Happy nut

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My brat jokingly calls me TI sometimes. It stands for Tigulang-Igat which brutally translates to horny old woman. We laugh about it. It has become part of the family jokes we tease each other with.

I have had plenty of good laughs over it with fellow ARMYs, too, especially those who also qualify under that category. We found it hilarious because it is kind of true.

And come to think about it, I may truly seem like one in the eyes of many. In our still-conservative society where age-appropriate behavior is expected, I am a crazy, screaming sore thumb who refuses to sit down and behave like the middle-aged woman that I am. (I have no plans of dying my hair pink and purple though.)

I have truly gone nuts. There is no other way to diagnose my condition. But mind you, I am a happy nut.

I have gone on adventures I never thought I would do without my family. And I made friends with people from all over the world, people I never would have connected with, if not for our common love and admiration for seven young men from South Korea. And mine is not an isolated case.

The same thing is happening all over this diverse fandom, and it is truly amazing. First-time meetings never feel like one. They are more like joyous reunions among friends who have known each other for decades.

I saw this among my friends in the US. Wherever the concerts were, they were there, meeting in front of stadiums and in restaurants, and staying in houses which they rented for themselves, and enjoying soju as they held parties garbed in BTS-themed pajamas. And mind you, these are women in their 30s to 60s, most of them meeting each other for the first time. They all came together, some with their young kids and teenagers in tow (young ARMYs-in-training)to celebrate this common love for a group of foreign artists who have inspired them like no other.

It is not all peace, love, and harmony in this fandom though. There is one thing that ARMYs fight over with every fang and claw in their arsenal. It is a precious commodity made available only to a lucky few … the BTS concert ticket.

When they go on sale, it is fandom hunger games time, when survival depends on the fastest internet connection, a tenacious spirit, and pure Divine intervention. If prayers sent up to heaven for that golden ticket were Twitter posts, the earnest prayers for that one seat will trend #1 worldwide.

I was in video chat with my friend’s kids when ticket sales were about to start in the US. One had her rosary beads with her, reciting Hail Marys as if her life depended on getting that ticket. And who can blame her? In this fandom of 20 million, a one-day concert with only 55,000 available seats could get sold-out in two hours.

This is truly a nerve-wracking time for all ARMYs. I had my first foray into this battleground when the Singapore 2019 concert tickets went on sale. First, you log into the official online ticketing site, and be directed to a page which becomes the “waiting room” for the hundreds of thousands of ARMYs experiencing symptoms of impending nervous breakdown.

When selling starts, some get through right away and start buying. Those closest to the stage are sold out first regardless of the price which range from $400 to US$500.

Others get through after a long, agonizing wait, and had to be happy with seats so high up, you could poke the moon with little effort.

Most wait in vain. After a nail-biting frenzy trying to decide whether it is diarrhea or heart attack that you are having, the dreaded “sold-out” announcement comes to your screen. You could almost hear the collective moan of despair across the world because it is one which echoes your own.

No one knows exactly how the system works when it comes to determining who gets into the ticketing site first, and who gets left out in the cold. Some say that it is on first-come first-served basis so ARMYs do online camping days in advance.

Others say it is in the speed of your Internet connection, or the number of gadgets you have with you (to increase your chances), all logged into the site.

I had four phones on data when I tried to secure tickets for Singapore. I never got through. So there must be some truth to that.

Luckily, a new ARMY friend managed to squeeze in, and bought me a ticket to the Singapore concert. She had around her one PC, two laptops, an iPad, and three or four cellphones. ARMY dedication. (My husband would rather call it insanity.)

So for the March 2019 concert series in Hong Kong, I went into war all weapons ablaze. I rented four PCs in the newest and fastest Internet café for gamers that I could find and oh, boy! how I suffered, or rather, how my eardrums and sensibilities suffered.

Fresh out of the hospital after my hysterectomy, I entered a world I never knew existed.

People my age, have you ever been in an Internet café where teenage online gamers compete fiercely as to who could shout and curse the loudest? Believe me, this TI, the only youngster in that bunch, went catatonic with shock.

But my “torture” paid off. I got tickets not only for myself but for three other ARMY friends.

In the month of March in Hong Kong , I reunited with an old high school classmate who flew in from Texas with her two daughters just for the concert.

Others from my ARMY group arrived from Canada, Hawaii, and California. It was a joyous reunion for people who never met each other before.

Sitting back and watching me from afar, I see a new, happier me. I am clearly not there yet, but I have started to shed the useless baggage that I have been carrying around for years.

This journey of loving myself is fraught with difficulties but I have a support system…sisters from all over the world who share my passion, and who could empathize because they, too, are fighting their own battles.

And we have our boys of BTS to thank for all these. Borahae!

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Author’s email: [email protected]

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