Lesson 39

Korean movie theaters know what's up.

Today was Chuseok. I don't think I've explain what Chuseok is yet. It's a harvest festival (kind of like the American Thanksgiving). During this time, most Koreans return to their hometowns and visit their relatives and pay respect to their ancestors. They also play traditional Korean games (like the ones we played on Chuseok Day at Maple Bear).

Since I don't have any Korean relatives I hung out in my apartment by myself. I ventured outside around midday to find absolutely nothing. Pretty much every store was shut down and it was dead silent with the exception of a few cars driving by on the main road. Quite a change from the usual ruckus of the drunken galbi patrons, vendors trying to sell food and knickknacks, and general chatter and traffic on the street.

I didn't do anything of significance until the evening. Kristen, Kelsey, and I thought seeing a movie would be a good Saturday evening activity. Kelsey wanted to see Fame, but I voted against it. Instead we saw Surrogates, the new Bruce Willis movie. While it's an interesting idea for a movie, the acting was mediocre (well... it's an action movie), the story-line was predictable, and there were too many holes in the plot. Wait until it's on DVD.

But this post isn't a movie review for Surrogates. Let me tell you about MegaBox. The theater building is massive - I believe there are seven or eight floors with five or six movies playing. When you go to buy your tickets (about 6,000 won) you look at a seating chart and choose your seats ahead of time. The theaters themselves are BIG with perfect sound quality, no projector errors, and clean, comfortable chairs. The chairs have arm rests that you can lift up if you wish to snuggle with your sweetie pie. The floors aren't sticky and littered with crushed popcorn and candy wrappers.

Do they have previews for half an hour? Maybe only ten minutes. But it's a mixture of upcoming music videos, maybe one or two ads, one or two English-language movies, and one or two Korean movies. Then on with the show!

Before the movie there was a preview for a Korean movie that I want to see. I've seen posters of it at Family Mart and GS Mart and it looks like a movie I'd like (i.e. action, adventure, romance, set in a previous century). I finally found the English title after searching countless Korean websites: The Sword With No Name.

Unfortunately, Korean-language films don't have English subtitles so my hopes of seeing it in the theater have already been dashed. I shall find a way!