[music]
Back when we were teachers, we were amazed about
how our students would ask us questions about
Canada and America based off what they saw on TV
shows. And that led us to think about how people's
perceptions of countries might be skewed by the TV
shows they watch. And on the flip side, I realize that
some of you who watch a lot of Korean dramas might
have your perceptions of Korea skewed as a result as well.
So today, we're gonna talk about the expectations vs
realities that you might get from watching Korean dramas.
What's that, Simon?
There's something on your lips. Let me just
[humming Korean song]
Some mustache. You won't see that in a Korean drama.
All right, let's start with rooftop apartments.
We've definitely all seen a drama where the hero was
living on the very top of an apartment, and it has that
kind of ubiquitous paint everywhere
Green, brown and everything with a great view of the city.
And for you, you might think, "Wow, this a beautiful
looking thing, it's very lovely and what not." Kind of like
how our Korean students all thought that we lived in
mansions when we showed them pictures of our
bungalows. It's... Because like, the real estate is very
different there and here. And having a rooftop
apartment in Korea isn't as great as it looks on the TV shows.
Yes. So when they're talking about the person being
poor or struggling or having a hard time, and you see
this apartment, you're like, "That's a swaggy."
That looks great. Is that a penthouse apartment?
Exactly.
It's not penthouse. It's really not the same.
Yeah, and we actually found that out the hard way when
we were apartment hunting. So we found these really
cheap listings for these gorgeous kind of apartments
that were at the top floor and we're like, "Oh my god, we
could have like a garden (S: Right.)
and like a patio..." (S: Sounds great.)
However it turns out that top apartments tend to leak a
lot because of monsoon season and wintertime when
the snow is melting.
Summertime as well, the top floor and the rooftop
apartment is scalding hot!
Nobody wants to live on the rooftop at all.
It is not as glamorous as it seems.
Yes. All right, let's talk about driving in Korean dramas.
We've all seen that scene where somebody gets a phone call.
[phone ringing] And they pick it up and they go
"Mwo? Mwo?" and they bust like a violent U-turn and
they head towards the hospital or the location or
wherever it is that they're heading.
That will never ever, ever happen in Korea. You don't
realize how extremely crowded the streets are.
If somebody busts a U-turn like that, they are crashing
directly into somebody, right away, damaging the car
and they're going nowhere.
What they really want to say is like, "What? What? I'll be
there in a second!" and then you put your car in park,
and then you get out of the car, you get unto the subway.
Our Eatyourkimchi Mobile, we've just passed 10,000 kilometers
on it and the average speed, it tells us in there,
We've been all over Korea, right? (S: All over Korea.)
To Jeju, so far, everywhere.
The average speed overall: 15 kilometers an hour.
Because we are crawling the whole time. I barely
stepped on the gas at all because there's so much
traffic, you just have to roll with the whole thing and
hopefully you can make light and not get stuck in the
intersection like a jerk. This is Korean driving. There's no
way you could burst a U-turn like that anywhere.
I would say maybe if it's a countryside drama, which
(S: Maybe.) there aren't a lot of dramas that take place
(S: That's your chance.) in the countryside.
And the funny part as well is that, we know where the
driving scenes are filmed because
It's right outside of our apartment. We live in Digital
Media City, and that's where they shoot most of the
K-dramas so you actually see the trucks where they put
the cars on it and they have the lights
They're not actually driving.
They're not actually driving. So if you do wind up seeing
the street empty, it's because they're pretty much
directing the traffic while they're there.
They have two dudes that jump off the end, and if the
light turns green, they just stop driving the car and
they're like, "All right, everyone, go around us." and then they drive.
I'm sure you must have seen the Eatyourkimchi Mobile
in some of those dramas because I drove intentionally
behind those cars, blaring music
I don't know if you've seen it, let me know.
I'll tell you who made it into the dramas though.
Definitely Spudgy.
I think the funniest moment was when one drama was
trying to film around our block, but it was like "three
different locations," and we're walking around the block
with Spudgy. We photobombed every location.
There was even a scene where they tried to tell us not to
walk. We couldn't move; Spudgy was pooping!
(M: You can't stop him!) You can't rush it, you can't just
squeeze him out like toothpaste.
It doesn't work that way!
And we saw this Korean guy go like, running past us full
scenes. We were accidental extras in some movie.
Speaking of our dog leaving products in certain places,
let's talk about product placement in Korean dramas.
Oh my god, that transition was so beautiful
Wasn't that brilliant? I thought of that myself.
Use of product placement in Korean dramas,
not very subtle.
Subtle (beh)
[music]
(beh-beh-beh)
No subtle!
Let's go with that. Simon acting one hundred percent.
There you go. Not subtle whatsoever.
I think when I watch a Western drama, I don't really
notice a lot of products (S: Right.)
like maybe some movies, you'll see a car pulls up
and you know, the BMW car or like
They might show a logo. In Korean, there's no subtlety
whatsoever. You're going to see every single label
perfectly placed in there.
