What's on?

I have a television in my apartment. Like most people, I like to have the TV on, even if I'm not watching it, to have a little background activity while I'm bruishing my teeth or doing the dishes. I can't actually sit down and watch my TV because I have only five channels and they are all in Korean. But, every once in awhile, something about Korean programming catches my eye. This is usually because what is happening on the screen is so inexplicable or bizarre, but sometimes because it is just hilarious. A few times I have found myself captivated by Korean television even though I have no idea what is going on. It's more entertainint to me, almost, to sit and try to guess what is going on, than to actually KNOW what is going on. Following, I have a few selections from Korean broadcast TV so you can see what I'm talking about.




This guy was on at about 8 in the evening on a Friday night. He was at a table with four other men and they all had charts. The charts (I think) were discussing some sort of waterway, or canal, or river thing. At times the discussion got quite heated, with people in the audience (yes, there was a live studio audience for this) cheering for this or that guy. Finally, this guy whipped out what amounted to be the mother of all charts. You could hear a gasp and then a palpable hush come over the croud. This guy won whatever they were talking about. On TV. On a Friday night. With his chart.





This gal was on a reality show of some sort. It looked like she was at an amusement park and that she was on a team. On this show, the teams were sent on missions throughout the amusement park. At one point, this gal goes on a very tall rollercoaster. That's not the mission, though. You see, all the missions in the amusement park were math-related. So, while this gal was hurtling towards the ground on a rollercoaster, she had to solve a complex triganometry problem that was written very large on the roof of a building below. This picture demonstrates two of my favorite things about Korea. 1) the ability to make everything educational and 2) when in doubt, put your hand in front of your face.




Korean television is replete with televised concerts. While this photo does not really say much, I'll sum it up. This was a performance by what I will call the trifecta of Korean musical entertainment. All on one stage singing Michael Jackson's Don't Stop Till You Get Enough was: 1) ancient lady with massive, teased hair in an evening gown singing sort of Korean wobbly opera style while being followed at all times by a troupe of eager dancers who got their moves by watching early 90's Paula Abdul videos. 2) the youthful, female-looking rapping boyband. and 3) the well-meaning rock band that got it's moves by watching Van Halen videos from 1983. All in all it was spectacular and I think the old lady blew the other people out of the water.




I just don't know what else to say but twin brothers, glasses and tiny bubbles.