Kdrama things that make you go 'WHAT was THAT?!?'

There are ‘power trippin’ people worldwide.

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Aw! I finally got and am currently watching Scarlet Heart Ryeo. It’s really good. The sad scene was when Prince #8’s wife had dropped because she was so sick. He was carrying her back piggyback style when she died. :frowning:

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Scarlet Heart Ryeo was my first introduction to Kdrama aside from Are You Human, Too? and boy was I in for a ride of emotions! Going from American shows/movies to watching Scarlet Heart was somewhat of a pleasant shock, lol! Everything about the culture was so different than what I was used to; add to that, it is a historical show so I was in a whole new world.

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What was really surprising to me was that Prince # 4 looks like he could be the older brother of my real life niece. They really resemble each other. Even down to that angry look. lol

For the most part, Korean culture is not different to me at all. It seems normal to me and not exotic at all. So many things are compatible to my actual life. But maybe that is because I grew up in a multicultural neighborhood where people don’t wear shoes inside, they share food with whoever shows up at the house, use honorifics for relationships, etc. It’s all normal to me. Except I do not know anyone who acts all stupid, adults throwing tantrums and behaving ridiculous ‘cutesie’. They would get the sideways eye and the room would be asked, ‘Where does this person come from?’ 'Are they an animal?" or ‘coconut head’ (Siya ay ang buko) lol Though I do admit seeing the men dressed up in suits, sitting cross-legged on the floor with bare tootsies does surprise me, because most people sitting on the floor here are wearing jeans, then it dawns on me. "Oh! That’s what I look like indoors… no shoes on. lol It’s kind of weird to see that on tv because I never even thought about it before. I don’t even see myself. It’s just natural to not wear shoes inside. :joy: :sunglasses: I don’t sit cross-legged on the floor nowadays because my knees are so bad I can’t get off the floor but I do sit cross-legged on the couch.

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RE: Macadamia nut rage daughter and mother who threw water container at an employee and also assaulted a worker at a construction site. When I discussed this case with a Korean friend, she told me “You can have the daughter back. We don’t want her!” Apparently the (water throwing) mother came to the US to give birth to the daughter so she has dual citizenship! The story caused an increase in the sale of macadamia nuts from Hawaii (same brand as given on Korean Air to 1st class passengers at the time) in Korea for many people who were curious to see what kind of nut it is. So now you can buy chocolate macadamia nut bars in almost any convenience store in Seoul. I think Korean Air doesn’t serve macadamia nuts any more due to the incident - I think the nuts offered are honeyed peanuts.

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Hawaiian macadamia nuts (especially the chocolate covered ones) are the best! I don’t care if it comes with the wrappers, served in a container, or even baked into cookies, I just wanna eat 'em all! lol

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Hawaiian chocolate covered macadamia nuts are a big seller at Costco in Korea and the price is very reasonable so I think they are big sellers.

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I think it’s normal to not wear shoes indoors even outside of Asia. Every guest in my house gets treated to two options: 1) you get slippers or 2) you get shoe covers that will cover your entire foot. Choose wisely :laughing:

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Which option do most of them choose? :joy:

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Depends on the weather. People want slippers when it’s warmer, but shoe covers when it’s colder. Then they don’t have to take of their boots and winter socks. We do a quick sweep of the house after people leave and wash everything too so it’s clean for the next person :blush:

Oh, there is a third option :wink: If people are staying the whole day or more than a day, they usually wear socks. We do have woolly socks that we can give them if they want to wear socks but didn’t bring their own (I’m all out, but we did have some, they are new and the person can keep them), but people who’ve been here before will bring their own pair of socks in their bags :laughing:

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So we can’t see from their sock collection how many times they have visited you, hahaha? :rofl:

Do you have a special kind of floor that could be damaged by their shoes? Or is it more for hygienic reasons?

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Mainly hygienic reasons & to avoid allergy triggers :sweat_smile:

Nope :laughing: only if they know the drill and leave their shoes, bags and jackets at the entrance :wink: if they do all three, they are very good friends of mine and regulars. But maybe after this covid situation they will need to relearn the rules :rofl:

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Maybe after covid the rules will become more strict? :thinking:

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How K drama inspired me to leave shoes at entrance, and have sandals to use.
@mirjam_465

When I started watching K drama back in 2012; I started to leave my shoes by the door and have my sandals ready to go in to the rest of the house. I know in k dramas they do it bc they tend to sleep in the floor but it made so much sense to me not to bring all those germs in the rest of my rooms. Now all my family is aware, and the first thing they do is peel their shoes off, and pick whatever sandal they like to wear. I clean the sandals after they leave, mop all my house, clean the place where they were sitting down (sofa, chair) etc…but I’ve done this all my life bc of my OCD.

The shoe covers are hard to find around here, and the socks too expensive; but the sandals are very cheap at the Dollar store. I have a big family so sandals are the best option.

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If you do it cause of the virus, then also make sure your visitors wash their hands after touching their dirty shoes (while taking them off).

Haha, I don’t think so. I’m already strict with those rules since they can bring allergy triggers into the house and I’ve had bad experiences in the past because of it, so they understand and comply with them. I often tell people that if they come over for the first time, they should expect to take off their shoes, leave their bag, etc., etc…

Sometimes people forget to leave their bag and put it on the couch :sob: but I make sure to clean the couch and disinfect it after. Honestly, the covid-situation hasn’t changed the way we do things around the house since I already have to be strict for my health :thinking::sweat_smile:

I actually have a lot of friends and family at whom’s houses you have to take off your shoes, even since I was little and we’re not Asian :laughing: I guess more people started doing it now.

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I wish I could train visitors here. I’ve only lived here for a year and have been doing a ton of work on this house. Workers are in and out a lot but at least that is almost all done now. I only have my office to yank out that carpet. Just trying to save up the cash to get wooden flooring put in.

People here in Idaho wear shoes in their houses. I don’t think they even think about all the street dirt they bring in and they even have wall-to-wall carpeting. I hate carpets, can NEVER get all the dirt out. All I can do is mop up after they leave. It’s frustrating. But at least, I have wood floors so it’s easy to clean… :smiley:

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I know, right? And we know from several articles that it’s not only a drama thing, it’s a real-life problem too.


I’m studying this in college and I just keep marveling at how Koreans are still alive and walking around… it’s a miracle! Alcohol has a part in destroying almost every single system in the body. Sometimes the scenes just get too much for me.

But in some strange way, these dramas have convinced me never to ever ever get drunk EVER :sweat_smile: They always make embarrassing or stupid mistakes and end up regretting everything… it’s funny in the drama but I don’t want to be in that situation :flushed: It’s even worse when they forget. These dramas remind me how bad losing control of your body is. They start out trying to drink their problems away, but they always get in more trouble later.

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I would have a very difficult time in Korea with the drinking culture. I never drink. I’ve seen way too many knock-down, drag-out fights in my life to ever want to be around people when they are drinking. Yea, I’ll talk to you when you sober up.

Hooch is a central nervous system depressant. It lowers inhibitions which is why you see drunk people behaving in ways they normally would not. Not to mention it pickles you liver and body. Yea. It is a solvent, useful for reducing bacteria but a terrible thing to drink. Not to mention those hangovers are terrible headaches.

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