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Jejudo (제주도) Posted by Ginny on Feb 6, 2009
Jejudo (제주도) is an island geographically distinct from the South Korean peninsula. While Jejudo (제주도) is considered to be a part of the South Korean soil, it’s considered an autonomous province as well. So yeah, it’s a bit complicated but to make a long story short, Jejudo (제주도) is considered a part of Korean territory…
Starcraft Posted by Ginny on Feb 5, 2009
For all you gamers out there, this will be your favorite post! Today I’m going to talk about Starcraft, or sutakureputu (스타크래프트), which is the way Koreans pronounce it. I’m a little scared writing about Starcraft. The die hard fans of Starcraft might all rush to hunt me down if I fail to be accurate…
Politeness Levels Posted by Ginny on Feb 4, 2009
A lot of people ask me, what is the difference between the standard polite form and the deferential polite form in Korean? The answer to that is that the deferential polite form uses a higher level of politeness than the standard polite form. While both the standard and the deferential forms are polite, you would…
Proverb of the Day Posted by Ginny on Feb 3, 2009
It’s that time again! The awaited Korean Proverb of the Day! Today’s proverb is kkamagwinun komodo salun huida (까마귀는 검어도 살은 희다). Let’s break this proverb down to understand its core meaning. Kkamagwi (까마귀) is a black bird, while the word kom (검) means black. Sal (살) means flesh while hui (희)means white. Altogether this…
Namul (나물) Posted by Ginny on Feb 2, 2009
Today’s post is going to be about food! I recently had a craving for namul (나물) and decided to write a post about the different kinds of namul (나물) out there. At this point you might be wondering what namul (나물) is. Namul (나물) is a generic term for a marinated vegetable or plant dish. …
Musumnal (머슴날) Posted by Ginny on Feb 1, 2009
Musumnal (머슴날) is a quaint, rural festival celebrated the first of every February. Musum (머슴) means servant or farm hand, while nal (날) means day. Altogether musumnal (머슴날) means the ‘festival of servants.’ This festival is celebrated on Jeju Island (제주). On this day a shamanistic rite called yungdunggui (영등구이) is performed. The rite is…
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…