Just an update in Korea

Sorry, I haven't been posting blog posts because I have been sick the whole winter break. I haven't been doing much. Pretty much I was just in bed.

I think my body became weak when I was studying in America, as I had a very depressing lifestyle.

Anyways, I'm going to start posting soon. My flu is gone, but I still have a stomach ache which happened after I was getting better.

Do you know Yearin???

I'm finally finally done with finals. Wow, it was intense. I had to write a 12 page essay during my final exams. lol, obviously, that final research paper nom nomed my time to study. However, I did manage to do ok on the final.

Just for people who are studying Korean. This probably is the Korean grading scale haha

A = 아싸 [A Sa!: Just like "oh yeah!"]
B = 발렸어 [Bal yeosoe "I got raped "]
C = 씨팔 [Sibal "Fk"]
D = 듬듬듬 [The doom sound "dum dum dummmm"]
F = FML

Anyways, I've been watching Yerin videos. Its totally good for your soul. So who is yerin?

Yerin is just the cutest Korean baby. She's pretty popular among international people.
You can check out videos at
http://youtube.com/bobaepapa


Few of her best moments are when

Yerin is sleepy,


Yerin knows how to say dad and not mom,



Yerin giggles,


Yeriin is stuck,


Yerin is sleepy,


and when Yerin Puchika Puchikas



Hope these videos purified your souls!

I'm going to pack tonight and get ready to go back to KOREA.
Later!

Back to Korea!

First, I can't update this blog for like 2 weeks because I'm too busy with my finals. So, instead I'll post more stuff after I get back to Korea. 

I'm going to Korea next week. I have been away for a year now. Its not long, but since I live alone, it feels like forever, and I am very, very tired of living aboard alone. 

I really don't have any plans, since its so short. But, I really want to visit some places that could be introduced. Well, we will see if I can manage traveling and resting at the same time.

Korean Idol/Girl Groups, is it money that makes them famous?

Warning, this is basically my supporting case. So, I'm probably incredibly bias. 

allkpop provided estimate of 60,000 dollars a month to maintain a girl group. In this link 

http://www.allkpop.com/2011/09/how-much-does-it-cost-to-maintain-a-girl-group-for-one-month#disqus_thread

lol, Although I'm not a kpop fan, I going to break down, why this article doesn't make sense.

"The biggest drain on money, not unexpectedly, is for the monthly rent on their dormitories. Approximately $22,000 dollars are spent on sheltering a girl group each month."

This doesn't make sense at all. There is no apartment that costs 22,000 dollars in Korea. Tower Palace costs 4,000~6,000. THE most expensive house in Korea costs 29,000, but as you have seen their house isn't close to THE best house in Korea. So, from my assumption what they did was, they just divided the 전세 to 12. In Korea, houses are rented in 전세 and 월세. 월세is basically how much you pay for a month. 전세 is where you rent by years. 전세, you just give the landlord a large sum of money and it would be returned after you move out, but again, its a large sum of money. So, the reporter just divided into 12 and posted an absurd amount. 

"Apart from that, money spent on hair and makeup comes to a whopping $19,000 dollars per month – and that’s with a 50 percent celebrity discount. For skin care, companies invest $9,000 dollars to keep their idols looking blemish-free."

So basically 1.5k per person. I wouldn't be surprised because they do work a lot. As for skin, if your really busy, its harder to maintain your skin. So, its expected for them to spend a lot. 

As for transportation they estimated 10,000 dollars. This includes airfare. Since its Girls Generation they are talking about, GG does travel a lot. They go to Japan almost once every 2 week. 

Despite my justifications, it still quite a lot, but we should realize they earn that much.

So, why am I being a fan boy? 

Because one person explained how money brought idols their fame. Based on this article. Heck no, this article is pretty bias. They probably inflated the prices. And even if its the truth, they picked Girls Generation to survey their cost. lol, Girls Generation is the most famous girl group in Korea and probably the most that costs to maintain. 

