Summer in Autumn / Korean dramas

We've been having unusually warm temperatures for a Melb autumn lately.. was thinking "is it really autumn already?"

Article in The Age "Beautiful one day, warmer the next" confirmed - this April is shaping up to be the hottest ever, most likely to be even hotter than February (supposed-ly summer) this year.

Perhaps I've been watching too much of "Autumn in My Heart" (蓝色生死恋: 秋天的童话) (a korean drama with beautiful autumn settings) where one can stroll under the falling leaves and think of pleasant memories (yupp I definitely had too much of korean dramas).. But now - if in the afternoons I do that (without cover / shade) I'd probably be running the risk of getting sunburnt.

Talking about Korean dramas.. have been watching them since prob 3 years ago, from the times of "Beautiful Days", "Piano", "Truth (jin-shil)" etc till now - "Green Rose", "Sad Love Story"... When I was in high school, watched some Japanese dramas eg Love Generation, Long Vacation, GTO etc.. but after a coupla years, Japanese series seemed to fade away, replaced by some smart marketing by Korean dramas. My preferences have drifted towards Korean influences, sometimes due to their scenic settings, sometimes to their storylines.

But lately alot of plots already seem over-used. Doesn't take much for the average drama junkie to predict the storyline. Endings are more often than not - sad. On average at least one lead character gets a terminal illness (leukemia a favourite it seems). Typically in each drama there's 2 main leads, with 2 supporting leads. Usually the relationship quandary they're involved in is 4-way. A likes B, but somehow due to circumstances beyond their control they're unable to be together. Complicating matters further are the presence of C and D, who each like A and D. More often than not, C and D are shown as scheming individuals who do everything in their means to separate A and B. Usually at the end C and D are enlightened to the nature of their wrongdoings and either suffer the consequences, become "good" people or are killed of.

I can become a scriptwriter too eh? Some shows really are too slow moving and I can't help but fast forward or skip entire episodes. Amusingly my fave is still the first I watched, both for Japanese (Love Generation) and Korean (AiMH).. A personal favourite was "Piano" (leads - Go Su, Kim Ha Neul) but I felt 9 out of 10 people who watched it didn't understand what was going on, especially the ending. Looking at it in a deeper context, it required some understanding of Korean culture and what exactly constitutes "family". Without attempting to understand the situations they were in, one might as well watch some light-hearted family drama instead of this melodramatic and very serious drama..

There isn't so much to do at home (other than my uni work of course).. plus I've no personal tv / radio. So entertainment basically consists of dramas - Korean / HK etc.. Watching "Green Rose" these days (showing in Korea's SBS) and darn - I'm hooked. They purposely presented the drama without bright and vivid colours. Feels like some shows from the '80s. The weight of the drama's on the shoulders of Go Su and so far he's doing great! Isn't one of those laugh-along dramas so typical of Korean shows. Has the interesting element of revenge drawn in (I'm always drawn to that - one of my fave book's The Count of Monte Cristo). A few episodes filmed in China. Looking forward to the rest..

I've a Korean housemate who happens to be very free lately, but too bad I'm not free to learn some of the language from her.. My knowledge is less than elementary (there's things such as SUBTITLES in dramas), confined only to annhyeungsaiyo (hello), oppa (brother / senior), onma (mother), haemoni (grandmother), onni (sister), kamsa hamnida (thank you), sarang (love), ajusshi (uncle), bianhada (sorry) plus a little more.. working on it! Pronunciation's the complex part, due to emphasis on certain intonations.. Also the WHO you're speaking to, is very important. Seniors/ supervisors / managers higher in rank/ position / family structure all require different manners of speech and words used..