@ 145 ockoala

Fame is a funny thing, isn't it. It pays, but it also exacts a payment. The thing is, you don't get to dictate its terms - when you sign up for fame you never know what you'll be in for. The terms are not mutually agreed. That's not to say that I feel sorry for famous people - in fact I get a little irritated when famous people complain about the attention they get. Hey, it's part of the contract! OK, so the terms were non-negotiable, and hidden, when you signed. But, hey, you know what, you signed.

Autumn Concerto:-- Right. Will definitely have to check out it out. But you know what this means, don't you? My City Hall watching may be set back. Oh dear oh dear, what shall we do? So little time, so much fluff to watch.

I only have one question before I commit myself: How can a young man who makes a living out of being a idol have such a girly name as "Vanness"?

Reinvention:-- It's a risky thing. But in my case it was worth it. People often ask if I miss lawyering. Ha! Well, I guess I miss the money. But, no, I do NOT miss the eye-crossing nit-picking, the angst of telling the people who pay my purse that they are utter idiots and need their wrists slapped, the roller-coaster of not knowing when the next urgent deal was going to hit me (usually, just as I am reaching for the computer to shut down to leave the office), and the testosterone-soaked and graceless atmosphere of the company I worked for. Ack.

@ 149 celestialorigin

Aha! Well, in that case I would say that it is even more likely that we have met. Because I spend a lot of time on planes. Except, I mainly do Asia and it sounds like you do an American airline.

I flew to and from Sydney on the A380. Love it! Meal service was like a military campaign - all those people to feed in so little time.

@127 kb -

just finished HGD, and it got me curious about korean history during the chosun dynasty. if anyone can recommend some good books, let me know.

http://www.amazon.com/History-Korea-Harvard-Yenching-Institute-Publications/dp/067461576X

If you buy a book on Korean history, this is the book to get. Edward Wagner, when he was alive, might have been the foremost Western expert on Choson history.

See http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2002/01.10/08-wagner.html

Edward Wagner's wife, Namhi Kim Wagner, was my professor at Harvard, and very generously let me pass my Korean classes despite my relative indifference.

@ samsooki

Thank you for that recommendation, I just popped into my shopping cart for the next time I check out. I knew nothing about Korean history prior to my k-drama watching days, but I hazard a guess that Edward Wagner is the Jonathan Spence of Korean history and culture? I'm so giddy, watching Korean history reproduced in drama form may be fun and exciting, but nothing beats a comprehensive dive into carefully and meticulously chronicled history tomes.

@127, 155 -

I just read my post, I didn't mean to imply that Professor Wagner wrote the book; he translated the book from Professor Lee's survey of Korean history. I think I actually have the book I linked above (required reading??) and probably somewhere among my many piles of books, I have Professor Lee's book as well (I think this was required reading when I was at Yonsei University, during a summer class, as well??).

IMO, at some point, colorful glossy pictures of lighter / easier reading of many books on Korea that are out there, may not be enough to be able to get an idea of how Korea evolved over the last 600 years or so, and certainly cannot take the place of scholarly writing. Attainment of worthwhile knowledge takes effort, determination and sticking-power. If anything worth pursuing, it should be worth pursuing with effort.

@ samsooki & ockoala

You guys make me feel so shallow...you're being all scholarly and I'm over here going "ooh, bed scene"?! Where? When? :-D And books? What are those? Oh yes...something I used to enjoy in a former life. I've literally got a stack of them not two feet away. Gathering dust as we speak.

I'm so bummed. My husband is going to Atlanta tomorrow and I'm stuck here. He HATES Atlanta and would rather get swine flu than go, while I LOVE it and can't go. He'll get to see two of my best friends whom I haven't seen since January.

