Scripture Sunday: 1st Corinthians

1st Corinthians is the first of two letters Paul wrote to the Christians at Corinth. Corinth had a lot of problems, and sometimes the believers in Christ got very far away from the truth of the gospel.

To start with, the Corinthians were dividing themselves into factions based on which spiritual leader they preferred, Paul, Peter, or Apollos. Paul points out the foolishness of this distinction in chapter 1, verse 13, "Was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?" He's saying that Jesus Christ is the one we follow; Christians are not supposed to be divided into groups that follow after an idolized preacher or spiritual leader. Divisions in the church are not a good thing.

Chapter 5 deals with an even more serious situation in the church. Fornication (that's sex outside of marriage) is a problem for the Corinthians, and one person in their congregation is especially noteworthy because he's sleeping with his father's wife. And the Christians at Corinth are conducting business as usual instead of confronting this guy for his sins. Paul makes an important distinction between the way Christians are supposed to treat other Christians who are living in open sin and the way we're supposed to treat non-Christians. We are to love non-Christians and spend time with them, but when someone says they belong to Jesus and yet they live their lives in open sin, Paul says we are not to fellowship (keep company) with these people. 5:11--"But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat."

But after addressing these very difficult moral matters, Paul says some beautiful things about Christian love in Chapter 13, "The Love Chapter", which is one of the most well-known passages in the New Testament. Paul is in the midst of discussing spiritual gifts like prophesying and speaking in tongues when he says in 13:1--"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The word "charity" in this case means "love" instead of the modern sense of "giving to the poor". Paul is saying that even if he has the flashiest and most impressive spiritual gifts, his words will be like the sound of a clanging instrument if he speaks without being motivated by love. God does not place a lot of value on people showing off their spiritual side--he cares about our hearts and whether we love him and love others. Here's the rest of chapter 13, for reference:

^"2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
³And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
⁴Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
⁵Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
⁶Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
⁷Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
⁸Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
⁹For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
¹⁰But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
¹¹When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
¹²For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
¹³And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."


1st Corinthians addresses many painful issues in the early church, but it also shows believers the importance of truly allowing God's love to work in our hearts.

K-Drama Review: 49 Days, Episodes 1-2

Contains Spoilers for Episodes 1-2

Jihyun is a happy bride-to-be, fluttering about in a pretty world where her parents dote on her, her two best gal pals help her out of every jam, and her fiance Minho is basically the perfect man. Jihyun is insulated from harm on every side, like a fairy princess. Then a car accident lands her in a coma, but a well-dressed grim reaper who calls himself the Scheduler gives her a second chance at life. Jihyun has 49 days to collect the true tears of three non-family members who will truly mourn her if she's gone. As an added complication, Jihyun has to witness these tears while borrowing the body of YiKyung, a chronically depressed woman.

Because Jihyun is everybody's favorite girl, this assignment should be a piece of cake, right? Only it turns out that finding true tears is rather difficult, and not everyone who said they loved Jihyun really did. There are problems with her dad's business, there are tensions with her inner circle of buddies, and her fiance's best friend might just be in love with her. How does YiKyung's life connect to Jihyun's? And who is this mysterious Scheduler, anyway? Faster than you can say "Supernatural body-switching romantic Korean drama", everything's gotten insanely complicated.

Things I Loved: 1. YiKyung-as-Jihyun. Oh my. YiKyung's actress has amazing abilities, but you don't really see her range until "Jihyun" takes over. YiKyung's overwhelming depression drags down her scenes, but I like YiKyung-as-Jihyun very much, because the actress perfectly mimics Jiyhun's mannerisms and bubbliness, but she makes it even more endearing, somehow. It's like the audience is getting to see immediate evidence of how Jihyun makes YiKyung's life better and how the two of them might be affecting each other in ways other than a parasite/host relationship. And when Kang starts getting scenes with the baffling YiKyung-as-Jihyun, we see a lot of humor and learn  lot about Kang in the process.

Seriously, This Girl Can ACT.

2. Kang. He's a grumpy man, but he's got a good heart. His backstory seems rather convoluted because he's a genius architect who owns/manages a restaurant, he spent a lot of time in America and has a best buds relationship with Minho who was his college pal, but he still went to highschool with Jihyun...it looks like the writers went a little overboard with trying to give Kang a finger in every pie. But who cares if he's miraculously connected to everyone in Korea? No one can resist a kind-hearted grump.

