Photo by HMCC Publications
I was shocked to see the influence of the Korean dramas here in Indonesia. In fact, I have heard about the K-Drama’s influence throughout Asia, but the reality and the magnitude of its influence didn’t hit me until I got to Indonesia. It was interesting to find Indonesians who spoke better Korean, than some of the Koreans-Americans that I know. The Indonesians pick up various Korean phrases by just watching the dramas.
The Indonesian culture is very relational; therefore there are a lot of things about the love stories of the K-Dramas that they find appealing. But it is a double edge sword.
While there are some important values such as sacrifice, unconditional love, and commitment that are portrayed in the dramas, there are some values that fuel a misconstrued view of a healthy relationship. In fact, it is easy for people to get a romanticized view of what relationships are supposed to be like, which often lead to a lot of disappointments and hurt when it does not happen. My wife heard from a Japanese woman that there are many Japanese ladies who go to visit Korea thinking that all Korean men are like what they see in the dramas. Christina quickly told her that that is a misconstrued reality 🙂
This is why I am excited to share some biblical principles of relationships this coming weekend. We will have one for the college students and another one for the single adults who live in Jakarta.
Over the years, I have realized that people who have been in a failed relationship are the ones that can testify to the truthfulness of what is shared in my talk. It is always the ones that have never been in a relationship that have a hard time accepting some of the truth. Then, we have the ones that are in a relationship who end up not showing up because they don’t want to be challenged or scrutinized.
As we have been talking to some of the students, they have mentioned that there really haven’t been too many conversations about a biblical perspective on relationships. The media and the culture have usually been their guides. This is why I am looking forward to breathing some freshness to the conversation. But it is going to be a challenge, since I have to be not only culturally sensitive, but also blunt. In Asian countries, it is all about the indirectness. But maybe this topic of relationship, which makes us or breaks us, can be presented in a disarming manner so that they will be willing to hear the truth. It’s going to be fun.