My pity party is in full swing, y'all. :-(

@155 ockoala -

Far be it for me to judge whether Edward Wagner, a brilliant American scholar and Harvard man, who dove into Korean history like duck after fish, married a Korean woman and spoke and understood Korean far better than most Koreans, would be the Jonathan Spence (a brilliant English scholar and a Yale man, who dove into Chinese history like a weasel after the duck who is after the fish, who married a Chinese woman) of Korean history and culture, or whether Jonathan Spence would be the Edward Wagner of Chinese history and culture. But, Professor Wagner did set the standard, and did it earlier than Professor Spence. And, to be sure, Professor Wagner was a Harvard man. :D

@157 -

No worries. =) My reading these days is mostly just wordless black and white pictures that I show Baby Ji-Hoon. Ooooh, a wabbbit! See? Long ears! Waaaabbbit. lol.

@Samsooki,

I was eagerly anticipating your book recommendation for korean history and I clicked on the link and looked at the cover and I realized I already have it and I had memorized the korean author's name but not the translator.

@ celestialorigin/lovenyc52

I guess I won't be acquiring new concert buddies due to location. I don't think asia has the same stigma about noona's loving boy bands so whatever age you are its all good in Asia but its my western side that gives me the hangup of being into a boyband that is nearly a decade younger than me.

I do find it funny how my korean and western tastes in music is so different as well as my korean/western sensibility. Its really bi-polar. My western side loves more hard core hip hop and rock while my korean side can love bands like Big Bang, SG Wannabe and FTTS as well as all the sappy OST themes. My korean sensibility and personality likes cute things and more feminine things e.g. this side wants the Pig-Rabbit and wants to wear the short mini-skirt with the long boots and wavy curly hair and designer bags. My western side however hates stuff animals, hates anything overly sweet and I live year round in palette of black, grey and white and in pants or jeans. Perhaps my husband isn't rolling his eyes at my kdrama watching but maybe the temporary changes that takes hold of me while I'm in the throes of watching one and he doesn't know where his wife went since I go from a type A, control freak, practical personality to becoming this gushy, sometimes corny, sentimental person who is buying YB OSTs behind his back.

@ samsooki

You forgot "and spoke and understood Chinese far better than most Chinese." I understand, a Harvard man is a Harvard man, and as I am married to one, my allegiance is absolute when it comes time to pick a Harvard man over a Yale guy. ;-) I can't wait to read the book, I'm looking to pack my shopping cart with a few more bucks worth of items so I get free shipping, I'm cheap like that.

Oh, and please let me know if you need any recommendations for good kids books. Aside from the trifecta for newborns to toddlers: Goodnight Moon, The Hungry Caterpillar, and Green Eggs and Ham - in the last few years I've whittled down the universe of kids books to a nice collection the kids love and I don't mind reading over and over again.

Right now they love the Olivia series, the magnificent series of Toad and Frog adventures, and Richard Scarry books. I feel like being in a candy store everyday reliving my childhood.

@ langdon-unni

Why don't you just pull a Go Mi-nam and pretend to be your husband for the next 2 days in Atlanta. It's a win-win for both of you.

@159 nycgrl -

LOL. Yeah, it's pretty popular. The problem is that there aren't many books translated into English that deal with the popular legends and stories that come out of the Choson Dynasty -

There are so many wonderful tales about King Sejong, his rise to power, his deeds and military victories, creation of the Korean alphabet... or Admiral Yi Sunshin, who created iron-clad warships to defeat the Japanese, hundreds of years before the Merrimack and the Monitor, or the tales various folk heroes, like Hong Gil Dong, either for or against the yangban (an aristocratic socio-economic strata that, even today, dominates the discussion of marriageables in certain social circles).

I know my dad has plenty of those kinds of books though (maybe only in Korean???), and I'll report back once I know more of what he has.

@ samsooki

Does your dad have the ancestor books called chokpo? My dad has carried these huge volumes when he immigrated to the states in the early 70s and when my siblings and I got married we were entered in it. I'm fairly certain that should there be a fire in his house he would save those before my mom--just kidding ok maybe not quite.