He Resents Everything. Except Jihyun.

3. Jung Il-Woo's marvelous turn as Scheduler. He's fussy and fastidious, griping about how mortals keep messing up his neat, perfect death lists. He treats Jihyun kindly, but she also exasperates him because she insists on treating him like a buddy and calling his special reaper-phone at all hours. It's very funny when he gets upset at Jihyun, because she's such a sweetie, not even a grim reaper can stay mad at her. Scheduler's very cool, and it doesn't hurt that he brings in the younger demographic, either.

Pictured: The Only Reason That Teenage Girls Watch This Show.

Complaints: 1. The acting for Jihyun wasn't the best. The actress is shockingly pretty, but her acting isn't very nuanced so far--the happy face, sad face, and horrified face are all we get. Now, this does reflect Jihyun's own lack of depth and nuance, but I still wish the acting had delivered a tad more oomph.

Her Hair is Beautiful, Though.

2. The pacing. It's rather slow and it takes a long time for the basic concept to be set up. The music and the visual quality in the show are very classy, but it was hard for me to stay invested in episode 1 long enough for the "good stuff" (which is actually the bad stuff) to start happening.

Themes:

Life and Death: With a show about comas and souls and second chances at life, of course they're going to play up the life and death themes. Jihyun's life is, well...brimming with life. She's always giggling, joking, and all but skipping around. This contrasts sharply with YiKyung who is like an animated corpse and who can no longer interact with people. YiKyung attempts suicide by walking into traffic because she can't get over the death of her boyfriend who passed away in a car accident, so it seems like everyone of importance in this drama is closely acquainted with loss.

Ignorance: This is just what I'm noticing when I watch the show, but Jihyun seems somewhat ignorant. She definitely isn't dumb, but there just seem to be so many things about the real world that she has no knowledge of. When a small travelling emergency crops up, Jihyun doesn't know how to react, so it's up to her friend In-Jung to troubleshoot the issue. YiKyung on the other hand isn't ignorant, but she does try to ignore the world around her, to the extent that she can't recognize a customer who has been frequenting her workplace for six months. Both women have blind spots--Jihyun can't see the harsh side of life and YiKyung can't see the beauty of life.

Both Have Some Big Lessons to Learn.

Cultural Observances:

Hanbok: Women wear traditional old-fashioned dresses as Jihyun's engagement party.

Episode Evaluations: I love the complicated supernatural setup with the genuine tears and a limited number of days to collect them. The acting from YiKyung and Scheduler was also spot-on, but the show moves a little too slowly for me to want to watch the whole thing. However, I was curious enough to read a recap for the final episode, so I'd know how it ends!

Watchable bonus: Here's the first part of the first episode of "49 Days" with English subtitles. Taken from Youtube.

K-Drama Review: The Greatest Love, Ep 1-2

Contains spoilers for episodes 1-2

Aejung is a D-list celebrity in Korea. She was once the most popular member of a famous girl group called Treasure Girls, but few people remember her name ten years after the group disbanded. Aejung's beloved family mis-managed her money, so now she has to do small guest appearances on radio programs and variety shows to support them. On the other side of the fame spectrum is the action-adventure star Jin who is known by everyone and is actually in the running for some parts in Hollywood. When Aejung keeps crossing paths with Jin, she finds out that he's a very selfish person, but their accidental interactions keep spurring her popularity and getting her more variety show appearances, so she can't help but appreciate that.

For Jin's part, he hates how Aejung keeps unintentionally sabotaging his pubic image, but he's still a bit drawn to her--not that he'd let anyone know that. A massive pile-up of misunderstandings, horrible timing, and face-saving leads to comic gold for our stuck-up hero and kind, plucky heroine. And Aejung is about to be cast in a dating show like The Bachelor, so this could definitely get interesting.

Things I Loved: 1. Aejung. What a great heroine! In an American movie, she'd be played by Sandra Bullock or somebody equally likable. Aejung is such a realistic in-between character that I have to love her. She's a girl next door, but she's not dull. She has a certain purity about her, but she's isn't all doe-eyed and cutesy. She's got a backbone and plenty of sass, but she only reveals them when necessary. She's brave, courteous, and yet flawed...why can't more heroines be like this?

