I’m on Korean TV tomorrow! KBS Sponge

Update: View the episode HERE!

While being in a foreign country I am trying to take advantage of all the perks I can. I replied to an ad on a website asking for foreigners for a TV show called “KBS Sponge” where foreigners experience Korea. I interviewed with them at the KBS IBC building in Yeouido Seoul a few weeks ago. To be honest I didn’t think I would get chosen because during the interview one of the lady’s said she thought I was shy. SHY? HA! I was more reserved that day because we were in an office building. I didn’t think it was appropriate to be all loud when the environment did not call for it. They also thought I had been to too many places already in the short time I’ve been here since the show was about foreigners experiencing new things in Korea.
Well heck, I came to Korea to explore!

BUT to my surprise they texted me and wanted me to do to the show!!! (I found out they picked me for my very bright and blingy style. I could slightly translate what a woman writer was saying in a conversation to someone. She called me “Shingehada” which means amazing or different. She later reaffirmed this when she kept complimenting me on everything from my multi-colored nails to my bright patterned bag.)

A gentleman named Sham from France and I were chosen for the show. This was his 3rd time.  Sham was really fun. The entire day we kept saying “Boom Shaka Laka, Wow Fantastic Baby!”  We obviously love Big Bang.

To do the show, I got NO sleep for two days. That weekend I was in Seoul hanging with friends and didn’t get back to my home till Sunday night. Well my contact lady from KBS told me they were filming early in the morning on Tuesday so that meant I had to take a bus Monday night to be able to get there in time since I live 3 hours away. Sunday night I had to pack a bag to take to work to catch the next bus after I got done with work at 8:30pm (eww horrible time right?) But the Express Bus Terminal changed their bus times so I couldn’t take a bus till 10:30pm which meant I couldn’t arrive in Seoul till 2:15am. Throughout all my misfortune, I was informed KBS payed for me a room all by myself at a hostel in Namsam when I got to Seoul! Unfortunately I could only stay in the nice room for 30 minutes because the KBS van was to pick me up at 3:30am!

Shooting started at 4am and lasted untill 5pm that day. They paid for our lunch which was really cool. We shot in the freezing cold and at shops all around Seoul. The episode theme was Korean part time jobs. We had to do odd end jobs in Korea which was really fun. We shot in someones apart and I did Rain’s Hip Song dance which was really funny.

These were our bags we had to wear to collect our payments in when we completed the job. lol So cute huh?

Next was an apartment KBS owned which they were moving out of so that part job was us working for the moving company. We got to wear the company vests which was cool.

The KBS apartement we filmed in. The crane was SO cool. In Korea when moving you don’t have to carry boxes down the stairs, you just pack the stuff on this and it moves up and down!

Next was a business that chose music for coffee and hamburger shops. We had a little contest between us that you all will see in the episode. After that we filmed at Angel in Us Coffee in Gangnam and then it was finally over!
The filming crew was really nice. We had a translator for everything. But the sound guy had to keep asking me to stop covering and hitting my mic. lol I’m not used to this TV stuff!!!

First off, sorry the pic is so blurry. I didn’t realize it was till I got home! The lady in the blue jacket was a KBS writer, the man in the middle was the director (who was extremely kind) and the lady in black was our translator. This was taken at ANGEL IN US coffee shop.

KBS is soooo freaking amazing. Originally after we finished filming, I planned to just hop on the subway over to Express Bus Terminal and catch the next bus home but I was informed someone at KBS would take me home. Well hot dog diggity they drove me 3 HOURS TO MY HOME (FOR FREE) in the company car! OMG it shocked the hell out of me so much I had to take a picture of it all. lol

Also to my surprise we GOT PAID and VERY WELL I might add.

THANK YOU KBS!!!!
The show airs March 23rd at 8:55pm on KBS 2! If it’s available online I will post the link!

They even drove me home even though my house was 3 hours away!