Underrated Gems and How Kdramas Inspired a Trip to Korea with Constance

S2 E28 / Constance, journalist, gardening writer, and nonfiction book reviewer—and of course, dedicated Kdrama fan—joins me to talk about favorite Kdramas and her trip to South Korea.

✈️ We explore Constance’s international background, her Kdrama origin story (including discovering Extraordinary Attorney Woo), why she finally traveled to Korea, and what keeps her hooked on Asian dramas.

✨ And we list our current watches, favorite Kdramas, discuss the “found family” trope, and explore the emotional resonance of Kdrama storytelling.

💚 Spoiler Free episode. Enjoy! 

Currently Watching:

• Happiness
•  Bon Appétit, Your Majesty 
• Ms. Incognito
• Typhoon Family

Our wide-ranging conversation touches on the following shows: 

• Extraordinary Attorney Woo
• Hometown Cha Cha Cha 
• Crash Landing on You 
• Healer
• Holo Love
• Hospital Playlist
• Romance is a Bonus Book
• Touch Your Heart
• Love Scout
• Rookie Historian Goo Hae-ryung
• Train to Busan
• Taxi Driver
• Vincenzo
• Strong Girl Bong Soon
• Her Private Life (but I meant What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim)
• My Love From the Star
• Designated Survivor
• Book recommendation: The Birth of Korean Cool by Euny Hong https://www.amazon.com/Birth-Korean-Cool-Conquering-Through/dp/1250045118

Link: 

The Birth of Korean Coolby Euny Hong 

https://books2read.com/u/mgqkpR (Affiliate Link)

Transcript

Constance

SPEAKER_03 0:10

This is the How I Met My K-Drama podcast, and it's all about K-drama origin stories and recommendations. I'm Sarah Rosette, and today Constance is here with me. Hello, how are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Hello, Sarah. I'm so happy to be here.

SPEAKER_03 0:23

I am so happy to talk to you. First, I had to say thank you for reaching out. You're one person that responded to my request for people to come on and talk about their K-drama origin stories. So thank you for doing that. Tell us a little bit about yourself, whatever you would like to share.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Okay, well, I was born in London and I grew up in Italy because my parents moved to Italy when I was three. So I stayed there till I was 18. I don't exactly consider myself half English, half Italian, but there's a big part of me that's in Italy. And I care I come from a family of journalists. And uh after university in England, I went into the family business and uh I worked as a writer for various women's magazines, interviewing celebrities, people like Jeremy Irons, Audrey Hepburn, Roger Moore, Barbara Taylor Bradford. So that was that was very good fun. But then I gradually moved over into writing about one of my other great passions, which is gardening. I spent about probably 15 years writing mostly about gardening, and now I've moved again. Um, and I'm uh a book reviewer, and I review um nonfiction books for uh for the Daily Mail.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Wow, what an interesting career. I bet I mean you could do several different podcasts about each different thing you mentioned, and it would probably all be fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 1:46

I could do a celebrities I've met podcast, which would be quite fun. Yes, that would be fun.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

Yeah, and interviewing people, that's such a skill that you have to learn. And I'm sure it could be interesting, like how you would draw people out and just everything, the background, what went on behind the scenes and stuff.

SPEAKER_01 2:04

Yeah, you have to be uh quite tactful and and do your homework and occasionally ask questions that you don't really want to ask, but you know that you have to ask them. So yeah, it was it was very good fun. The downside of celebrity interviews was always the agents. Having to go through the agents was a nightmare. And that's pretty much why I stopped. Not the celebrities themselves, but their agents.

SPEAKER_03 2:26

Oh, that's funny. That is interesting because you would think that maybe the celebrities would be an issue, maybe.

SPEAKER_01 2:31

No, they were fine. It was the agents.

SPEAKER_03 2:33

Oh, that's funny. So we're gonna narrow down and talk about K dramas today, even though there's lots of things we could talk about. So, first let's just talk about are we what we're currently watching. Do you have any K-dramas or Asian dramas that you're watching right now?

SPEAKER_01 2:46

Absolutely. I always have a K drama on the go. Um, so at the moment, I'm watching something that's not not really the sort of thing I usually watch. Uh, it's called happiness, and it's billed as a a zombie series. Right. But in fact, it's not a zombie series at all. It was made, I think, just after the pandemic, or maybe filmed during the pandemic, and it's about a disease which they call mad human disease, and it's a bit like rabies with people obviously get infected and go mad and start biting people. And I was a bit reluctant to watch it because it I don't like gore, but I it had very good reviews, and so I persuaded my husband to watch it with me because I'm a scaredy cat. And it's very good, it's very unusual and subtle and quite exciting, and has a great central character central couple, um, including a very feisty heroine, which is always a big plus for me.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

