The odd things K-Dramas taught me about Korea!

If brought back to life for any reason in Korea, you have exactly 49 days to get your sh*t together.

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I remember when I first started watching kdrama, I didnā€™t know the Maserati logo and I weirdly kept picking dramas where they drove those cars(no duct tape back then). I actually thought everyone in Korea drove Maseratis, it was a common car and when I searched it up(ā€œKorean trident logo carā€) :joy::flushed: i was so embarassed with myself!

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If you are a male car owner and looking to strike up a relationship, part of the mating ritual is to wait for your love interest to see you at least once leaning against your car. If you are a young CEO then the smartest and pristinely pressed suit is a must when ā€˜casuallyā€™ picking her up in the morning, the end game in this situation is to show your immense patient as one of your positive point. Always look slightly forward and to the ground, legs crossed slightly over, hands in pocket optional. NEVER EVER look up to her apartment to see if she has noticed you, if this is how she first sees you this will automatically get you added to her mental Pros and Cons list as ā€œCreepy stalkerā€.
At other times, the long raincoat and fashionable sunglasses is generally advised attire for leaning against your ride, here you are trying to get her to associate you with the same pose her favourite K-pop idol did in the music videos that she fawned over when she was a teen. Extra coolness factor if she sees your pose from a side profile, so where possible park your car slightly down road from where she will approach from before striking a pose.

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Well, showing off expensive cars and brand name clothes and accessories is hardly a Korean thing only.

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Very true, but the leaning on the car pose is according to K-dramas. The rest of us wait in the car. I donā€™t think Iā€™d look as cool trying to lean on a people carrier though, probably an awkward soccer mom. Not to mention I donā€™t keep my car as spotless as the shows, you wouldnā€™t want to even brush your clothes against it much less lean on it.

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It didnā€™t strike me as oddā€¦Iā€™ve seen it in quite a few Hollywood as well as Bollywood movies tooā€¦
Sometimes the girl might not know the guyā€™s car if sheā€™s being picked up for the first time? I donā€™t know, Iā€™ve seen a lot of people do that so it never really was something weird to mešŸ˜… at least they donā€™t hug the car like its a friend theyā€™re putting their arm aroundšŸ˜‚ 'cause Iā€™ve seen those too!

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Sometimes I wonder if Iā€™m not living in a parallel Earth! At most people here wait by the car or in it.
Maybe because Iā€™m watching more dramas back to back that Iā€™m picking up on those shots, but Iā€™m finding it difficult to recall a similar shot in a western film, a couple of music video maybe where they want the stylish shot of the singer, a sports car or black SUV and plenty of filters for coolness factor.
The CEOs probably have people keep their car spotless (sponsors!) so they can lean on it for coolness factor, but for us commoner who drive in the cities and the car gets grubby quickly with pollution and the rain, it wouldnā€™t look cool to have dirt stains on the nice designer clothes. :laughing:

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Generally, in Korea they seem to be very conservative.

  • Romantic relationships are SLOOOW to progress. It takes for ever for the characters to get on with it, even after they told each other they like one another etc. Sometimes it takes 14/16 episodes for the characters to even start to ā€œtalk informallyā€, let alone share a kiss or hold hands in public.
  • The society is hierarchical to an extreme almost, at least from my perspective. I would probably die in Korea if I ever moved there because of this and itā€™s probably the most odd thing to me. Iā€™m not dumb, I know this stuff is common in many cultures and I often read about it. To se it act out in front of your eyes sort hits home in a different way. Itā€™s not necessarily a negative or a positive thing, itā€™s just so different to what Iā€™m used to. If I had to remember all the different titles, bow, appropriate way of using the language in refering to ppl and things, remember all the different cultural norms associated with it ETC. My head would explode. :smiley: Which is probably also why I find kdrama so incredibly fascinating, itā€™s just so different.
  • Sauna, like probably the most wtf moment when I first saw it. Iā€™m from Finland, the home and holy land of Sauna. In Korea people go en-mass into sauna, sleep in sauna and go with their cloth onā€¦ Whaaatā€¦ If I ever visit South Korea I need to go see this for myself. Also, in kdramas, usually when the character is homeless and a bum they go to sauna to sleepā€¦ like whootā€¦ ??
  • Korean have a similar drinking culture, but still very different from mine. The oddest thing is when people drink Soju and they turn sideways and hide that their drinking. Very odd.
  • Koreans seem to have a more introverted culture which feels very familiar and isnā€™t really an odd thing but rather nice.
  • Many K-Dramas reuse places, even exact spots where someone sits, songs etc. from show to show.
  • Really strong gender roles, compared to here, in kdrama many women do the cooking while the men do the drinking, while here I as a guy would insist she does stuff that I would traditionally do (like fixing machines) and I would also insist on making the food and share in house keeping etc.
  • Probably a lot more interesting stuff, for me I tend to pay more attention to the cultural aspects of Korea and how it is portrayed, since Iā€™m into that sort of stuff. Iā€™ve read many other pplā€™s observations here about things I never payed much attention to, but that now thinking about it I can also see it. :slight_smile: Really interesting!
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That actually happens in real life too. At least one of my Korean friends spent his last weeks before emigration in a public sauna, because the house he rented, was attached to his job, so he had to leave as soon as he quit.
Of course only people who are temporarily ā€œin-between housesā€ could do this. A long-term homeless person could probably not afford the entrance fee in the long run.

