Betcha can't watch just one... episode that is
Hello everyone. My name is Chip and I'm a (Korean) dramaholic. I was first sucked into the world of Korean drama miniseries with Innocence Lost back in 1995. I quickly followed that show up with Apartment. Later it was The Bath House Family Men. Over the years, I was able to fight of this addiction for only short periods of time. I always came back. Today, I nearly fell off the wagon. I've been Korean drama free for over a year now and today, I flirted with disaster.
I was in the living room, checking JU and email. I had the Astros - Braves game on but wasn't really paying much attention to it. My wife came in and asked if she could change the channel while she ate lunch. I said sure. She switched to KBS America and she sat down on the couch to watch her show. She turned to me and told me that when the show came out on DVD, we'd be buying the boxed set.
Well, I threw all caution to the wind and remained in the living room. I started watching the show with her. I should have known better. Immediately, I was asking questions to get background information. Who was that? How are they connected? Are they married? Why are they married if they don't love each other? Who is that guy? My wife shhhh'd me after a while and I just watched the show. I had to shake myself when I realized I was smiling at a joke. I was actually getting into it.
I was so into it, that when the episode ended and my wife had to leave for work, I almost watched the next episode. On weekends, they rebroadcast that weeks episodes back to back. It was actually an effort to change the channel back to baseball! But in a moment of strength, I punched in 1-4-0 and got ESPN. Whew. That was close.
When I was in Korea last year, my wife had a list of shows that she asked me to tape for her every week. I'd then mail her the tapes. I made the mistake of actually watching one of the shows once. It hooked me. It was called A Modest Lady (¿äÁ¶¼÷³à). It was actually very good and was very popular in Korea. It was actually embarrassing, though, how much I liked the show. I went out to dinner with a friend from work and his wife. She had missed the episodes that week and I ended up spending most of the evening telling her all about what she missed. I caught a lot of crap about that one from the guys at work.
Recently, the Korean drama miniseries, Winter Sonata, finished a very successful run on Japanese television. The miniseries originally aired in Korea in 2002. It swept across Korea and later Japan and was very successful. Now, it is sweeping through my classrooms. My students started watching it a few weeks back after a unit test. The students are hooked. They will watch it during breaks between classes. They come back early from lunch so they can catch half an episode. If we get done with class material early, they will often ask me if they can watch it during the leftover time.
Korean dramas are actually very well done. They do often follow formulas, but they are well acted and entertaining. One of the most common formulas is to have the first two episodes take place 10 or more years earlier and then have a jump forward in time at the start of episode three. Another common element is to find and lose your true love, prepare to marry someone else only to find your true love once again. Siblings separated at birth is another big one. Also, true love that lasts even until death. All very (melo)dramatic elements.
Despite the use of the similar elements, I have yet to watch any two series where I'd say they were too much alike. Every series is unique.
So, the next time you are flipping through channels and can't seem to find anything entertaining, pull out your phone book and check to see if there are any Korean markets in your area. Most Korean markets will have a video section or can tell you where the nearest video store is. They usually have episodes on tape for rent. The clerk will be able to tell you which ones have subtitles. Some places will even rent the DVDs. DVDs almost always have subtitles. Some areas even have Korean channels on cable. The shows have subtitles on cable channels.
So, give a Korean drama a chance. I'm getting tired of being the only one at the meetings. If you need any suggestions, I'll be happy to supply some for you.