Great Heroine? Or Greatest Heroine EVER?

2. The Meta-Reality and making fun of the entertainment industry. To me, it's always enjoyable to watch a show that pokes fun at or exposes the foibles of the entertainment industry, but this particular treatment of famous people is all the more funny for being set in Korea. Instead of performing songs at state fairs, like a D-list celebrity in America might, Aejung has to go on variety shows and perform crazy challenges like eating an entire bowl of noodles while riding a roller coaster. The things we do for money.

Note That the Bowl is Velcroed to Her Hand.

3. The supporting cast. They're all good at their parts and no one seems miscast.

Pil-Joo, Handsome Yet Socially Awkward Doctor.

Se-Ri: Beautiful Villainess and Former Bandmate of Aejung's.

Complaints: 1. Sometimes Jin pushes the man-boy act too far. Mostly, he's hilarious when he moves from deadly serious to childlike glee, but at times the over-acting is just grating.

2. Aejung's wardrobe. She gets put in the most drab and unflattering outfits in the world, but this is to highlight how undesirable and tossed-away she has become. Even so...

Were Beige & Rhinestone Shoulder Pads Really Necessary?

Themes:

Heartbeats: The Treasure Girls' hit song "Thump Thump" plays in the past when Jin is getting heart surgery. In the present, he has a special heart monitor that he checks often, but his heartbeat often races around Aejung. Due to anger, of course! Also, whenever he hears the song "Thump, Thump", his feelings toward her soften, and he doesn't know why. I don't know where the metaphor starts and ends, here. His literal heart and his emotional are somehow connected by his buried memories of Aejung's band singing about heartbeats.

Sympathy: Jin is one cold dude, but Aejung does manage to appeal to his better nature by comparing her embarrassing situations with his own current embarrassments.

Cultural Observances:

Crying at awards shows: If you're a K-pop star and you win an award at one of the many, many, many awards shows, you are required by law to weep in public. The writers make fun of this by having Aejung cry in the past when the Treasure Girls win a competition.

Respecting your elders: In Korean society, this is way more important than in America. In this show, we see how awful it is when younger people do not show kindness to their elders, such as when a young girl group looks down their noses at poor Aejung when she greets them. They are her hoobaes (her juniors in the entertainment industry) and she is their seonbae (senior), and it's really disgusting when they refuse to acknowledge her.

Rain: Not the weather phenomena, but the K-pop R&B singer.

This Guy. 

They never outright mention Rain, but Jin is kind of an indirect parody of him because Jin wants to be in an American movie called Ninja Assault, while Rain was in an American movie called Ninja Assassin. Jin watches the American comedian Stephen Colbert on TV, while Rain has appeared as a guest on the Colbert Report.

New Words: "Uljima" is "don't cry", and "eotokke" is "how", but more like "what should I do/what do I do, now"?

Episode Evaluations: Hilarious and smartly written, but I won't be reviewing any more episodes of this show.

K-Drama Review: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Ep 15-16

Read episode reviews for:

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 1-2
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 3-4
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 5-6
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 7-8
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 9-10
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 11-12
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 13-14

Contains Spoilers for episodes 15-16

Thanks to Chi-Soo's dad's interference, Kang-Hyuk has to decide whether to give up Chi-Soo, his baby half-brother, or give up the ramyun shop and Eun-Bi's future. Eun-Bi herself finally understands that she's not really whole without Chi-Soo and that she's afraid of losing him. And at least she does acknowledge to Kang-Hyuk what an amazing person he is and how lucky she was to have him as a friend, even though she couldn't feel anything more.

Chi-Soo's dad has been a sweet fellow until now, but he is finally putting his foot down and getting tired of his only son turning his back on the family corporation. This is actually great for Chi-Soo's personal development because he's learning that he can't do whatever he likes whenever he likes, and he can't ignore important people like his family. He also owes loyalty to his makeshift family at the ramyun shop, which makes for a divided heart.

