INFORMATION
NAME: kim yoobin.
GROUP/SOLO/OTHER: wonder girls.
CONTACT: studs & #yoo.bin

BACKGROUND
Moving to Korea was never part of Yoobin's plan. There were supposed to be midnight food runs until buttons were successfully popped off jeans, impromptu trips to beaches that were minutes away by foot, jello cocktails on Saturday mornings, puppy dates on Thursday nights, small concerts in underground bars on Wednesdays...

But before all that, before all the fun of being young - yet just old enough - there was family, and duty. Both of which resided in Korea, which seemed to be a whole world away from San Francisco - not only physically, but culturally as well. People there were rude, Yoobin recalled distinctly, swarming into subway trains without so much an "excuse me" for any hard pushes. Just practiced apathy and indifference. She also remembered the looks of disdain when she had worn her neon yellow tights under a navy patterned skirt, the tightened expressions of disapproval on her relatives' faces when she got off the plane, more portly than most girls her age. It also didn't help that she was dark-skinned, or that her voice was decidedly not feminine and husky instead. Korea was the antithesis of what she wanted in life, and at age 12, Yoobin had decided she never wanted to go back.

But there wasn't much of a fight on her end when her aunt called, asking her to come to Korea for an indefinite period of time to help watch over her grandma and paraplegic uncle. Yoobin knew it wasn't that there was any shortage of money for her family; her uncle had worked at a high-ranking corporation and a handsome sum was given to him every year afterwards, as part of the retirement package. The exact reason, she would never really know, but she suspected that her aunt's wish to groom her into a possible match for the son of a wealthy family friend was part of it. After all, "despite your dark skin, you're very pretty" was something she often heard growing up, meant with all the best intentions yet hurtful all the same.

That was a year ago. Yoobin today, at age twenty four, wakes up early in the mornings to go for runs around the park nearby. An hour or two is then dedicated to making meals for and taking care of, her aging grandmother and uncle. Sometimes she stays an extra hour if they're watching a fun show and she wants to see the end, too. Then it's lunchtime, which usually comes in the form of a quick bite at the cafe on the way to the gym, where she works as a full-time yoga instructor. The pay is good because the clientele is rich and desperate to lose weight, with plenty of funny incidents (farting is not uncommon in class) and hours much more flexible than the average job in Korea. Any time that is not swallowed up by her aunt's obligatory meetings (the older woman likes to inspect Yoobin weekly to make sure she has not gotten fatter) is dedicated to the normal fun routines; movie-watching is a big favorite pastime, as is reading, eating, cooking, playing with her puppies, clubbing, running, shopping. Although at the moment, Yoobin is debating learning how to ride a motorcycle - or at the very least, a moped.

All in all, life's not too bad. And if anyone stares at her neon yellow tights, she knows how to stare back and make that person feel very very uncomfortable.

FACTS
유: maintains her ability to speak English by watching lots of foreign films and shows; sometimes they're really all that get her through moments of heavy homesickness - that, and dancing in various costumes; anyone who has tried to peek into her apartment through her windows at the right times has probably been scared off.

유: is also determined to maintain her good manners and American way of thinking when it comes to being a good neighbor; her place is always open when someone needs a cup of sugar or a hot-cooked meal. sometimes though, her music does get a bit too loud.

유: appreciates all genres of music, but when it comes to drunken singing sessions, she's always rapping. it's one of her favorite forms of expressions and she's always writing down raps somewhere - her forearm is often marked all over with hastily written English and Korean characters.

유: unrepentant of her sense of humor, although it really has to come with a forewarning sometimes. all those etiquette classes her aunt has sent her to has never really taken root in every day life, although she can definitely sip tea and chatter away like the most proper of them, given her easygoing personality.

유: actively volunteers at the orphanages sponsored by churches nearby; while she does harbor dreams of being a kindergarten teacher, she's not sure she's willing to give up her lifestyle to pursue the dream just yet.