Scattered Joonni Milestone: One Million Hits

Wow, one million hits. This milestone comes to me as such a huge surprise even though Softy predicted it would come soon. It’s been such whirlwind around here as we approach the end of “Faith,” so I haven’t been keeping track of how high the hits were going until yesterday night, I saw the number at around 992,000 and realized it would hit 1,000,000 today. Then I started panicking because I hadn’t prepared anything to commemorate it. What was I going to say or do?

Sora to Umi no Shi by Tenmon (“5 Centimeters Per Second” Original Soundtrack)

The first public post on this blog was on May 10, 2012 and it was a “Queen In Hyun’s Man” episode 7 recap. I was watching the drama excitedly as it was airing but since it was a cable drama, the English-language support wasn’t available quickly for international viewers. I wasn’t unable to squee with people as quickly as I wanted to so I decided to finally try my hand at recapping, something I had considered doing but was hesitant to do so for various reasons.

I never considered myself a good writer and I watched dramas for pure entertainment. I wasn’t sure whether I had anything valid to say or contribute to the Korean popular culture blogosphere and fandom. Writing has always been a painful process for me because I always put so much of myself into my writing and it scared me to display my work and myself to the wide public. I have always worried and thought too much for my own good so my writing process is always encumbered by anxiety and self-criticism.  But in a moment of rare courage and indifference, I posted that first recap and now after six months I am a little more confident. Despite still finding writing very difficult (lots of hair pulling and head desking), that small amount of confidence is such a huge step for me so I want to thank all my readers, the obsessive and sporadic commenters, likers, linkers, tweeters, and everyone who has shared their thoughts and talents with me and with this blog. Blogging has taken up so much of my time and my health has suffered but it has been all worth it for the amount of growth I have had in confidence and writing ability. Thank you so much for your encouragement and compliments, and even the criticisms because you guys have made this not just merely a writing exercise but a growth in character. Although we have never seen each other’s faces and may never will, and even if our collective raving and ranting may be ephemeral…Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

One and half drama recaps and one million hits in under six months. Wow. I did not expect it at all. I consider myself one lucky girl to have fallen in love and recapped two hits, “Queen In Hyun’s Man” and “Faith.” “Queen In Hyun’s Man” will always hold a special place in my heart as the first drama I ever recapped and “Faith” will hold another special place as my first fully recapped drama.

I have to take this space to thank Softy. Softy, whom many of you may already know, is a veteran blogger whose extraordinary talents have provided the best live recaps ever over at Cadence for two years.  She is a dearie and a sweety who devotes so much of her time and love into her recaps and does them so diligently and loyally that she puts other recappers to shame. I got to know her through her “Ojakkyo Brothers” recaps and the rest is history, as they say. I asked her to recap “Faith” together back in August because I was scared to do a twenty-four episode drama on my own, knowing how busy my real-life schedule was going to become in the next few months. She kindly consented but I don’t think she realized what she signed up for because then she had to help me through a blogging existential crisis. 😀 I don’t think I would have made it this far without Softy and her support. Thank you, Softy! xoxoxo

I want to thank Blue and Bella who were the first K-drama bloggers that coaxed me out of my shell and provided a space for me to write over at their site, Electric Ground, as a guest blogger. Thank you so much for that first step into the  K-drama and pop culture blogging world!

I also want to specially thank Jomo143 who has been reading this blog since the beginning and has continuously gifted me with many of the headers you see rotating on this site. And thank you again to everyone else who has provided me headers to make this blog look so pretty.

I really want to thank every single reader out there individually but will you be okay with just a collective huge virtual bear hug? There are too many for me to go find each name but my friends say I give the best bear hugs so hopefully it will suffice. I have had awesome discussions with many readers and many have shared their talents with us. There is even a song out there, which I am just dying to feature. 😀 But since it’s not ready yet, I will wait to show off. Hopefully it will be ready by next week. *nudges Sunshine, Pam, Nutella, and Juliane* 😉 As I am writing this, there is a party going on over on older posts celebrating this milestone for me. Love you guys all. You guys are more excited about this than I am. ❤

To celebrate this huge milestone and I hope one of many, I will be doing my very first Blog Giveaway. *throws confetti* The prize will be a U.S.$50 YesAsia gift certificate. For a chance at winning, please answer in one paragraph why you watch Korean dramas and how they have changed or not changed your perspective on South Korea (the country, people, or culture). It’s a question that has always intrigued me as a Korean-American who has a very familiar-strange relationship to the Korean culture so I would like to find out what other people’s experiences are like watching Korean dramas. The closing date for submissions will be in two weeks, November 10, 2012. So comment away!

*Hugs all, very tightly*