[Traveling the world with dramas] The more you see, the more you want to go

by Guest Beanie

Woohoo Waikiki

By @ohhaeyoung

I enjoy traveling but I’m not yet all that well traveled. I always figured that my first trip overseas would be to Europe before any other continent. However, last year I took my first trip away from the Americas and it ended up being to Asia, specifically South Korea.

My affection for K-dramas began in the summer of 2015 and less than two years later I found myself on a plane leaving on the long flight across the Pacific to South Korea. My flight was much more comfortable than I expected it to be and our in-flight entertainment system was loaded with an overwhelming number of movies and TV shows.

There was only one K-drama available on the flight, funny enough, and it was W-Two Worlds with Lee Jong-seok, which I had already live-watched when it aired in 2016 so that I could keep up with all the girlfriday recaps and Beanie comments as the show took its crazy twists and turns. I opted to watch a drama that I had been putting off instead. The mega popular Descendants of the Sun was my choice of drama to binge on my flight. I was nervous on the flight because I did not speak the language and this was my first time visiting a country that does not predominantly speak either of the two languages I speak fluently. Once I landed, I was relieved that Korea really is as modern as it appears onscreen. Many times I didn’t feel much difference from being in the U.S. other than when I’d step into the streets and see Hangul signs everywhere.

W–Two Worlds

What led me to South Korea, you may ask? It’s not necessarily that K-dramas heavily feature Seoul tourist spots, but more that they show a way of life that was foreign and new compared to the way I lived. Yet core human values shone through in this format of storytelling, which was addictive to watch and compelling to my emotions and senses. After a solid year of watching K-dramas, I wanted to see Korea for myself.

I was already attracted to Korea because of the amazing cosmetics industry that Korea boasts with premium skincare products, and the trendsetting that sheet masks and BB cream and cushion compacts were doing to the beauty community worldwide. I wanted to taste the foods for myself — the kimbap, the ddukbokki, the fried chicken, the jajangmyun, and whatever other street foods would call my attention as I made my way through the streets of Seoul. And then there were all the K-drama locations that I was excited to see, such as the Namsan Tower cable cars because of Boys Before Flowers, the Han river swan boats because of Lie to Me, the palaces from the sageuks, and Jeju because it was the island destination for dramaland citizens.

Lie to Me

Part of the appeal for me was also the love of cute things in Korean culture. Cutesie things have had my attention since I was very young and although I’m in my mid-twenties now, that is still a major part of my personality. I will always remember buying myself a pig-rabbit doll from a vendor in Myeongdong because yes, You’re Beautiful is in my top favorite K-drama list. I was enchanted by the cuteness even from serious places such as banks that handed me my cash in an envelope with blue bees illustrated on it. Even a speakeasy in Gangnam that I visited was Alice in Wonderland themed. I somehow didn’t get around to trying my hand at one of those crane machines that are heavily featured in K-dramas — the ones that every chaebol trying to impress his Candy heroine relentlessly spends his time at, in order to win her heart through stuffed animal.

After coming home from South Korea, I have a building desire to return there. Watching the Winter Olympics this year made me miss my time there. I got into K-pop in April and would like to return to enjoy my K-pop fandom in the closest way possible. There’s still more foods that I want to try. There’s spots in Jeju that I didn’t get to see and explore. There’s also more to Korea than just Seoul and I would like to get to know the countryside more. Maybe next time I go I’ll purchase a K-pop global package trip… Who knows, maybe I’ll meet the love of my life on such a trip the way that Jung Yong-hwa’s character did in the endearing K-drama The Package. I was visiting because of expectations I had seen onscreen and was ready to see the reality of Korea for myself. I encountered many kind Korean people, successfully visited many sites I was interested in seeing, and yet the trip felt so short, so I returned with a “to be continued” mindset about Korea.

The Package

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