Enjoy the final episodes of this super-awesome drama! It has action, intrigue, comedy, sweetness, bravery, rescues, and all loose ends are tied up perfectly! Almost nothing about the ending went the way I expected, and I mean that as a compliment. The writing staff took a flurry of plot cliches and made them absolutely non-cliche. *slow clap*

And a final word of caution: if you don't get misty-eyed while watching these episodes, it's because you have a heart of iron and eyes of steel. Kleenex. You will need it.


Things I Loved: 1. The opening fairytale/dream sequence in episode 15. It encapsulates the difficulties inherent in Eun-Bi/Chi-Soo, and uses comedy to highlight what would have to change for them to work longterm.

Princely, But Somewhat Useless

2. Brotherly Love. Kang-Hyuk is the best big brother ever, and does what is best for Chi-Soo even when baby bro is acting snobby or rude. He even goes and fetches Chi-Soo when he's lost, and gives him advice about how to treat Eun-Bi.

Give Him a Good Ending, Writers!

3. Eun-Bi practicing singing "Good Day" by IU because she wants to serenade Chi-Soo. I know this song, so it's even funnier listening to Eun-Bi try to croak it out in front of the mirror in a forced cutesy fashion.

I Love You, Girl, But You're No IU.

4. Eun-Bi in a bridesmaid dress and fur wrap, brandishing a plunger while leading a mob of protesters. I'm not even going to provide context for this one. Watch it for yourself.

Because it is Glorious!

Complaints: None. This finale is dipped in pure televised gold.

Themes:

Kid vs. Adult: Chi-Soo finally has to act like an adult, and the transition is hard for him. Kang-Hyuk highlights this difference when Chi-Soo wants to know what will happen if they lose the ramyun shop and he replies,  "Do you want the adult answer or the kid answer?" Chi-Soo requests the kiddie answer, followed by the grown-up answer. Chi-Soo really does start his full progression toward being a true adult when he becomes willing to give up everything he wants to keep Ba-Wool and Hyunwoo safe and happy.

Love and Money: This theme is awesome. Chi-Soo, who never met a problem he didn't throw money  at, is now willing to live in an impoverished fashion if that's what is best for his friends. He won't ask the guys for cash so that Eun-Bi won't find out and worry about him, and he has finally admitted that sometimes ready cash cannot solve life's most important issues. He asks So-Yi why she used to date him and she honestly replies that she enjoyed the expensive presents and wouldn't have dated him if he was poor. Chi-Soo says he knows Eun-Bi will still care for him without his fortune, but that fact bothers him too.

The Heartbreaking Walk-Away: In dramas, if you love someone you've got to let them go and you have to make it look convincing. Chi-Soo pulls an Edward Cullen with Eun-Bi when he says that she's all wrong for him and that he never cared for her. But anyone in their right mind knows he's lying because he's on the verge of tears while shoving her hand away.

Bathroom jokes: Holy cow, I never expected the show to carry on with its running gag about constipation this long. But I'd be lying if I said it wasn't funny.

Mirrored scenes: Chi-Soo's dad blows up for once and calls his son a brat, then Kang-Hyuk calls him the same thing soon afterward.

Chi-Soo kept the Pororo penguin blanket from episode 5-ish, and still sleeps under it when he's lonely! It's probably the only warm and human object he owns--everything besides this child's blanket is totally expensive and totally replaceable.

The entire last 10 minutes of the final episode is a series of mirror scenes that make you remember all the great times you've had with the show.

Cultural Observances:

New words: "Uri" is "we" or "us" and Eun-Bi starts talking about herself and Chi-Soo in terms of "we".

English Bonus:

English songs: "Creep" by Radiohead plays when Chi-Soo learns that his presence at the ramyun shop is about to ruin everyone's lives and their source of income. It's the unedited version of "Creep", no less. Harsh much, soundtrack? When everyone is decorating the Christmas tree, "Jingle Bell Rock" plays in the background, though it's clearly a K-pop artist singing in English. When Chi-Soo is at the coffee chop with So-Yi, "She Will be Loved" by Maroon 5 plays. "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" plays at the opening of the finale.

Random words: Ba-Wool says "jingle bells" and "musicals". Hyunwoo says "Christmas"...well, really everyone in the cast says "Merry Christmas" at some point. Eun-Bi says the number "two". Chi-Soo writes "no problem" on a Christmas card.

