Seoul, South Korea
During this long year of quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband and I discovered the pleasurable “escape” of watching South Korean dramas. Our 14-year-old Grandson is a great BTS fan, and is interested in learning the language, so we were on alert for all things Korean. I don’t remember exactly how we found it, but we watched our first K-drama, enjoyed it immensely, and then continued on from there. For us, it has been a refreshing change of pace from the things we had been watching, a fun connection with our Grandson’s interests, and the discovery of a new interest in Korean culture and history.
That interest lead us both to expand our “escape” by starting to read and learn more about the history and culture of Korea, about which we knew next to nothing. It’s been a lot of fun for us, so I wanted to set up this page on my blog so I can keep track of our Korean learning journey.
Please check back here occasionally to see what we’ve been reading, watching, and listening to. The list keeps expanding!
감사합니다.
BOOKS/AUDIOBOOKS read:
- South Korea 101, by Mancho Soto
- Korea, by Simon Winchester
- Korea: A Very Short Introduction, by Michael J. Seth
- The Birth of Korean Cool, by Euny Hong
- Hanok, The Korean House, by Nani Park and Robert J. Fouser
- Stone House on Jeju Island, by Brenda Paik Sunoo
- A Single Shard, by Linda Sue Park
- The Kite Fighters, by Linda Sue Park
- The Seesaw Girl, by Linda Sue Park
- The Island of Sea Women, by Lisa See
- Crying in H Mart, by Michelle Zauner
- The Living Reed, by Pearl S. Buck
K-DRAMAS we have watched:
- Crash Landing On You (my favorite, so far)
- Misaeng (Hubby’s favorite, so far)
- Stranger
- Stranger 2
- My Mister
- Run On
- Hospital Playlist
- Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung
- The Good Detective
- Signal
- Mr. Sunshine
- Prison Playbook
- Designated Survivor: 60 Days
- Sisyphus: The Myth
- Live Up to Your Name
- The Legend of the Blue Sea
- My Country: The New Age
- Man to Man
Korean Movies:
- Space Sweepers
- Sori: Voice From the Heart
- Welcome to Dongmakgol (A very moving film about being human, even during war.)
My eldest daughter is a hardcore BTS fan too. And she started learning Korean, which means I started watching K dramas ! We have watched Goblin, are watching Hotel del Luna (with her), I’m watching Stranger with my partner (excellent !) and I heard very good things about Crash landing on you ^^
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We really liked Stranger and Stranger 2! I’ll put Goblin and Hotel del Luna on our watchlist! Our grandson is learning Korean, too. It’s really a fun shared interest.
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I’ve stumbled across a few K dramas and they are hard to stop watching. I don’t recall the names of the ones I’ve seen but they were quite dramatic and entertaining.
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Ti, it’s true! They’re hard to stop watching!
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I’m going to bookmark this page, and also share it with my daughter.
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That’s so nice, Nan. I’ll try to fill it out with some reviews and maybe include some of my favorite musicians, as well. There’s so much inspiring talent!
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