Sweet 18

Title: Sweet 18
Genre: Romance and Comedy
Starring: Han Ji Hye, Lee Dong Gun, Lee Da Hae
Episodes: 16
Aired: 2004


Main Cast:
Han Ji Hye – Yoon Jung Sook
Lee Dong Gun – Kwon Hyuk Joon
Lee Da Hae – Moon Ga Young


Synopsis:
Kwon Hyuk-Joon's grandfather, the head of the traditional Kwon family agrees to an arranged marriage between his grandson (Lee Dong Gun) and Yoon Jung-Sook (Han Ji Hye) when Yoon Jung-Sook is born. 18 years later, the two families lose contact because soon after the contract is signed, Jung-Sook's family encounters financial issues and is forced to run away.
Meanwhile, Jung-Sook has grown up to be a rebellious and strong-willed girl who just wants to live her life as she sees fit. With little aspirations, she is the direct foil of her achievement-bound counterpart, Hyuk-Joon. When the two meet each other, they clash horribly; Jung-Sook thinks her fiancee is nothing but boring, and Hyuk-Joon believes Jung-Sook to be nothing but an immature child. Despite all this they do marry. The rest of the series follows their life living together as a couple, and the obstacles they are faced with.


My thoughts, my say:
This Korean drama is a romantic comedy. I enjoyed it very much for a few reasons. Firstly, it is starred by Lee Dong Gun, my favourite actor. He acted as a very loving husband, Hyuk-Joon, whose feeling for his wife was very sincere and true. He is a noble character and he was clear with his decision of the arranged marriage and his feelings did not waver even when he was faced with temptations.

Jung-Sook is a very positive girl. Though at the age of 18, she was much more matured than her peers for she was willing to take the plunge to get married with her dream guy, even though Hyuk-Joon has chosen her because she seems quite a good option as opposed to no options.

I am not recommending girls to quit their study to go get marry at a young age. However, this movie is recommended for older couples who are dating, or married people. In the show it is the process of how the two of them live their lives as a couple in a marriage. There are times where it shows that give and take for each other with endurance and trust as the main components to hold the marriage together when faced with situations that causes misunderstandings. There is a saying that was quoted by Hyuk-Joon's grandfather : “The longer the distance travelled, you will know how strong is your horse.” This simply means you will know how good and how trustworthy is your man through time living together with him. Time will tell and time is a good factor to reveal the true hearts for each other. Hyuk-Joon’s grandfather played an important role in the show as he is the man that arranged their marriage. As an elder, he was very concerned about his grandchildren’s happiness. He told them to treat each other with real hearts, real feelings for each other and that will get them through all obstacles in life.

In the show, Jung-Sook is lost about what she should do with her life. What dreams can she achieve and what could she become. It does not matter even if you do not see it now. Just like the stars are always there even in a cloudy night when you can’t see them. It does not mean that the stars are not in the sky, they are only temporary hidden. So continue to try and search for your dreams and one day you will find your hidden talent.