During this long year of quarantine for the COVID-19 pandemic, my husband, Byron, 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 Firekeeper’s Son, 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
- Misaeng
- 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
- Let’s Eat
- Guardian: The Great and Lonely God (Goblin) (Hubby’s favorite so far, although we both loved this one!)
- Hotel Del Luna
- Move To Heaven
- Laipeu (Life)
- The King: Eternal Monarch
- Touch Your Heart
- Descendants of the Sun
- Bossam: Steal the Fate
- Tale of the Nine-Tailed
- Tunnel
- Hospital Playlist, Season 2
- Racket Boys
- 100 Days My Prince
- My Holo Love
- Personal Taste
- Vagabond
- Yumi’s Cells
- My Unfamiliar Family
- The Silent Sea
- The Red Sleeve
- Jirisan
- Hello, Me!
- Mystic Pop-Up Bar
- Itaewon Class
- The King’s Affection
- Twelve Nights
- Lovers of the Red Sky
- Vincenzo
- Tomorrow
- Hwarang: The Poet Warrior Youth
- Our Blues
Movies:
- Space Sweepers
- Minari
- The PIrates
- Sori: Voice From the Heart
- Welcome to Dongmakgol (A very moving film about being human, during war.)
- Tiger Spirit, (a documentary about reunification of North and South Korea, by Min Sook Lee)
- North Korea, Michael Palin’s Journey (documentary tv series)
- Train to Busan
- The Suspect
- Midnight Run
Music and Musicians I am enjoying listening to:
- Park Hyo shin “Goodbye” (link to YouTube)
- Taeyeon “Rain” (link to YouTube)
- Jung Seung Hwan “We, From the First” (link to YouTube)
- Crush “Beautiful” (link to YouTube)
- Sam Kim “The Juice” (link to YouTube)
- SWJA “Serenade: Run With You” (link to YouTube)
- Onew “Blue”
- BTS “Permission to Dance” (link to YouTube)
- Jung Seung Hwan “Love Letter” (link to YouTube)
Virtual Walks in South Korea:
- 4kSeoul (a YouTube channel we enjoy)
- SeoulWalker (another YouTube channel we enjoy)
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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