Although my family was aware of my liking for the band, they
were not as supportive as I wanted them to be. In their opinion, I was in a phase
that I would grow out of, which is probably why I did not receive any One
direction tickets as they were touring in Germany. Back then I was devastated.
 |
| One Direction on stage |
 |
| One Direction in Germany (2013) |
Not only did the lack of support from my parents held me
back, but my miserable English skills also turned out to be another obstacle.
Even though I had English classes in Elementary and Secondary school, thanks to
my English teacher, my English had not progressed at all and was still at the
level of a fifth-grader. Normally this would not affect me the slightest, but
since this band only communicated and sang in English, I could not understand
their lyrics or interviews.
As soon as I turned fourteen I could not stand the fact,
that I was not able to understand nor speak the world language, anymore. I started
to look for multiple ways to comprehend what the band was saying/singing and
after a little research, I found German subtitled videos on YouTube and even
German Blogs that translated their tweets, band announcements, and events.
From these blogs, I discovered something else: young girls,
who were equally in love with the band as I was. Finally, more people to talk
about subjects I favored. That was the beginning of my actual Fandom
experience.
There was usually a comment section under each Blogpost (Blog B), where fans
had the opportunity to communicate with each other. I created an account and
joined their discussions. We would talk about the members of the band, their
new music, their girlfriends and whatever subject came up.
Since these blogs would translate their song
lyrics, post their interviews, tweets, and videos, I was able to follow their
every move and subconsciously and continuously started to learn a little bit
more English.