I have heard good things about that, and I've not watched it because I'm not into zombies, but I've heard it's much more, much less about zombies and more about the characters.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Absolutely, because it's set in this quite in this big apartment block, which is gradually locked down, and and there are lots of references to COVID, like now COVID's over, we're from again, and then this other lockdown. And a lot of it is about how the people respond and how they and their attitude towards these poor people who've been infected. And what's good about it is that the central characters feel a lot of compassion towards the people who've been infected. Some the other characters are just like, let's just shoot them, you know, get rid of them. So it's very good. I mean, it's I can't imagine what the pitch for it must have been like when the writer came up with the idea because it's really quite unusual, but it wouldn't be for everybody, but I'm very much enjoying it. Finished um Bon Appetit, Your Majesty.

SPEAKER_03 4:36

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:37

Everybody's been watching, yes, which I enjoyed. I thought it was very charming. I liked the booty stuff.

SPEAKER_03 4:43

I just finished Bon Appetit, Your Majesty, as well. And I enjoyed the beginning of that much more than the end. Yeah, towards the end, I kind of felt like too much plotting. Yes. We got too many cooking contests for me. Yeah. And I just kind of lost interest in this because we seem to get into more of the political side of things, all the politics, and and normally I enjoy history, but I just felt like it kind of didn't end as much as on the same tone as that I'd hoped, you know, how it started. But I still had a great time, enjoyed that one. And then um, I'm also watching Ms. Ms. Incognito. I don't know if you heard of this one. So it is, it's it's billed as a thriller, but if you look at the the poster for it, it's dark, but it has a bright pink background and she's wearing pink. So I think it's I would say it's more like a thriller with a lot of rom-com elements. In my mind, I feel like it's a thriller with a little dash of hometown cha-cha-cha because there's a woman who's had a very difficult life, and she takes a job as a bodyguard. And then through a series of events, things that happen, she ends up having to go hide out in this little town. And so, you know, you get the little town flavor, and it's a completely different tone once she gets there. But I'm really enjoying it. And I won't say any more because I don't want to spoil it, but I really am enjoying that. One is on Vicky for me, so that's new. Uh, and then I'm also looking forward to Typhoon Family is going to start like today. We're recording this on October 11th. That's on Netflix, and I think that's more of a drama with I Jun Ho. And I love him as an actor, so I just will have to check it out because he's in it. I don't know much about the story.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Isn't Vicky just the best value in the world? I mean, I don't know what it costs in the States, but here it's 35 pounds, which is, I don't know, about$45. And for that, you get this incredible catalog of I know, and it's a huge variety.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

Yeah, I agree because of all this streaming services I get, I feel like I watch that one the most, and it's on the lower price end for me. So yeah, I don't know exactly how much it is here, but it's a great deal.

SPEAKER_01 6:50

Yes, agreed. Yeah.

First Kdrama and Recommendations

SPEAKER_03 6:52

Okay, well, let's talk about K-dramas. Um, how did you get into K-dramas? And what was your first drama if you remember?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

I do remember. It was, I think like almost everyone else who appears on your on your podcast, it was Extraordinary Attorney Woo.

SPEAKER_04 7:05

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

My sister recommended it to me. I had never thought of watching a K-drama, and um I think this must have been, I can't remember when it came out. If it feels like it was the end of lockdown, I think so.

SPEAKER_03 7:20

I watched it after it was already out. So I think I watched it in like 2022 or three, maybe, but I think it was before that that it came out.

SPEAKER_01 7:28

And I just remember I watched it with my husband and my mother, who's in the 90s, and it was one of the rare shows that all three of us completely captivated by not only um the brilliance of the actress Parkie and Bin, but the the insight into a completely different world. I mean, just seeing you know, this very modern, glossy city, and then other times they were out in the countryside or they were going to Jeju, and they were eating the way they interacted with each other. I was just completely completely riveted by it. Ironically, my sister has never watched a K drama since then, but I became completely like that was funny. And I started uh, I think the next one I watched was Hometown Cha Cha Cha, which I absolutely loved. Like you said, the small town setting and the the way the characters interacted. I think what Korean dramas are very good at doing is presenting you with characters that maybe you don't initially like. Over the course of the series, you come to see how that there's a lot more to them. And there's one character in particular in Hometown Cha Chao Chao, who's she's like the the village gossip. She's quite obnoxious at times, she's incredibly nosy, and then you learn about her backstory. Do you remember the one, you know? Oh yes. And you just it's so heartbreaking. You realize exactly why she is what why she is like that and what she's hiding. Um so brilliantly done.

SPEAKER_03 8:55

And it makes sense that the town people are so protective of her when you would normally be like, Oh, she's kind of annoying. I mean, you know, super annoying.

