My Journey (Part 1)
This is a post I've wanted to write for a while, but I've been procrastinating on it. I intend to explain my journey which eventually led to H!P fandom. It will be in either two or three parts. This first part will focus on my journey prior to discovering Hello! Project. Some of it will be difficult for me to write, and some bits I won't go into detail, since it still makes me uncomfortable. A few of you already know bits and pieces of this. But it may explain some of my behavior.
My journey starts around age 15. I had just discovered the online world, and it fascinated me. I was quickly drawn into chat rooms, and I made many friends. It wasn't long before I became interested in a guy online. He was around 30. Things progressed quickly (too quickly) and soon I thought I was in love. I was young, naive, and foolish. Then we decided to meet in real life. That was a big mistake. When we met, it was clear that he was interested in only one thing. It was something I didn't want to do, so he tried to pressure me, then force me. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful and I managed to get away from him. But the next few months were terrifying. Stalking, strange phone calls, things like that. We (my parents and I) had to move twice because of this. Eventually, he was arrested for something else and went to prison for a long time. I don't know the details of that.
After that incident, I became withdrawn. I also suppressed my feelings for many years. I avoided the online world for a while. I completely lost interest in guys.
Also during this time, I started becoming bored with the latest American music. To me, it all sounded the same. So my music listening diminished. Other things quickly filled the void. One of them was my discovery of old time radio. Old time radio (OTR) is radio programs from the early days of radio up to around the 1950s. That lasted for a few years. Also during that time, I started enjoying music from that period (big band, swing, and others). I also briefly went through an 80s music obsession.
Then I started feeling drawn back to the online world again. But I decided if I would return, I would set a few rules for myself. I decided to keep my online activities separate from offline. Anyone I meet online, I would not meet offline. I decided not to say where I lived, or my real name. A few other details about myself I also wouldn't reveal. This may be a bit extreme, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable and safe. There have been a small handful of people who refused to accept that, but that's their problem.
One positive result of returning online is I began to discover music outside of the U.S. First, it was European bands and singers, and soon I discovered artists in other countries. I quickly absorbed much of this music, since most of it was completely different from anything I've heard. Much of it was in a foreign language, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. Soon, my journey led me to discover Japanese (and other Asian) pop. I'll continue my journey in the next part.
Love, Charmy
My journey starts around age 15. I had just discovered the online world, and it fascinated me. I was quickly drawn into chat rooms, and I made many friends. It wasn't long before I became interested in a guy online. He was around 30. Things progressed quickly (too quickly) and soon I thought I was in love. I was young, naive, and foolish. Then we decided to meet in real life. That was a big mistake. When we met, it was clear that he was interested in only one thing. It was something I didn't want to do, so he tried to pressure me, then force me. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful and I managed to get away from him. But the next few months were terrifying. Stalking, strange phone calls, things like that. We (my parents and I) had to move twice because of this. Eventually, he was arrested for something else and went to prison for a long time. I don't know the details of that.
After that incident, I became withdrawn. I also suppressed my feelings for many years. I avoided the online world for a while. I completely lost interest in guys.
Also during this time, I started becoming bored with the latest American music. To me, it all sounded the same. So my music listening diminished. Other things quickly filled the void. One of them was my discovery of old time radio. Old time radio (OTR) is radio programs from the early days of radio up to around the 1950s. That lasted for a few years. Also during that time, I started enjoying music from that period (big band, swing, and others). I also briefly went through an 80s music obsession.
Then I started feeling drawn back to the online world again. But I decided if I would return, I would set a few rules for myself. I decided to keep my online activities separate from offline. Anyone I meet online, I would not meet offline. I decided not to say where I lived, or my real name. A few other details about myself I also wouldn't reveal. This may be a bit extreme, but it makes me feel a little more comfortable and safe. There have been a small handful of people who refused to accept that, but that's their problem.
One positive result of returning online is I began to discover music outside of the U.S. First, it was European bands and singers, and soon I discovered artists in other countries. I quickly absorbed much of this music, since most of it was completely different from anything I've heard. Much of it was in a foreign language, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it. Soon, my journey led me to discover Japanese (and other Asian) pop. I'll continue my journey in the next part.
Love, Charmy