Credit and trans by Lisanations
I will go to Korea
"The first time I met Lisa, she was around 13-14. She was a cheerful smiley girl who appeared with her hair tied up in high ponytail with bangs. She had long limbs and a small body. She was called 'Pok Pak' (She changed her name to Lalice' before she moved to S.Korea by the suggestion of her aunt). Lisa was an energetic kid. Before, she attended my class 1 hour a week. She was so focused for the whole hour. She never showed any signs of tiredness from school or traffic. She would show up with her favourite K-idol covered lyrics file. She would talk in a silly voice "I will go to S.Korea". She would repeat it again after singing. At that time, I wondered if her dream was too high. But l didn't say a word that could destroy her. I just cut it off by telling her to do a warm up first. During the classes, she was very enthusiastic as if she was gaining happiness
from doing the things she loved."
"Lisa had been in my class for a period of time before she got to prepare for an audition that was held for the 1st time in Thailand by YG. We met more often. She would come everyday whenever time permitted. I also gave her some assignments to practice at home too. Luckily, Lisa already knew dancing since she was 7-8 years old. She had experiences in dance competitions. So, I could be reassured about her dancing. For singing, she worked very hard on it. She listened to lots of music. She always submitted the assignments.She understood the core of the songs. It was easy for me asa teacher. I prepared her 2 English songs to use in her audition; 1 upbeat and 1 slow. She was especially good in R&B & Pop that are upbeat and fun. The record company asked her to sing both slow and fast songs to check her singing potential and if she could entertain the audience. Overall, they checked if the applicant could do well in both different song tempo."
"From the first day to the audition day, she improved a lot. She had a
stronger singing voice. That could be because she had good stamina. So dancing didn't make her short of energy to sing. Her weak point at that time would be the feels. Most of the applicants for auditions or competitions are capable of singing on pitch and keeping time. Lisa was also able to do so. The only thing to be concerned about was to get her to sing emotionally especially to slow songs that required clear thick/thin folds and short/long notes. The upbeat songs needed to sound fun and bringjoy to the audience. During the
practices, Lisa performed like she was having her real stage. She gave her all in both dancing and singing. It came out great. I don't know if l'm biased towards my student. Anyway, |still couldn't foresee if the label would accept her."
"When she was training with me, she never gave outthe senses of being tired or giving up. Thinking things thoroughly, I have never seen such moods from Lisa. Whatever l told her to do, she would just eagerly do whatever. For example, I told her to sing an upbeat song and dance along, she would just do it with no complain. In the audition day, Ididn't accompany her. I remembered she cut her hair short. I only knew about it after she made it through. She screamed out of happiness that she made it. She made it. I couldn't believe it. I even asked her how many got accepted and whether they might send her backlater on. (laugh). No bad intention, I was just startled & too astonished by my student. (KruKoy speaks proudly)"
Persevere. No turning back
"Living as a K-idol trainee is tough. As much as I know, the trainees have to practice everyday. They have 1 day offa week. They must undergo vocal lessons and dancing lessons. And do self practice after that. The coaches are not there to teach all the time. They have to practice until 10-11 pm everyday. Therefore, perseverance is key. Also, the record label will observe how the trainees are behaving; If they are persistent, if they do things seriously, if they get along well with others. And if you are a foreigner, they'll also check on the improvements of your Korean. Lisa passed all the evaluations. In the beginning, she had to learn to adjust to many things. To abide the rules, her parents are not allowed to stay over. She must speak only Korean. She needed to make new friends and prayed that she could get along well with them. To simply put, she had to adjust herself in all aspects."
"Around 2-3 years after training, she came back to Thailand to visit her family and me. She let me do vocal warm ups and showed me how she rapped in Korean. The noticeable change I saw in her was that she became more confident. I heard that she got to sing a lot of music because there were evaluations all the time. The trainer would grade the trainees to encourage their improvements. Back in the day when Lisa's Korean was still weak, she applied herself more. Because she wouldn't be able to debut if her Korean wasn't good. Her strong points are perseverance, determination, and passion."
"However, even if she had her will power, there were difficulties that
happened that made her feel lost and almost gave up. Because it was a long period of time that had passed, she still couldn't debut. She had waited for 6 long years to finally make a debut. If you live a normal life, in 6 years you would already acquire a masters degree. You would at least obtain a paper. But Lisa had nothing to guarantee her if she would have an album. Her future was uncertain. How hard could it be for her. Today the concert tickets are sold out in the US and UK. She gained recognition worldwide. The day I watched the concert in Thailand,i saw lots of fans who followed her and loved her. I was so
touched that I wanted to cry."
Kindness,Filial piety, Thainess
I think her valuing 'Filial piety" also made her come this far. The year she couldn't come back, she asked her mom to pay me a visit with a basket of new year's gifts. Last year, she bought fresh strawberries. She was bothered so much that the strawberries would lose its freshness so she kept repeating to her mom to quickly deliver them to me. Another year when she just debuted, she sent an album signed by every member. The recent album was also already sent to me."
Buddhist and Confucian virtue of respecting one's parent, elders,
(T/N 'Filial pietysaviors,etc.)
"Another good quality of Lisa is her good manners. At the concert in
Thailand, I & other Thai public figures waited backstage to greet her. Lisa generally watches Thai TVs even in S.Korea. She recognized their faces and greeted and hugged them first. Lisa said she has to thank all Thai stars for their kindness. She knew they are very famous in Thailand. Lisa is also a big fan of Taew. She always talked about 'Nakee""", and that she wanted to see
Kam Kaew* **. When the two met, Lisa ran toward Taew and hugged her. The stars that day who saw how Lisa was fangirling over them also died from cuteness. Lisa is still the same as before. She never acts big."
(TIN* TAEW or Natapohn is a Thai famous actress
** Nakee is a title of Thai serie
"* KamKaew is the name of a character Taew took in Nakee)
"Another quality of Lisa that impresses me is her kindness. There was a time I told her that a daughter of 'Bow,Mali, and a daughter of "Sunita, Hani, asked me if they could get her autograph. Lisa replied "Yes, Teacher". And by that l thought maybe she might send signed photographs. It turned out she sent whole signed CDs with the message" Be a good girl". The kids were overjoyed. She has been consistently nice. Whenever she came to see me she would pick her clothes appropriately because she knew we would have pictures together. Her catchy phrases when she agrees upon something "Yaaasss.sir','Yes,sir', I love you, teacher' the listener can't help but be pleased."
(T/N 'Bow and Sunita are known figures)
"Another memorable day that made me admire her spirit was the day
during the mourning period for the late king. Lisa purposely came back to pay respect to the late King Rama 9. She insisted to wear Chitlada* to enter the palace. She never forgets that she is a loyal Thai citizen to the late King Rama 9 no matter how famous she is."
(' T/N Chitlada A Thai traditional dress worn in formal occasions)