The chokpos have bits of history in there since one of my ancestor is on the korean money and had some kind of relation to Admiral Yi Shoon shin. I'll have to ask for the details again since any formal/technical words in korean passes over my head and my dad's english can't describe the more difficult english words. I remember my trip to Korea in HS being filled with history lessons from dad and visiting mounds and mounds of dead ancestors in the dusty, odoriferous country side in hot humid korean weather and doing the bow with food and drinks at every mound location. As a teen I can tell you it was pure torture and the country bathrooms even more so.

Did you guys notice the new Pig Rabbit YB dramabeans banner?

Caught me by surprise!

Never a dull moment here in dramabeans land.

Pig-Rabbit banner? Where, where? I see a ton of new YB ones been created lately.

But I *still* keep getting Jung Il-woo. I don't know why it's me? That I keep getting him that often as a fraction of my refresh rate is way too high a probability. I'll take it as a subliminal message from the DB-god (i.e. Javabeans herself) that I must watch Return of Iljimae or else JIW will keep following me. I will, I promise, just *after* I start and finish Damo. And hopefully before the start of Chuno.

@162 nycgrl -

Does your dad have the ancestor books called chokpo? My dad has carried these huge volumes when he immigrated to the states in the early 70s and when my siblings and I got married we were entered in it. I’m fairly certain that should there be a fire in his house he would save those before my mom–just kidding ok maybe not quite.

Yeap, Mrs. Samsooki, me and even baby Ji-Hoon are now officially entered, and back on on some family mountain with the requisite mounds, we even have our names carved in stone (literally). I've not been there in decades, but the last time we were there, it WAS torture to a pre-teen who couldn't care less about the countless and forever bowing or the lengthy family history, and only cared whether there were running water toilets, air conditioning, and food that wasn't fermented.

@ celestialorigin - actually i'm in socal as well. my name is deceiving, i know hehe.

@ nycgrl - all sorts of jealous that you got to see Big Bang in concert. Totally crossing my fingers for another YG Family World Tour. Or maybe i'll run into them on the streets of Seoul when i go this winter. I have totally convinced myself that I will randomly bump into both 2PM and Big Bang.... perhaps outside their respective company buildings *where i shall be waiting patiently lol* It's interesting that you mention your Asian/Korean side vs. your Western side cuz i'm similar in that aspect. When it's American music, I listen to mostly alternative and some hip hop, but when it comes to Korean music, I love Big Bang, 2PM, BEG, 2NE1, etc. Watching kdramas, i adore all the cute girly outfits and while once in awhile i'll dress up here, i'm mostly in jeans and more than half my closet is black and gray. Funny how that is, huh? :)

@164 ockoala

I'll trade you JIW for the BOF headers I seem to get all the time! And yes, you should definitely watch ROI...now permanently in my top 5 favorite dramas. And the music is sublime.

Train of thought...passing through:

Robbers is a great drama, by the way (thanks hjkomo)! I didn't really care for Lee Da Hae's character in My Girl, but I really like her in this. And yep...I'm calling MINE on Jang Hyuk. If I have to steal him...so be it. I'll do the time since I'm definitely willing to commit the crime. 8)

Bad Couple is a hoot. I'm thoroughly enjoying it (only 4 eps in), but I do sense some looming sadness. Smile, You continues to chase away my YB melancholy. What else am I watching? Oh, only IRIS, Autumn's Concerto, and Hi My Sweetheart.

Good grief. ;-)

Btw, nycgrl -

What is interesting is that my parents, having emigrated to this country in the 1960's, and others like them, are sort of frozen in a time-warp.

Korea in the 1960s was still a very conservative place, especially in areas down south and in more remote areas. And, folks who came over during that time carried with them all of the memories and the culture that they had when they were growing up, and held tight to traditions that came at the end of the Choson (Joseon) period.

Even with korean television and movies, and constant trips back and forth, part of my parents are still part of an era and a mindset dating back a century or more, way more conservative in thinking and still holding to ideas of hierarchy and family bloodlines. It is fascinating to see, but I've not spent more than a moment or two thinking about it all, until, of course, we have our first born baby boy, and now all of this comes rushing back. Back to filling out and sending/filing documents, "registering" our son in various ways... to prove bloodline... Not sure what to expect or how it all ties in.... it is very difficult to piece together what it all means and how relevant it is to me, my wife, or to baby.

