I talked to BRIAN JOO on the phone today!

I know, I know, it seems too good to be true. But it is!

I very recently started listening to Arirang Radio, a station in Korea that is in English. Now, I am not in Korea yet, so I have to listen to it online, via streaming radio. There's this one segment I find interesting called the Evening Groove. Brian Joo is a special guest there often and the station puts fans on air so they can talk with him and the DJ. Well today, I was that lucky fan!

The story is pretty amazing. I only found out about that site and radio station a couple of weeks ago, when I saw something on facebook on a friend's page. I checked it out and then went to youtube and lo and behold-- there were recordings of Brian's segment on the show ("Kickin' It With Brian") where he is calling fans! I could not believe my ears when a black girl from GA was on air with Brian! 'I want that to be me!' I thought. So I endeavored to make it happen.

I joined the Arirang site as well as the Evening Groove facebook page. I sent in my request to be called. However, one of my friends told me that Brian is on for 2 weeks at a time, then switches with someone else. And what do you know, my luck was that the day I found out about it, he was about to start his 2 weeks AWAY from Evening Groove. And over the next two weeks, the shock and hope that he might call me kinda wore off...

But today (the start of his 2 weeks again), I decided to tune into Evening Groove. It airs at 8pm Korean time, which is 7 IN THE MORNING here, but yes, I was up and listening. Although I had already sent in my number a couple of weeks ago, I sent it in again, and even wrote a wall post on the Evening Groove facebook page. And then I waited, hoping to get a call, but logically knowing it probably wouldn't happen...

My phone rang. It was an international number. It was Kate from the Evening Groove calling to ask me a question: "Would you like to be on air with Brian Joo and DJ Dorothy?" My reply: "Nah, I'm not really in the mood to talk to a hot celebrity today... Can I take a raincheck?" No way did I really say that! I was more than happy to accept the offer!

So, about 15 minutes later, I was ON AIR WITH BRIAN JOO. It was amazing. I have been a huge fan of Fly to the Sky for about 6 years, so talking with Brian was a dream come true :) Actually, Brian and I do correspond through MySpace and Facebook once in awhile, so it's not like I haven't had a conversation with him before. But obviously talking on the phone with someone is a lot more personal than that. And Brian REMEMBERED me! I am a pretty unique person, so it can be hard to forget me haha, but you gotta think that Brian probably gets thousands of messages from fans. The fact that he replies to a lot of mine does make me feel special, but it was cool to know that he remembered me. So cool.

And DJ Dorothy invited me to come to the studio when I come to Korea! She even said I could bring some of my students who are trying to learn English. So that is so awesome. Hopefully, I will be able to meet Brian too. :D

But the best part about this whole thing? BRIAN SANG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! My birthday is coming up on July 11th, and when I told Brian this, he sang for me. I was so happy to hear his voice "Happy Birthday dear KeAndrea...." :) I swear I almost fainted. I mean it really is not everyday that you get to have happy birthday sung to you by a famous, very attractive Korean celebrity.

I am going to post the recorded conversation. Enjoy! ^_^