro-commenter?
“It’s really unfortunate that the anonymous nature of the internet allows people to say things they would never say face to face. Each blogger spends a lot of energy writing their stories. And the reader who comes to their blog should respect that. I’m not saying you have to agree with everything the blogger writes. A healthy debate about differing points of view is what it’s all about. But to personally attack a blogger is just tacky in my book. As I tweeted a while back… if you don’t like the blog or the blogger, you can go elsewhere. There’s a plethora of great K-entertainment blogs for every interest and point of view.
But also, the blogger should in a way take it as a compliment that s/he has gotten people thinking and talking rather passionately about Kpop. As we all know, the Kpop community in particular has great passion for their favorites and are quite opinionated. Because we Kbloggers and Ksite creators are trying to spread the love of K Entertainment, in the end, it’s all good.”
In Kpop terms, WHO/ WHAT do you think of when you hear the word/s:
1. IDOL – Lee Hyo Ri
2. FANGIRL – Obsessed
3. ANTI-FAN – Misguided
4. NETIZENS – Sherlock Holmes in training
5. BOY BANDS – 2PM
6. GIRL GROUPS – SNSD
7. FANSERVICE – Sweet
8. LEGEND – Rain
9. EPIC FAIL – Drugs Joo Ji Hoon
10. SPAZZ – The synchronized chanting by fans during the music shows
Kpop song/s on your playlist right now:
“Right now, I’m listening to The Nuts – Could Have Been CD. Someone told me it was uncool. Oh well. I’m a mom. I’m by definition ‘uncool.'”
Drama/TV music/variety show you’re currently glued on:
“Just finished Soul Mate which is kind of old. But I have a lot of Kdramas to catch up on. ”
Drama/TV music/variety show you wish you NEVER watched:
“A Love Story at Harvard. It was so wrong on so many levels. First, that ain’t no Harvard. Second, that’s not law school as I remember it. Third, oh never mind. I forgot that it’s a Kdrama. It’s not supposed to have any realism.”
Kim Rae Won thought bubble: “I’m trying to look smart by pretending to read this book.”
Artist (who’s inactive in the K biz right now) you wish should make a real comeback:
“Rain, come back to Kpop!”
Rain (with puppy-dog eyes!): Noona, please wait for my comeback!
****
Artist you wish should fall off the face of the planet:
“There are many whom I just don’t get. But I’ll let them remain on terra firma.”
Choose one type of celeb! Pretty boys noonas fawn all over vs Manly drool-worthy men without the guilt?
“Can I choose a pretty man or any man whose name contains Bin as in Hyun Bin or Won Bin? Little daughter likes the cute boys, but not the ones that look cuter than the girls when they cross dress or wear tighter pants than she does.”
Pretty, innocent & cute girls for ahjusshhi jailbait vs Sexy, fierce divas?
“Sexy, fierce divas. I’m allergic to saccharine.”
“DAYDREAMING.. IF YOU’RE GOING TO DREAM, DREAM BIG! IT’S FREE ANYWAYS!”
If you could go out on a real one week date with a Korean celebrity on Mnet Scandal, who would it be and why?
“I plead the Fifth Amendment. I’m a married woman. But his initials might be H.B. Just sayin’. My youngest daughter would like to go on a date with “the cute guy” Kim Bum when she’s older.”
Hongki took his date out of the city for a beach all-nighter (oooh sounds scandalicious!), Taecyeon cooked dinner & introduced his date to 2pm members, Nichkhun went on a “hot” icecapades date, while 2AM duos Jo Kwon & SeoulOng went on a picnic. What things (wholesome or otherwise ROFL) would you want to do with your celeb date?
“Surfing for sure. Did you see H.B. in the latest Cosmo? He looks “nice” in water. Oh oh. My daughters are yelling at me. Gross MOM!!!”
If you were a trainee that’s about to debut, which Kpop song would you like to have as your OWN debut song or a stage performance by an artist you’d like to have done YOURSELF?
“Lee Hyori’s U Go Girl”
ULTIMATE QUESTION. dun dun dun dun!!! Which Korean music company/ family you’d like to be part of & why?
“JYP cuz he makes a great doting stage dad. Just read his proud tweets about his Wonder Girls. And he speaks English so I wouldn’t have to try to use my substandard Korean.”
