I agree wih you. When I first started teaching, people didn't really know a lot about Korea. Now, when students know that I'm Korean, they will say hello in Korean. When they find out that I watch K-dramas, they come up to me and we have this instant connection because we talk about something the student loves. They tell me what they are watching and we share K-drama lists. This never happened prior to K-dramas becoming so popular. The "soft power" of Hallyu has given me another way to connect with students that never exited before.