@168 cingdoc -

Thanks for the memories and the suggestions, I will keep an eye out for Jan Brett's books.

:)

@ ockoala
"Pig-Rabbit banner? Where, where? I see a ton of new YB ones been created lately."

I find it hysterical I live in a micro universe where the words Pig-Rabbit means something to me and a horde of other people.

BTW I'm in some kind of post-thanskgiving lethargy. Maybe too much turkey and time off from work. I don't feel like working as you can tell from my more than usual posts. Dramabeans has become my facebook.

#170 samsooki

Funny you should mention that since I was going to mention the exact same thing but decided against it to keep my posts short. My father and his brothers (who emigrated even earlier in the 60s) are pretty conservative and never culturally progressed and is time-frozen to the period they left the mother country. My uncle makes his younger son call his older brother hungim even as little kids. My husband's parents are even more conservative than my family and deems my family too americanized.

The funny thing is my younger cousin from korea came over to stay with us for a few months and she was surprised how conservative korean americans are and how formal they are. She thought we were all heathens and disrespecting our parents and sleeping around like in "Friends".

@ nycgrl

"Dramabeans has become my facebook."

I hear ya. My twitter-verse is all DB-related. Javabeans really is the center of the English speaking k-drama world. I've already lessened my FB activities long ago, but DB is like home to me with respect to sharing thoughts and gaining insights.

I tried a self-imposed DB silence for a few days, but I always happily give up and come back.

Anyone received their Pig-Rabbit yet? I do want to see a picture of said lucky recipient holding the Pig-Rabbit in the Go Mi-nam pose of giddy excitement. Oh, and even though I started sis on YB, she ended up liking it more than me. It was the other way around with My Girl (the first viewing, and I've already discussed above my thoughts on MG after the second viewing).

And for a drama that I just merely liked on first viewing, but on subsequent viewing(s) I've loved more and more and its now one of my faves - Time Between Dog and Wolf. I cherish the dramas that I can re-watch and love more (my own tastes, of course).

@ 172 nycgrl

I know exactly what you mean! No judgment here towards people who order photo books in a language they can't understand (shipping tomorrow!) or consider spending $50 on a stuffed animal (maybe hubby won't notice an extra $50 along with all the other Christmas purchases, eh?)!

I'm redoing my office after the holidays. What I didn't know when I planned it all out is that it would turn into my drama room instead! I think there's going to be a spot that'll be perfect for my Pig-Rabbit. And IRIS poster. And about a thousand Lee Min-ki photos. :-D

@ samsooki

A newer author (not around during our heyday) is Todd Parr. His Otto series of books (Otto goes to bed, Otto goes to camp, etc.) are extremely beloved by all the little ones I've been around. I received a set for the little boy koala when he was a baby, and he loved the bright colorful illustrations and the story is just kooky and precious (without being precocious). He's now wanting and learning to *read* the books himself, 4 years later. Love!

@ 174 ockoala

My Twitter-verse is split right down the middle between K-drama friends and my old Days of Our Lives buddies. I wish I could participate in Kdrama fan events like I used to for my (former) favorite US soap. We had such a blast hosting them (that's what got me to LA for the first time). Fan campaigns and events are so much fun, especially if you get to be staff and do stuff behind the scenes with the actors. I miss that.

I've pretty much abandoned FB altogether, too. I feel guilty so I'll log on once a week or so, but for the most part I just stay here. Where I'm happiest. :-)

@173 nycgrl -

Oh, most definitely.

Koreans in Korea certainly run the gamut in terms of conservatism, but Koreans first generation'ers in America tend to be on the far side of conservatism to be sure, because they never changed.