SPEAKER_00 9:03

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 9:04

And but then once you hear her story, you just see how much like love and grace that they give her. And it's just it's so heartwarming.

SPEAKER_01 9:11

Yes, yes. And I love that the whole setting of the, you know, everybody gossiping about everybody else, but being very protective and um, I mean, loving is probably almost too strong a word, but you know, the way they nurture each other, I think it was beautifully done.

SPEAKER_03 9:26

Yes, and it really is that's like the family dynamic where you may not get along perfectly with each other, but in the end, you're always on their side no matter what happens, because they're they're they're your family. So yeah, they did that. They did a great job with that. I think that's one reason that show is so popular. It's just gives you that that warm hug feeling, you know.

SPEAKER_01 9:47

Very much so. And I like the central characters. Oh, yeah, I like I liked everything about it. Had a very nice second, the the second couple charmingly done, the the policewoman and the hero best friend. Yeah, it just hit hit all the right buttons for me.

SPEAKER_03 10:02

Well, do you have I know the first ones are somehow are always super memorable, but do you have another one, another K-drama that just has a special place in your heart and just resonates with you?

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Well, I knew I knew you were going to ask me for my top three, which I thought was a pretty cruel question. I know it's narrow it down to three was really difficult, but okay. Um I did finally narrow it down to three. And Crash Landing, obviously the daddy of all K-dramas. Yeah. It right up to the end, it was a 10 out of 10, and then they messed up the ending, in my view. Wasn't a disaster, but it it could have been so much better. Yeah. Nonetheless, I think it's a brilliant overall, overall, brilliant series, and Captain Reed will always have a big place in my heart. Right. Just so gorgeous. Um human being. Yeah, it just it was just so so well put together, so well plotted that the I think after about four episodes, you start to think, how can this possibly play out? It's such an important situation, you know, with this woman stuck in North Korea, and right, you know, A, how's she going to get out? And B, you know, is that gonna be the end? No, how will they love affair continue? And they it was so cleverly done, and the subsidiary characters were absolutely fantastic. The other soldiers, even had a lot of people.

SPEAKER_03 11:25

I loved all that. I love the second couple as well. I always love a romance where they kind of accidentally fall in love, like, oh wait, I didn't mean to like you, but I do.

SPEAKER_01 11:35

Yes, they were both difficult people, weren't they? Yes, the second couple worked. And the insights it gave into North Korea. Now I know it wasn't I've read up on it since then, and I don't think it was hugely accurate, although I think one of the writers was a defector from North Korea. Yeah, that's everybody as well. They soft soaped it a bit, but it you know, that like I remember Googling, you know, was it true that there were only a certain number of accepted hairstyles in North Korea? And it is that true, yeah. Oh my god, there's one scene where the heroine wants to do something with her hair, and she's told, you know, you can have this one, this one, or this one, and she's you know, can't believe it, but it is that is the case. There are accepted hairstyles and you mustn't deviate from them.

SPEAKER_03 12:18

That's amazing. And yeah, I I have I had the same questions about some of the things in Crash Landing on You because I thought I I do think like the surveillance is probably very true, the and monitoring, that's probably very true. And um, that just added to the tension, you know. And um, I still remember the uh talking rice cooker and all the the things that the contraband kind of black market stuff. That was interesting. Yeah, just so many little details, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

The market scenes were all fantastic, weren't they? So funny. No, it was it was it it was a masterpiece, really. I just I just wish they'd rethought the endings like I don't know if that was a political decision or anyway, we mustn't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it, but it it I would still completely recommend it. Um so that that that for me would be the number one. And then my next choice is Healer, which I think we've talked about quite a bit in the podcast, but uh, even though it was made over a decade ago, I think I think 2016 or something like that. Yeah, it stands up so well as a born identity type thriller, fantastic hero, delightful heroine, again, very feisty, all the stuff about the newspaper, the plot, even the flashbacks I thought were fantastically well done. Lost the flashback so well. So you really could believe that you're watching the same actors before. Yeah, um, I thought it was wonderful, very exciting. So I definitely that that would probably be my number two. And one that I don't know if I've ever heard you discuss, Sarah, my hollow love. Hollow hologram.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

No, I haven't seen that one.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Oh, it's wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:02

It's a mixture of uh industrial espionage, sci-fi, romance. It's brilliant. It's about this very shy, awkward girl who suffers from face blindness, so she can't recognize people. And through a series of complex circumstances, she comes into possession of these glasses, which when she puts them on enable her to have a virtual assistant who is a hologram. So it's not like a letter that I'm just speaking to you, it's an actual person.

SPEAKER_04 14:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 14:35

And she's completely freaked out by this, as you would be, but gradually comes to realise that he can not only tell her whisper in her ear, because well, no one else can see him, he cannot only whisper in her ear about uh who she's passing in the corridor, so she can actually say hello to them.

