This post has been a long time coming and admittedly I’ve been struggling with “blogging” in general. Although not private, this “blog” is, more than anything else, a personal journal of our family’s time here in Seoul. I worry the thoughts and statements in this “blog” will be read by strangers and that they might offend. Although we’ve been in Seoul for 18 months now, I know we are barely scratching the surface in terms of truly understanding Korean culture and therefore my ignorant/insensitive/humorous comments may be inaccurate and full of generalizations. For this I would like to apologize upfront and I hope my “readers” understand the purpose of this “blog” and will forgive errors, mis-statements, unconscious prejudice, etc. I do want to document our special time here and have felt constrained by this concern, but will now weigh in with these five related posts:
Every since we arrived in Seoul, I’ve been collecting a list of things that feel distinctly “Korean” and have become a part of our daily lives. I’ve organized them thematically and together they can be considered “The Five Things We Most Love About Korea”. Bill has volunteered to pen a few of his observances. Somewhat to my surprise given their preference for living in the US vs. Seoul, Daphne and Zoe wholeheartedly jumped in on this blog post idea and contributed their ideas which I’ve incorporated below as well.
So…drumroll à la Letterman show…here are the TOP FIVE REASONS WE LOVE KOREA AND KOREANS! (My comments are way too lengthy for one “blog post” so I’ve split them up for your reading pleasure…?)
NUMBER 5: Korean Trends. Koreans love trends and are trend-setters in many ways. Whether it is in the area of fashion, music, cuisine, skin care, sports, TV dramas, Koreans like to follow the latest thing. There are far too many trends to mention so I will hightlight the few that we’ve adopted:
Daphne and Zoe noticed this right away with footwear and quickly jumped on the Adidas sneaker bandwagon. In fact, we think the Adidas brand has been rescued from near extinction in the US by its popularity in Korea since nearly every young person, male and female, under the age of 20 wears Adidas of some sort, almost daily. Slip-on slide shoes are another huge staple here that are worn by women and men alike. I have just a few pairs by now as you can see below. 
They are not only extremely comfortable, but also very easy to take on/off when entering the house and leaving one’s shoes by the door…a trend that is not my favorite, but to which I adhere except when dressed up and the hostess agrees to allow shoes. I’m not spending money on cute/fancy/designer shoes here since I don’t get to “show them off” at dinner parties. Big shame but better for the family budget.
Another fashion trend which seems to have only strengthened from last winter to this one, is the puff ball/pompom accessory. Honestly, I thought last year this would be a one-season wonder, but noooooo! These rather large, colorful and certainly girly, balls are seen everywhere on the streets of Seoul as purse/backpack ornaments, scarves, tops of beanies, phone case accessories (which seem hardly practical and yet are enormous popular this year), earrings, necklaces, coat and shoe details, etc. Here are a few items I see daily in the city. I covet the deep blue pompom shoes that a woman in my pottery class wears and am on the hunt for some twin pompoms like the ones on my tutor’s purse.
In an attempt to spread this Korean trend around the world, I’ve given a few pompom items as gifts and can happily report that they are now enjoyed in the US and Switzerland. As I buddle up for a winter’s day here, I almost always wear my pompom hat and scarf and sometimes add my special shoes. Adorably chic…or kind of ridiculous? You decide:
Green tea lattes. Never ever did either Bill or I think we would prefer a green tea latte to coffee, but both of us find ourselves seeking out this somewhat sweet, milky beverage that Koreans ADORE. Green Tea products (tea, cake, ice cream, face cream, etc) are everywhere in Korea and the very best Green Tea comes from Jeju Island just off the southern coast. By accident I ordered green tea ice cream, thinking…hoping…it was mint when we first arrived in Seoul and I was sorely disappointed and vowed to stay clear of green tea things. Last winter, however, my tutor Eunsun gave me some green tea milk spread which Zoe and I both love on digestive crackers and she suggested I try the lattes. I am a convert and, in fact, I would say I truly crave Green Tea Lattes and find an excuse to buy one nearly every winter afternoon whether I’m out and need an excuse to get warm or am working on a pottery project. Zoe is a fan also; Daphne not so much. On the weekends, Bill and I usually stop into our favorite neighborhood coffee shop to sip a green tea latte after a walk or hike. With the arrival of summer’s humid weather, the desire for this hot milky beverage disappears, but when it’s snowing and cold, we all happily enjoy this Korean version of “hot chocolate”.
Erasable Pens are a MAJOR innovation and an enormous help to those of us trying to write Korean characters with all their little lines and dashes going backwards and forwards. Daphne, Zoe and I are always making mistakes and writing way too BIG for the small spaces allotted for answers/signatures. (All Korean names – like Park, Kim, Choi- are much shorter and more compact when written than American ones so the signature line/space is tiny and I have to sign on a diagonal!) One day, Cristina my best friend in Korean class here who used to live in China, showed me her fine tip ball point pen that could erase! It had an eraser at the end just like a pencil has. GAME CHANGER. The ink is nice, doesn’t smear and erases easily…and often for me when I try to write in Korean. I quickly bought several of these pens in various colors and thicknesses for myself. Daphne literally commandeered them and is a HUGE FAN! I like the very finest point (.35mm) but Daph prefers the (o.50). Neither of us will ever go back to non-eraseable pens and now we completely understand why most Korean students have pencil cases filled with a varied assortment of pens. I brought several pens back as stocking stuffers, again to spread the Korean trends around the world.
