안녕하세요, it’s Ari, your friendly Korean source and weekend reminder 🎉 Today’s newsletter is about extraordinary K-Dramas, how to introduce yourself and rap at the same time, and a kimchi pasta recipe. Let’s start!
🎧 You can listen to this newsletter on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms.
📕 My Korean exercise book, Not Studying Korean, Just Filling in the Blanks is available on Amazon (paperback) and my online store (digest e-book). Check it out if you want to pick up some basic grammar & vocabulary, test your skills, and support my work! ❤️
Start with the three stories I prepared!
🐋 1. Extraordinary K-Drama tops Netflix chart
A new K-Drama, Extraordinary Attorney Woo topped Netflix South Korea’s Top 10 chart beating Money Heist: Korea (2nd) and Stranger Things (4th). It’s about Woo Young-woo, an attorney who tackles challenges in the courtroom and beyond as a newbie at a top law firm and a woman on the autism spectrum. If you loved Good Doctor (2013), a K-Drama series that has its American remake, you’ll love this drama, too. Good Doctor is about a resident doctor on the autism spectrum. Many viewers say Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a courtroom version of Good Doctor. I haven’t watched the series yet since I’ve been busy watching Stranger Things 4 Volume 2 and crying a river 😭, but it seems like everyone on the Internet is talking about this new drama. If you’re looking for a K-Drama to watch, give it a try!
👬 2. The greater Korea
Another K-Drama news! Following the huge success of Semantic Error, a Korean BL (Boys’ Love) drama based on a web novel of the same title, many new BL dramas are released and coming. Among them, To My Star season 2, the love story between a superstar and a chef, was recently released and it got popular with romantic scenes like the above gif ☝ Recently many K-Pop fans and K-Drama fans were surprised and excited to hear the cast news about an upcoming BL drama, Unintentional Love Story. According to news reports, a handsome actor Cha Seo-won and another handsome boy K-Pop group member, Gongchan of B1A4, will star as the leads of the drama. If so, the upcoming drama will be the first BL drama with famous stars starring as the leads. Many fans reacted, “The greater Korea (더 큰 대한민국)”
🐶 3. Moon Tori
Lastly, the cutest puppy that Koreans fell in love with! His name is Moon Tori. Moon is his last name followed by the former South Korean President Moon Jae-in. He was an abandoned dog when he got adopted by Moon during his presidency in 2017. The former president shares his after-office life on Instagram including farming, reading books, and most importantly, spending time with Tori. Since Moon was the most beloved president ever with the highest end-of-the-term approving rate of 42%, his dog is still loved by many Koreans. The current president’s recent approving rate is also 42 % which is very low for a new president who entered office just two months ago. (Update: According to the most recent poll, his approving rate dropped to 37%) I think Tori’s popularity is a sign that Koreans miss the former president. Comments on his posts are, 더 주세요 ㅠㅠㅠ (Please give me more) and 귀여워 ㅠㅠㅠ (Cute).
🎤 Mic Drop- Extraordinary Attorney Woo
In this new K-Drama, there’s a scene that the heroine introduces herself in front of her colleagues at work. She speaks really fast and it almost sounds like a rap which makes it a perfect mic drop line! If you click the above video, you can listen to her words which are,
제 이름은 똑바로 읽어도 거꾸로 읽어도 우영우입니다. 기러기, 토마토, 스위스, 인도인, 별똥별, 우영우… 역삼역
The line means, “My name is Woo Young-woo, whether it’s read straight or flipped. Kayak, deed, rotator, noon, racecar, Woo Young-woo… Yeoksam Station,” according to Netflix’s translation. Actually, this English translation went viral in Korea. Many people praised the translator did a great job coming up with English words that are read the same whether they’re straight or not. The takeaway of this line is 제 이름은 (your name)입니다 meaning “My name is (your name).” This is how you introduce yourself in formal settings like your first day at work. For casual settings, you can say 저는 (your name)이에요/예요 meaning “I’m (young name).”
Words in the line,
똑바로 Straight
거꾸로 Flipped
기러기 Wild goose
토마토 Tomato
스위스 Switzerland
인도인 Indian
별똥별 Shooting star
역삼역 Yeoksam Station (a subway station in Gangnam)
👄 You can practice speaking the line on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or other your favorite podcast platforms. Don’t forget to send me your voice message 👇 If you send it by 4 pm Wednesday, July 13th ET, your voice will be on the next podcast episode!
🍝 Kimchi Rose Pasta
I found this cool recipe while I was searching for a creamy pasta cooking video for my cheat day. Creamy pastas are really popular here in Korea. I often cook it for myself at home. And when I do that, I always have it with kimchi because they’re great together! This is why you might be served with kimchi as side dish when visiting a pasta restaurant in Korea. When you don’t, you can ask for it. (Most restaurants have kimchi prepared.) Or you can just add kimchi to your creamy pasta to make kimchi rose pasta which is today’s food 😋 Watch the above cooking video and try for yourself! It’ll make a great date dinner food.
Last thing I want to share is a kiss scene reaction of a NCT Jaehyun’s fan which went viral recently. You’ll regret it if you don’t watch it till the end 🤣🤣 The tweet says, “I can’t stand watching my son’s kiss scene. So boring. I’m outta here.”
Thanks for reading! If you liked my newsletter, ❤👇, share, or leave a comment. Don’t forget to send me your voice message 🎤 See you next week! 안녕 👋
Extraordinary K-Dramas
That kiss scene reaction was so funnyㅋㅋㅋ 고마워 아리 씨 for making me laugh today! 너무 웃겨!
우 투더 영 투더 우 너무 재미있게 보고 있는데 한국에서도 잘 되는 것 같아 좋네요. 박은빈 강기영 최고 ^^