SPEAKER_04 14:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:50

But he helps her with her work and he teaches her to cook and he teaches her to dance, and he kind of acts as her friend and confessor. So that side of it is really interesting and thought-provoking. And then the guy who invented the hologram and modelled it on himself, so it's the same actor playing both parts, who's very sort of dure and nervous and sort of hates the world, he's just interested in science. He moves in next door to her to try to get these glasses back. And of course he falls in love with her. And but it's brilliantly done, um, very exciting and also quite thought-provoking about whether would one want to have, you know, basically a robot that only you could see who would do all the boring things in life for you.

SPEAKER_03 15:33

Right. All those questions about tech and innovation that are very real for our world right now and going to be in the future, we're gonna have even more interaction with AI.

SPEAKER_01 15:45

We've been told for a long time that we're gonna have, you know, be able to have robots cleaning the house and stuff, but it doesn't seem to have happened yet.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

But I am I am waiting for that day. Like we have the robots to clean the floor, but the other day I was like, I am ready for that drone duster that will come in and dust all my stuff. And because I hate dusting. And do the laundry and fold everything.

SPEAKER_00 16:06

I would like a robot cook, definitely.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Yes, I want to cook every once in a while, but not all the time. Like every once in a while for fun. Oh well, those are great. And I that's another one for my list. This is the problem with doing this podcast. I get my list of things to be watched is huge, but I'm having a great time, so it's all good. Do you have a comfort watch? Something that do you have shows that you re-watch or do you only watch new things?

SPEAKER_01 16:29

I try not to re-watch things because, like you said, there's so many to catch up on. I feel like re-watching things, you know, I'm I'd be better off, you know, plunging into something new. So not really. I can't think of anything that I've read. A friend of mine started watching Healer, so I watched a bit of the beginning and thought, yeah, this is this is as good as I remembered. But I think that's the only one that I've really doing more than a few minutes of.

SPEAKER_03 16:54

Yeah, there is a huge amount of choice. And it is hard for me. I don't re-watch a whole lot. Sometimes if I'm going to talk about something, I'll re-watch it or re-watch parts of it. But um, yeah, I I'm always into the new. I want to see either the new releases or shows that I've heard about that are kind of the classics that I want to go back and watch. Yeah, that's my trick.

SPEAKER_01 17:17

Lots of new ones released, particularly this month, seems like a bumping. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:21

Yeah. I wonder if you know how in the States they would have the sweeps month where they would do all their ratings. And I don't know when that if they do that in Korea, but I kind of thought maybe they're doing that now because there's so many that are coming out right now. So anyway. Yes, but plenty for us to hold us through the winter, I guess, too. We'll catch up on them all. So, do you have um certain tropes that you like? Do you have a trope or two that are like your favorite?

SPEAKER_01 17:46

I I do like that thing that Korean dramas do very well off the found family, like we were discussing with um cha cha cha. Uh, because I think a lot of k-dramas have very difficult family relationships in the you know, where the parents are very rigid and unyielding and, you know, want things for their children that their children don't want. And I think a lot of k-dramas have have this message that even if you don't have a particularly happy family setup, you know, you can find your group, you can find your family amongst your co-workers or friends or or whatever. And when I think about the the K-dramas that I've most enjoyed, they have that feeling of a family group, like hospital playlist, which I really loved. Both series of it were fantastic, and that very much five characters are each other's family. Um, and even a sort of fairly fluffy romance, uh, romantic drama like romance is a bonus book, how gradually all the characters in the office become her friends and supporters.

SPEAKER_03 18:52

Yeah, yeah. There's another um touch your heart is uh rom-com, has some mystery in it, but the office dynamic, the family there, the found family there is really strong too. And it's another reason.

SPEAKER_01 19:06

The actress who goes to work in the office.

SPEAKER_03 19:07

Yes, yes, very funny, lots of humor in that one.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

Yeah, and Love Scout as well. Yes. Did that very well. That's one of the things I really like about K drama is that feeling of of finding your tribe.

SPEAKER_03 19:20

Yes, yeah, because we all want that, and I think we can identify with that. Well, you mentioned Captain Rhee. So do you have any other characters that kind of resonated that you you think about later that just really stood out to you?

