Watching Korean Dramas has changed my life. I started watching Korean Dramas in 3rd grade. I'm Vietnamese, but the number one question I get asked is if I'm Korean. Ever since watching Stairway to Heaven, I became interested in Korean Culture. I really disliked eating spicy food. However, after watching the a lot of the people in dramas go to the little orange tent and eat Korean food that looked good, I got a little jealous, and decided to try some. My favorite Asian food is now Korean Food. I love the restaurants Hoban and Dongyang Market in Minnesota. I also started to learn how to speak Korean. Whenever, I spend time on the Internet, it's always on Dramabeans reading recaps or reading the latest Korean gossip on hot actors. Every morning, I always pick an outfit that I think Han Hyo Joo would have worn in Brilliant Legacy. Haha. I'm more addicted than I thought I was. I also love all the cute Korean things they sell at Asian stuff.

K-Dramas got me into a bunch of kpop, made me nocturnal and drink more coffee( i can't grow anymore ;_____;"), and it made me go crazy for korean merchandise. Heck, even my mom is hooked on k-dramas.

I've loved Korean food for a long time, but all those food scenes in every drama ever has caused me to start biting long green peppers raw, heap too much sauce on my grilled pork belly on top of that awesome Korean herb (huge leaf), eat too much seaweed grass, etc etc.

It's also made me feel really cool whenever I walk through the Korean grocery store near campus to grab my Ramen and fake crab meat. Why so much food orgy on TV, KDramas!?

I tried Korean BBQq. I like Korean BBQ. There is a korean restaurant near the cafe at work, and let me just say, the owner and I, WE BE BUDDIES! :) :) :)

because of kdramas, i learned to wake up too early (say 3-4 am) willingly to catch live streams of kdramas. This is a feat given I am definitely no a morning person who needs 6 different alarms to wake me up in the morning.

I hate spicy things, but because of kdramas, I loved ramen noodles to the point that my family makes sure we always have ramyun noodles at home. My family supports my k-drama addiction. :)

I learned to eat korean foods, too!

K-drama's have helped me really delve into different aspects of Korean culture. I ended up reading up about different cultural practices, some history, etc. After watching the dramas and the food that's frequently in them (not a good thing to watch when hungry by the way...) I've started cooking Korean dishes, including side dishes. The sheer amount of different side dishes is a bit daunting! My dduuk bokki is pretty good if I do say so myself. I guess it's a good thing that I've started getting used to the different flavors in the food (though mine isn't nearly as spicy as it should be-I'm weak) because I'll be going to study abroad in Seoul this semester. I'm really excited to have this experience and even more excited to be able to learn and experience the culture first hand. K-drama's while awesome, didn't really "inspire" rather they were a gateway and I found out a lot more along the way because of the door the dramas opened. I think drama's are a really good thing to get into because they make you curious. But really you yourself have to look into things like the culture because the drama is itself fictional-even if it does have deep roots. Thank you dramabeans for the opportunity to win these amazing prizes. We appreciate all the hard work you do on this site!!!!

I started taking Korean in college and am on my third semester so far. I'm actually in the middle of completing my study abroad application for SNU/KU for the fall semester (which is a pain in the ass; forms essays etc.). Tbh, in the beginning I just wanted to understand shows without subs but now I'm actually really excited for this study abroad opportunity.

Question: What new thing have you done in the name of K-drama? Has becoming a K-drama watcher made you start eating kimchi, travel to Korea, or switch to soju as your drink of choice?

Done all three. Slowly learning the language too. Aside from kimchi, my new grocery items are ramyun, chocopies, pororo Yakult, Elastine shampoo, & bokbunjajoo. I used to go to bookstores only before whenever I go to the mall, now I always shop/window-shop @ Étude House, TonyMoly, Skinfood, The FaceShop, Missha, Nature Republic so my facial care products/make-up have changed (FYI: I love the products coz it works! People I know are always inquiring where I get my facials done. ;) )

Now, I'm researching how to do my own kimchi!