When a drink or food pays for product placement,
the people in the drama will all seem to use it.
They'll take it with them to practice, it'll show up in a
meeting, it'll be with them at school
and it'll just beat it into your head.
Also, according to Korean dramas,
I feel like there are six coffee shops in all of Korea.
Pretty much.
With lately, Mango Six dominating the
Korean drama field. (S: Exactly)
I would say Mango Six, Caffe Bene, Twosome, Hollys
and Droptop are constantly being used and reused
in all these dramas.
And what's weird about it is that Mango Six is so
prominent in Korean dramas.
But a Starbucks, there's one across the street right
there, one down the block that way and another one
two blocks that way. Far more Starbuckses than there
are Mango Sixes but you barely see those at all
in Korean dramas.
There's nothing wrong with the product placement,
the problem is that a lot of people will put it on their
bucket list (S: Yes.)
They're like, oh my god, I have to come to Korea
Yes, I have to do a Mango Six when I come to Korea.
Not a Mango Six. The Mango Six.
In Apgujeong, where they shot "The Heirs" or the
whatever. But the thing is, that's like putting
McDonald's on your bucket list because you saw it in a movie.
Right. It's like, "Oh, I saw it in 'Die Hard' so I want to get
some McDonald's." That's so lame. There's so much
more the Korean Seoul has to offer than that.
But the McDonald's.
There's no such thing.
In the Boston. At the corner.
As the Mango Six, or the Caffe Bene
They're everywhere.
Just cross that off your list if you come into Korea.
Now the fact is there are so many other cool places in
Seoul and Korea that you can go to that offer so much more instead and--
Tell me, what are you doing right now
in the middle of our TL;DR?
Oh, this? I was just playing with the QuizUp app.
[magic wand noise]
It's easy. You can challenge people from around the
world or directly from the area around you
and play lots of different quizzes. Currently, I'm playing
the Harry Potter one. And after that, I'm gonna play the
Marvel Cinematic Universe one.
Plus, with QuizUp's latest update, everyone can make
their own quizzes and challenges.
Wow, that sounds addictive. You should make one about
K-dramas.
Good idea. Actually, I already did.
Oh my god!
(Murmur) What are we talking about again?
Um, oh yeah. Product placements in Korean dramas.
Not subtle whatsoever.
Not subtle at all.
And the next thing we want to talk about is this bizarre [kissing sound]
kissing that you see and these [gasp] weird back hugs
that happen a lot in Korean dramas.
I don't want you to feel that because you're seeing this
in Korean dramas that Korean people are very prudish
and ultraconservative because they kiss so terribly
on screen. That is not the case at all.
It might be for some Korean people, but it's definitely
not the case for all Korean people.
You know what's amazing about it?
The censorship laws for Korean dramas
It's almost like the total opposite perspective that
my students have on North American--
Exactly.
So like all my students thought that everybody was
doing drugs, drinking,
they thought we were rich, they thought everyone was
constantly having sex everywhere
Everyone's having sex with everything all the time.
And I was like, "Okay, once again, Gossip Girls,
Vampire Diaries, not the best."
So don't feel that if you come to Korea, it's this land of
sunshine and innocence that you might see from
Korean dramas.
Now I would say some of the awkwardness you see in
the high school dramas, that can be a little bit closer to
the truth
After teaching in Korea for three years at an all-girls
high school, I remember showing a scene from Twilight
where Edward literally just leaned into Bedwar--
Bell-- Edward?
Bedward. (M: Who's Bedward?) Edward and Bedward!
We're gonna go with Bedward.
He just leans into Bedward.
And when he leans into her, all my students scream.
So my students were a lot more innocent around that,
but we live in the Hongdae neighborhood
We have seen so many people making out and
getting it on around here, especially because right
behind our studio, the parking lot is really dark and
secluded. We have walked in on tons of people
making out. Especially awkward way, we're trying to
get our car in reverse and we turn on the lights, and it's
on them. Glaring on them, and they don't even stop.
You'd think that if you shine a light on someone when
they're making out, they'd be like, okay I'll stop.
I even high beam them, just for experiments and
they just keep on going. The dedication with Korean
making out is really impressive to us.
So there are parts of Korea where people are just normal
meeting each other. Go to a club, you're gonna see
people having a good time, dancing and grinding.
They're not like, this far apart
It's not as prudish as it seems on TV.
We're gonna talk about Korean dramas in our blog post.
Make sure you click on the link here and I will be talking
a lot about my favorite thing ever: the wrist grab.
That's like the worst thing ever.
Super frustrating. (S: I hate it.)
Does it exist in Korea? I wonder.
You're gonna have to click on the link.
And my question for you is how is your country
misperceived because of its representation on TV?
I'm really interested. Let us know in the comments
section below.
Eh, Canadian dramas, we are always with mega thick accents.
I've never just seen regular Canadian folks, eh?
We always have-- we all love hockey.
Come on, eh--
Do you like hockey?
I hate it. It's the worst.
It's all right. I don't really know anything about it.
But Blue Jays, let's go!!