Hello World!
I’m Subin Hyun from Korea, one of the staff from [Asian Beat Online]
[Asian Beat Online] or ABO in short, had 21 casts from 5 different countries. Everyone was really unique in their own ways and had interesting backgrounds. I had a chance to listen to 6 different stories from Jiwoo, Nutt, Monica, Jin, Nobuo and Ucha.
Let’s dive in and find out who they are:
Jiwoo Choi – Korean
Jiwoo is currently living in Seoul and he’s studying to get a job related to online marketing. His cousin and one of our staff, Baro, joined Common Beat in Seoul 2019 which had 100 Koreans and Japanese performers and Jiwoo got to go watch the musical. When he heard ABO will be held online this time, he thought it would be an opportunity to meet people with different nationalities easier though he is an introvert and not very outgoing.
Jiwoo is a very curious person. When he has an interest in certain topics and gets to know them little by little, that brings him great joy and happiness. This time he had a chance to talk about disposal waste problems on streets in Indonesia and was impressed that Indonesia, which he was unfamiliar with, is suffering from the same problem as Korea.
Jiwoo came up with [Asian Beat Online]’s nickname ABO(reads a-bo) from the blood types. According to him, he’s an expert of puns and divergent thinking. His jokes are from relating a word or picture to personal memories that people don’t usually think about.
He was a true clown in ABO.
Nutt Asavachaichan – Thai
From Bangkok, Nutt is in his gap year after graduating from Chulalongkorn University in public economics. He knew Asian Beat before from Off Campus Activities in Japan and knew one of ABO staff Yukachin. When Yukachin first offered him to join the program, he was nervous not knowing anyone from the program. Also because he was spending most of his time due to the pandemic, he felt his communication skill dropped. Now he’s glad that he joined the program because everyone on the program is nice and enjoyed all activities
He is one of the polyglots ABO had. He speaks Thai, English, Mandarin, and Japanese. Out of the languages he could speak, he hasn’t properly learned Japanese and is still working on it. I once saw him playing Thai flute and I could tell he is definitely talented at playing instruments. He could pick up chords just by listening to the melody and play the guitar which was awesome. Also, Nutt is an extroverted introvert, who likes to be with people but at the same time gets exhausted soon so it’s tiring for him.
Monica – Japanese
Monica lives in Aichi, Japan. She works in a TV station and her favorite places on earth are Australia and Tokyo Disney Sea. Australia was really fun for her when she visited there in February to March in 2020. Australians were kind and really diverse, respecting each gender equality, LGBTQ community and many religions. She loves Tokyo Disney Sea so much that she feels really great with the scenery, buildings, BGMs, fantastic shows, rides and attractions or pretty much everything about it.
She got to know ABO from the Common Beat event she joined this February. She was really excited to make new friends and talk to them for ABO, where she could know about many countries’ food, places, culture etc. According to her, ABO was really fun. Even in this situation, talking with many foreign people and making friends are awesome. Each organized event was so fun like singing, town tours and what up talks.
Fun fact! While she works, She’s studying English and international cooperation and also figuring out what symbiosis is. Such a passionate soul she is.
Nobuo – also, Japanese
Fabulous as he looks, Nobuo Nakabayashi or Nobuo in short, lives in Saitama, Japan. He has 4 different jobs as an English teacher, illustrator, graphic designer and NPO staff. He’s got more interested in Asian countries and people who live there through ABO. the program, He especially liked “Online Tours”. The scenery of where participants showed us reminded him of the Asian markets he visited long ago.He remembered the fresh feeling of visiting foreign countries and he desperately wants to go on trips. Above all, he really hopes to see the people face to face who he made friends with and helped each other in a heartwarming way.
Nobuo was one of emcees for ice breaking and of course the host of the grand farewell party. Reflecting that, he feels most relaxed and confident when he entertains other people. Yet he used to be very shy and hated speaking in front of people. “It was a long time ago though,” he said.
Jin – Taiwanese Canadian
Jin actually has many names. His English name is “Howie”, “Jin” is his Japanese name. He started to use it when he was learning Japanese. Some Koreans call him In-ho which came from his Chinese name. Like his names, he’s got multiple jobs as well. He works as a technician in the film industry. But he also does the B2B with different supermarkets, selling pots to supermarkets.
Solbaro, another staff member of ABO who he met a few years ago and meets every time he visits Korea, recommended that he could make some Asian friends from the group since he is looking for Korean and Japanese friends nowadays. ABO wasn’t easy to organize as a group but Jin appreciated everyone putting in a lot of effort.
He likes Europe and Asia but out of those, Seoul is his favorite city. Seoul has been the most visited city compared to other cities that’s why.
When I asked him if he could tell me a random fact about him, he replied that he has acrophobia. Every time he goes to Playland, an amusement park, he only wants to ride bumper cars. Roller coasters aren’t his thing.
Ucha – Indonesian
Ucha lives in Cikarang, a small city near Jakarta. She’s working at a Japanese company and she got to know ABO from a Japanese friend who lives there.
ABO has been so much fun for her and I enjoyed every second of the meeting with many friends from countries around Asia, talking with them. In ABO, we talked to each other, asking anything, and came to know each other’s habits, culture, something interesting about the country, food, etc. She said everyone got to learn many languages too! Because she got to know many things, she really had so much fun and that made her not want this program to end.
Though she likes mingling with new people and talking to them, her favorite place on earth is her bedroom. This was quite surprising since Ucha was one of our passionate online tour guides, traveling all the way to museums just for ABO friends. Ucha says it makes her the way she is by living as her and knowing who she is by herself. She hears opinions from others but at the end, she is the one who makes decisions and knows what to do when she is happy, angry, disappointed or sad. That makes her, HER like no other.
While getting to know her, I was surprised that when she was a highschool student, she brought 1 litre of milk everyday because she can’t live without milk.
Without awesome cast members, ABO wouldn’t have ended successfully. Although the program was mainly in English which not everyone was fluent in, the positive energy and good vibes everyone carried led to a huge success of the program. Everyone ended up wanting and promising each other they would visit one day which I hope as well soon.