SPEAKER_01 19:33

There's actually a historical drama, which I which I really liked. It has a terrible title. Um, it's uh rookie historian gohei ryung. And it's very charming love story, but also it says quite a lot about Korean culture because this this girl is is desperate to become one of the royal historians and record what's what's happening in in the kingdom. Um, but women women aren't allowed but to do that job, but she breaks through the barrier, she and one other woman, and are taken on. And at first the other historians are very hostile to them, but of course they they gradually come come round. And it it's just got a real uh freshness and charm about it, and it's one of those K dramas where there isn't a great the writer hasn't made a great attempt to separate the characters because in most cake dramas, you know, they fall in love and then something terrible happens or they have a row or somebody intervenes or whatever. In this one, they're kind of together the whole time and and supportive of each other, and that that worked very well. And I I find myself thinking about that one quite often. Also, it has the most beautiful calligraphy because a lot of times she's at her desk doing some writing, and it it's just such a thing of beauty, it really is right.

SPEAKER_03 20:53

Yeah, that keeps coming up in my recommendations, so I should check that out. You know, sometimes certain dramas come up over and over again. Um, are is there a drama that you were surprised you liked that you thought, I don't know if it's mine thing, but I'll try it.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

There was a film I watched which I was surprised I liked, and uh we watched it. I watched it with my husband because we were going to because we went to Korea this spring, and um it's train trained to Busan, which is a zombie, proper zombie thing. And I've never watched a zombie film before, and I I thought, but my husband's mad about trains and was very excited about getting the high-speed train, and I knew this was set on a high-speed train. So, well, we can watch it and just look at the train bits and not worry about the zombie bits. But in fact, we got into the zombie thing as well. Um, it's very it's quite short, it's like maybe I don't know, 89, 90 minutes or something, but very exciting. You really get into the characters, lots of good train shots of the stations. Um when we So your husband enjoyed that part. When we took the train to Busan, we were like, Oh, we remember this station, that was where the zombies. Attack them. That is wonderful. I was surprised that I liked that. I thought I thought it would be hiding under the sofa in tarot, but it it was I would recommend that to anyone.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

I haven't watched that one, but I think that I have thought about it because I thought it it's interesting and fast-paced. And I love the encapsulated stories that all take place like on a train or on a ship. So it could be interesting for that element too.

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Well, it is a bit like an Agatha Christie. I know that you're a big Agatha Christie fan. So it does have that kind of locked room element to it because they are locked on the train.

SPEAKER_03 22:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

And it has a very, very good ending. Um the ending's very, very well done. I would recommend it.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Okay. Good to know. Okay. Um, and it's to watch, or we're recording this in October, so for Halloween, that'd probably be a good one to check out for zombies.

SPEAKER_01 22:50

I don't like very scary things, and I find I um one of the series I started and gave up on was Taxi Driver. I just found it too for me.

SPEAKER_03 22:59

Yeah, me too. I tried it too, and I it just won for me. Yeah. So speaking of that, are there any like Taxi Driver that you tried that it just won for you? Are there any other ones that you just think that just wasn't my cup of tea?

SPEAKER_01 23:13

I've tried twice to watch to watch Vincenzo, and I just haven't got on with it. I think part of it is that the um the lead actor's Italian accent is so terrible. He can shame him.

SPEAKER_03 23:26

Um that impacts your how you feel, right?

SPEAKER_01 23:30

At the beginning, he does quite a lot of talking in Italian to his mafia family, and and you I just think no Italian would understand what he was saying. And it's ironic because I believe he met his wife, wife number two, um, because she was um she was coaching him in Italian. Oh, interesting. And they fell in love and got married. So great on the marriage front, but I think she he was probably a difficult pupil trying to get him to speak it up.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

That's interesting. I didn't know that that uh backstory, so that's interesting. But yeah, I've tried to watch Vince Chinzo a couple of times too, and I just and I think part of it is I know all the episodes are very long and it's like 20 episodes long, so each episode is long and then it's a long series, and sometimes I just feel like it didn't grab me right away, and so I thought, yeah, I'll come back to it, but I haven't, you know, tried again lately.

SPEAKER_01 24:20

So it just isn't one other one that I really didn't like, and that loads of people love it. A strong girl bongsoon.

SPEAKER_03 24:28

I haven't watched that one either.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Yeah, which is a nice, it's a nice kind of fluffy romance with the fantasy elements because she's she's a bit like the bionic woman, which was the love when I was a child, where you know she's got superhuman strength. But there's this sort of crime drama running through it, and the crime drama is this psycho who's snatching girls off the street and imprisoning them in a cellar. That's so dark, it's really dark and horrible. And I'm I'm still traumatized by having watched the film The Collector. Um basically was the same thing, you know, this woman in prison. I I just thought the two things, the fluffy romance and the poor girls imprisoned in the cellar, just don't go together for me.

SPEAKER_03 25:10

Yeah, her yeah, her private life does that too. Very fluffy and fun, and then the backstory is very dark.

