Going to the Movies

Although I've been in Korea for nearly 7 months now, I still hadn't made it out to a theatre...until today. I saw the movie National Treasure, which I found to be pretty good for an action/adventure movie, but far from a Cannes contender.

Oddly, Korean movie theatres aren't their own structures. They're usually located on the top floor of a shopping center, which I find both odd and practical. If there's one thing that Koreans are good at, it's efficient use of space.

Up there in the sky, we got our tickets and headed into the theatre. Now, in a Korean theatre, you can't just sit anywhere (Remember that next time you go to watch a movie in Korea). Korean theatres have assigned seating. Sure, you can pick your seat, but it has to be at the ticket counter. My Korean isn't good enough to do that on my own. Luckily, I had a friend with me to get our seats, and she chose well.

Korean movie theatres show a lot of American movies. Obviously, all of these have subtitles. When the movie started, I tried to read along with the subtitles, but I gave up after a half an hour or so. I often try to read Korean subtitles when I'm watching things in English (just to help out my Korean), but it's really hard. I normally only get half way through a subtitle before it's on to the next one, but half way is a lot farther than I was two months ago. Plus, the movie really got going about a half an hour in, so I was more concerned with what was happening in the middle of the screen than the words at the bottom by then.

As I do back home, I tend to lose myself in movies. I get enveloped in the story and forget where I am. Even the subtitles didn't help to remind me where I was. I didn't just back to Korea until the movie was over. It ended well, and by then I was satisfied enough to be back in Asia again.

All in all, it was a good experience: things were pretty close to things back home, but it's those little differences that remind you where you are in the world. It's just how it goes.

(And on a side note, I hope my next theatre experience includes such a great theatre-going cohort. Thanks to my lovely and intelligent "Korean informant" for both the movie suggestion and the great conversation. If every movie I went to such great companionship, I'd go to the movies every day).

R