‘We are K-indred spirits’

Noona is “a Korean honorific term used by a younger male speaker to address an older female, whether she is a biological sister, a close female friend, or an older female acquaintance.”

But of course, we are noonas. Decades out of high school, we swoon over oppas young enough to be our sons and nephews in the K-dramas we watch, dissect, rate and melt in! Unless of course the single noonas turn Something in the Rain (starring Son Ye-jin and Jung Hae-in) into a sunny reality.

The “Noonatics,” a seriously wacky group of over 25 alumnae of Assumption San Lorenzo’s batch ‘79, was conceived after Crash Landing on You (CLOY) glided into our lives, and was born on an auspicious day at that, Oct. 10, 2020, after the Zoom birthday celebration of Chary Ozaeta-Gohh. The after-party was spiked, not by soju (but, who knows?) but by discussions of K-drama. One of those at the after-party was our Korean-born batchmate Innhae Morgan, who suggested “Noonas” as the name of the group. Well, she knew whereof she spoke. As for the addition of “tics” after Noona, you know what “lunatic” means, so I dare not elucidate.

Over the weekend, the Noonatics held its Krismas party, its fifth in a row. That’s more Christmas parties than we had in high school.

Held in the Orientalia-filled aristocratic home of Agnes Enano, the party wasn’t quite as stately, however. It was rambunctious — a mixture of the slumber parties in high school and the birthday parties of grade school. Except that in the pin-the-donkey’s-tail portion, the blindfolded noonas were asked to zero in on an oppa’s body, instead of a donkey’s. Our Noonatic president Lisa Mapua hit the bullseye. There was also a bingo game where Chary painstakingly read all the names of the oppas to match the faces on our bingo cards. My card had my oppa-of-all-time Hyun Bin’s face, but I missed the jackpot each time.

Oppas that bind

As soon as we walked into the living room of Agnes’ house, we were greeted by a Christmas tree made up of the smiling faces of 114 oppas.

According to a survey of the Noonatics, conducted scientifically by Chary, the top oppas are 1. Hyun Bin; 2. Park Bo-gum; 3. Cha Eun-woo; 4. Lee Min-ho; 5. Park Seo-joon; 6. Ji Chang-wook; 7. Kim Seon-ho; 8. Byeon Woo-seok; 9. Gong Yoo; and 10. Ju Ji-hoon.

I asked my fellow noonas why the Noonatics has endured (we have overseas members, mind you) all these five years.

“For me, the love for K-drama has endured mainly for the camaraderie with my noona-sisters. Watching the K-drama series is what binds us — the comments, the ‘intelligent’ discussions on each type/genre are very engaging and they keep our aging brains in tip-top shape!” says Connie Katigbak.

“We also look forward to the annual Noonatics party as we can be our ‘young’ selves and swoon without shame over our favorite oppas.  And of course, enjoy each other’s company in the food,  games, cheers and laughter,” adds Agnes Enano.

“The group really keeps me young at heart,” agrees Tina Mateo. “It is a no-holds-barred group, no pretenses, just clean fun. Reading the comments and reviews on the thread encourages me to watch some more.”

“I enjoy watching K-dramas because of their storylines — be it romance, drama, a medical series or even action. There’s something about K-drama that gets me captivated and engaged that I sometimes find myself still watching till 5 a.m.,” laughs Chary, usually the gamemaster of the Krismas parties.

During one Christmas party, Chary creatively made a Memory Game deck of cards with the oppas. The noonas had to match the same oppa card and the one with the most pairs won a prize. “All the girls had so much fun, they each ordered a deck for themselves,” recalls Chary.

Rina Go, for her part, muses, “The gatherings take you to a different era — magical, almost like a K-drama setting, where noonas gather to prepare their homemade Korean dishes, wear the Joseon costume, fight for their right to ‘own’ and ‘save’ their personal oppa.”

“Silly as it seems,” Rina continues, “for a few moments, while watching K-dramas, one indulges in wishful thinking — that love exists, that friendships endure, that even justice prevails.”

“The noona Christmas party is the one I look forward to every year because we all are able to let our hair down and really enjoy each other — the company, the food, the bonding, the youth we still have within, the craziness and laughter we bring for that one special night — all without pretense. Just enjoying K-drama and all that it adds to our lives,”  agrees Ave Ignacio, who prepared that night’s beef stew.

“I love the soundtrack, the story line and the acting of K-dramas. In the Noonatics chat group, we share our experiences when we watch the drama or when others attend the meet-and-greet with our oppas. In the Noonatics party, everyone is just their nice childlike funny self. So much love and attention to details, from the games, food, and giveaways!” gushes Annie Kawpeng.

“Our Noonatics K-drama chat group and annual Christmas party give me the chance to reconnect with grade school and high school classmates — a.k.a. fellow addicts of K-dramas, oppas, Korean food and everything Hallyu,” says Lizette Peralta, who was our batch valedictorian.

“For me...all or the above plus the Noona circle is major stress-buster! And yes, I trust the ‘critics choice’ of this gang!” says Jojo Ocampo, our salutatorian.

By the way, since 2020, the ratings of the noonas on the K-dramas have been tabulated by Lisa and  are kept in an Excel file that is “pinned” on the chat group.

“I think most of us had CLOY as our initiation. If not for CLOY, I would not have known about the K-drama world and most likely, would not have been a member of Noonatics,” reminisces Guia Tiongson, who was recently in Iseltwald, one of the many memorable settings in CLOY. “That being said, we all fell in love with Capt. Ri. Good thing our husbands don’t get jealous of our oppas.”

“Can’t forget the first Noonatics party with the life-size standees and gallery of oppas, with swooning fellow noonas...same kids that we grew up with since grade school. Everyone is so at home, just the way you are. Intense! Kikay! Say it all!” says Dr. Elaine Araneta.

Our US-based noona Dolly Specht encapsulates it. She says one of the reasons the Noonatics has endured is because the group “was born when we were all unsure of our futures during COVID, and it connected us in a very comforting way.”

“We are K-indred spirits,” concludes Risa Nepomuceno.

Me-ri keu-ri-seu-ma-se! *