SPEAKER_02 25:18

This is Sarah hopping back in as I'm editing this episode to let you know I got mixed up and I said the wrong drama. The one I was thinking of here was not her private life, but what's wrong with Secretary Kim. If you've seen both shows, you'll understand why I mixed them up. They both have Parkman Young as the lead, and they both deal with certain drama aspects that delve into some traumatic things that happened in the past. But what I was actually thinking of is what's wrong with Secretary Kim. I remember watching it thinking, are we going there?

SPEAKER_03 25:54

Oh my goodness, we are going to this really dark place and then back to light and dark. And so to me, it felt jarring, a little jarring. I mean, I still enjoyed it, but I think that is something that it can make you pause and think, this isn't what I thought.

SPEAKER_01 26:09

Yes, it's when you have that change from kind of fluffy comedy or to you know something really quite disturbing that it for me that doesn't really work.

SPEAKER_03 26:21

Yeah, yeah. And I suppose it depends on the if I'm enjoying the rom-com part of it, I may fast forward through the really dark parts if I'm not really enjoying those that much and then keep going. So there's always that that option. But one reason I want to talk to you so much was because, as you said, you've gone to Korea and I have this question about K-drama made me do it. Is there, you know, anything that you've done because you've watched K-dramas? Is that part of why you went to visit Korea?

SPEAKER_01 26:48

That's totally 100%. Yeah. It it would never have occurred to me to go. But once I started watching K-dramas, um, you know, I became so interested, intrigued by the whole culture and the way the country's developed. And if you've ever watched Um My Love from the Star, I haven't watched that one yet. Okay, that's an all oldie but goody, and it has this wonderful title sequence because the hero is a is a time traveller. He's come from you know the 14th century or something. Yeah, and it has this title seek the opening sequence lasts about 30 seconds, and it shows him standing in a in a field, you know, dressed in sort of medieval clothes, and then it goes through the ages, and suddenly he's standing in the middle of Seoul with this incredible, sort of almost dystopian uh cityscape of you know, huge gleaming buildings and cars rushing by and lights and everything, and it just kind of encapsulates Korean history, the last 500 years or whatever of Korean history. So, yeah, I started reading up a lot on Korea, and my husband, who has a history degree, got very interested in the historical side of it and it's a massive book about the Korean War and another book about the history of Korea. And when it came to planning our holiday, we thought, uh, why don't we go there and see what it's what it's really like? And yeah, it completely lived up to expectations. I mean, I would say exceeded expectations in almost every regard. We absolutely loved it. And in fact, I'm going back next year. Oh, really? Okay. So not not we're going to Taiwan. And then when I realized Taiwan was only two hours from here, I said, you know, let's let's have tack on a few days and go back. And it's it was quite strange to go somewhere that felt very so different from London, Europe, but also in some ways felt very familiar. Um and there was so much to like about it, and it I would say it's a fantastic tourist destination.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

Yeah. So how many days were you there? And what parts did you travel to? Did you go outside?

SPEAKER_01 28:50

In Seoul and then in Busan. Okay. The two the two main cities. And if you watch old K dramas, if if the hero or heroine is sent to Busan, it's usually a like a punishment beating. You will go to Busan. But it's really a city that's come up tremendously. It's, I think, much more sophisticated, and there's a lot more to do there. And we we loved it. I mean, it's kind of grittier than Seoul, but it has wonderful beaches, it's great walks, um, really interesting harbour, and there's lot lots to do there. So that that was a good choice. Um, and we just absolutely loved. I mean, it's it's such a vibrant, uh, busy city, but everything works. You know, there's this amazing subway system, the biggest in the world. And all the subways have shopping malls underneath. Uh, so when you're going like from one line to the next, you go past endless shops and stalls, and so it it's vibrant and well planned. It's incredibly safe. All the girls walk around with their handbags half open. And they, if they're in a restaurant and they go to the bathroom, they just leave their bag on the table and wander off, which I don't know about you.

SPEAKER_03 30:07

Unheard of.

SPEAKER_01 30:08

I would never do that in certainly not in London, probably not anywhere in Britain, to be honest.

SPEAKER_03 30:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:14

So you feel totally safe wandering around at night or um being in kind of dark streets, you really don't feel any anxiety. There's loads to do.

SPEAKER_03 30:23

What were some of your favorite things that you did while you were there?

SPEAKER_01 30:26

I mean, there's there's lots of beautiful palaces. Some of them are not the originals because um almost everywhere you go it says, you know, destroyed by the Japanese invaders. Um they've rebuilt these palaces most beautifully. I mean, you'd never know that they were replicas. Uh there's a fantastic national museum, which is one of the 10 biggest museums in the world. Uh, very civilized. It has sofas in the corridors. So when you take a break tired, you just sit on the sofa for 15 minutes to recover. And uh it's a very walkable city, lots of nice walks to do. You can walk around the city walls, hundreds and hundreds, probably thousands and thousands of restaurants, uh no shortage of places to eat, loads of beauty shops. Yeah, it's a big, big industry there, right? The beauty industry, yeah. Huge industry, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And I must admit, I did buy quite a lot of things for presents, not for myself, of course. You know, it's just a it's just a really if you like modern cities, I mean that's that's the caveat, right? Yeah, if you don't like modern cities, then you probably wouldn't like it. But if you're some person who would enjoy going to, you know, Tokyo or Singapore or you know, Chicago or New York, then you'd you'd probably love Seoul.