I kind of lost it when she said money made Kara who they are lol... Kara probably had the worst times of their life as new girl groups lol. Seriously, back then every program, they seemed to be powerless. Even Seung Hyun said that she had to do various strange programs to support the group. 

lol, I just wanted to rant about how hard it is to become an Idol. It money was everything it took, everyone would be one lol. Korean parents would stop spending thousands on tuition and use it to make their children idols lol

Marrying the Mafia 4 Review

Yesterday, I was watching a Korean Moive and thought I should do a Korean movie review. I decided to watch Marrying the Mafia 4 because I really liked their first 3 series. The fourth movie was very different and was not as good as the first 3. I can say this is quite cliche and I think its because you expect so much from its previous movies.

Firstly, It wasn't that funny. I'm going to be a bit harsh on the movie. I really didn't like 정준하 Jeong Joon Hwa. He acted as the dumb person who lost his memory and ended up working for the opposing side's mafia. He is literally very disgusting. I get like how he was trying to be funny, but it seriously was disgusting. I wonder how many Koreans thought it was funny, because to me it was quite hard to watch. But, the rest, was quite funny. I like the grandma, 김수미 Kim Su Mi. She is really good at acting and she plays the role of the mother of the 3 mafia brothers. She really fits the character and she is very very amusing to watch. The other brothers were amusing as well, but I thought they could been funnier, way funnier. I thought the director was too focused on 정준하's funniness, that the rest were quite forgotten. 

It was quite racist. If you are Japanese, I would really not recommend it, unless you are really open to racist jokes lol. I guess it was trying to poke fun out of our hatred of Japan. I mean, I guess, it was inevitable since they were mafia who didn't really have educations and our parent's generation who probably can relate more to Japanese rule in Korea. 

It also degraded Koreans a bit. I'm not sure, but to me, if I weren't Korean, I would have thought Koreans as very disgusting, low people. I guess it is because of all the disgusting scenes the director made.

It also illustrated Koreans as heros. So basically, the Koreans become heros. That is all I'm going to say because its somewhat a spoiler. But, I never said what type of hero or why he or she is. I had to mention this because, the director then makes a certain person a hero. Its very nationalistic but if he was going to show good aspect of Koreans, why show disgusting scenes?

I thought the plot could been way better. I think they should have focused on the Kimchi market and like did stuff with the yakuza or something. I thought it would be more interesting than the current stuff. 

It was exotic for sure. Because it takes place in Japan. No real exposure to Japanese culture, but somewhat different from Korea. 

I wanted to see the other female characters from previous movies. They probably made the movie funnier and their absences felt like a real lost. 

Overall, I thought the movie was weak. But, I would recommend people to watch it. Why? because people have different taste of humor. Some people probably found the movie hilarious, it was just me, who was too disturbed about the disgusting parts. I'll watch if 5th one comes out lol. Its probably worth it. 

Btw, just a question for people who read this post. Don't be shy. When it comes to cuisine, would you prefer the original or the altered one that fits your taste? 

Because, the movie talks about Kimchi and Kimuchi. Kimchi is the original, but Japanese can't pronounce Kimchi and pronounce it Kimuchi. However, the real problem for Korean companies is that Kimuchi sells better, than Kimchi. [The reason of the rage]. Apparently, most people like the Kimuchi better because it is less spicy and sweeter. 

So, just wanted to hear some opinions on, if your tasting foreign food, you want the original or the altered?

Just let me know what you guys think!

Koreans Don'ts for Food

1. Koreans don't steam their fish
     In many Chinese restaurants, they steam their fish. Its delicious, especially with the sweet taste of soy sauce. However, Koreans usually never steam their fish. Yeah I know, pretty shocking, if you were Chinese reading this information. Koreans usually eat their fish in a stew or fried.

2. Koreans don't eat baby bamboo
     I kind of can't believe we don't eat baby bamboo as Chinese and Japanese people do. I mean we can eat it but we don't usually have in our cuisine. And it was funny that both Chinese and Japanese people do eat them and Koreans don't. Think about it logically. Korea is in between China and Japan.

