CRASH LANDING ON YOU

In 2012, I attended a conference in Seoul, Korea. It wasn't a country high on my "must visit" list but I confess I had a fascinating time. There were two particular highlights (in addition to kimchi, bbq restaurants and warm toilet seats): a trip to the DMZ and a journey around Seoul. 

I signed up for two Intrepid Urban Walkabout tours in the capital and it turns out I was their first customer. Not only did I have Thomas, who had worked in Hobart as a guide for Korean visitors for years, but I also five trainee guides. They included a new tourism graduate who hated the Japanese, a housewife with primary school aged kids, a Canadian-Korean sent back to look after his grandparents, a Korean who had grown up in Australia and 70 year old Mr Kim, a traditional calligrapher who couldn't make a living anymore because no one was interested in his craft and who'd learnt his English as a child during the Korean war. We walked and walked and talked and talked and I was given a wonderful intoduction to not only the buildings and the history but also the people. 

Mr Kim, Jung, Thomas & Zoe - Seoul, 2012

The next day, I headed north to the DMZ. I don't know the extent of your knowledge of the Korean War but it ended in 1953 with a ceasefire. In other words, the war hasn't finished and there is literal line across the country that marks what's called the Demilitarized Zone. And at the very middle, there's a place called the Joint Security Area and that's where the enemies meet if there is a problem. Korean Military Police in the area wear sunglasses to reduce the risk of staring competitions escalating and stand in the Tae Kwon Do readiness position. One faces forward and another back so 50% of them will survive an attack on us poor tourists. The DMZ is only 50km away from Seoul (imagine the distance between Perth and Mandurah) and you can understand the sense of existential threat that exists for the South Koreans given the madman in the North. 

Part of the tour to the DMZ was to explore one of the tunnels the North Koreans built to try and smuggle soldiers into the south. What I hadn't realised as I happily skipped my way down was that it was the equivalent of 26 stories underground on a long sloping parth and let me tell you, it was very looooong path. Fine going down but it nearly killed me coming up.

And why, you wonder am I telling you all this?

I have just finished watching a Korea romance-comedy-drama set in both North and South Korea called Crash Landing on You. It was recommended by film maker friend Glenda but she failed to mention that it was 16 x 1.5 episodes and once I'd started and been charmed by it, I had to keep watching. 24 hours of watching later and I'll swear that the hero and heroine only kissed three times. It's on Netflix and has the highest Google rating I've ever seen for a TV series: 4.9 and even The Guardian reviewer loved it. 

Other entertaining Korean dramas that I've watched in the last couple of years include:

Extraordinary Attorney Woo – a young lawyer with autism and a passion for whales (Netlfix)

Lie after Lie – a mother convicted of murder trying to get her daughter back (Apple TV)

Queenmaker – a political thriller (Netflix)


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