While Korea and the people in Korea have changed their mindsets over the years, slowly decade by decade, from the 60's to the 70's, the roiling decade of the 80's and the Fifth Republic, the 90's and the look-back to right the wrongs of the previous republics, and now, with the 00's, the rise of Korean soft-cultural imperialism (the so-called Halyu wave and pop culture invasion of the rest of Asia), materialism, seeds of nationalism, especially with respect to North Korea, and the internet revoution and liberalism clashing with the old values... my parents, being insulated here in the US. for almost all of that period, missed out on that slow evolution.

Certaintly, to assimilate, they accepted the cultural values of America, but only with respect to everyone else - for their children and for themselves, they kept to what they knew.

Woah, head rush from Pig-Rabbit induced happiness. Wow, that banner design is wickedly kapow. Spare, chosing such a vibrant bold yellow instead of the usual muted palates in the other banners at DB, and sticking the Pig-Rabbit front and center. All your attention goes immediately to the pig nose on the rabbit face, priceless! My fave YB banner by a long shot. i'll remember that Pig-Rabbit long after I've forgotten all the minutae of the drama itself.

I don't have no family lineage or family names to speak of - mine was the first generation in my extended family to go to college, much less grad school. Apparently my gramps generation of relatives had names like ____ Wet Rice, ____ Dog Head, ____ Big Girl (worse than naming your kid Sam-soon and Sam-shik, I guarantee you). It's funny and yet so sad, to be illiterate and provincial, but then again, that was the entire world they lived in, so it was what it was.

Anyhoo, my hubby's family, on the other hand, traces their line back generations upon generations, and so my kids are the first in their generation, and have their Chinese name following in the next letter on the family script. Their chosen character is *Guang* (AC lovers, sound familiar? yup, its the same Guang as Vanness's Guang-xi). The boy is named Guang-jie, and the girl is Guang-lan.

I'm happy if they can pronounce and write it one day.

I guess my experience is unique, because I went to high school in a Korean enclave. Anybody seen the old K-drama Friends from 1994? Pretty close to that. Except all the guys used to kneel and smoke cheap cancer sticks and have those bangs going down to their chin. Because it's SO TOUGH. And a lot of the girls wore pancake loads of makeup, bright red lipstick, and were ready to throw down. And then all the preppy, helpful big brother types (think Kim Rae Won :D ) who all of us would dream about. Like I said -- if you said the magic word ("Oppa"), you could TOTALLY get a guy to do anything for ya. Even remember K-pop before Seo Taji, cheesy dance pop blasting through lowered cars.

Interesting as a Chinese American and trying to assimilate into a "cousin" AA experience. The nationalism, paternalism, gender politics, emphasis on image and appearance, the way Korean people interpret Confucianism and Christianity, the way how Korean men handle marginalization as opposed to Chinese men, even how Korean Americans handle the "neither here nor there" identity compared to Chinese Americans . . . it's similar enough as to make the differences sometimes very confusing. But I also valued that experience, and I watch K-dramas with that filter well on.

@ ockoala

OK, so I didn't want to watch another TW drama after the many many horrendous ones that I've watched. But after your persistent chat about Autumn's Concerto on the OT, I thought I may as well check it out.

I really did not like the first few episodes ... and to an extent, still don't. But Xiao Le is ADORABLE! Seriously. Where did they find this kid?? As you have pointed out in your post earlier, Mu Cheng (Ady) has become very beautiful in the latter episodes. As for Vanness, now I realise he was in Meteor Garden as one of the F4! I'm so glad he got rid of the long hair. And the buff body. Asia dramas these days do know how to do a lot of fan-servicing. :P I'm still not convinced about his acting abilities but I'm going to put that aside for the moment.

Despite my reservations on the acting and script, I'm going to continue this to the end. If only for Xiao Le. There was a sneak preview of him running after Guang Xi and crying his little heart out. OMO. I will be in tears when that scene happens.

