My Experience of the Hallyu Wave

Saumya Jain, New Delhi

“Korea is the cause of my Euphoria.”

Well for me Hallyu or the Korean wave hit me almost 6 years back in 2014. I guess it will be the first and the last thing that hit me hard and I quite liked it, rather I should say I loved it. For me the things that I love the most started with K-dramas, then K-pop and then moved on to a bit of K-fashion and course trends. So, my first experience with Korean stuff started with the K-dramas. Here’s a short interesting story. 

While watching YouTube videos, I initially landed on Korean dance choreographies and in my recommendations, a Korean drama clip popped up so, I ended up watching that K-drama clip, and then out of curiosity I searched for the drama lead. Boom! Who was he? It was none other than Lee Min-ho And yes, my first k-drama was The Heirs also popularly known as The Inheritors. 

From there I started binge-watching K-dramas. And thanks to Netflix and such platforms which made it easier for us to watch so many k-dramas with the best possible quality and of course English subtitles, which is a must. Thanks to Lee Min Ho that by now I have watched more than 50 k-dramas and I am not going to stop here, so my list will keep on getting longer and longer. Well, my story doesn’t end here, there is more so stay tuned!

You guys must be surprised, how come I never got into K-pop? Right? So, let me tell you this, “I don’t know!” to be honest. But yeah don’t worry as I am not alienated from K-pop anymore. I started listening to K-pop in 2018. I have a short, simple, and interesting story for this. So, as I continued watching K-dramas I fell in love with another male lead. Who? Cha Eun-woo I searched a bit more about him and ended up being ASTRO fan i.e., being Aroha, my first K-pop song was BABY by ASTRO. 

Then later, I became BTS fan i.e., ARMY too. This a short story of how I became a BTS fan (ARMY). So, going through Instagram I watched a Korean dubbing video of Zootopia. Yes! ARMY will get what I am talking about right now. I was attracted by almost every member of BTS the way they were dubbing and putting their best in to make the characters look interesting, I adored them so much as BTS members were doing such a great job, these guys are super talented I must say.

Further, I started by searching their names, then their songs, and their reality shows, RUN BTS made me love them even more, don’t know why, but I just love to watch them and love to listen to their songs and of course, there is no coming back guys trust me. So, this is how I became an ARMY at that very moment and my first BTS song was GO, GO. 

“I feel, that experience of being into K-pop and K-dramas is like having an endless walk on a flower bed with a sky full of stars above you.”

I would like to share some of the habits I developed after getting hit by the Korean wave. First, I started using words like Saranghaeyo! Jinjja! Nene! Geurae! in random conversations. Second, switching to K-beauty brands such as Innisfree, etc. Third, following the skincare routine. Fourth, decorating rooms with K-pop, K-drama stuff, and collecting albums & merchandise. Fifth, favorite color changed to PURPLE!

Lastly, I would love to visit KCCI (Korean cultural center India, New Delhi) again to explore more about South Korea. KCCI gives the experience of Korea even by being in India. Come and feel the South Korean wave. Meet new people and make new friends who have similar tastes as you. It can not be any better right?  So, enough of my stories as to how I started and got hold of the Korean wave, now it’s your turn. Think and write down your habits and experiences in your diary that show your love towards South Korea as an Indian. Share your stories as to how and what made you love Korea  and how you got into this Hallyu wave. 

Let me know in the comments section what brought you in the Hallyu wave?