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Ummmā€¦more than a sauna you can call 'em bath-houses because they ARE different from regular saunas. It has saunas in it but other rooms too. And you can stay overnight. So you canā€™t exactly call it a sauna. Itā€™s a different concept a lot of us from around the world arenā€™t used to. I find it fascinating and would totally want to visit one!
If youā€™re really curious, hereā€™s the Wiki article:

When they are with elders, they turn sideways an drink (itā€™s considered respectful). If you scroll up a long way, youā€™ll be able to find our previous discussions on all these points! :grin:

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@vivi_1485 @mattlock

Here you can see some Finnish guys experiencing South-Korea. In the second episode they also go to the sauna.

(And yes, Viki may have it too, but not in my area)

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thatā€™s so cool! oh dear I have really started to love Korean reality shows and their cute, silly little background sounds and captions :joy: too bad they arenā€™t in demand so not available in my region :sob:

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Itā€™s not that they arenā€™t in demand, but I think it has something to do with licensing. I used to watch a couple of variety shows here and I remember that the day they changed it, people were so upset in the comment sections and some hoped that it was only temporary. Alas.

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ohā€¦thanks for the info!

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I just find the concept of Korean Sauna so different. @mirjam_465 Your friends case is understandable, the first thing I would do in a similar situation is go talk with the Municipality about a temporary solution. Those videos are pretty funny :smiley:, especially when there are Koreans in a studio commenting on what they find wierd :smiley:

@vivi_1485 You say more than and bath-houses, I say feel the wrath of Lƶyly :smile:. That wiki article was really informative :slight_smile:

The drinking thing, thatā€™s one of the things I talked about my second point, I would just sit there thinking itā€™s unusual and keep going on my drink, while the elder might think Iā€™m a disrespectful punk. :smiley:

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i donā€™t think they would think youā€™re disrespectful because you might not know the culture, so no worries! :grin:

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You cant forget that there are magical rains that fall exactly as the characters need them while the background streets are dryā€¦

Cherry trees are always in full bloom.

And drinking 20 bottles at a time is normalā€¦

And Everyone drinks cold coffee or Orange/Mango Juiceā€¦

People always get hit by cars while running across the streetā€¦

There are a hand full of houses used as sets each year.

And my absolute favoriteā€¦ YOU CAN CATCH A COLD in 5 min!

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There are a lot of unisex names, or names are not gender specific ( this is not a humor post, but an observation that I would like answered by someone more familiar with the culture )

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After catching that cold , apparently any 4 year old can go to 7/11 , buy an IV and administer it to you , as it cures everything , and everyone is phlebotomist to find a vein to administer it

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this really made me laugh lol BUT i guess you like to watch only the CEO poor woman plots? lol
There are so many beautiful kdramas with poor people or that show a window into real Korea life.
Soul is seriously big city, with spots like Beverly hills for multi billionaires and what you would call ā€œghettosā€ in the USā€¦ somewhat not so different from NY or any other huge American city.
Man tall? mumble lol maybe being westerner with a 2 meter tall husband this statement made me giggleā€¦ Iā€™m 168cm tall and Iā€™m considered average. Most famous Kidols are in the 180cm range and when you get to the 5-6 tall ones they were ALL ex models.
True to the make up even for men and them beauty productsā€¦ but lets be honestā€¦ we should leran from korean skin care becasue these people are in their 30s or 40s and look 20 lol
Yes i noticed how pure koreans areā€¦ here we are in the US where showing it all. Lol BUT watching youtube videos of ACTUAL koreans speaking out about culture they arent much different than us. We just arent ashamed to tell, they hideā€¦ still they see westerners ā€œeasyā€ā€¦ it is all a faƧade ā€¦

Overall i found your post so amusing! loved it!!!

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