New Tales of Gisaeng episodes 21-30 review: other story lines

In my last review I just wrote about Sa Ran and Da Mo’s relationship as the post was starting to get very long! So here is an overview of the other characters and story lines in this section of the drama. In a nutshell, Ra Ra’s parents get divorced and so Ms. Oh tries to get closer to Dr. Geum. She fails as Dr. Geum is going to marry Ms. Han. Ra Ra plans to get married too. Ra Ra’s uncle gets in trouble when his wife discovers he has a love child. 

Ms. Oh hears that Ra Ra’s parents are getting divorced and she is pleased because she thinks that now she has a chance to finally be with Dr.Geum who she has liked for a long time. But she is shrewd and knows that she will have to win Ra Ra’s grandmother over first if she is to have any chance at all. So she starts to casually meet her. She gives her presents and takes her to spas and gives her a shoulder to cry on when she needs to talk about what’s going on in her family. She acts like a concerned friend but really she is softening her up to the idea of a new daughter-in-law. And it seems to be working…

New Tales of Gisaeng episodes 21 – 30 review: Sa Ran and Da Mo

OK, So Sa Ran becomes a gisaeng. But then she starts making even crazier decisions! In a  nutshell, after Sa Ran joins the gisaeng house, Da Mo tries to date other women but can’t forget her. He finds her and tries to get her to leave the house and marry him. She won’t because she doesn’t think she’s good enough for him. She decides that the only way to get Da Mo to leave her alone is to have her hair raised in a gisaeng marriage! She meets an older, rich, single guest  and he agrees to raise her hair… 

 

 

 

The New Tales of Gisaeng, 2011, SBS

The Rainy Season Is Back in Seoul

 

source: The Korea Times

I thought the rainy season was coming to an end. But it seems to be back again!  Heavy rain and thunderstorms yesterday, more today, and lots more on the way.. According to the Korea Times there have been downpours of a record 60 mm an hour in Seoul and central and southern areas. At least 17 people have been killed in  landslides and more have been injured or are reported missing.

below: the rain this afternoon

 

 

 

 

 

Korean cooking: Golbengi muchim

When I watched the drama Dae Jang Geum, about the cooks at the Joseon royal court, it really made me want to become a better cook. I make Korean food most days but I stick to fairly simple dishes so I thought about joining a cooking class but never did. Now I’m about half way through New Tales of Gisaeng and Ms. Han, the head chef at the gisaeng house is spending a lot of time at Doctor Geum’s house trying to win over her future mother-in-law with her cooking. It’s making me think about cookery classes again! She’s cooking lots of good food so much so that anyone who is against the marriage but tries her food is charmed by her amazing cooking – I’d like to be able to cook like that! It makes me hungry watching it! Tonight I made golbengi muchim for dinner – served with rice and soju of course!

The ingredients are

finely sliced carrot, cucumber, onion, mild chillies, and cabbage

1 tin of whelks (golbengi 골뱅이)

sauce – Korean chilli paste, chilli powder, sugar, salt, vinegar, crushed garlic, sesame oil, and sesame seeds

Mix it all together and voila!

All About Eve Episode 5

In this episode Sun Mi and Young Mi compete for the media studies scholarship. Although I’m sure we’re all wanting Sun Mi to win, it’s Young Mi who really needs the scholarship money. They both practise interviewing and reading the news at home but in very different situations – we can see the difference in their lives again. Sun Mi can practise with her loving dad in their nice house. She has a large wardrobe with a wide range of clothes to choose from. And she gets chauffeured to school in the car by her dad. Meanwhile Young Mi practices alone, goes to school on a crowded bus and has to patch her old shoes up as she doesn’t have any others. Watching this time around I have a lot more sympathy for Young Mi. Having said that, her vicious streak drives me mad. If only she could just be happy with Woo Jin instead of having to be so competitive and ruthless all the time… but then it would be a boring drama!

The rivalry continues between Sun Mi and Young Mi, All About Eve, episode 5, MBC 2000

New Tales of Gisaeng: Da Mo’s New Girlfriend

Episode 20 had one of the funniest scenes so far for me. Now that Ra Ra has stopped acting like a spoilt brat we needed a new bad girl and she has appeared in the form of Da Mo’s new girlfriend.

Da Mo’s new girlfriend is no lady.

