I don’t watch too many family dramas. I love found-families, but it is always hard to find a real family that I can relate to in dramas. Typically, family dramas are weekenders and so long that I avoid them, unless they are a must watch. I can’t remember seeing a family drama with the usual 16-20 kdrama episodes though. I heard so many praises for My Unfamiliar Family that I knew I had to watch it, but I also saw some non-spoilery comments that made me wait this long to watch it. Sometimes you need to be in the right headspace to watch a drama, especially one that will hit many sore spots in your own life. Anything that has to do with family, always gets me in my feels! I think that out of all the problems I have in my life, 80% of them have to do with my family. That number is high because all I literally do is go to work and go home, where I live with them. Out of those problems, I’m pretty sure 99% of them can be solved if we talk it out. The problem is, no one listens. We are all so consumed in our own lives that it’s a bother to listen to someone else. That might not be completely true, but it sure feels that way.

Watching this drama, there were many things I could relate to. The secrets, the misunderstandings, the lack of conversation. I know that oh too well in my family. We are also three siblings and I am the oldest. As the oldest, I tried to protect my siblings growing up, I shielded them from many things, and also carried many of the house’s problems on my own. In my eyes, they are living carefree lives now, but I know it’s not true. I know they have problems I don’t know about. Things they hide from me, probably because I told them too many times that I was the one bearing all the problems of our family while they went out to have fun. In my eyes, they are still children that know nothing about life. It sounds very Eun-joo of me, right? To be telling my brother and sister, where they are wrong. While watching MUF, I could see myself being a mix of both Eun-joo and Eun-hee. At home, I carry a lot of the responsibilities of the household and know things I would rather not know about my family. I find myself being cold at times in order to protect myself around my family. Outside of my home, I am like Eun-hee. Such a people pleaser, trying to get on everyone’s good side. Somewhere in between is the real me and it’s hard to reconcile the fact that I am never truly myself wherever I go. I always say that I just need to leave my house to find myself, and absence makes the heart grow fonder, or so I’ve heard. I love my family. I really do! Despite all my complaints about my family, my mom and dad have done the best they could to raise us and I appreciate and love them so much for it. I sometimes feel greedy for wanting more though. I think that all I really want is for us to be more open and compassionate with each other. All I have in life is them to cheer me on! I want their love and support to always accompany me! I would also love it if a Chan-hyuk came into my life but, you know, that is a side note, hehe. My Unfamiliar Family is definitely a drama I still think about and probably will keep thinking about in the future.