By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Wakawaka Titi from Nigeria
Photos = Wakawaka Titi

Coming to you live from Gangwon Province, the Winter Olympics and Paralympics are over, but the excitement is still burning in everyone’s hearts!

Before I came to Korea, I watched a lot of Korean TV soap operas and Korean pop music videos, dreaming of the day I would meet the beautiful characters I adored on the screen. My family and friends asked me, “Why do you love people who will never know that you exist?”

It's totally understandable. Korea is very far away from my home. Nonetheless, finally that day arrived.



On March 12, Lee Dong Wook, in collaboration with the Gangwon-do Province tourism promotional bureau, created a meet-and-greet for around 1,000 of his fans. Since the Paralympics were still underway, we also got a chance to see a sled ice hockey game between the Czech Republic and Japan. So we all gathered in the morning and got on the train.

The train was filled with promotional material for "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," tvN's 2016-2017 hit soap opera. On that show, Lee Dong Wook plays the Grim Reaper. So this was really the Grim Reaper Train!

We got on board and were surrounded by grim reapers and cut outs of posters for "Guardian" and of Lee Dong Wook as an Olympics ambassador.

Fun fact: Did you know that most of the famous scenes on that show were shot in Gangwon-do Province? Korea has tons of exciting places outside of Seoul!

Finally, it was that moment. I was in the same room as one of my favorite actors. We spent two hours playing games, answering questions and giving out gifts. It was surreal.

Unfortunately, we couldn't record anything or take any pictures during the meet-and-greet.





Before the meet-and-greet ended, Lee Dong Wook himself asked us all to write down our wishes. He wrote, “I hope we all stay healthy." It was a beautiful moment that was commemorated with a group photo of everyone holding up their wishes.

After the fan meet-and-greet, we went to the rink to watch the game, and Lee Dong Wook walked in to watch the match with us. I had to shoot a short video of him without any zoom just to understand how close I was to him!

Despite what everyone said back home, one of my heroes knew who I was that day. In a room full of 1,000 or more fans, there were barely 10 people who were clearly not East Asian, so I'd like to think that Lee Dong Wook definitely noticed who we were.

I'm looking forward to the many events happening in Korea this year. As soon as the Olympics and Paralympics are over, it will be spring, and you know what that means! Cherry blossoms and pop concerts. I look forward to all of that and to talk about it all on my social media channels.

Here's the video of him I took during the sled ice hockey match.

wisdom117@korea.kr

* This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.