Recently I saw an interesting Instagram post that was totally new information for me. The gentleman, who is Korean and lives there, explained that Koreans always place their phone number in a visible place on their car's dash. It's done so that they can be contacted if their car needs to be moved or if their car is damaged by someone. You can actually purchase these attractive displays instead of using a scribbled note! The idea that someone might ding your car and then se

Classic early scene from Mr Sunshine. It's hard to pick what would be my most favorite image from Korean Dramas that I've encountered. There are probably dozens of them including; Misty forests where people evaporate Striking colors of hanboks swirling around Tall weeds swaying in the wind Gorgeous Korean men gazing at me... But I think my all-time favorite is how they depict someone dying or moving to the next stage of life. They focus on the person's body and slowly that

Judy with more observations. It's cold in Korea. At least it's cold in the winter. And Koreans care about whether they are chilled or too warm... it's a common theme in Kdramas. Koreans are also careful about their appearance. Therefore I do not understand why Koreans keep their heavy outerwear on when eating meals. If I were to wear my down jacket while weilding chopsticks and slurping noodles I would probably splash my meal down the front of my clothing. (In fact I w

Apparently all Korean high school students wear uniforms to school. Typically these are skirts for the girls and slacks for the boys combined with either a blazer or perhaps a sweater vest, and ties. It looks like each school has their own school tartan or look. It's kind of curious that plaids are the chosen pattern in an east Asian country but that's certainly the case. Look! They're even on the classic date! Well, I recently saw two Kdramas that featured school uniform

Coffee Truck in honor of Song Joong-ki.... sent by fans! When I first read about domestic coffee trailers in ‘The Washington Post’ newspaper, I was miffed. I mean, anyone who follows Kdramas, Kpop, and Korean culture just KNOWS coffee trucks were a thing in Korea long before they were Stateside. C’mon, people. Korea did it first, and they should get the credit. After I cooled down and actually read the article, I’ve come to understand they’re not exactly the same thing. Th

Pat: OK, we came, we saw, we conquered. Wait, that’s not right. (I think that’s left over from ninth grade Latin class). Judy: This whole weekend was sold to me as a visit to the RM exhibit at SF MOMA and a K-pop dance class. I was even sent a video clip of the dance number we would be learning. I was especially pleased because said dance number was the one I learned in Seoul, meaning I would be way ahead of the other classmates…. Pat: Of course, Judy has confused a dan

Judy is here with me in Northern California, and we’re going to see the RM exhibit at SFMOMA. San Francisco is a-buzz with this show; it's curated by RM, a member of BTS and we decided early on to attend. Yes, we’re excited! Judy is much better informed than I am on this group; on all Kpop music actually, but I know who RM is! No, we didn't attend the press conference. This morning at breakfast she was listening to Kim Chang-won, an actor all Kdrama fans know. He’s been act

Judy here. As always I focus on stuff that you don't see in American culture when watching Korean shows. In particular I want to point out that at no point in my 70 plus years have I ever seen a man feed another man a morsel of food at a restaurant. I predict that most Americans would find this cringe-worthy. Not so Koreans. In a recent reality show I noticed that one adult male carefully picked up food with his chopsticks and fed it to his table mate... who enthusiastic

I've watched a few dating shows from Korea over the past few months. Of course I have some observations that I'm sure our readers are waiting to hear. I have never watched an American Dating show but that doesn't stop me from having strong opinions about what I THINK American Dating shows might be like... This Gmama is nothing if not opinionated! A few titles of Korean Dating Shows include: Single's Inferno (big time emphasis on hunkiness & beauty) Better Late than Si

Okay, it's Judy and I have a special request. As part of this blog business I get analytics about who is reading this stuff from around the world. I find it fascinating to think that someone in Lahore, Bangkok, or Toronto is actually checking the Gmamas out. My very simple question is this: if you're from Korea can you drop a comment & tell us why or how you connected? You appear to religiously read this month in and month out, yet we know virtually nothing about you! P

