I just finished binge watching SKY Castle last Monday (1 month later than everyone else lol). I watched 5 ep on Saturday, 11 ep on Sunday, and 4 ep on Monday, and I have lots to say! I didn't plan on watching it at all as it got so popular to the point that I don't want to be part of the mainstream, but Mino started watching it so I guess I should LOL. What I will say is probably not meaningful but I guess I just want to share the story of my youth.
Everyone hates Yesuh. Including me. I hate her character so much, but I was like her in my younger years. I was always the first in my class in elementary school and middle school that I got voted as class president for 11 straight years. But in elementary school of course it wasn't the students that voted for me, the homeroom teacher made me the class president. I was hated lol. We did a lot of simulation tests during 6th grade when almost everyday we had to answer 100-questions exam to prepare us to graduate. I once spotted my classmate cheated--she was hiding notes in her lap and copied it during exam, and I reported her to my homeroom teacher HAHAHA. Well if I can get 100 with my own brain, I won't let people beat me by cheating. I was not wrong ok lmao.
Towards the end of my elementary school, I knew the teacher played with my grades. In the first semester of 6th grade, I finished 2nd. Someone who's always been 2nd beat me (she's now my best friend who's an MD). I knew they played with the grades because nobody in the school has ever finished the entire 6 years being number 1, not including my friend's sister, our senior who's extremely smart (she's now the youngest doctor in Singapore). The rumor was whoever got 1st for the entire 6 years would be granted a scholarship. I guess my school was too cheap for that. Plus I was labeled as someone whose family was well-off so of course they wouldn't want to give me free money; they actually kept asking for donations from my parents instead smh. Anyway, I bounced back to 1st position in the 2nd semester, but I finished school ranked 2nd in the entire province. I found out someone who's usually 3rd in my class finished as 1st in the entire province. I couldn't believe it and I secretly hated her a little and talked bad about her lolol (she's now married with a child and I don't think she really cares about career and such unlike the other 2 I mentioned above).
Going to middle school, I still did well. Got in special class where only selected 20 students can get in and I always finished the semesters in the top 3. I finished middle school ranked 2nd in the entire school and 30 something in entire province. But see, that was a downgrade. From 2nd in the entire province to 30-ish was a let down. Even though my grades were 98, 96, 94. I guess I should really aim for 100, 100, 100 like Yesuh LOL. The one who's ranked 1st in my school (I think his grades were 100, 96, 94) is also still a good friend of mine--he's an IT engineer that currently works in Paris on company's behalf. My friends are cool~
Then high school. This was hell. What Yesuh did to get into university, I did too. My mom made me join a lot of academy. I always reached home around 10 pm every day. I was still in special class which sometimes finished at 5 pm, then I'd go to language courses for 1.5 hours, then I went to science academy until 10 pm. Now that I think about it, I can't understand how I survived. My mom is the typical SKY Castle mom. She'd bring me breakfast everyday (I ate sandwich for 10 years until my best friend got sick of the smell of bread), she'd come to school during lunch break and delivered my lunch, and I'd eat my dinner in the car. However, I'd say my mom is more like Jinjin cause of her quick burst of temper lolol. Plus she's pretty and vain LOL. Imagine still being able to take care of her appearance while being a tiger mom, that's a skill not everyone has.
High school was hell but I never felt like it during those years. I was an obedient kid and I thought that's normal. But even then, my grades dropped. My ranking in high school was in the bottom half of the class. I studied on my own in elementary and middle school and I was fine, but in high school with academy it became worse instead. I don't know if there's relation to it but I guess I also started to rebel a little bit, I started to skip class lol. I had a boyfriend in my first year; he's a senior and model student too but I guessed we abused our model students title to skip class to pretend to attend meetings HAHAHA. I guess that's also why I didn't feel my high school days were a waste because I wasn't only studying and studying, I got to enjoy my youth so it was ok. In the senior year though, cause my then bf had graduated, and my parents were so focused to get me into prestigious university abroad, it became harder but didn't make any improvement in my opinion. They made me attend another academy that's specializing in teaching questions from these universities entrance exams. They also hired a private tutor for me for the weekend. My friend (the one graduated 1st in middle school) and attended the academy together, and he also hired the same weekend tutor. But none of us made it HAHAHA. He eventually did get in this university for his M.Sc s not for his bachelor. We traveled together to take these university exams but I know I couldn't make it. The tests were hella difficult. Like the mathematics level were so difficult, I don't think they actually use it unless you got into mathematics major. So I really don't understand why it's the standard test for the entrance cos I wanted to get into business major. Why tf would I need log and Pythagoras for business? At the end, we (me, him, and my best friend) ended up attending same university for undergrad just in different major.
I didn't blame my parents for that, because I think at that time I also wanted to get in to those prestigious university, like Yesuh. I've heard many depressing stories about those universities and while I'd be happy to study there, I think I got a little scared too and was grateful that I didn't get in. For some reason I believe bachelor's title is more difficult to achieve then master's. I struggled so hard to finish my undergrad but my MBA was an easier journey.
Anyway, the reason why SKY Castle was popular I guess because it's so relatable in Asia. Those things exist; the private tutor, bribing the teachers (I know one of my friend did. She just admitted to me this year OMG decades of lying lol), suicide, maybe even the murder part.
So I didn't regret joining the popular train, and kudos to all casts for doing a really great job on the drama. Since it's really heavy on family vibe, I miss all of the casts and I hope they still get invitation to variety shows where I can see their chemistry again!
You all know SKY stands for Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University right? The 3 university in South Korea where people would literally kill to get there. They're like the Ivy League of Korea.
I ALMOST went to Yonsei for my MBA exchange, but due to some family complications I didn't. I guess that's one of my biggest regret in MBA. Maybe I should do PhD and see if there's other chance for me to go to Yonsei again lol. See? There are students like Yesuh. We exist :)
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