Episode Evaluations: These are funny, dramatic, and touching episodes from top-notch series. I do not want for this to be over. But there are rumors of a season 2, so yay!


For K-Drama fans: If there's a show you'd like me to check out, leave a suggestion in the comments. I'd love to find the next awesome Korean drama to fall for and review.

K-Drama Review: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Ep 13-14

Read episode reviews for:
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 1-2
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 3-4
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 5-6
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 7-8
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 9-10
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 11-12
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 15-16

Contains Spoilers for episodes 13-14

Kang-Hyuk has finally admitted to Chi-Soo they are secretly half brothers with the same mother, due to a complex plot twist involving remarriage, terminal illness, and moving to and from Japan and back again. (Hey, I don't write this stuff, I just review it.) Now the complex character interaction is even more complex-ier. Chi-Soo and Kang-Hyuk are bonding in an odd sort of way, but they're still romantic rivals and Chi-Soo thinks Kang-Hyuk is out for money. Chi-Soo rains down insults, Kang-Hyuk starts removing doors from their hinges, Eun-Bi can't make a decision between them...in other words, the competition is so on.

But Chi-Soo's dad is very concerned about his son's ongoing involvement with Eun-Bi and with the ramyun shop. Chi-Soo is a prince and his dad doesn't want him to risk hurting himself by hanging out in a world where he doesn't belong. When Chi-Soo insists on spending all his time with Eun-Bi (and he also seems to secretly enjoy spending time with his half-brother), his dad pulls out all the stops to ensure that Chi-Soo will climb back up to his ritzy hotel home and never go slumming again. The guys in the series have to make really big decisions because Kang-Hyuk has to choose between being a good brother and being a good potential match for Eun-Bi and Chi-Soo has to decide whether leading a happy life is worth doing without all the frou-frou of his dad's world.

Also...Kang-Hyuk is no longer comic relief. He's part of some funny scenes, but he's nearly 100% serious, which is just amazing.

Things I Loved: 1. Ba-Wool. His overprotective baby brother act is so endearing, and while he used to get fighting mad over his girlfriend So-Yi, now he's more likely to get fussy when people mess with his favorite "big sister" Eun-Bi. And his hand drawn flowchart of the Cha family's insane backstory is priceless.

Plus, His Hair Comes Right Out of "Grease" the Musical.

2. The Meta-Speak and Genre Awareness. Eun-Bi talks a lot about how unpleasant it is to be involved in a love triangle. Chi-Soo asks Kang-Hyuk, "Have you never watched K-dramas? The girl always ends up with the bad boy who has money", meaning himself. Kang-Hyuk and a friend joke about being secret relatives, which plays into him being actual secret relatives with Chi-Soo. The local ajummas (middle-aged women) say that Eun-Bi's life looks like a TV drama, then they mention several silly tropes that she is living out on a daily basis.

Also, when Eun-Bi worries about her love life, Dongjoo continually reminds her to "Just enjoy it!" which feels like the show's writers telling the audience not to flip out too much over this love triangle--just have fun with the show and don't get too angry with any of the characters. It's all done in fun. No hearts were broken in the filming of this drama.

Especially Not So-Yi's--Though She's Getting There

3. Eun-Bi's makeover for the dates. She looks so smooth and classy, and I think the audience appreciates it more because she hasn't shied away from looking grungy, athletic, bookish, or casual--now that she gets to look sophisticated, it feels like she earned the right. Eun-Bi is a knockout!

As GD and TOP Would Say, Aju Ppeogigayo.

4. Chi-Soo's unfathomably literal thought processes. Eun-Bi tells Chi-Soo that he shouldn't date her because he's like a lion, she's like grass, and lions can't eat grass. He is stricken for awhile, but then he shows up at her house in the middle of the night to let her know that a websearch reveals that actually, lions CAN eat grass. Ha! This guy simply cannot comprehend wordplay or figures of speech, not even in his native language. It's terribly cute.

My Internets Have Proven You Wrong, Milady.

Complaints: 1. That crushed water bottle prop is overplayed. Chi-Soo dramatically crushes his empty water bottle to make a point, then Kang-Hyuk grabs and reinflates it, then Chi-Soo yanks it back and crushes it again! Poor water bottle can't catch a break.