JYP makes Kimchi for his 2PM kids!
If you were to act alongside a famous hallyu star in a multi-million dollar movie, who would it be, why & in what type of movie?
“How about a musical remake of the Disney classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. My teenage daughter could be Snow White. The members of 2PM could be the seven dwarves and I could play the evil stepmother. I’d like to see what dance moves 2PM would come up with for the Hi-ho Hi-ho song.”
2PM’s next single: Hi-ho RnB remix!
Typical goodbye message: What do you want to say to your readers/other bloggers that are part of babelpop.com? What are your hopes and dreams for babelpop.com?
“I like to thank all the curious visitors who have wandered onto Babelpop. Babelpop is a new site that hopes to grow into a positive friendly community of K-entertainment fans around the world. I welcome everyone to become engaged by sharing pictures, videos, comments & review of dramas so that others can enjoy. In the coming weeks, you’ll see some changes to the site as we try to build a stronger community. Please send us any suggestions to make it a better place for you to enjoy K-entertainment. And if you do enjoy our efforts, please tell your friends.”
FLOATINGSTARS RECOMMENDATION: Babelpop.com is a very unique idea. If you don’t want to search for the latest buzz in Kpop, the site offers that plus music, movies, reviews, etc. It’s kind of like a one-stop-shop for all your Kpop needs! What’s really cool about it is that you get to see entertainment news and reviews from different angles—you get to know different bloggers with different personalities from different parts of the world. The site really unites all fans and bloggers and brings them closer to Kpopdom.
To know more about Babelhead and her blog for little kids , visit: True Learning, True-town and I-phone for educational activities! Follow her in twitter.com/babelpop!
***
As a thank you to Babelhead, here’s Hyun Bin’s fabulous photoshoot for a Japanese mag!
Oh, and Kim Bum says thanks too!<3
P.S. I’m in the process of compiling the interviews I got so watch out for more individual and team bloggers here in Come to playyy!
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: come to playyy! |
Floatingstars 
this is awesome
BABELPOP ROCKS!!!
This is cool! A very interesting project indeed. Awesome how you took time to do these. =)
thanks!<3 i'll tweet you when i'm done doing the asian pop addict feature!
Awesome, if you need anything else from us, just let me or Cyn know. =)
Thank you for the opportunity. It was truly fun. And THANK YOU for the pics of H.B. & puppy eyed Rain. ^_^
lol i love love that rain photo!! thanks so much for your answers! really, your kids are very cute!<3
This was such a great interview 🙂
I’ll be sure to check out Babelpop now 🙂
[…] Original post: Babelpop interview: Confessions of a supermom! […]
Owwww… Super cool mom!!!
My mom actually a fangirl also, but she’s not that straightforward since she’s quite shy with her age. She only saying her comments whenever she saw cute guys acting, singing or dancing on KBS. Just like when we saw Leeteuk on Star Golden Bell, and suddenly she said: “Oh my, he’s cute”. And when I look at her, she just immediately turn her head away and pretends that she didn’t say anything. LOL. Or like when I drive and turn on K-pop, without notice she starts to singing even with false lyrics. But again, when I look at her, she starts to being defensive and embarrassed. LOL.
LOL my mom is like the biggest fanmom of Rain, Eugene, Lee Da Hae and Kwon Sang Woo! She loves Kdramas! Sometimes we even watch the Korean channel together! But she thinks the ones I like are not good looking at all lol!
WOW…How I wish my mom was like that…..!!!!
Well I never would have guessed anything that I read in the interview. Great work 🙂
JinHee and I exchanged a few emails a couple days ago. She seemed pretty cool to me. She is definitely enthusiastic about Babelpop… and she should be. Her concept is great.
yeah she’s really hard working in maintaining babelpop and thinking up of new ways to making it interesting. it’s amazing how she rounded up all those blogs:)
i didnt know this existed til now!
This was a really good read… you write really well man, and awesome interview too. It was definitely your own style.
Aww, I truly enjoyed reading this… believe it or not I squealed when I saw this article. lol I was just cruising your site.
Gonna go cruise some more now, keep it up~!
-Rome
hey thanks for dropping by! it’s a feature i’ve been working on and so far i’ve done 5 posts. it comes out every weekend! glad you liked it! must do a feature on you guys!