@183, belleza -

what you wrote in a single paragraph is a lifetime worth of fascinating experiences. those stories have yet to be told to the world, I think, and I'm not sure if it ever will be. But they can be made into epics of middle America obscurity, ripe with familiar and spicy flavor. If the world is ready for the kimchi taco, served from a twittering hot truck, then the world is ready for belleza's story.

@ ockoala
"But I *still* keep getting Jung Il-woo. I don’t know why it’s me? That I keep getting him that often as a fraction of my refresh rate is way too high a probability. I’ll take it as a subliminal message from the DB-god (i.e. Javabeans herself) that I must watch Return of Iljimae or else JIW will keep following me. I will, I promise, just *after* I start and finish Damo. And hopefully before the start of Chuno."

Yup, you're being called to watch ROI. :D
Have you watched Conspiracy in the Court?

@ nycgrl, Samsooki

Interesting discussion on the conservatism of our parents...
I guess mine would, then, be considered a bit...weird by those standards?
My parents are on the conservative side but certainly not to the extent it sounds like your families were...and that was more a function of their religion than any sort of cultural time-warp, imo.
I always spoke banmal with my parents, and I never called my brother "Oppa."
But, at least, I did speak Korean with them...even though I was never required to. (I had several friends who could only understand a bit but always answered their parents in English.) In fact, it's my cousins' families who immigrated in the early 80's who are much more conservative than mine.

It's also interesting to see what a difference a mere few years makes in terms of experience. (I'm a sunbae of belleza.) I was in high school just as the era of Koreans flocking to our area was starting to reach its heights but also before they completely over-ran the town. (And I don't think I wore pancake loads of makeup bright red lipstick, did I? ;) I certainly never attempted to throw down...or call anyone Oppa.)

@ crzycpl

"There was a sneak preview of him running after Guang Xi and crying his little heart out. OMO. I will be in tears when that scene happens"

I am cringing inside just thinking about that scene, because Xiao-le is sobbing his little heart out and screaming, I have a kid that age, and that kid's crying in the scene is NOT acting.

My love for AC is for the little moments, the pitch perfect casting (I don't think either Ady or Vanness are good actors, but they are really heartfelt and moving in this role), the simplicity of its set-up and execution. In truth it's nowhere near being a great drama, but somehow I really, really like it. ;-) I think once again my enthusiasm and enjoyment has gotten the better of me.

Anyhoo, I'm still happy you enjoyed City Hall, now that's one drama I can rave and wax-poetic about for days and days on end, and debate its merits and drawbacks until the other party gives up and goes home.

But there is one drama I watched this year that I treasure like a gem that only very few people know about, and I think about all the time - Tamra the Island. I sometimes call out Park Kyu in my sleep, I think, because hubby has asked me whether I was saying "f*ck you* in my sleep.

@ ockoala
"But there is one drama I watched this year that I treasure like a gem that only very few people know about, and I think about all the time – Tamra the Island. I sometimes call out Park Kyu in my sleep, I think, because hubby has asked me whether I was saying “f*ck you* in my sleep."

ROFL!!!!!
I don't think I've ever been guilty of that. :P

@ langdon813

You'll have a lot of other Jang Hyuk fans to contend with.
I'll just sit back and enjoy his work...as I've done since Model in 1997. ;)

Isn't the little girl adorable? Have you gotten to the "sticker" part yet?
I also love how she teaches Jin Goo humanity. Aw, man...now I watch to rewatch Robbers...

The Park Kyu sleep talk is probably just me imagining things. ;-)

So, someone recently posted a comment to DB with the user name that is my hubby's real name! So as I was washing dishes last night, I told him that he posted a recommendation on DB as to dramas to watch, and that it couldn't possibly be him, because if he was stranded on a deserted island and needed to recommend a k-drama to escape, he still couldn't do it.

And then he said, between bites of my weird stir-fry: "I'd just say City Hall."

Yes! Score one for my indoctrination.

@ lovenyc52

I go on the soompi concert thread once in a while to see if anything is coming my way. The funny thing is despite my bi-polar korean sensibilities I can't get myself to like boy bands like DBSK or Soju though I personally adore Xiah.