New Tales of Gisaeng Review episodes 11-20

Here’s the next brief recap of the story line from episodes 11-20. Sa Ran is finally pushed into joining the gisaeng house, so in the next part we’ll see how that works out. Her step mum really stepped up to the wicked step mother role here and succeeded in making me angry! She is so manipulative using different tricks to make Sa Ran financially support the family. And Sa Ran’s dad is so weak he was annoying me even more! He just sits back and agrees with everything his wife decides to do. Even when it comes to telling Sa Ran about her real mother. I felt sorry for Sa Ran and was disappointed that even though she stands up to her step mother, she falls for her manipulative tricks in the end too. Some family secrets are revealed, Da Mo and Sa Ran break up, and  Da Mo decides he may as well get married -to anyone – as long as they are rich and acceptable to his family! Ra Ra changes dramatically – She has to grow up quickly after she learns more about her family. She becomes more mature but luckily now there’s another spoilt brat on the scene to take her place – Da Mo’s new girlfriend!

Sa Ran and Da Mo’s story

Da Mo is still having problems at home and is frustrated about the way his dad treats him and his mum.  He tries to get his mum to stand up to his dad. But she won’t – when her husband comes home drunk and shouts at her, she obediently rushes off to get him his usual honey water. And in the morning when he complains that the kimchi in the chi-ge (stew) is not soft enough, she meekly tries to explain that there’s not much time in the morning to cook. His reply is that she should get up at 4am to make sure it’s cooked properly! Nice chap. He couldn’t be more different to Sa Ran’s dad. Da Mo tries to support his mum in these situations but she stops him when he tries to say something. She doesn’t want an argument and just wants to keep the peace. Why does she put up with this all the time?

Da Mo tries to stand up to his dad, New Tales of Gisaeng, SBS

All About Eve episode 4

In the 4th episode, Young Mi works on getting Woo Jin to fall in love with her to make Sun Mi jealous. In the UK, Sun Mi’s friendship with Hyung Chul develops too and then she comes back to Seoul ready to tell Woo Jin how she really feels….

Woo Jin’s mum shouts at Young Mi for dressing like a tart. She tells her to behave herself and never to dress like this again! It sounds like she’s nagging but underneath she is probably trying to help her. But Young Mi seems to soak up the criticism as though she knows she can never be good.

Young Mi, All About Eve, episode 4, MBC, 2000

The Nameless Adjumma in New Tales of Gisaeng episode 9

We often see adjummas (housekeepers) working in the homes of the rich in Korean dramas. No well-to-do family would be without an adjumma. But they are always in the background; nameless characters in aprons. I believe it’s actually pretty common for wealthy people to have adjummas working for them in Korean society too – not just drama. And some families may have more than one – perhaps one to cook and one to clean. Adjummas can work full time in the same home or part time  a couple of days a week in different homes. I started to think more about the role and status of adjummas when I was watching the ‘baby on the door step’ story line in New Tales of Gisaeng, (SBS)

Ra Ra’s dad and grandparents discuss how to find the adjumma, New Tales of Gisaeng SBS

New Tales of Gisaeng episodes 1 – 10 review

I’ve been trying to write up what happens in each episode of this drama in order, but it takes ages to do as this drama really jumps around from scene to scene often only giving us short clips of the different characters in each family. Time is moving on too, and episodes 45 and 46 are on this weekend! I’m still only on episode 22 so I’ve decided to do quick overviews after each ten episodes and if anything of interest pops up -there seem to be some interesting Korean sayings used now and again –  then I’ll do separate posts on that. So here’s what’s gone on in the first ten episodes and some thoughts. 

Sa Ran and Da Mo’s relationship

Sa Ran meets Da Mo when she goes to his house to do a Korean dance performance for his grandmother. He seems arrogant but interested in her at the same time. But she acts indifferent towards him – she’s realistic and aware that a rich boy is unlikely to want to marry a poor girl like her. But then Sa Ran and her friends and Da Mo and his friends go to a ski resort for a Korean style blind date (소개팅 so-ge-ting) and both of them are surprised to see each other again there. Sa Ran’s selfish and bossy friend Ra Ra decides that she likes Da Mo and fixes the situation so that she will get to spend time with him on the date.

But Da Mo shows no interest in Ra Ra. He wants to get to know Sa Ran but she is partnered with his friend who also likes her – until he hears that her parents are uneducated and she lives in a cheap area of town. This puts him off and he says his mum would not allow him to get involved with a poor girl! (Well at least he’s honest, I suppose.)

소개팅 Sa Ran and Da Mo meet again at the so-ge-ting, New Tales of Gisaeng, episode 2, SBS