Archive for January, 2009
Minsok Chun (민속촌) Posted by Ginny on Jan 10, 2009
Minsok Chun (민속촌) is a Korean folk village in Youngin (용인) province. It’s a living museum of how Korean people lived; way before any contact with foreign nations. If you go to Minsok Chun (민속촌), you’ll get to see what Korean people did and how they spent their time. This is the age before television, so…
Yakshik (약식) Posted by Ginny on Jan 9, 2009
A typical snack enjoyed on Deborum (대보름), or the full moon festival, is yakshik (약식). Yakshik (약식) is brown in color and sweet in taste. Today, we are going to learn how to make yakshik (약식). First, soak about two cups of chapssal (찹쌀) or glutinous rice in cold water for a day. If you don’t soak…
Ogok-bap (오곡밥) Posted by Ginny on Jan 8, 2009
Ogok-bap (오곡밥) is a common dish consumed on Deborum (대보람) or the full moon festival. What is ogok-bap (오곡밥)? It’s a dish of five different types of grain. The most prominent ingredient in ogok-bap (오곡밥) is chapssal (찹쌀). Chapssal (찹쌀) is glutinous rice. When glutinous rice is cooked, it becomes sticky. Despite it’s name, glutinous…
Deborum (대보름) Posted by Ginny on Jan 7, 2009
Deborum (대보름) is an up-coming festival celebrated on the fifteenth of January. This festival is based on the lunar calendar and means ‘great full moon.’ The locals believe that the first full moon appears on the fifteenth of January. Like many Korean festivals, there are always traditional activities that highlight the festival. For example there…
U-gong-i-san (우공이산) Posted by Ginny on Jan 6, 2009
Today’s post is going to feature a four letter Korean proverb for the New Year. As you know, four letter proverbs are represented by Chinese characters. Here are the Chinese characters for the four letter proverbs: 愚公移山. Let’s break this proverb down to its syllables. This character 愚 is pronounced as ‘u.’ It means foolishness. …
New Year’s Superstitions Posted by Ginny on Jan 5, 2009
The New Year is a time of insecurity and doubt for some people. To ensure a successful year Korean people may perform rituals that seem strange to Americans. Some of these rituals are performed out of habit. Some of them are performed to prevent misfortune. Whatever the reason, this post will be a combination of funny…
New Years Games Posted by Ginny on Jan 4, 2009
Koreans celebrate the New Year with many traditional games. Yay! Games! Seriously, who doesn’t like games?! Some of the games that I’m about to list are not actually games, they’re more like traditional activities that people perform during the New Year’s celebrations. Nonetheless, they’re quite fun and interesting, so remember to enjoy them and have…