In my continuing efforts to keep up with Dramas with a Side of Kimchi’s 14 Days of Fangirling, I shall attempt to do the impossible. That is, I shall attempt to name the one place I want to visit, simply because I saw it in a drama and the one drama trope I love most. Let’s see how well this goes, shall we?
Trying to decide where to begin on Day 7’s fangirling is like trying to decide which pair of Converse I like best. It’s pretty much impossible because there are just so many places I want to visit and so many Converse I want to own. To give a generic, cop-out answer like “South Korea” would be lame and to narrow things down to a specific coffee shop in Hongdae seems grossly inadequate. In all honesty, I want to explore all of South Korea, not just the places I’ve seen in dramas. I want to hike those infamous mountain trails (without spraining my ankle, getting lost, falling down a hill, losing cell phone service, and being scared witless by unseen wild animals while I wait for prince charming to find me and piggyback me to safety), I want to sip on an iced americano while I people watch in some cute little coffee shop, I want to listen to some underground band play at one of the zillion clubs in Hongdae, I want to leave a lock at Namsan, I want to eat the famous Busan fishcakes (though I might skip on the train to get me there), I want to visit the penis park and leave flowers for the poor girl who inspired the erection (O_o) of that park all the while trying my darndest not to laugh myself silly. (And yes, this is really a thing and yes, it’s really on my world travels bucket list.) There are just so many places I want to visit, how do I choose just one!?!
I think if I really had to pick just one drama-inspired destination, it would have to be Jeju Island. Everything I’ve ever seen of the island, both in drama and in my own research, makes me think it’s a little piece of heaven on earth. I’d give anything to be able to go out with the 해녀 (lady divers), though if any even exist by the time I actually get around to visiting the island remains to be seen. (And let’s not even talk about the fact that it’s been almost 20 years since I last did any real diving of my own… Yikes!) I really just want to explore the island. Soak in its natural beauty. Emerge myself in the culture. Indulge in all the delicious food. Basically do the exact same things I enjoy doing anytime I travel. And if I just so happen to run into a gorgeous chaebol heir who feels the need to suddenly sweep me off my feet, so be it. *falls over laughing*
As if trying to decide which drama destination I most want to visit wasn’t hard enough, Day 8’s fangirling asks which drama trope I love best. Ugh! How is a trope-loving zombie supposed to decide such things!?! I know tropes are cheesy and over-used and oftentimes completely cringe-worthy but I still can’t help but love them. A drunken confession, gratuitous ab flashes, a coincidental piggyback ride and all the inadvertent cuddles that come with, the so-close-yet-so-far almost kiss that builds ridiculous amounts of tension between a budding OTP and makes you hold your breath as you wait for the moment that never comes, the token shower scene, forced co-habitation that inevitably leads to love, the company trip and all the delicious quality OTP time that comes with it, gender-benders, the cool, tough guy who harbors a heart of gold… Theses all top my list of favorites but which one do I declare to be my #1???
It’s so hard to choose but as I sit here, pondering the many possibilities, it’s become pretty clear to me that I really do love it when the seemingly cold, tough guy melts into an adorable puppy around the girl he loves. It’s what I loved about Song Joong Ki’s character in Descendants of the Sun, and Ji Chang Wook’s character in The K2, and Lee Joon Gi’s character in Scarlet Heart: Ryeo and Gong Yoo’s character in Goblin. All of these men were intelligent, tough, highly trained, highly skilled warriors (of one sort or another), they were the best of the best, the toughest of the tough, and yet, as we watched them fall in love, we got to see that hard exterior melt away and this new, softer, gentler, incredibly charming side of them come out and OH MY GRACIOUS! My heart flutters just thinking about them! As for which drama did this best… I’d have to say it was Goblin. After all, Goblin was a sword-wielding, immortal god carrying around a thousand-year grudge. He could take life just as easily as he could give it and had never, in either his mortal or immortal life, experienced love. You couldn’t find a more hardened man if you tried! And yet, once he finds his bride, this immortal being transforms into this charming, adorable, puppy who melts your heart. The fact that he goes on to save his bride from a creepy thousand-year-old ghost and then voluntarily wander in the wastelands between heaven and earth for years, and then endure all that follows, just so he can be with his bride in the next life… AUGH! BE STILL MY HEART! Clearly, I have found my favorite drama trope!
Now that I’ve done the impossible I think it’s only fitting if I ask you to do the same. (After all, fangirling is always more fun with friends!) So tell me, if you could visit any drama destinations where would you most like to visit and why? What about those darn drama tropes? Do you have a favorite? If you do, which drama did it best? Let me know in the comments below!
As for places to visit – apart from Jeju Island which looks amazing in all the dramas, don’t judge me, but the second place I’d want to go is the corny place where all the lovers place their locks. Hahahaha! I just need a lover to go with me. 😉
As far as tropes – I am a sucker for the gender bender dramas. My daughter hates them, but I just adore them. In my opinion the best one I’ve ever seen is the Taiwanese drama “Bromance”, but I’m such a sucker for all of them…You’re Beautiful, To the Beautiful You, Sungkyungkwan Scandal, Moonlight drawn by Clouds, Coffee Prince (although she is mistaken for a boy, she doesn’t intentionally pose as annoy), Nail shop Paris…did I miss any? Hahaha!