KBS TV Appearance

I was scheduled to appear on a panel for a tv talk show about Korean's abroad and their success stories. Jack's sister's husband's friend is an executive at KBS, so that's really why I was on the show--not that I was relevant to the program. He had mentioned to the executive something about me and the exec thought it would be nice to have me on the show. It was one of three programs aired on New Year's Day about Korean emigration and Korea's place in global society. It was very high profile since it aired at prime-time on New Year's Day on KBS (Korea's number 1 tv network) at 7:20 pm. It was a bit hard to watch myself on tv, but glad to know the editors do such a good job--they made my Korean seem understandable. ; ) The day of the shooting, we met Jack's mom and our niece for lunch, and, due to the snow, dropped Halmoni, Haenee, and the boys off at the subway station so we could make our way to KBS on time. We were on the road for over 3 hours to make a trip that normally takes 20 minutes. Despite the 2:00 pm drop-off we were still late--arriving at 5:50 instead of the scheduled 5 pm. But, when we arrived, we discovered that others were late as well and that we were not the last to arrive. The funny thing was, in order to get there faster, I had hopped out of the car and had run to the subway. But, after that point, apparently, traffic had cleared and Jack called me to tell me he'd pick me up at the destination station. After sitting in traffic for 3 hours, the run to the subway station was a desperate attempt to get there faster and, it appears, a total waste of energy. Regardless, we got there. When we were going up the stairs to the studio, there was a guy holding a camera who yelled, "Are you Professor Finchum-Sung?" And we were thinking, 'is he seriously filming us coming into the studio?' He was. Kind of embarrassing since we felt road-worn after the long trip to do the show. The shot of us coming in to the station actually appeared at the end of the show as they were rolling the credits and we actually looked ok. Jack was so excited to be on tv. He was more excited than Dahin at her brief tv debut. He thought he looked like a movie star coming off of a plane and dodging paparazzi--it did have that kind of feel to it.

Above, on the way to KBS before the traffic completely came to a halt and, below, the boys making it to the subway with Haenee and Halmoni.

Once we made it to the studio and past the camera man, I met some of the other panelists and went to get a makeup touch-up. After an hour or so of briefing and a quick dinner of sushi, we were off to the studio to film the show.

The trip to KBS was more exciting for Jack than me. There were 6 of us on the panel and the other five are pretty well-known in Korea. One of the panelists, Johnny Yune, is a Korean comedian who has been in movies and appeared on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Another is a photographer living in London who shoots high-profile stars like Victoria Beckham and does work for MTV England. Another is a doctor and professor at Yonsei Medical School who is well known because his family has lived here for over 200 years, first coming to Korea as missionaries. He's a white guy, but his Korean and Korean mannerisms are as good as any ajeossi. Another panelist was a representative from the Korean Trade Commission--a big wig who arrived with two assistants in tow. And, the panelist with glasses and the bald head is a famous musician in Korea who also works in the tourist and advertising industry. Needless to say, I was the least illustrious of the bunch, but it was an honor to sit on the panel. Plus, it was a great experience. I was very nervous because of my Korean, but in the actual airing of the show I got a lot of airtime. Jack and I think it was because 1) I was the only woman on the panel and 2) my baby Korean is just too cute to not be entertaining (at least they didn't put up subtitles while I was talking, which makes me feel a little better about my abilities). Jack took some shots of the show being filmed.

The final show that was aired included some mini-documentaries about Koreatowns in other countries and Koreans making a difference in communities abroad (including the creator of X-Men, Jim Lee). They played these during the filming as well, and many of the panelists and audience members watched these short films while standing up to stretch or walk around a bit. There was a man from the the Congo who came as a special guest--he was inspired by Korea's New Village Movement and has used it to fix villages and communities in his country. They use the Korean "sae maul undong" in their slogan and songs. In between the mini-documentaries, the hosts/MCs asked the panelists questions and we did a little bit of free talking, as well. There were also three young people doing things like internships at the UN and training to be a nurse abroad who were there to talk about their experiences. The total filming took 2.5 hours, and the show itself was 1 hour.

Jack, star-truck with Johnny Yune above. I felt bad because I really had no idea who Johnny Yune was before the show. I think I had heard his name before, but when they asked me (before he arrived) "You know Johnny Yune, right?" I had to say, "No, not really." Anyway, Jack was just thrilled to meet him and his friends were excitd he got to meet him. He was absolutely hilarious during the shooting, so I can see how he's made a living as a comedian all these years.

Above, Jack and I pose with the doctor who has examined us both. He runs the international clinic at Severance Hospital, so if you are a foreigner in Korea or a Korean needing an examination for a visa, you'll eventually meet up with him. It was funny to see him outside of the hospital context. He was very nice and, having done these kinds of shows many times before, was quite the veteran.

Above, we pose with the female MC (saw her on tv this morning on another show!), the photographer from London, and the executive whose nudge got me on the show.

Dahin with the male MC--a face we've seen many, many times. I kept thinking, "He looks so familiar..." Duh, because he's the host of about every other show on tv.

Above, I pose with the musician. He and all the others were very nice and very patient with my less-than-perfect Korean. Below, Dahin poses in the snow outside of the studios.

Because Dahin was having her big-girl night, we decided to stop off at our neighborhood pork-grilling place for a late-night snack on the way home. It was 11 pm, but who cared? Our hard day of snow-driving and show-filming was done.