By Sunny Lee
Korea Times Correspondent
BEIJING ― Some Koreans are more famous abroad than in South Korea.
Cho Soo-jin, 34, is one. With the Beijing Olympics coming within days, she is all over the Chinese newspapers and television. What makes her special ahead of the Olympics?
Cho is a Korean who is in charge of training the 380 Chinese Olympic cheerleaders, who will be deployed to 28 different sports during the Olympics.
"I know how to spice up people," Cho said. "People say I am an energizer."
"Actually, some people call me a 'tough nanny,'" she added with a smile.
There are also many people in China who call her the "sexy goddess of sports" as well. What's the proof? Just look at her.
Cho came to China in 1994 because she "didn't want to be a frog in a well." After 14 years, she may not have the time to visit all corners of the world. But the world will certainly see her in action through the television screens during the Olympics.
Cho majored in Chinese in college, but her passion was in dancing. Luckily, for her, the combination of the two has worked out well.
"I see myself very fortunate because I use my language skills in China and do what I like," she said.
Cho first hit the limelight when she became a TV aerobics instructor in 1999, which subsequently created a national aerobic dancing boom in China when earlier that had been virtually non-existent in the Middle Kingdom.
Three years later, a bigger opportunity came. The 2002 World Cup, co-hosted by Korea and Japan, drew a huge crowd of Chinese football fans because it was the first time the Chinese national team had ever entered the final round at the World Cup.
At that time, China didn't have any professional cheering squads.
"That was my opportunity," she said.
Cho's aerobic team led the crowd and cheered for the Chinese national football team, leaving a very strong impression on the Chinese audience who saw her on television.
Cho then led the Chinese cheer squad for the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) and started to offer classes to people who were interested in becoming cheerleaders. Recently, she has opened her penthouse dancing studio overlooking Beijing's glitzy business district.
"The Olympics make me convinced that I haven't wasted my time in China,'' she said. ``Now I am part of the Olympics. It's a great reward.''
"For China, the Olympics represent the hope and wish of all Chinese," she added.
Cho's favorite sport is basketball.
"It's very speedy and dynamic,'' she said. ``And it's also the game where the role of the cheerleaders is very conspicuous and important."
When asked who her favorite Olympic star is, Cho replied: Yao Ming, referring to the Chinese basketball star, who plays in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets.
"I hope my Korean friends are not disappointed because I didn't name a Korean," she said, pausing a little. "I guess it's because I have lived in China for a long time and see more things here."
Cho notes Yao is a hero for Chinese people, but he has also established himself as a role model among Asian-Americans in the United States.
"When I went to the States, I saw many Americans wearing his T-shirts,'' she said. ``He has changed the image of Asians in America as academically talented yet physically weak nerds. Many Asian teenagers in America now look up to him.''
As a leading cheerleading instructor in China, Cho has her own view on the Korean cheerleading culture as well.
"I think a cheerleader is someone who transforms the passive spectator into an active participant,'' she said. ``But Korean cheerleaders tend to focus more on showing, rather than engaging."
For Cho, directing the Chinese Olympic cheering squad wasn't a free ride. There were huge oppositions against a foreigner holding such a position for the Chinese Olympics.
But Cho was eventually picked when her ability was acknowledged in a beach volleyball tournament in July last year, when her team's performance received the top review.
But things haven't been smooth all the time. After she became the head of the Chinese Olympic cheering squad, she began to think about combining various cultural themes into her dancing gestures, including her own Korean themes.
She was thinking of using some contents from the popular Korean musical Nanta (a non-verbal performance of free rhythmical movements), Korean fairytale characters, fan dances as well as some contents from the movie "King's Man."
She turned to the Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism for support, firmly believing it would welcome her idea, which would also raise the profile of the Korean culture in the Olympics.
She was turned down.
She then turned to the United States. She wrote a six-page letter to the National Football League (NFL), explaining her aspiration of upgrading the Chinese cheerleaders to a higher level by having them in contact with NFL cheerleaders. She added that her financial situation didn't allow her to cover their airfare expenses.
"Surprisingly, they came, paying their own expenses. I am very thankful to them," Cho said.
The American NFL cheerleaders stayed for one week with Cho's cheerleading team.
During the setbacks Cho faced during her 14 years in China, the most difficult thing for her was to convince herself not to give up.
"I don't have an academic degree in the field. I am not Chinese either,'' she said. ``As my popularity rose, so did the jealousy from the officially sanctioned organization.''
At one time, she bought a box of Post-It Notes and wrote, "Cho Soo-jin, you are the best!" She pasted the notes in the living room, kitchen and everywhere in her apartment.
In 2005, she was unemployed. At that time, she was even thinking about giving up everything and returning to Korea. But her Chinese students dissuaded her from doing so with tears.
That emotional support and bonding with her friends and students eventually worked.
"She tends to give a very strong and tough impression at first meeting,'' said Zhao Kang, a high school physical education teacher who was Cho's student and has known her for eight years. ``But later, you will discover a lot of her human side."
Zhao also pointed out that some people tend to have a stereotypical idea about her, based on the sex appeal she presents.
"Some people approach her with that idea and try to take advantage of her, promising a generous sponsorship,'' Zhao said. ``But she is not that type of person at all."
Cho had to overcome struggles earlier in her life as well. She is from a poor family, who lived in the basement of an apartment. Her father married three times. As a child, her stepmother often beat her, even to the degree of bleeding. Cho's biological mother died in Japan from an incurable disease. Cho's husband had an affair, which led to a divorce.
"Actually, I never see any soap opera,'' she said. ``I believe my own life is one. Only much more interesting."
Whenever Cho faces a difficult new challenge, she talks to herself.
"Hey Cho Soo-jin, you're now shooting a more interesting drama out of your own life,'' she said.
"Remember! You're the best!"