SPEAKER_03 31:41

Yeah. Well, let's see, I was gonna ask you something about it. Oh, did you visit any, did you recognize any places that you've seen in K dramas, or did you intentionally go to places that you've seen in K dramas?

SPEAKER_01 31:52

We didn't, but there were one of the things that that I I realized I'd seen loads, and I'm embarrassed to say I've forgotten the name of it, but it's this beautiful river. I think I sent you a picture when I was there.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

Yes, with the the stones.

SPEAKER_01 32:05

Yes, this river that that was covered over, concreted over to make a highway in the 1950s, and something like 20 years ago, someone said, Why don't we uncover this river and make it a feature? And it's it's absolutely beautiful. It's almost like a stream, maybe say a river is a bit, it's a cross between a stream and a river, but it's been beautifully done. It goes through quite a bit of the centre of the city, so you can come off the the main street and go you go down the steps, and then you're walking along this stream. And I recognize that from loads of dramas. I think it was in attorney woo, I'm sure I think it was in Love Scout.

SPEAKER_03 32:41

It's a great place to um yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. I can picture it in my mind in the I in several kid dramas, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 32:49

Yes, and it has lovely mosaics all the way along, which change, you know, the changing pictures, and you see herings sitting and on stones, you know, looking at you. So that that was lovely. And we climbed up to the um the Namsic Tower, the the tallest, the highest point of this picture. I'm sure I've seen that. Yeah, won't we?

SPEAKER_03 33:10

That's uh like a you can check that box for for your show. You've got to have the umbrella scene, the tower, you know, all these different things, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:19

Yes, and uh a lot of it kind of felt familiar, and I think maybe I just I didn't actually go to specific places, but a lot of the um some of the older, you know, when you go down a little street and you see um one of those apartments with you know with a roof terrace, they all seem to have roof terraces in the thing that's always in the rooftop apartment. Yes, that's right. And I saw a lot of those apartments, you know, in the distance and thought, oh, I wonder if that one's been used in filming. Referring to Phoenix City.

SPEAKER_03 33:50

Yeah. Well, that sounds great. And you did share some of your pictures and they were amazing. It looked like a wonderful trip. Maybe someday I'll get to go there too. I mean, I have too many travel, travel wants, I think.

SPEAKER_04 34:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:01

Well, we've talked about this a lot, but um, I always like to ask why are K dramas special to you? What do you why why are you drawn to them?

SPEAKER_01 34:09

Yeah, that's that's an interesting one. Um, I think for a start, they're very well made. You know, they're very well, they're very well filmed, that the scripts are good. Um and I think they deal with human emotions, you know, that's that's what what seems to interest Korean writers more than anything else. I don't think they have particular political points that they want to make or points that they don't seem to have a a kind of a stick that they want to wave at you, they just want to tell you a really good, good story. And I think there are a lot of good actors in Korea. I mean, amazing. Yeah. What a fantastic range of actors they have. And there's something also slight quite old-fashioned about uh Korean dramas as well. You know, I mean they they they they believe in true love, which is perhaps a slightly unfashionable view, but I think it was interesting in Korea that it is a friend of mine had who'd been there had said this. It's a very couple y sort of place, was how she described it. That you see people are very uh unembarrassed to show show their affection. I mean, I don't mean that they're all kissing in the street, but you know, couples will all hold hands, and you see we were in um Seoul Station on the Saturday when a lot of the the guys who were doing military service were coming off the train and going to see their families, all their girlfriends. Huge number of them had bouquets of flowers. It was sweet. All these beautiful young men in in you know in their in their uniforms are wandering around with bouquets of flowers, you know, going off to be their girlfriends. And so I think I think they're quite a romantic nation. And I just think they're in you you can lose yourself in that world when you're watching a drama.

SPEAKER_03 35:48

And to me, there's something fascinating about watching a different culture, and so that's interesting, but then they do a great job in capturing the little detail that and I and maybe because the series are longer than a movie, they have time to explore like these family relationships and different things like that. So yeah, I agree.

SPEAKER_01 36:15

Very true, but it's you know, the best American shows, if you think of things like I don't know, Hill Street Blues or or um L Edor, some ones that I remember really enjoying, you just start and you're in the middle of the action, and somehow you catch on that the writing is good enough that they you you find out as you go along who everyone is and what their relationships are. Korean ones often take a while to get going, sometimes even a couple of episodes. So you have to be patient. You know, if you give up in the first 10 minutes, you're probably going to miss out.

