⋰˚☆ Flourishing Tour in Sydney
September 07, 2019
⋰˚☆ Sydney Super Dome
14,491 attendees
⋰˚☆Setlist
VCR 1
Dance Segment
Flourisihing
Gotta Go
Ment
Snapping
Eung Eung (%%)
Ment
Highlight
Hush
Ment
Love Foolish
VCR 2
Bomb
Adios
Ment
No
Hobgoblin
Woulda Coula
VCR 3
So Good
Cherries Jubilees
Ment
Kingdome Come
Eyes Locked, Hands Locked
Ment
365
Encore VCR
Hit That Drum
Ment
Forever Young Extended
Ending Ment
I don't know where to start for today's Ment...Living in Australia as a minority, K-pop was something that helped me connect more with my Korean culture. It made me proud to be Korean. Now to be a part of a wave of K-pop that's spreading globally... I would've never in a million years guessed that could happen.
So, I think what I should talk about today is how I ended up moving from here all the way to Korea. I started to dance the day I learned how to walk and I really loved it. I looked forward to my school days ending and going to my dance studio, practising for hours on end. Even when I moved to Beijing, I insisted that I wanted to continue to learn and practice dance despite the language barrier, it's what I want to do. My life was filled with dancing and I wanted it to stay that way until the day I died.
I knew generally what K-pop was, my mom liked Shinhwa, Seo Taiji, when my mum was in the hospital before giving birth to me, she listened to BOA's debut album. My dad liked older ballad singers and grandma enjoyed trot. But aside from those, I didn't know much and I only listened for the sake of them while we were in the car.
As you may or may not know, my cousin Jongin Oppa debuted in EXO sometime in 2012, that's when I really started to research and learn what K-pop is because I wanted to support him. The first song I listened to voluntarily was Electric Shock by F(x) and that's when I fell down a hole. Then I started listening to Shinee and those two groups were my favourite. To be honest, I didn't branch out much after that, I knew hits but those two groups and EXO were the ones I consistently listened to. I loved them a lot and I still do; I believe wholeheartedly that they released some of the best music I have listened to in my life.
In 2014 around March, I begged my parents to allow me to go to Korea and see the Shinee concert which was being held in Seoul. My parents allowed me, and I managed to convince my cousin through my aunt. I went to KSPO Dome to see Shinee's concert and it was honestly the best night of my life.
After seeing them performing on a stage like theirs, something clicked and I had an epiphany, I want to be an idol. My parents thought I wasn't really serious about it, they just thought I was starstruck but I was being serious.
A year later, we went to Seoul for the summer. I got an offer from a company, I sent them my audition and the following day they called for me to sign a trainee contract. I was over the moon, that was the company I really wanted to be at. But that same day my dad and I went over to do some volunteer work and a talent scout approached us. They said that they're a company looking for female trainees and would like to scout me for an audition, they gave us their card and asked us to call them. When we got home, my mum and I searched them up. I was really interested, Big Hit Entertainment, like the name itself sounds like a great company. We searched up BTS and at the time, Dope had just come out and I Need U a couple of months before. My mum really liked them and so did I. That time was the first step of BTS' transition phase and my mum really liked the direction going for and how the company overall presented themselves. So that night we called them, I went over to BigHit and we signed a contract. I truly don't regret it one bit, there was never a time where I thought to myself that I should've signed with the other company.
Becoming a BigHit trainee, just hearing the claps once we signed the trainee contract... At the time, it was the happiest I've ever felt. I was so ready to go to Korea, I was so excited, but the fact that I had to leave everything behind was bittersweet. Once the plane landed filled with my belongings, I told myself, "Even though this is all new, this could be a great start." Honestly, becoming a trainee was way harder than I ever expected. It's not that I didn't get along with the other trainees, because we respected each other but I didn't have a friend there. I felt lonely, with no one to guide and teach me.
This where I take the time to thank my family in Korea. My late uncle, aunt and three cousins. I moved in with my aunt and late uncle around three months in as a trainee. I guess at first, I did feel at a loss but as my family gave me little footsteps and gave me little ways to climb up, I really did feel that I was living right. One day things got a little hard and one of my Unnies comforted me, she said, "Don't let me down. It's not over yet. There's still hope so keep working hard and we'll be waiting for you." That's what always keeps me going. I want to personally thank Jongin Oppa, he didn't have much free time when I was a trainee and he still doesn't but I'm thankful that he taught me to not only be a Korean person but also a star.
Being an idol is not as easy as they make it out to be on TV. To live like this, it's really hard. Though moving to Korea in order to pursue my dreams was not as smooth as I thought it would be, I'm very thankful I did that. I've have met a lot of precious people who I love dearly. I do what I love and I wouldn't trade a life like mine for anything.
I haven't been able to come here since I moved four years ago and honestly within the first day, I started to miss Australia. My family and friends are here today and I just want to say that I'm sorry for being far from home for so long. I'm sorry for being so busy and it being a pain to get a hold of, after today I promise I'll text back faster and answer my calls. But I'm just really glad that I'm here to see you guys.
When I got off the plane and were in the car to the hotel, every memory I had would pass by. Usually I sleep in the car because I feel too anxious to look out but coming here, I felt safe. I just... I really miss Australia. I'm glad to be back.
If there's anything I hope you all feel is happiness and love. I see what you guys write to me; I'm really thankful that you guys feel safe enough to open up to me. I know that some of you don't feel loved. I learnt that the hardest thing to do is to open you heart. Once you're open to love, you will feel an endless amount of love.
Truthfully, I always hated the question how are you. Whenever others or even I asked the question it felt like it was forced out of courtesy. To me, the question had lost its meaning. Then you guys started to ask me it on Weverse and on Twitter, slowly I started to love the question. I could feel your genuineness through the screen. you wanted to know how I truly feel. So, I too wanted to answer truthfully, but I didn't want to worry you with how I truly feel. The truth is, there are many days where I don't feel like I'm fine but I still I feel good. But now, I feel more than fine. I don't know much about life, I just know that whenever I'm on stage, performing to you and being surrounded by you, I am happy.
To close it off, I would like to thank BigHit for arranging this concert and the whole tour in general, for always helping me to grow stronger, for guiding and telling me what is right and what is wrong. I also want to thank the production team for today and additionally the Australian staff. I would like to thank my family, friends. Thank you for coming today and for being by my side, I love you guys so much. Thank you all for spending your Saturday with me, I hope you had a good time. If you all didn't support me and didn't pressure BigHit into a tour date then I would have gone an other year without coming home. I can't thank you all enough, seriously, thank you.
Dreamlike
End
⋰˚☆ Social Media
- - -
⋰˚☆ FunkWav's Thoughts
i went through and edited the whole book yesterday lolll, some things were actually terrible.
Anyways, I am taking requests. Are there anything, in particular, you'd like to see?