@hjkomo

"I certainly never attempted to throw down…or call anyone Oppa. "

..never mind do the Oppa wiggle.

You and Belleza's HS life sounds fascinating. I would like to have been the fly on the wall of that HS cafeteria. I've lived my entire life on the east coast and I don't think there were enough koreans to have that kind of subculture in HS though I'm told Tenafly NJ and maybe Flushing in its korean heyday may have come close e.g. non-koreans wanting to be korean etc. The korean culture was mostly preserved through the korean church and BTW I didn't know there was korean pop or dance music before Seo Taji. The legend I hear is he invented it.

These days my nieces and nephews despite their geographical locations are linked to the korean culture via internet which I didn't have growing up. They watch dramas, listen to korean music and speak much better korean then me despite growing up in waspy CT. I also sense less marginalization and more confidence in their identity than in my generation. Oh to be part of the 2nd generation in a time and space where I see asian guys have the confidence in dating non-asian women and thinking of nothing of it. That just didn't exist in my generation or the time period I grew up in.

samsooki,
thanks for the book rec. i'll check it out. if it came from HAHVAHD, it must be good...hehehe.

aargh 136
snow queen was on my 'to watch' list too thanks to samsooki's recommendation on an earlier thread. after watching HGD, it shot up to be next on queue cuz of cutie pie sung yuri...until i read what it was about...and how it ends...whoa....i think i'm running out of tears. i'll save it for another time.

hjkomo 146
ninja assassin felt like stop-and-go traffic. the action was awesome, but when the unfortunate plot development intruded on the bloody gore, everything grinded to a halt.

the fact that the movie poster doesn't show all of rain's face and its underlying implication annoyed me. can you imagine seeing only the lower half of arnold schwarzenegger's face in a terminator poster? neither can i.

Just watched American Drug War (2007) on Showtime - On Demand.
Very, very interesting documentary.

@ kb

I'm one of few (actually, not so few...as I'm discovering) who was completely unimpressed with Snow Queen. I didn't shed a single tear (even though I can usually fill a bucket - Conspiracy in the Court had me in tears at least 4 times + one cheering-out-loud instance). I watched it...and now it's forgotten. I didn't even remember Im Ju Hwan in it.

As for NA, didn't Rick Yune have THE STUPIDEST line?

@ nycgrl - i only recenly started visiting soompi but only some of the drama threads so far. i'll check out the concert thread tho- thanks for the tip. As for DBSK or Suju... i like a few of their songs but am really indifferent to them as a group. Suju just has way too many members for me to keep track of and i think i just don't know DBSK member's personalities well enough to really be interested. Besides liking 2PM and Big Bang's music, what really drew me into them was their fun personalities and how they just seemed like a tight knit bunch of guys. Watching them interact with each other in addition to their catchy songs sold me.

"The korean culture was mostly preserved through the korean church and BTW I didn’t know there was korean pop or dance music before Seo Taji. The legend I hear is he invented it."

And that became a major source of cultural friction at my school. Eventually, they had a Christian club and a Korean Christian Club (note: we had no Chinese Christian Club, or Catholic Christian Club, or Team Edward Club), and of course the KCC had more members than the original Christian club.

Now, in terms of conservative values . . . from my experience, it was probably the opposite. The most rebellious Asian kids were often the Korean 1.5s, and this was especially true for the guys. It's not just that they were rebelling against the conservative values of their parents; it's more like Korean masculinity from the mother country gets so messed up when they came here that a lot of the stereotypical macho habits of Korean guys goes into cartoon mode over here. To a degree, that was also true of the preppy guys. A lot of anger. And then the other thing is, a lot of the Korean women (and mind you -- I'm talking those borne in Korea) were sort of pulled in between. They were the only ones who understood how much alienation the guys were feeling, but they were also curious of the American guys too. So a lot of them smoked and went vida loca like the guys. As a result, you had a subculture of exclusivist culture where the Korean kids only hung with their own, which was both somewhat alienating but also good. Alienating in that a lot of Korean Americans felt judged by their Korean peers for not knowing enough of the language/history but mostly for not carrying that same pride and anger. But good in the sense that sometimes you did see a lot of the "me vs. world", "me carrying the burden of family" fatalism that forced a lot of the guys just to push themselves so hard to make it, or to rage against it.

