A thousand years ago, when I was living in the world of the married and had the constant companionship of my husband, I didn’t really need to watch TV or listen to music that much. I made my own music, playing piano occasionally for guests or church. Evenings were often committed to outside activities, or we entertained on the weekends. But all that changed after he passed away. Reading for hours on end, something I used to love, can be too quiet, too solitary for me. I am now a widow, a senior citizen without the companionship of the couples I used to routinely entertain. I’m okay with that, and I do still entertain and visit friends. But then, not long after my husband died, another obstacle to entertaining -COVID – entered our lives. For over two years, much of my time was spent in lock-down or isolation. Isolated or not, I do need some some sort of companionship. I turned to television and music to fulfill some of that need. My problem was, I couldn’t tolerate too much action anymore after the agony of dealing with a husband suffering from the aftermath of a devastating stroke. I have also grown to hate the cynicism and emptiness I find in so many German and American shows. But I have discovered an amazing phenomenon – a world some call K-pop, a world I will call K-culture here. This phenomenon has found its way 8,000 kilometers westward – to Germany, and straight to my heart

K-Dramas

I first started watching Korean dramas as a means of connecting with the culture my son now lives in. The first one was a fantasy romance he and I watched together, “My Girlfriend is a Nine-Tailed Fox”. It was cute, charming, romantic and just a bit weird. I have never met and don’t know anyone who has ever met a pretty girl who is also a fox with nine tails, with a constant craving to eat meat. But its slightly bizarre plot, the fact that it derives from a Korean folk tale, and the charming story enchanted me. Then when I discovered that Netflix had Korean dramas I could watch alone, I watched “Let’s Eat”, a drama about Korean food. I wanted to eat or cook almost everything I watched the characters eating. I started to close my eyes while eating, like the protagonists did, shaking my head in wonder at some of the delicious food I was eating. I remember one of my friends smiling at me as she watched me eat with such enthusiasm. I was being drawn into a deeper appreciation of food – and also of the Korean culture. As I watched one drama after another, I became infected with this virus called K-drama addiction. By now, I have probably watched well over two hundred dramas. They are so good, I don’t feel like watching anything else! Some, like my first drama, are other-worldly, mysterious, or involve magic. They bring the viewer into another universe that is impossible – and yet charming. Others are historical dramas, delving into Korean history. Some combine history with time travel. Others are about food or music ranging from classical music to K-pop. There are political dramas criticizing aspects of Korean society. There others are stories showing us everyday life in Korea. They are often silly dramas. I usually don’t watch these because I find them too lightweight or ridiculous for me. I love the Korean love stories. Most of the dramas seem to be romances, no matter what else the subject, and they usually, but don’t always have a happy ending. They usually consist of sixteen episodes, but not always. Some are shorter, others can go on to over even 100 or more episodes. Somehow, these stories manage to draw me completely into the world they are depicting, captivating my emotions and imagination. They draw me into a wonderful, life-affirming world full of beauty, where enduring values like honor, loyalty, and courage exist and cynicism has to give way to hope. In these dramas people dare to commit to each other. There is such a thing as true, sacrificial love. There is conflict and high drama as goodness confronts evil, but goodness usually prevails. If not, there is still some goodness to cling to. People aren’t afraid to feel. In these dramas, men cry. Sometimes they weep. People hug and encourage each other. There are words of wisdom wise people tell others who are willing to learn from them. We hear the insights people utter as they overcome struggles. In their struggles, good people protect one another the best they can. When they fail, they apologize. Because of values like these, the dramas make me want to live in their world, at least for the time I am watching. Sometimes there is so much wisdom in the words and insights I hear, I learn lessons for my own life, bringing the two worlds closer together. I have been healed from some of my own emotional wounds by watching how people in these dramas deal with their own wounds. As they heal one another, I am also healed. There is even a Korean term for this type of Korean drama – and music – healing.

I have never heard a film, drama series or music being referred to as “healing” outside of Korea, but it seems to be a common term there. I have latched on to it! These are my favorite kinds of dramas. They can be romance stories or about themes as widespread as bullying, abuse, family dysfunction, hospitals, politics, social backgrounds, mental health issues, or romance, but they all have something to do with overcoming some enormous obstacle. Healing occurs.

My most recent drama was “Dr. Romantic”, a series about a doctor who has “romantic” ideals such as the aspiration to save the life of each person who comes into his hospital. I have watched two seasons of a three-season series. One would think saving lives were the motivation of every doctor, but alas, we find in this drama that many doctors avoid operating on patients where the outcome is doubtful, or where their reputation may be compromised. Here is an inspiring quotation that Kim Sabu, the hero of this drama, tells one of his students. “People do as well as you trust them, mature as much as you praise and encourage them, and grow as much as you acknowledge them.” After having watched the story and development that leads one doctor, a “failure” at her previous hospital, to work with Kim Sabu, her story inspired me. Hearing her quote Kim Sabu, I was even more inspired to encourage those around me who are struggling instead of criticizing them, even internally. I want to believe in them instead of belittling them, even in my secret thoughts. You can be sure that I will watch season 3 as soon as I am able to stream it!

The biggest source I have found for these dramas is Netflix. They seem to have an endless trove of Korean drama series. But there are other sites I have gone to as well to watch series or movies I can’t see on Netflix – Viki, Bilibili, Dailymotion and YouTube. If you Google “watch Korean dramas online”, you will find other websites that stream these series or films in your own country.

I think I am in the company of millions of other viewers – fans like me who adore Korean dramas. I belong to a sort of informal group in Germany we call “Korean Couch Evening”. We are women of all ages from Germany, Poland and the United States, whose common interest is a love for Korean dramas. I find fans everywhere, in surprising places. Most of us are women, but I know of men who also watch these dramas. My son occasionally watches them when he has time. My Korean daughter-in-law and her mother are K-drama fans. Our love of dramas threads us together as we discuss which drama we are currently watching and what we think of it. I discover that everyone from doctors, therapists and patients to the cleaning crews in hospitals watch and discuss drama after drama. My sister in Australia and her daughter and I watched dramas together while she was dating her Korean boyfriend. I have Iranian and Eritrean friends who watch these dramas on TV with subtitles in their own language.

On a trip to Austria last year, I visited a little Alpine village that was featured in a Korean drama. The town was overflowing with tourists from Spain, Korea and Philippines and other nations I couldn’t identify. They were all people like me who were captivated by the beautiful scenes in the drama. We wanted to see this village for ourselves and relive what we had seen on TV, bringing the virtual world into our physical, 3-D world. I know I left that village satisfied and inspired, just as I had been while watching the story that took place in this village play out on my TV screen. Part of this story had become a part of my own story.

In my next post I will discuss how I have found certain kinds of Korean music to fulfill other needs of my soul.