Archive for December, 2008
Sung-tan-jul (성탄절) Posted by Ginny on Dec 21, 2008
What is sung-tan-jul (성탄절)? Sung-tan-jul (성탄절) is Christmas in Korean. As you know, some South Koreans celebrate Christmas. However, the story’s different for North Korea. Christianity is seen as a doctrine imported by the West. As a result, the North Korean government views Christmas and anything associated with the West with suspicion. Although there are…
Everland (에버랜드) Posted by Ginny on Dec 20, 2008
Don’t know where to go on vacation for the holidays? How about going to South Korea? Where exactly in South Korea? Try Yongin (용인) in Kyung-ki (경기) province, just south of Seoul (서울), the capital city of Korea. There are several ways to get to Youngin (용인). One way is through the subway. If you…
Korean Desserts for the Holidays Posted by Ginny on Dec 19, 2008
I should preface this blog post by mentioning that not all Koreans celebrate Christmas. Some Koreans happen to be Buddhists and so Christmas isn’t really a holiday that they can identify with. Some Koreans are Christians, but they tend to observe Christmas in a low key fashion. For example, on Christmas Eve some Christian Koreans…
Real Life Korean Politics Posted by Ginny on Dec 18, 2008
Today was a drama filled day in the South Korean legislature. Picture this: a man in a suit blocks the doorway to the parliamentary meeting room, another man gets a sledgehammer to pry the door open, a security officer uses a fire extinguisher to stop the man with a sledgehammer. No, it’s not what you’re…
Korean Pronouns Posted by Ginny on Dec 15, 2008
Learning Korean pronouns can be difficult and confusing, even for an intermediate level student. For today’s post, we’ll get to the bottom of understanding Korean pronouns and when they’re used. First off, let’s start off with the singular first person pronoun on the formal level. To say “I” or “me” in Korean you would use juh (저). …
Insam (인삼) Posted by Ginny on Dec 14, 2008
As the cold season rolls around, I’m finding that I’m no longer immune to catching a cold. I guess I’m getting older! Of course I’ve been taking some cold medicine but this cold has been really persistent. Maybe I’ll switch back to some traditional Korean medicine. In Korea, insam (인삼) or ginseng is a popular…
Proverb of the Day Posted by Ginny on Dec 13, 2008
This is the second post on Korean proverbs in a recurring series of Korean proverbs. Hope no one is dying of joy! In Korean, we have what are four Chinese character based proverbs or words of wisdom called sa-ja-song-oh (사자성어). These four lettered proverbs can be downright strange when they’re translated literally. Let me show…