Part 2 The New Face of Korea

Patrick： Stop！ Hold the presses！ Who is that heavenly creature？

Star： You mean Ji-hyun？ She’s only the most recognized actress in all of Korea.

Patrick： It’s as if an angel floated down from heaven for all the world to behold.

Star： Really？ So I guess you’ve never seen the show “You Who Came from the Star” before.

Patrick： What’s that？ ①Some sort of space documentary？ Spare me.

Star： No， it’s not a documentary. It’s a Korean drama that came out last year， starring your newest 1）crush， Jun Ji-hyun.

Patrick： What crush？ This is love at first sight.

Star： Personally， I happen to think Fan Bingbing is prettier， and ironically， she loves the show too. And， you know， I bet they both got their faces and bodies done by the same plastic surgeon in Seoul.

Patrick： Whatever. ②I wanna know all there is to know about this girl. And how can I see more of her？ Star： Well I’m not exactly sure what 2）time slot it occupies， let alone which channel it’s on here， but I do know you can download episodes from websites like iQiyi， where the show’s been viewed over 14.5 billion times. Unfortunately， the site doesn’t have English subtitles. But I’m sure you could track down episodes with English somewhere on the web.

Patrick： How come there are so many versions with Chinese 3）dubbing or subtitles？ Is the show a hit in China？

Star： A hit？？ To say it’s a hit would be the 4）understatement of the century. I don’t even think the term 5）megahit fully 6）encapsulates the true enormity of the show’s 7）viewership.

Patrick： How big could it really be？ Is it like the Gangnam Style of TV shows？

Star： Hehe， Opa Gangnam Style！

Patrick： Woah there Star！ Why don’t you rein in the horse dancing a bit？ You almost 8）stomped on my foot and 9）smacked me in the face at the same time.

Star： Well， that would kill two birds with one stone， wouldn’t it， you big buzzkill？

Patrick： Just tell me more about the show. Star： OK. An alien from outer space， who accidentally arrives on Earth 400 years ago during Korea’s Joseon Dynasty， falls in love with the first girl he meets.

Patrick： ③I’m following so far.

Star： Now fast forward to present day. He’s about a month away from finally being able to leave earth and return to his home planet， when he meets his first love’s 10）doppelganger， a 11）feisty and arrogant A-list actress， and he ends up falling in love with her as well， despite showing an initial lack of interest.

Patrick： Actually sounds kind of 12）riveting！ Star： It sure is！

Patrick： Maybe we could get together and watch it later. ④Can you get me up to speed on what’s happening？

Star： I’d be glad to. ⑤Plus， watching the show won’t feel like such a guilty pleasure if someone else is alongside me enjoying it too！

Patrick： Well？ What’re we waiting for？ Let’s take off to the stars！！

Smart Sentences

① Some sort of space documentary？ Spare me. 一些關于太空的紀錄片嗎？饒了我吧。

spare me： used when you are bored with what you are hearing and don’t want to hear it anymore（用于你已經厭煩了，不想再聽相關內容）。例如：

Another celebrity split？ Oh， spare me.

又有名人分手了嗎？天啊，饒了我吧。

② I wanna know all there is to know about this girl. 我想知道關于這個女孩的所有信息。

all there is to know： all the information about sth.（關于某事的所有信息）。例如：

Every time before I travel， I go online and find out all there is to know about my destination.

每次旅行之前，我都會上網搜索所有關于目的地的資訊。

③ I’m following so far. 迄今我都能明白。

follow （sb./sth.） so far： understand sb.’s words up to the present moment（至此明白某人的話或某事的發展）。例如：

I can follow the plot so far， though the movie is pretty boring.

迄今我都能明白故事情節，但電影本身很無聊。

④ Can you get me up to speed on what’s happening？ 你能讓我了解最新播放的劇情嗎？

up to speed： have all the latest information（擁有最新的資訊）。例如：

My father and brother love football and are always up to speed on football matches around the world.

我的老爸和哥哥熱愛足球，對世界上的足球賽事非常了解。

⑤ Plus， watching the show won’t feel like such a guilty pleasure if someone else is alongside me enjoying it too！ 而且，如果身邊的人也喜歡看，觀看該劇就不會有罪惡的快感！

guilty pleasure： sth. a person enjoys despite feeling guilty（罪惡快感，帶有內疚的快感）。例如：

Every Sunday， I love to sleep till noon and have a big cheesecake for brunch. Talk about guilty pleasure.

每個星期天，我喜歡睡到中午，然后再吃一個大奶酪蛋糕作早午餐。那真的是一種罪惡的快感啊。