*Not a US/Can resident

Since starting to watch drama's:
1) I've started listening to K-pop (I guess once you start you can't stop).
2) Watching variety shows
3) Eating Korean food more often
4) Understanding Korean - I accomplished my goal of watching an entire drama without subs this year!
5) And now I've visited Seoul as well. I kind of want to go back and see more of then country-side.

Happy Birthday again, Dramabeans!

I started making kimchi fried rice at home. I started learning Korean. My ears perked up everytime I heard strangers speaking Korean. I started playing cello - thanks to Beethoven's Virus. I can go on and on.

I'm Canadian - I'd love the 1-year premium membership at DramaFever prize. :)

I started learning Korean and I also noticed that I bow my head to people who are older than me.

In the name of KDramas, I have started irritating people by saying FIGHTING! all the time. It makes people laugh, and think that I am crazy. :))

*Not a resident of US/Canada. :)

Thanks to kdramas I have listened to so many beautiful ballads and have been introduced to many awesome K-pop groups and indie groups. I have started to learn Korean on my own since I can't at school and I definitely eat a lot more korean food.

Watching Sageuks has prompted me to learn more about Korean history. After watching The Princess' Man and Tree With Deep Roots, I learned so much more about Korea's Joseon period.

I love learning about Korean culture through dramas too. Since I also watch a lot of Chinese dramas and Japanese dramas, it's super interesting to compare perspectives and practices of each country.

K-dramas for LIFE! :D

Congrats to the winners~!!!! \o/

I've started eating a lot more ramen and calling my family by Korean titles - unni, ahpa etc. XD

*not a US/CND resident*

I think I married my husband since he is Korean and dramas led me to believe that he could turn out to be a chaebol. Or maybe love, or both. Anyway, Korean dramas definitely decided I would actively seek out another Korean and then all other traits like personality and employment status would be negotiable.

Cuz one day I'm totally gonna find out his folks own Samsung..or do they have a Samsung kimchi fridge?

:P

Hehe...I started so many things after watching Korean dramas that my whole family said I should just move to Korea lol. I am originally from a midasian country but once I moved to US it all got sort of forgotten. Thanks to kdramas I revived some of my cultural roots ^^ First of all I switched entirely to asian music, whether it was Korean, Chinese or Japanese, it is all on my iPod! The came the Korean food, I'm trying to cook as much as I can, although failing most of the time on my first tries cause I'm a horrible cook. And recently I started to learn the language, so far I'm on the alphabet because thats all I have time for right now, everything else is spent on college and watching dramas^^

Now, when I greet people, I always want to /bow/ or lower my head a little. I never realized that it was abnormal until my parents pointed out how they thought it was weird. >_<

Watching K-dramas or any kind of Asian dramas made me love their cultures. I love looking at the scenery and the food always looks so good. I tend to be curious when I watched dramas, so I love learning about Korean cultures. I would really love to visit one day in the future.

I've come to wear cutesy korean socks [cheap yet colourful and of great quality] from plain old long white socks. I've also learnt to wear waterproof eye makeup, just in case I cry in public, since I don't want to turn out like 50% of korean drama heroines who become dreadful racoons...

NOT a resident of US/Canada

This sounds so cheesy, uber cheesy actually but my view on love has changed. Everything about love and the idea of it has changed ever since watching Korean dramas. Every drama has a different view on love and story line on how to obtain it. I've used all the themes and love stories that I have watched and used it in my daily life. I always think about Korean dramas and their love lines whenever I meet a guy. Most of the dramas I have watched are quite innocent. The love that develops is clean and sweet. I try to imitate that with my own. I stay away from lustful relationships and strictly focus on a relationship like in 9 ends and 2 outs or something.
On a lighter note, I now use more Korean beauty products and buy Korean rice. Aha.

