Well, my 10 days in the US are nearly over.  Tomorrow night I head back to Saigon, Vietnam.  Oddly enough, I will return to Vietnam with a great appreciation of Korean TV shows.  My mother watches television programs broadcast on KBS World.  I really enjoy two particular shows, Boys over Flowers and the Kingdom of the Winds.

Boys of the Winds is based on a popular Japanese manga series.   It looks at the relationships of high school classmates.

Geum Jandi is from a poor family and is admitted to the prestigious Shinhwa High School after stopping a student who was being bullied from committing suicide. Shinhwa High was established by Shinhwa Group, the biggest conglomerate in Korea, and is attended by the scions of the wealthiest families. At Shinhwa, she finds that a group of rich and good-looking boys called “F4” (“Flower 4” or “Flamboyant 4”) who enjoys tremendous popularity. The F4, however, thinks nothing of humiliating others, and often issues a “red card”. Whoever finds the dreaded red card in his or her locker subsequently becomes the target of bullying by the entire student body. Jandi detests all this circus, but receives a red card herself and is bullied, after she stands up for one of her fellow classmates. Eventually, she begins to have feelings for one of the F4, Jihoo, but also discovers that the leader of the group, Junpyo, is falling for her, too. A love triangle thus develops among Junpyo, Jandi and Jihoo. (From Wikipedia)

I hope I will be able to continue watching this series from Vietnam.

Kingdom of the Winds is a Korean medieval drama which just finished airing last January.  It looks at the life of  Moo Hyul, who was abandoned when he was a baby.  As he gets older, he finds out he is the Third Prince of King Yuri, a dominate kingdom in Korea.  The drama is very interesting.  I hope to find the dvds in Saigon to watch the entire series.

At the moment, the Koreans are putting out some of the best TV shows and movies in Asia.