Another thing is, the LA Riots happened during the time I was there. And that REALLY affected the culture of the student body and the parents, where there was a sense that the Koreans (again, not Korean Americans) had to protect themselves and use the PTA, social clubs, race pride, whatever to mantain that. There had to be a united front.

Having said all this, there was one unifying influence for the entire Asian student body . . .

Everybody loved Morrissey. Esp. the Korean guys. :D

"Everybody loved Morrissey. Esp. the Korean guys."

Ah, my obsession now makes much more sense to me. Finally found the common denominator! ;-)

Dear Ockoala and other AC-fans,

So, I've watched episode 2 of Autumn Concerto. The acting remains ho-hum. The plot, tired and predictable. The soundtrack corny. The cliches abounding. The editing clumsy. But you know what. I reckon I'll keep watching. Like you say, it pushes the right buttons.

It can't just be that the two leads are gorgeous. Or just because this lets me brush up my Mandarin while having mindless fun. It's not just that I enjoy having the meta experience of following Vanness on Twitter (what a loveable jock!). I was pondering this today when I had an epiphany:-- I will watch this, because it is the screen version of my guilty pleasure: the romance novel! It faithfully follows the conventions and breaks no boundaries and it will give you all the gratuitous scenes. It is formulaic and therefore comforting. It will not try to be clever, and it doesn't give a toss about being politically correct. Nor does it care to explore character development, much. Or ask deep questions of life. To be sure, in order to be palatable it is somewhat on the superior end of the genre scale, the equivalent of the romance novel which is grammatical and has a modicum of sense of the world its supposed to inhabit. But, nonetheless, man-meets-woman and all that, all attendant cardboard characters, stereotypes and cliches. So far saved-by-the-love-of-a-good-woman, rich-powerful-boy-saves-poor-gutsy-girl, classic-miscommunication-which-reveals-true-feelings and the-love-test are all on offer and, oh, all right, I'll buy.

mehhhhhh.... I am unimpressed. who DOESN'T like Morrissey.

It's like saying "oh, whenever that PSB song came on the radio, the guys would start mouthing the words, "gooooooonna get through, get through, baby, ooooh. what have I what have I what have I done to deserve this?" Who HASN'T sang along to Pet Shop Boys? Sheesh.

hehe.

@kb -

Actually, Snow Queen isn't sad at all. It is a just a really good drama to consider watching and finishing. Towards the end, the episodes fly by. The pacing is right, the acting is good to very good, the actors are gorgeous, the story is allegorical but not heavy-handed.

Other positives to consider:

- Binnie as a scruffy lost puppy.

- for Team Park Kyu / Tamra Islanders, you have a 24-y/o Im Joo Hwan as part of an isosceles love triangle, and a 26 y/o Lee Sun Ho playing Binnie's younger rival.

- uber cutie Sung Yuri, like you've never seen her before (or since).

"Actually, Snow Queen isn’t sad at all."

Gasp! samsooki, you are a LYING LIAR WHO LIES!

"It is a just a really good drama to consider watching and finishing."

Well, this part is true.

And in my neck of the woods (in the 80's), there were VERY few people who even knew who The Smiths were. It was all Duran Duran and Lover Boy. :-(

@ ockoala

You have a kid about the same age as Xiao-le? Cute! But the child actor playing Xiao-le, for me, is stealing the show!

I agree with serendipity, I really struggled to get through the first 6 or 7 episodes. My eyes kept rolling and I cringed A LOT throughout. But I've found that episode 8 onwards has been A LOT better, however I find the accents of the Hua Tian Village folk really hard to follow. :)