As a cultural artifact, I watched a Korean drama called Itaewon Class. This drama is about a young man, who is also an ex-convict, who opens up his own street bar. It follows his journey from when he was a high school student, all the way to his grown-up years.
In terms of entertainment, I thought that this show was really good and entertaining. I would recommend it to anyone who is into Korean dramas or is just looking for a show to watch. Not only was it just fun and exciting to watch, I think that I was able to learn more about Korean culture from this show.
One aspect that I learned about was the night life in Korea. The main character decides to open a street bar, which are very popular places for people to hang out at night and on the weekends. Since a lot of the show took place in these kind of nightlife areas, I felt like I had a glimpse of what Korean night life is like. It seems very lively and many people go out to these street bars and restaurants to eat with their friends. I also saw that the most popular alcohol is Korea is soju and I constantly saw the characters drinking it in the show.
I also learned about the Korean drinking culture as well. Something I thought that was interesting that I never knew before was that, when someone drinks with a parent, it is common practice for them to turn to the side and drink. I guess that this is a sign of respect in some way. Something else that I noticed was that people would always shake the bottle, elbow the bottom of the soju bottle before opening it, and then serve it. I’m not too sure about the background of it, but I just thought that it was something interesting that I probably would’ve never learned in a classroom setting. A final thing that I noticed about Korean drinking culture is that there is a phrase when drinking soju. The main character drank with his father for the first time and his father asked him if the soju is sweet or bitter. The main character said that it was sweet, indicating that it was a good day. It is said that when you’ve had a good day, the soju will taste sweet, but if you have a bad day, it will taste bitter. I thought that this was really interesting, and again, is something about Korean culture that I wouldn’t have learned in a classroom.
A final thing that I learned about Korean culture was their cuisine. Another aspect of the show is a battle between this small restaurant, owned by the main character, and a giant restaurant company. Since there was a battle between these two food companies, food was obviously a huge part of the show. I got to see different Korean dishes, such as soondubu jjigae, which is a soft tofu stew, and other stews. I noticed that Korean cuisine involves a lot of soups and stews which is something that is very different from American cuisine.
In conclusion, I learned a lot about Korean culture from watching Itaewon Class, that I wouldn’t have learned about otherwise. I think that watching Korean dramas, or shows in whatever language you are learning, is a great way to learn about aspects of their culture that you wouldn’t learn about in a classroom. Itaewon Class was a great show and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Comments
Hey Gavin! This was a good post. I thought this drama was really fun to watch. I actually decided to write about Itaewon class for my cultural post too. I really enjoyed how you can see each character's development. I liked how you addressed Korean drinking culture in your post. I thought that was really cool.
Hey Gavin, I thought this post was really cool. I didn't realize how much Korean drama can teach you about Korean culture. There are many aspects of the drama that shows a lot of truth about Korean life. I definitely am interested in this show and will watch a couple of episodes to become better at understanding Korean!
Hi Gavin,
Thank you for sharing this post. This show sounds awesome. Did you watch it in the Korean language with subtitles? Also, I find it very interesting about people turning to side if they are drinkinig with parents. I too think it has to do with a sign of respect.
Hi Gavin, great post! I also watched Itaewon Class and I shared some of the same thoughts you had about the drama. I think the part you brought up about the soju tasting sweet or bitter and the correlation with whether you had a good day or not is a really interesting aspect about Korean drinking culture.