2. Not enough nice things happen to Kang-Hyuk to compensate for the bad things. He needs comfort!

Someone Give This Man Some Chocolate and a Snuggie.

Themes:

Using the wrong name: Whoa, this one really comes around full circle. Kang-Hyuk always called Chi-Soo by the wrong surname, but now it seems like it was his way of focusing on Chi-Soo as a person and not as someone who had a different father and came from a different family; the Cha family instead of Choi. Also, Chi-Soo used to call Kang-Hyuk the Japanese word for "onion", and now it turns out that Kang-Hyuk spent a large portion of his life in Japan and his dad was Japanese. (But then why is his surname Choi, like his mother's?)

Family ties: Chi-Soo and Kang-Hyuk's mother becomes a kind of stand-in for Eun-Bi, with Kang-Hyuk saying that no one in the Cha family knows how to truly love and care for a woman, because Chi-Soo's dad did a poor job of taking care of their mother. As it turns out, everything comes down to family experience, even tiny little details: Kang-Hyuk always loved Eun-Bi's strength and I thought he was just a progressive sort of dude. Actually, he's attracted to strong, healthy women because his own mother was sickly and died fairly young. And Chi-Soo's seemingly random hatred of women who cry in front of him dates back to his childhood, when he heard his mother crying every single night. Yikes.

Mirrored scenes: Both Ba-Wool and Dongjoo ask Eun-Bi "Are you bragging right now?"

Dongjoo and Coach have to keep ducking and hiding from Eun-Bi, since they're secretly dating and don't want her to know. They wonder aloud if she's on some tour of Seoul, with the way they keep running into her.

Kang-Hyuk always seems to be waiting in the same place for Eun-Bi when she walks home.

Chi-Soo's dad gives him the same speech as Eun-Bi about lions not eating grass.

Cultural Observances:

Inter-cultural dating taboos: Before Eun-Bi, Kang-Hyuk has only ever dated Japanese women because his father was treated badly for marrying a Korean woman instead of someone from his own country. I'm guessing that the stigma isn't so bad anymore, but Korea and Japan have a long and tense history.

Skinship: I think this word is a portmanteau of skin+kinship, and it means showing your closeness through touching. It's a little bit like the English term "PDA"(public display of affection), but it doesn't always have to be romantic and can mean just hugging your friends. Kang-Hyuk says that skinship with Eun-Bi is off-limits for Chi-Soo while they're both trying to win her heart. I guess he figures that Chi-Soo has an unfair advantage in this area, which he does.

K-Pop: During the Cha ramyun shop opening, "Gee" by SNSD (Girls' Generation) plays. Coach hears the music and asks if Girls' Generation is at the event.

New words: "Animyeon" is "either" or "or". "Moksori" is "voice", which Eun-Bi says wen she recognizes Chi-Soo's dad's vocie.

English Bonus:

Random words: Ba-Wool says "no problem", but pronounces it with like 5 extra syllables.

Episode Evaluations: Great character development for everyone, all around. I'm sad that there are only two episodes left.

K-Drama Review: Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Ep 11-12

Read episode reviews for:

Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 1-2
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 3-4
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 5-6
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 7-8
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 9-10
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 13-14
Flower Boy Ramyun Shop, Episodes 15-16

Contains Spoilers for episodes 11-12

Good grief. Way to make your audience want to cheer and cry at the same time, Flower Boy Ramyun Shop! As Episode 11 opens, Eun-Bi and Chi-Soo are finally getting their big epic kiss (yay!), but Kang-Hyuk sees it and is heartbroken (*sniffle*), and after he had just bought Eun-Bi a cute little present he saw her admiring, he gets abandoned at the movie theater. We just can't have any victories without also getting a punch to the gut, can we? The only thing that makes this more bearable is the fact that we know nothing about Kang-Hyuk or the depth of his thoughts or feelings--he's mainly in the show to be a complication, but he's still so sweet it's hard not to feel his (assumed) pain.