I’ve got three daughters. Yes, I love them all dearly and equally. But now I have a FAVORITE, and let me tell you why. It’s because she actually reads this blog and commented on a post I did. This is astounding! Judy and I spend an inordinate amount of time kvetching over the fact that our kids don’t read the blog, or if they do, they don’t do it consistently. In some nutty way we kind of like our little pity party. It’s a club we enjoy being part of. Actually, since i

Having just watched My Mister, where they use the English word ‘scandal’ numerous times, I thought I would try to understand why they do that. I mean, they could use a Korean equivalent, but they don’t. So I did a superficial dive into the why, and this is what I came up with: NOTHING. I don’t have a clue why they use it. It’s like when they use the word ‘fighting’ in Kdramas instead of a Korean word. It’s in so many of them that it seems universally accepted. Whenever I

(It's Judy.... you know this because my words are in black; Pat's words are in red....) There are many cultural habits that are shown in Kdramas that were new to me, others I was aware of. The act of sitting on the floor is new to me.... well it's not really new to me but the EXTENT to which Koreans sit on the floor is new to me. Apparently it came into vogue in the 17th century when under floor heating become commonplace in Korea. This system (called ‘ondol’) facilitate

Who knew I’d be at a Chuseok festival yesterday? Not me! While scrolling through my FB feed - yes, a colossal time waster unless you’re following KDRAMA GMAMAS - I noticed there was a Chuseok festival in San Francisco, and luckily for Tony and me, we were here! Chuseok is a Korean autumn festival held during the full moon. It’s on the lunar calendar, of course. Many religions and cultures have a similar observance. So off we went to spend the afternoon with more than 10,

Yes, I mean APP. App of course is short for application. It’s a type of software program made to help one do a specific task. Yes, I had to look that definition up online.....yesterday when one of our new followers asked if we had an app for our blog, I had no clue. (Remember, Judy is the one who does all the technical stuff. You can’t imagine how long it took to put all my posts in red by myself, but I am sure Judy will be happy to tell you.) ((Heck it only took 2 yea

Judy here and to be honest, I have a bone to pick with the Korean language. I love a lot of things about Korean but what I don't love is the SIZE of the letters. In English we mainly use a 12-point font size for books, letters, etc. Somewhere along the line the people who were in charge of the Korean letters made a serious mistake. They also chose to use a 12-point size ....except they frequently squeeze 3-4 different letters together in those tiny spots. Thus, three Han

I've been reviewing the results of our blog posts and which ones get the most 'looks.' Well, the trend is obvious. Whenever we use a title that implies conflict our viewership goes up. So titles like 'Disagreement,' or 'Nag, Nag, Nag,' or 'Totally Wrong' get more views than those titled things like 'Springtime in Korea.' Thus, my provacative title for today's post. Pat and me from a few years ago. What does this mean? I would say that our dear readers apparently enjoy it

It's been 5 days since I wrapped up the Single Ladies Trip to LA and the Final BTS Concert in North America. It's taken me that long to recover. Let's just say that when you're in your 70's it can be a challenge to keep up with those in their 20's, 30's, & 40's. (My group consisted of Baby niece in her 20's, Bumblebee Niece in her 30's, Favorite Daughter in her 40's, and me!). There are some in my family who believe I am aging backwards. But have no fear.... this Gramma w

You all know what FOMO stands for, right? In case you don’t, here is the explanation: FEAR OF MISSING OUT. Although FOMO is anticipatory, it can also be applied to events that happened in the past. Let me give you an example: BTS just performed their last American shows at SoFi Stadium in Southern California. Judy went, and so did several Northern California buddies. When Judy told me about going and actually invited me, I was already booked for a family wedding, so I h

Anyone who reads our blog consistently knows and understands our new fascination with all things BTS. For Judy it’s not so new. She’s been going to Kpop concerts for longer. (Because of her I knew that STRAY KIDS was a Kpop group. Since it was one of the answers at my weekly trivia game, I got it right!) For me, BTS has been more recent, culminating in our first BTS concert a few months ago with several new and old friends. One of the highlights of this concert was all