Watched the first ep of the latest Time To Twice on Youtube. It’s titled The Part-Timers and features the members learning the ropes of work in a busy cafe. They have all been given different tasks, some easier than others. On the easy end is Sana and Jihyo’s task of walking the streets and handing out promotional flyers for the cafe. It’s a laidback job and the two seem to be enjoying it immensely. As they wander the streets they attract an increasingly larger audience of fans lured by their celebrity. Back in the cafe, some of the others have a harder time of it. Shy Mina is struggling with the task of greeting customers and offering food suggestions. Momo, Dahyun and Chaeyoung seem to be stuck on a treadmill of coffee preparation. Tzuyu and Nayeon gamely take orders out to tables, sometimes having difficulty finding where to send them. So far no one’s dropped or spilled anything. Only Jeongyeon seems to thrive in the environment, confidently working the counter. It’s barely controlled chaos (controlled only by the experienced staff helping them). This series is looking a lot like the one JYP had Nmixx doing recently. It seems a little cruel at times, but boy is it entertaining!
Watched Time To Twice: the Part-Timers ep 2 on Youtube. The episode began with a brief work break wherein the members reviewed their jobs (some came back late, like Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon who’d been still working). Momo said she actually enjoyed her job. The others were more guarded. They were soon back out on the floor in different roles. This time it was Nayeon and Tzuyu’s turn to be ‘promotion’, handing out flyers to the public. This began slowly, with them hardly finding any takers, but word quickly got around who was wandering the neighbourhood and they were soon swamped by fans clamouring for flyers and taking photos. This kind of scene spilled over in the actual cafe where a long line formed down the street. There were some nice interactions between the Twice members and the public at the cafe. Both Sana and Mina were able to take orders in Korean, Japanese and English all while graciously accepting compliments and chat from the fans. Dahyun gamely tried the same in her stilted Japanese and managed to get through to some happy customers who confessed she was their bias in Twice. She also encountered a fan who said she enjoyed the film she was in. I felt a bit sad for Chaeyoung who was stuck filling orders away from the customers. Momo seemed in her element taking orders and clearly still enjoying the job, while Jihyo struggled learning the ropes and was clearly disappointed with herself for not doing better – at least at first (she mastered her task eventually). Jeongyeon had trouble finding some of her orders. It didn’t help that some were upstairs. At one point a customer, upon hearing Jeongyeon call her order (it was #18), called to her from upstairs to let her know where she was. By this point all the members must have wondered what they’d got themselves into. Talk about thrown into the deep end! So many fans seemed overwhelmed when they realised who they were being served by. Phone cameras were everywhere. I saw a lot of this footage weeks earlier when the episode was filmed. Many fans posted their footage online. It was great to finally catch up to what all the excitement was. The people and tourists of Seoul are so lucky to have this opportunity to meet Twice like this. I wish I’d been there! But it also made me wonder: what would I say to the girls in the ten to the thirty seconds I had with them?
Watched the third and final instalment on the Time To Twice: Part Timers series on Youtube. Like the second part, it began with the members having a break and reviewing their jobs. Sana seemed to be having an epiphany about her idol career versus a cafe career. Jihyo was still flabbergasted about the twelve drink order that had just come in and she was tasked with filling. Jeongyeon mentioned her conversation with Nayeon about the whimsical possibility of their starting up their own cafe. Nayeon said it would be successful for one week and then it would collapse ,which sounds about right. Their responses to ‘real’ jobs were revealing and touchingly honest and humble. As the girls went back out on the floor Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung were singled out by the mentor who announced he wanted to take them aside for something. Some of the members speculated this was a reward for their good work, some teasingly said the opposite (Nayeon: ‘You didn’t work hard enough!’). It turned out it was a reward. They were given a free meal in a quiet alcove away from the cafe and a special button for being ‘Outstanding Part-Timers’.
Meanwhile, back in the cafe the other members were working hard. Nayeon seemed flustered in her role of mixing coffee and self-deprecatingly saying ‘I can’t believe how bad I am at this’. I liked the subtitled commentary that came up for her here: ‘Flustered but thriving’. Mina was given a choice of tasks, one of which was dish-washing, and said, ‘I can do that’. This was a classic introvert’s move. Working with dishes means she doesn’t have to deal with customers. I understand completely, Mitang. Please come away with me to my Paradise planet Calypso and you need never be bothered by customers ever again…
The final shift continued, more customers/fans came in looking bug-eyed at who was serving them, and I couldn’t identify more. Mina broke a glass, Jihyo squashed a pastry, Tzuyu made many Sunsets, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung returned as Outstanding Part-Timers, night came and the shift eventually came to an end, with much applause. As the Twice members lined up for final words the Mentor thanked them and made comment on their participation. They had all been ‘kind, clean and diligent’. He gave them all a gift in envelopes, which turned out to be their day’s wage. For a bunch of already millionaires, they received this with amazing humility. Jeongyeon said she would not spend it (Nayeon said she’d definitely spend it right away!), but all were quite touched. Reflecting on the job and the experience of dealing with customers, they had all gained an insight into what workers go through. Sana said (as a cafe customer) she would never dither about her food choices, she would state emphatically what she wants. Jihyo said, if her food or drink comes out late, she’ll never complain. Momo said, in a line that really sums up their appreciation of what they’d learned, ‘A single cup of coffee is so precious’. This was definitely one of the best TTT’s, a sentiment reflected by the many entertaining comments left on Youtube. Putting the members in such a real world situation, even if it was somewhat controlled, really brought out the best in them and made for entertaining viewing. With not just this but the recent Amazon Live performance, we Onces are so blessed.