But all isn't settled. Chi-Soo still hasn't gained a full measure of emotional maturity and doesn't really know what to do with Eun-Bi, and he still isn't a kind or thoughtful person so he ends up insulting her instead of winning her over. Eun-Bi goes back to Kang-Hyuk who acts like he didn't see anything and steps up to be a very mature love interest. It only gets more complicated from there on, but rather than fighting Chi-Soo, Kang-Hyuk becomes his mentor. And Chi-Soo's dad still wants to buy out the ramyun shop, so their very "home" is under a bit of a threat, which leads everyone to ask themselves some important questions about how devoted they are to the life they've built.

Plus, there are epic 5-person Rock Paper Scissors battles, and whole scenes of the entire cast awkwardly making kimchi together. This show is made of win.

Things I Loved:

1. Chi-Soo delivering a long deprecating speech to Eun-Bi in a loving tone, then concluding his flurry of criticism with the line, "So, please stay by my side. Until I regain my senses." Horrible. Hilarious. Hilarrible. It's like the Pride and Prejudice insult/proposal scene all over again. But for all his meanness, the guy is blinking back tears when she walks away. You don't know whether to slap him or hug him.

I Am Just Like Mr. Darcy, Only More Insulting.

2. So-Yi showing that she really does care about Ba-Wool. The girl's heart is not made of stone!

Snow White Swan Princess Lily Flower Has Feelings!

3. Kang-Hyuk. Just...Kang-Hyuk. When Eun-Bi apologizes for leaving him behind, he just says "I'm thankful you came back to me". And he's this kind-hearted to everyone; he almost views Chi-Soo like a son and he worries about his welfare.

At Left: Chivalrous and Noble. Almost Tragically So.

4. The guys all humiliating Eun-Bi when she tries to explain to some neighbors why they're all living in the same house. Hyunwoo, Ba-Wool, Kang-Hyuk, and Chi-Soo respectively walk up and call Eun-Bi "Teacher, Noona, Wife, and Honey".

We're All One Big, Happy WEIRD Family

5. Chi-Soo and Eun-Bi's Big Epic Hug. It's actually better than the Big Epic Kiss from episode 10, because that was just a moment of passion--the hug is the very first example of Chi-Soo becoming a real human being and trying to love and comfort another person.

Pinocchio, You Have Now Become a Real Boy.

  

Complaints: 1. The Big Reveal about Chi-Soo's mom. Really? Did we have to do that? Isn't the story dramatic enough without getting ridiculous? Whyyyyy? And I think it takes away a little bit from Kang-Hyuk's awesome sweetness by giving him too clear a motivation for his actions.

Themes:

Creating a Home/Family: Kang-Hyuk insists to Chi-Soo's dad that the ramyun shop is more of a home than a business. He says that his employees find the comfort of a home in this place, which absolutely seems true when you think of the family structure Kang-Hyuk provides for Ba-Wool, Hyunwoo, and even Chi-Soo. Everyone in the ramyun shop is missing one or more of their parents--Kang-Hyuk has no parents, Chi-So has no mother, while Eun-Bi's father is dead and Hyunwoo's father is missing, and Ba-Wool is a runaway. And yet they all take comfort in being together and forming their own home at the shop. Kang-Hyuk outright says that everyone at the restaurant is like his child and he'll continue to protect them as such. AWWW.

Romantic Competition: To Kang-Hyuk, not competing for Eun-Bi's affections shows his care for her and for Chi-Soo. To Eun-Bi, his not competing signals his indifference. Chi-Soo thinks he has won the competition regardless of what is happening at any given time.

Food as a reflection of identity/economic status: Chi-Soo says that since he can't eat ramyun (become a poor, lowly person), he'll turn Eun-Bi into someone fitting for him and make her eat caviar. He then proceeds to take her out for caviar, but she doesn't really like it. Eun-Bi uses food as a metaphor for her love life when she says that she's to old to want a quick romance that is easily replaceable (cup ramyun), but she'd like a solid committed love (ramyun cooked at home by an individual). She says Chi-Soo doesn't even know how to cook ramyun, which Chi-Soo takes in a literal way and decides to become a decent ramyun chef. Is there anything this guy does not take literally?

Mirrored scenes: Ba-Wool explains to So-Yi that Eun-Bi is his beloved noona (older sister/friend) in the exact same terms that So-Yi explained her oppa (older brother/friend) to him in a previous episode. In both instances, there is jealousy over the oppa/noona being mentioned.

