Welcome to Kdrama and Ramen!

A group of student from the Architecture Department at Nulji Science and Technology High School struggle to navigate the joys and sorrows that come with growing up and finding their own path in life.  A trade school may not be the traditional high school experience, but for this particular group of students, it could provide the perfect foundation to help them attain their life-long dreams. But corruption within the school and its administrators threatens to destroy their hopes, and it could mean the end to the school as a whole.  

Jo Yi Hyun as  Jin Ji Won

Jin Ji Won has always dreamed of building traditional Korean houses.  She attends Nulji Science and Technology High School, even though her mother, who runs a cram school, disapproves.  Ji Won loves going to school and working with wood, and she also loves it that her childhood sweetheart, Ki Hoon, is in her class.  She is a born activist who can’t stand injustice.  Her personal protests are well-known by her teachers and classmates.  So when her favorite new teacher is fired by the corrupt school director, she can’t help but jump in to try to save his job and her school’s reputation. 

Jin Ji Won is passionate and stubborn.  She always gives her best and her classmates love her fun-loving personality.  Once she makes a decision, she will stick with it no matter how much hardship it brings.  Jo Yi Hyun played this personality well, but the deeper motivations of her character aren’t really explored.  For a leading role, she seemed kind of simple and one-dimensional.  For a drama without much plot development, I would have liked to see more about the characters themselves.  

Hwang Bo Reum as Kang Seo Young

Kang Seo Young is an orphan who works diligently to study and try to make it into college on her own.  She focuses all her energy on studying and padding her college application with activities that will help her enrollment.  She asks Young Joo to pretend to date her, so that other boys will leave her alone.  But her motivation for the arrangement are much more complex than that.

♥ Vocational School

I thought it was an interesting concept to focus on a trade school.  The glimpses into some of the biases against this style of school and its students was enlightening.  This kind of education is such a unique experience and it gave a new flavor to the School series.  It was also nice to get to see some traditional architecture during the drama.  

 ♥ Grandpa

I never miss a chance to give a shout out to Park In Hwan, and as usual, he gave a great performance as the caring grandpa.  I really loved his bond with both Ki Joon and Ji Won.  His affection for them and wood working made a sweet relationship that felt sincere.  Watching Ji Won grieve his death as much as Ki Joon was heartbreaking but it made me glad there was someone who could understand his loss.  That point made it clear that even if he felt like he was, Ki Joon was not alone.

Teachers’ Relationship

The relationship between Lee Kang Hoon and Song Chae Rin was hard to figure out.  Sometimes they seemed perfectly content and amicable as co-parents, sitting on a bench having a pleasant conversation and yet neither one figured out they were about to be working together.  Were they on good terms or not?  Was it his being fired that led to their divorce or was there more to it than that?  And maybe most importantly, what were their feelings for each other now?  Chae Rin tried to protect him and seemed to gain a better understanding of what led to him losing his job, but it didn’t seem like their relationship had changed at all.  I just didn’t get what was going on with this “couple”. 

Mom

Kong Ki Joon’s mom showing up out of nowhere to take him away to Canada seemed weird and sudden.  There was barely any mention of her until that point and she just kind of assumed he would want to pick up his whole life and go with her.  There was no attempt on her part to express any regret for leaving him in the first place, and they barely had enough memories or things in common to carry on a full conversation.  There was nothing interesting or credible in this storyline.  

“School 2021” has a pretty predictable ending when the chairman of the school wakes up at the last minute to save it from being closed forever.  The class graduates and everyone goes on to live their dreams. Ko Eun Bin becomes an idol and she and Ho Sung are still dating and doing great.  Ki Joon decides not to go to Canada and he stays with his friends.  He and Young Joo end up working together for the company that sponsored their group project.  And Ki Joon and Ji Won do end up dating long distance.  Just not as big a distance as Canada.  Ji Won is working in a nearby town to help build a traditional house.  In the final scene, Ki Joon and Ji Won’s dad commiserate on the roof about how much they miss her.  Unable to stand it anymore, Ki Joon runs off to pay Ji Won a surprise visit and all is well in the land of romance.