I started out easy by simply googling 'Korean drama english subtitles' and not really knowing what to expect. In hindsight I should have realised there would be quite a market for just such a commodity with all the Korean Americans at least some of whom might have spotty Korean language skills.
Lucky for me!
So I did indeed find plenty of sites and have now happily embarked upon steady diet of Korean tv. It's not without it's hiccups, slow loading times and episodes in 6 parts - but an old 'Project Free TV' vet like me can navigate such obstacles no problemo!
If you're insatiably curious, check them out for yourself at http://starones.wordpress.com/
With that under my belt I set my face towards my next goal: the DVD Bang.
'Bang' is Korean for 'room' and a walk down any large street will be show you 'PC Bangs' - Internet Cafe's without the Cafe, 'Norae Bangs' - Karoke Bars, 'Jimjil Bangs' - Saunas and 'Manhwa Bangs' - think Comic Reading Rooms. Manhwa is to Korea what Manga is to Japan.
Last weekend I had watched parts of a Korean romcom that intrigued me enough to describe it in the staffroom at lunchtime. I barely had five words out of my mouth when I was deafened by a chorus of ..."Meenyo nun gehro woh!" (200lb Beauty) and various quotes thereof. So I was determined to watch it in a DVD Bang this weekend.
So on Sunday evening, with my semi-glad rags on, I was all set to head out the door when I doubled back and powered up the laptop. I wanted to do a quick recce of what to expect in the way of prices, etiquette and whatnot. Boy, did I get more than I bargained for!
First off, all the blogs came down pretty heavy (no pun intended) on my movie of choice and then it turns out that as the vast majority of Koreans live at home with their parents until they themselves are married, the DVD Bang has in itself, become a rather tasteless pun. (Let's just leave it at that shall we?!)
So much so that it is rare for two people of the same sex to visit and if you go by yourself you're considered sad and weird. Well! That gave me pause, ........enough that I seriously considered not going.
For all of five minutes. Then I thought, "I want to see this movie, and I like the idea of my own personal home cinema, so screw it, I'll just play the crazy foreigner card!"
Apart from anything else, on Friday when I had quietly asked one of my co-teachers to write the name of the movie for me, it sparked a four way discussion on how to spell it phonetically in English, so there was no way I was slinking into school on Monday morning without having seen the movie!
Thusly filled with righteous pig-headedness I headed down into Mugeodong my nearest DVD Bang. I think you will agree it has an oddly impressive entrance.....
Anyhoo, I rocked up to Darby and Joan at the reception desk, gave them a nice "Anyong ha seo!" (Formal Hello), handed over my written movie title with a polite "Butag ham nida" (Please).Two minutes later I was in my private theatre with the opening credits rolling, all for the princely sum of 6,000 Won ( about €4.50).
Of course, once I saw the room I could see how it could be used for more, ahem, private recreation....
I mean there's even tissues and a towel for crying out loud. The sofa WAS seriously comfy though.Despite the online idiots knocking the film, I thoroughly enjoyed it and would watch it again, the room was comfortable and the whole evening cost less than a pint of Guinness in Dublin. I reckon I'll become a regular!
So the moral of this post is....."Feck the begrudgers and never underestimate the power of the 'Crazy Foreigner Card'"
I know I won't!
Peace out!
No comments:
Post a Comment