I think one thing Korean drama has started making me do is say the word "omo!" a lot when I'm surprised/shocked instead of "OMG" lol. Also, I started to eat out at Korean restaurants more often (dramas are really good at advertising Korean food) - this coming from a person who's never particularly into eating spicy food. Essentially, korean dramas made me able to appreciate spicy food :D

I am a Canadian resident.

When I started watching Save The Last Dance for Me (2004), I also started the habit of singing Korean songs (from the OST) wherever I am and whatever I'm doing at that moment. I didn't care if other people hear me sing songs they (and I) couldn't understand. When Princess Hours became such a hit in our country (2008), that was when I eventually studied Hangeul and for the life of me I can now understand most of what I'm singing about.. Lol :D

Watching Kdrama also introduced me to the joy of eating spicy ramyun. Yum! :D

*I'm not a resident of US/Canada.

i started listening to k-pop thanks to k-dramas :)

Watching Kdramas has made me start eating ramen the correct way. Off the lid of the pan.

I've started learning Korean and I listen to a lot of korean music now. I sometimes wonder how I never used to know about Korean dramas or music so it's so awesome to have it now!

- chocodove777@gmail.com

Watching korean dramas made me do so many things. I picked up so many habits from it T_T They're not healthy habits either.

Kdrama characters tend to talk to themselves in order for us to understand their inner thoughts... I've picked up on that and it just makes me look crazy. I watch so many korean dramas and listen to so much kpop that i am starting to think in korean. My native language is not english, but I think and dream in english only... lately i've been thinking in korean. Also, I've learned how to use aegyo to my advantage; learning from the pro Soo Jung.

I went to New York last fall to watch the SM Town concert. Bought myself a ticket and borrow hundreds of dollars to go. I hope I don't regret it lol! I'm also learning korean and I'm gonna be studying in korea this coming fall. Yay! I swear I'm not a koreaboo though. I just love my drama and kpop that much.

EMAIL: sasser_angela@yahoo.com
I first grew obssessed with kpop thanks to Lee Hongki's fabulous vocals in You're Beautiful. I began losing whole nights of sleep to watch koreans. My friends started to think I was crazy because it's all I talk about. I started bowing to people in public and at school or when I'm out and about I'll accidentally say something or answer in Korean (I'm actively learning). Now instead of craving pizza I crave white rice. I even started saving up to make a trip to Korea. KOREANS ARE MY LIFE NOW (No joke-and I'm okay with it).

You have NO idea how much watching Kdrama changed NOT only my JOB/Profession but also my lifestyle..

Just thinking about it scares me!! ahaha!
I am a nurse my profession but its not really my passion to work in that field :( After a year of working in a hospital, I got EXTREMELY BORED and decided to do something I WANT for a change, so, fueled with my growing craziness with anything related to South Korea, I took a part-time job as an ESL Instructor (basically, teaching Korean students English).. and that's where my life made a 360 degree turn...

I got hooked!!! Crazy Obsessed!!

To cut the VERY long story short,..

I quit my job and became a full-time ESL instructor for almost 3 years now.

I'm learning Hangul from my students on my free-time.

My company "tried" to send me to Korea but the freakin' Embassy kept on denying my Visa, for 3 times already!!!!!

I'm a part-time KDrama addict( spends 12-4am watching new dramas/reruns).

Full-time Bigbang and 2ne1 fan-girl. :)

...and Oh! I've got Park Bom's hair color and Dara's perm..

I know. I know. I'm crazy!

I've got supporting documents if you want guise :)

Ohh..If I were to answer you're question,that would be really long..I can't even remember when I started doing crazy things in the name of a kdrama,here are few of the things:

-Recently I've been downloading 720p episodes and pulled out allnighters watching it. To think that the bandwidth speed in my counctry is soooo slow.
-I organized the stuff in my laptop & was surprised to see that kdrama ost songs and kpop are dominating my music player, I even separated them from the rest of non korean songs.
-I started studying hangul, and managed to memorize the alphabet and reading words in 1 day.
-I can now understand 60% of what they are saying,although I'm still not confident that it is right.
-I've been shopping on Gmarket, and my wallet is cursing me now.

