For some of you, watching K-Drama is not just a hobby, it is a way of life. For me, seeing the cityscapes of Seoul as portrayed in dramas made me feel like there was a story there and a life to live, so I did it! I moved to Seoul.
For context, I have always been intrigued by the diversity of cultures and languages of the world. I have friends from different cultural backgrounds and have always loved my own culture. So for me, watching shows or movies in different languages wasn't a foreign concept. I remember back in the day a lot of people close to me would think that it was "weird" or "unusual" to take an interest in Korea and watch K-Drama or to be into K-Pop, the funny thing now is that those same people are eating it up like Pop-Tarts (no hate). The shows I watched (that I can remember) included Cable Girls (Spanish), Elite (Spanish), Baby (Italian), Meteor Garden (Mandarin), and many, many more!
Telenovela
Back to the story, my love for watching foreign shows grew and grew, I remember watching a Telenovela at the time called Tierra de Reyes. It was legendary and "only" 120 episodes and because it's a Telenovela the language was Spanish! After watching this, a drama popped up on my Home page on Netflix and it was none other than Something in Rain (2018). My very first K-Drama and what made me fall in love with Seoul. Check out the trailer below.
The WHY?
Since childhood, I have always dreamed of living overseas, at least for an OE. To this day my family joke about reading my diary and seeing that I had written something along the lines of wanting to live with my husband and kids in the South of France or the fact that I had opened a "Greek Islands Fund" bank account when I was 15. I wanted to see and explore the world and when it came time to, Seoul was the first experience.
Why 'Something in the Rain' made me choose Seoul?
If you've watched Something in the Rain you can see the romantic yet realistic way Seoul is portrayed. I'm not saying that everything is 100% realistic. I just appreciated the backdrop to the drama so much in this case. Something in the Rain is one of those dramas that depicts romance and worldly issues. In this drama's case, there were issues of unfair treatment towards women in the workforce, the societal and familial pressures of not getting married before or after 30, the pressures of also dating and marrying someone with a prestigious job, background, status etc., the prejudices and views of women dating significantly younger than themselves, societal judgments for children who don't have parents, workplace bullying, relational bullying and stalking, and overall other people's perceptions of one's family and how this seems to be more important than the actual happiness of one's family.
The director of these dramas Ahn Pan Seok actually made another drama as well with the same actor called One Spring Night so if you like dramas that have a few societal issues added in and aren't too comedic but rather cute and heartwarming these ones are for you. Don't get me wrong I LOVE a good comedy.
So what made me actually decide from this drama that I wanted to move to Seoul? I had always wanted to move to a big city, I'm from a somewhat small city compared to the biggest cities in the world. A small, but lovely city called Auckland. Watching this drama made me see grown-up life in a brighter yet real way and the cityscapes added to the fact. When researching I found that Seoul was a relatively safe city to live alone in and that there was always so much to do there. Before moving to Seoul I did visit first on a solo holiday. After this trip, I recommended to everyone I knew and met that they should all take a solo trip at least once in their lives. It is honestly, the experience of a lifetime and you really grow and learn so much as an individual. Making beautiful memories for your life as well.
Note: I would like to say that no place is 100% safe, you have to be careful wherever you go and make wise decisions. Always, always trust your gut, if something feels off don't go there or do it. Trust yourself.
Coffee Bay
Something I have been waiting to do because of this drama is visit the coffee franchise "Coffee Bay" I am guessing this company sponsored this drama at the time because it was featured a lot! Maybe I will report back to you when I finally visit!
So, there you have it. That is why I moved to Seoul. Is there a place you'd like to move to? I'd love to hear about it! Comment below to let me know!