Korean Dramas are SO MUCH FUN! Pure escapism that Zoe and I justify as “Korean homework” and Bill just plain enjoys after his long, hard days at Citibank. Claire got hooked to one when she was here over Christmas last year and binged watched back in SF. She sheepishly reports that she still binge watches these days and even turned her old SPS roommate onto K-dramas, as well as her SF friends. Akin to Brazillian Telenovellas, Korean dramas are one-season only mini-series and usually have 12-24 episodes that are aired weekly or accessed on-line as we do on sites like viki.com or dramacool.io. They make up a big piece of the “hallyu” or Korean Cultural Wave which refers to the increase in popularity of South Korean culture and includes k-pop, Korean BBQ, kimchi,etc. Hallyu is one of the most important export commodities here and it is mentioned daily in the news. The featured photo for this blog was taken on the streets of Yangon, Myanmar where Korean culture is for sale everywhere. “My Love From the Star” was made in 2015 and was a major hit in Korea and throughout Asia. Zoe, Bill and I loved it so much I bought the special edition box-set for our future viewing pleasure!
The K-dramas are either set in contemporary times or in historical settings and genres range from romantic comedy to action to scifi. They are produced within very tight time frames and now filmed in sites outside of Korea. Viewership for popular dramas is crazy high…exceeding 60% for some of the most popular ones. Streaming and multiple language subtitles now enable viewers around the world to access these dramas and many of them are broadcast/sold to over 90 countries worldwide. Until just this year, China was the largest K-drama market outside of Korea, but Chairman Xi, in an effort to advance home-grown Chinese products (cars, phones, make-up, etc.) and in reaction to the US/Korean THAAD deployment, recently banned K-dramas. This has caused quite a stir here and the impact on actors, exports and the economy in the papers almost daily. Southeast Asia is where the “hallyu” K-drama marketing effort is now focused as we recently saw in Myanmar.
Bill and I, along with over 40% of the population around us, watched “The Descendent of the Sun” which aired last spring. This drama was HUGELY popular in China as well and has been streamed 2.3 billion times thus far and is set to air in various other Asian countries shortly. The drama’s popularity has a huge merchandising effect as viewers rush to buy the makeup, shoes, etc. that the actors wear, with certain shades of lipstick selling out in just days, for example The theme songs are played in stores, coffee shops, etc around the city. Like a good book, Bill and I stretch out the last episodes to make it last. Crazy, we know. Last May while the series was airing, Zoe had a 3-day school retreat and the faculty allowed students to stay up past curfew to watch the weekly episode. Though she hadn’t been following the drama, she immediately came home and binge-watched the entire series, finishing it ahead of us. The drama is pure romantic confection but involves (handsome!) soldiers and (pretty!) doctors, is set in N. Korea and a fictional war torn-middle Eastern town and has enough fighting, earthquake, action scenes to keep Bill interested beyond the romance between various characters. I encourage anyone who is now curious to find it on http://www.dramacool.es.
Breaking News! Daphne, who, until just this past month when Zoe and Claire (who visited Seoul before we went to Myanmar) settled in for their nightly K-drama viewing indulgence, had refused to join in, still prefering “Friends” re-runs…became hooked! Daphne insisted, even though she was mid-series, that they continue watching 2 more episodes into the wee hours of the morning. A new twist on “senioristis” has emerged since nearly every evening these days our die-hard American teenager is glued to a K-drama episode; after 18 months in Korea, she has finally succumbed to the lure of this trend. I encourage anyone who is now curious to check out K-dramas on the website we like best: www.dramacool.es. Such fun! Since then, we’ve enjoyed “Signal” (crime), Beautiful Mind” (medical) “Shopping KIng Louis”,(romantic comedy) “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Rheo” and “Sungkyunkwan Scandal” (historical) and are about to start “Goblin” and “Squad 38” which are recent hits. The girls like “Heirs”, “W”, “Doctors”, “Strong Woman Do Bong Soon”, “Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Ju”…don’t you just love the last two names?!
Hanbok Dress-Up is a trend among Koreans as well as tourists. Initially, we thought it was so strange that tons of adults enjoyed renting these traditional costumes and strolling the streets of Seoul, particularily near the palaces. We’ve since learned that one is granted free admission to the palaces if “en costume”, but given the low cost of admission ($3), the embarassment of walking around in long gowns, as well as rental cost ($10/hour) hardly seem justified. The women often look beautiful and elegant, but the male costumes and especially the hats which hid the long ponytail buns of ancient officials are down-right odd. Agreed?
Daphne and her best friend Maud jumped on board this winter before Maud moved to Dubai. As you can see below, they did look lovely! Just recently Daphne’s close pals from Maine, Charlotte Buck and Emma Martin, flew to Seoul to surprise her for her 18th birthday (AMAZING GIFT!!) and the three of them visited Gyeongbukgong Palace and ate Korean BBQ in Hanbok.
Bill (will he really?), Zoe and I all plan to do this before we leave Seoul, especially now that warmer weather has arrived and the “activity”, which is even less appealing during the frigid Korean winter, seems to be an important memory to document before our teenagers leave Seoul for good. I promise to share photos!
Skin Care…stay tuned as this trend is worthy of an entire blog unto itself and I’m happily doing market research!!
Enough said about K-dramas and trends and on to…another post
seoulfulsojourn.net 