*I’m not a resident of US/Canada.

while in korea, i visited the dae jang geum theme park, all in the name of seeing the replica kitchen, which was a lot smaller than it looked on tv. did i mention it was like 2 hours out of seoul?

hmm, yep, all nighters, check, adding Korean into your everyday language - aissh!, check, trying to figure out how to make kimchi, check, ipod constantly playing Korean music, check, having your friends and family look at you as if you were an alien, also check. loving ever minute of it all, check!

dramabeans and girlfriday, thank you so much for all your hard work and wonderful recaps! you are amazing!

I've picked up some Korean phrases and use them now like "aish" hah. 1N2D makes me want to eat more ramyeon. Dramas make me want to eat ramyeon Korean style with the pot-lid as a bowl.

Happy 5th birthday Dramabeans! Watching K-Dramas have made me start learning korean and eating kimichi. I have started asking people if they wanna die in korean when angry, lol. As embarrassing as it is I do the "oppa" pout. I've also found myself calling my parents Omma & appa, and cute guys I see oppa!

Unintentionally, after marathoning Princess's Man at least over 20 times, I have adopted sangeuk speak. Yesterday, this girl in my class bumped into me and I said, "KAME.." LOL. Words like "omo" (every kdrama monster-in-law), "yay" (secret garden), "aishhh" (bof), "otoke" (every kdrama heroine), "call" (high kick) have become part of my everyday language. I also attempted to make Jajjangmyun on my own and epically failed, and bought kimchi out of the jar (and was yelled at by a korean mom when i told her i did this). In class, humming the most recent ost. Getting my first C when I marathoned Princess's Man which ended with with the episode 14 cliffhanger, yay sure I was going to pay attention to chemistry when Seryung's life was on the line.Plastering my binder with the newest set of army abs. These and many more, but do I regret it? NEVERRRRRRRR, bring on the dramas.

I'll go in chronological order. lol

1. Started having mid-night cravings for ramen.

2. Started having this sudden urge (esp. late at night) to mix rice with kimchi, meat and every other side dish in the fridge and enjoy a huge bowl of bibimbap. Unfortunately, most of the times the only things I would have in my fridge were milk and beer (college student), and so I would end up stuffing my face with plain sticky rice and just imagine it to be a savory bowl of bibimbap. Finally, I hoped on a bus and went to a nearby town to get Kimchi (My college town does not have korean store :S ). Now I have my rice and ramen with Kimchi.

3. Started saying "hwaiting" to encourage myself to do things. I have also embarrassed myself by saying "hwaiting" to some of my friends before they went to do something important. Of course they had no idea what the hell I was saying and were like WTF?!

4. Started using chop-sticks more often. In some v.show or k-drama, I saw someone using chopstick to even eat pastry so now I do that too. lol. In fact, I find it easier and less messy.

4. Initially I found girls screaming oppa in k-dramas very embarrassing, but now when I see a picture of Park Jaebum or Yoo Ah In, the fan-girl inside me comes to life and I can't help but squeal oppaaaa. lol

5. Started learning the korean language.

6. Started craving for dok bokki, but there are no Korean restaurants nearby, so went to the aforementioned korean market to get all the ingredients and made myself a delicious bowl of dok bokki.

