Despite the triple play bundle I pay for every month with access to over 900+ channels, it’s a Friday night and there’s “nothing on TV.” So, I fire up Netflix hoping to find something to watch. I have the house, and more importantly the remote, to myself. Such an opportunity should not be wasted. Comedy? Maybe. Romance? Why not. Action? Drama? They all sounded good.
On a whim, that Friday, I selected a Korean Drama. Don’t know why. The picture looked interesting. I figured I would just check it out and then resume my search. Twenty minutes later and I was hooked. It reminded me of the soap operas I used to watch as a kid. These shows are massive. Each one is a mini-series in and of itself ranging from eighteen to twenty-five chapters/hours. I couldn’t look away.
The show I chose had a little of everything including comedy, romance, action and drama. I don’t know any Korean except for the few numbers and phrases recalled from Tae Kwon Do class. I found I liked listening to them speak the language. The subtitles were often funny with much seemingly lost in the translation. Would a general in the 1300s really call someone a “punk?” And don’t get me started on the hilarity of the song lyric translations.
As this particular show was historically based, I would occasionally pause to search Wikipedia for some historical context. I definitely need to read up on Korean history. Before I knew it, I was four episodes in and felt like Alice “down the rabbit hole” trying to find my way in a wonderfully strange new land. What a great escape!
So, the next time you’re stuck with “nothing on TV” consider a Korean drama. You’ll get used to the subtitles and you may just find a whole new world of interests.