Ba-Wool and Hyunwoo have a surprisingly deep conversation in the ramyun shop kitchen, while Ba-Wool brandishes a giant leafy onion. Next, Chi-Soo and Kang-Hyuk have a big convo in the kitchen, with Kang-Hyuk holding the onion.

Chi-Soo's dad asks Kang-Hyuk to fire Chi-Soo, and later asks Eun-Bi to rebuff Chi-Soo's romantic attentions.

Cultural Observances:

Love Confessions: I used to read a lot of manga/manhwa, so I was already familiar with the Asian pop culture trope called the "love confession", which is often referenced in FBRS. In American media, of course we do have plenty of scenes where a character confesses their love or admits "I like you" and so on, but these scenes don't quite seem to have the same impact and weight that they do in Japanese or Korean love stories. It's hard to say what the difference between the two types of revelations really is, but the fact that they call it a confession in Asian media certainly reflects the seriousness of admitting their feelings out loud. It really is like a proposal of marriage, but in miniature.

Wedding Preparations: Dongjoo says that when a person gets married, they're supposed to buy new outfits for their parents. First time I've heard of that custom.

Boy bands: Eun-Bi tries to have a discussion with Chi-Soo about the 90's boy band Shinhwa, but they're before his time.

New words: "Geokjeongma" means "Don't worry", which Chi-Soo tells his dad. "Banhae" is to fall for someone or to become infatuated.

English Bonus:

English language music: As Chi-Soo insults Eun-Bi, a wistful song called "Your Eyes" talks about feeling "lost in a crowded room". This song has a neat and weird international bonus: it's from a 1982 French film called La Boum (The Party) 2, but it is sung by British new wave group Cook da Books. Later, "You Are My Destiny" by Paul Anka plays. Where do the K-drama soundtrack people even find this stuff?

Random English words: Kang-Hyuk says that he and Eun-Bi are no "Romeo" and "Juliet". Thank goodness--that means this show won't end in a double suicide. Chi-Soo and Eun-Bi say "caviar", which I wrote down as an English word, but it's actually French. *facepalm* Kang-Hyuk tells his boys to "sit down" and eat. Chi-Soo says "Got it?"

Episode Evaluations: When I can compare anything to Pride and Prejudice, it's a good sign. And it's so, so, so funny!

Scripture Sunday: The Book of Romans

Romans is Paul's letter to the church--the group of believers in Christ--in Rome. It 's a theological book that explains a lot of Christian doctrine, and it can get rather complex at points. To me, the ideal way to understand Romans is with the aid of a good trustworthy commentary, though there are still plenty of nuggets of truth we can pick up for ourselves without added help.

One of the first well-known verses in Romans is 1:16, where Paul is discussing the possibility of coming to preach in Rome and says he is prepared to do so, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." I like this verse for a few different reasons. At the end, it reminds us that the salvation of Jesus was offered to the Jewish nation first. Christianity was for the Jews, but God extended his mercy to the Gentiles also, not as secondary citizens but as a kind of additional blessing to the family of believers. I also love the first part, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ", which people often quote by itself because it is so powerful. It's so easy to be shy about your faith in the Son of God, but we're called to be brave and forthright about it. There's no shame in loving the savior!

Chapter 2 has some good counsel about sin and hypocrisy. Verse 1 says, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things." There's no room for any human being to say that they are perfect while tearing down others for their sins. Gross sin and wrongdoing are easy to spot in others, but we rarely want to turn that same level of judgement on our own selves. Verse 6 reminds us that God "will render to every man according to his deeds". We will all get a recompense one day, and it will be in line with our actions on earth.

Chapter 5 has some beautiful points about Jesus' sacrifice for our sins: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (5:6-8)"  This passage highlights that Jesus did not die for us because we were worthy of his sacrifice or because we had earned it or ever would earn it through good behavior--he took our punishment even when we had done nothing to deserve the exchange. He did it out of love, and all that remains is for us to accept him and live our lives for him. No fear of eternal punishment is left after we decide to serve Jesus; "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."

Romans is an intense theological book, but it's also a very rewarding book to read.