SPEAKER_03 36:46

Yeah, and the payoff is often worth it. Sometimes you get further into it and think this isn't for me. But sometimes you it's I feel like they kind of have a like a s a long runway. And then once they take off, they're so gripping. And that, you know, because you know so much of the backstory, then once you're in, you're in no matter what's going on. So yeah, I would agree. Give them a couple episodes. I have a friend that she said, Oh, first episodes are always slow. That's true for K-dramas. Yeah. Well, do you have a drama that you think is overlooked and that you wish more people knew about or watched?

SPEAKER_01 37:22

I did really, really enjoy one, which is actually a remake of an American series, but with the plot completely changed, which is called Designated Survivor.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01 37:33

Which was an American series with Kiefer Sutherland. Um it was remade a few years ago, and it's incredibly prescient because it's about um it's similar to the political upheavals that there were at the in Korea at the end of la last year when the president tried to declare martial law, and then there were all the protesters and stuff. And and this is about somebody who is a member of the government and finds himself the rest of the government is blown up. This happens in the first three minutes. I'm not coming. No, it's spoiling. But he he is the only member of the government left standing, and he is the designated survivor, which is the same as the American series. But of course, in the it then goes off in a completely different direction because everyone wonders is it, you know, was it an attack by the North Korean? And it's extremely exciting, very interesting about Korean politics. Again, there's the kind of found family, you know, this people who are working under extreme pressure because they only have 40 days to when this guy will be in power and then there have to be elections. So it's you know how he's trying to keep the country together and make sure that the there isn't a military coup. And very, very good, very exciting. I've yet to meet anyone who's seen it. So I'd like to recommend it.

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Well, that is interesting. Yeah, I've seen the I haven't seen the American show, but I know of it. And I remember seeing the Korean title and thinking, I wonder if that's a remake. So it is a you know, it's uh like their version of it, which is interesting.

SPEAKER_01 39:02

How can someone compete outside and become become president? And then it runs, I think runs off in a different direction.

SPEAKER_03 39:09

Yeah. So that way if you have seen the other one, you can still watch that one and not be.

SPEAKER_01 39:13

I don't think it would I haven't seen all the American one. I think I just saw a couple of episodes, but I don't think it would spoil it if you yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:20

Okay, well, good to know. This has been great. I think tons of great recommendations, and I love the just hearing everyone's different take and what what appeals to them. Do you have a social media link or anything that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_01 39:35

Or no, but I would like to recommend a book, which is for someone who writes about books. Um it's it's about 10 years old, this book, but it's um, I don't think anyone should let that put them off. And it's called The Birth of Korean Cool by Yuni Hong. And I'm not sure if it's still in print, but in the UK at least you can get it on Kindle. Okay. It's uh as the name suggests, it's about how did Korea become a cultural superpower? You know, how did that thing happen? And it's extremely well written, very funny. She was born in the States, but her family went back to Korea when she was 12. So she writes about what it was like suddenly being transported from the States back to Korea and going to a Korean school where there was corporal punishment, and you know, you got whacked on the hands. Completely different. Yeah, completely different. Um, but she also explains how the whole you know cultural wave happened, which is fascinating and how how the government decided when there was a financial crisis um that they would diversify away from um making cars and microchips and things and investing in culture, never expecting that it would take off in the states or in Europe. They thought they would export to Asia.

SPEAKER_03 40:49

To Asia. Interesting. Yeah, and and I it is really driving cult like travel interest in Korea. I mean, you can tell. So that's fascinating. I'm gonna definitely get that. And I'll have the link in the show notes if anyone's interested. But yeah, because you can tell, like I I can think of several people I know who have traveled to Korea to visit because they watch K-Drum. And then so many people I know, like they love K-pop and they go to K-pop concerts and they travel to go to those. I mean, it is an amazing phenomenon, it's fascinating.

SPEAKER_01 41:22

Yes, and K, the whole K-beauty phenomenon. Yes. Would people be so into K K beauty products if it wasn't for seeing all these beautiful people on the K-drama saying K-pop?

SPEAKER_03 41:34

Yeah, because they are excellent advertisements for that. Well, this has been just so much fun. Thank you for taking the time to do this and share all your recommendations. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_01 41:42

Thank you, Sarah. Well, the K K drama enthusiasts that keep a low profile in Britain, I think. So it's great to have somebody to be able to talk to you about.

SPEAKER_03 41:51

Well, I'm happy to help. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a few minutes to write or review it wherever you listen to podcasts. That will help K Drama fans find the podcast. And I will see you next time. Bye.