7. Have started making plans of working in Korea for some-time. In fact, I started following Martina and Simon's page to get a better idea of life in korea. lol

8. Got myself into k-pop. :)

The biggest thing kdramas have done is just open up my eyes to country's culture that I knew next to nothing about. I've become more interested in Korea's cuisine, history, culture, music scene ect. ect. I've tried kimchi though I'm not a big cabbage eater. I've attempted cooking various Korea dishes (badly then again, I subscribe to Lee Seung-gi's brand of Korean cooking--by recipe!) I listen to Korean music (both popular and indie). I watch shows in Korean more than shows in my own language (that being English). I use random Korean words instead of English ones (and am trying to learn more!). And all because of kdramas. Thus is their power, haha. =D

Traveled to Korea and stayed with a friend for a month during my senior year of high school. That was the first time I did a big trip overseas all by myself. : )

Because of k dramas I've tried to cook ddobukki several times. Once in particular I added waaaaaay too much chili powder to a large batch I made for some friends. Nobody wanted to eat very much of it so I took some leftovers with me to work the next day. Apparently it becomes more spicy overnight! My coworkers kept asking me why I was crying in the break room, but it was so spicy I couldn't even taste anything for days!

Started getting better at Chinese b/c I've been watching kdramas that are subbed in Chinese (which come out faster). Then started translating the Chinese into English on viikii.

What have I done in the name of k-dramas?
Well I now call my brother Oppa even though neither of us are Korean (It's funny cause he thinks I call him oompa loompa...the dork) as well as try to use Korean at least once a day. I'm even in the process of learning it at a college.
I went to South Korea at the end of last year to see some of the shooting locations. (Went to a shooting location for Sungkyunkwan Scandal!!)
I eat Korean food on regular occasions. (I'm eating bibimbap and kimchi for lunch as I type this)
I now cut my fruit up to eat instead of eating them whole.
I've encouraged my mum to help me purchase dramas from Yesasia.com as she loves sagueks as much as I do. (SHARIES!!)
I've isolated myself in my computer room way too many times to cry way too many tears. (I received a msg from my mum while I was at work one day saying "YOU!...are the reason I am still in my pjs at 1pm bawling tears cause they can't be together because they are more than likely brother and sister!!" Cracked me up when I got that msg)

So yeah, I think I've been effected by kdramas.

I started to learn how to read hangul( still working on it:)) freaked whenever I saw someone or something korean, tried to make my own ramyun, my iPod is full of kpop, and it's all me and my 2 bffs talk about. Hehe.

I started eating noodles with chopsticks and kdrama has inspired my fashion sense. I also started calling older-looking ladies 'ahjumma' and once contemplated dressing up as one at a halloween party.
Been ferociously looking for korean language courses, but alas, there are very little of that where I'm from. : (

*I’m not a resident of US/Canada.

Hello Javabeans and Girlfriday,

I feel that I've increased my attempts to learn Korean. I've even downloaded an app to my iPhone in order to help me learn the language.

I've also noticed that I'm more willing to sit through marathon sessions of K-dramas. For example, this past year it was marathon sessions of dramas Vampire Prosecutor and Tree with Deep Roots.

As always, thanks for the previous Give-away and for telling us about prizes on other websites. Congrats to the winners!

Take Care,

Poetry_Lyric

P.S. My e-mail: garvice.brannon@gmail.com

I listen to Korean music and sing in the car with it (we don't have karaoke in Virginia), I shop at Lotte and HMart, my rice cooker is always full. I love the cooking shows, so I am experimenting with Korean food, so far just the egg roll, and pickled radish and sweet potatos. I eat Korean cabbage, but haven't found prepared kimchi without MSG in it, yet!! still shopping! I respond mentally in Korean with simple words like, "I am okay", "thank you", " I don't want to.." etc, etc. simple words ... in my head. I would like to take Korean language some day, but not going to do it anytime soon. I cannot stand watching american tv anymore.
I am teaching my granddaughter to take better care of her skin.
Many thanks to you all. :)

watching Kdramas made me learn the Korean language and listen to Kpop! The OST of the dramas were the first and the only songs I've known before then before I knew it I was listening to Kpop. Now I listening more to Kpop more than I do with western music. Kdramas also made me interested with the Korean language. I now know how to read and write hangeul but i'm still scared to talk sometimes, but most my Korean friends say that my Korean is pretty ok :)

-- i'm not from the US or Canada :)