3. Koreans don't usually eat pork in think slices as Chinese
    lol. Its kind of funny because I learned this the hard way. I'm Korean and I went to China town during the break. So...I saw pork belly <3 in China town. So, I asked the butcher to slice my pork... hahaha Basically he gave me 4 slices of huuuuuuuge pieces of pork. Definitely not for making pork belly strips. So, I ended up having to boil them. Still fresh pieces, it was just that I really don't cook Chinese... plus, I usually don't go for Chinese pork.... I prefer Chinese beef, fish, chicken, duck cuisine. I just like those better then pork.

4. Koreans don't have chilly buddy
    We usually make something similar. Soy sauce + green onions + garlic + chili powder.

5. Korean hae sashimi doesn't come small portions
     Usually, when you order Korean hae. You probably have to buy the whole fish. One fish is like 2-4 portion. I guess it has to do something with Koreans liking to share food? Personally, Koreans seem to share more food then any other culture. I met a lot of people from different parts of the world. I feel Koreans are the ones who offered me share their food most of the time.

6. Koreans don't have mild Ramen
     We don't have mild Ramen.... Usually spicy.........

7. Koreans don't like to use their spoons
     We get lazy using spoons. You probably noticed a lot of Koreans eating rice with their chopsticks lol

I can't really think of any more for now. But this was basic summary of things that usually Korean cuisines don't have. I really wish Korea had more steam fish. I mean its sooooooo good.

Gyeongbokgung Palace: Korean Royal Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace !!

I visited Gyeongbokgung Palace which is in Seoul.
Firstly, I’m gonna introduce this palace ^.^
In 1395, three years after the founding of the Joseon Dynasty by Yi Seong-gye, the new main palace, Gyeongbokgung Palace, was completed and the capital of the new dynasty was moved from Gaegyeong to Seoul(then known as Hanyang). The palace was named Gyeongbokgung, the "Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven." The king lived here and conducted state affairs.

I firstly looked around relics of the Joseon Dynasty at National palace museum of Korea. After that, I ate a packed lunch prepared by my boyfriend XD . Then entered Gyeongbokgung Palace.

- This is me in front of the gate named Heungrye.

-This is Geunjeongjeon. Geunjeongjeon is the Throne Hall, where the king granted audiences to his officials, presided over large official functions and met foreign envoys. Geunjeongjeon is the largest and most formal hall in Gyeongbokgung. The two-tier edifice stands on a high platform reached by stone steps. There is a spacious courtyard in front, where important events were held and corridors enclose it.

- This is Sajeongjeon Hall. The official quarters were where the king handled state affairs and studied Chinese classics with his civil servants in normal times. The quarters were also where he threw parties for his relatives and ministers and supervised qualifying examinations for the civil service.


Gyeongbokgung has separate bedchambers for the king and the queen. Gangnyeongjeon Hall is the king's living quarters and Gyotaejeon Hall, entered through Yanguimun Gate behind the king's quarters, is for the queen. The king and the queen carried on their routine affairs in the living quarters. They threw occasional parties for their relatives as well. It does not mean that state affairs were not handled here. The king sometimes called his court officials to his living quarters to discuss national affairs.

- This is Gyoteajeon. I’m in front of it. I think my boyfriend is the worst photographer..T.T Anyways,In the Joseon Dynasty period, the queen had to live only in this palace. Only in two cases the queen could go out of the palace. When the queen die and when the queen is deposed.

-Gyeonghoeru pavilion, built on the pond west of Gangnyeongjeon, the king's living quarters, was where the king threw feasts for foreign envoys or his court officials. The name means that the king is capable of handling national affairs only when he has the right people around him, it was used on joyous occasions.

- Sujeongjeon is the site where in the past, the king Sejong’s time, was Jiphyunjeon. Hangul- Korean language which is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage property because of its excellence and scientific principle- was invented by the king Sejong and scholars.

-Every building's roof tile has these little animal statues. All of them are imaginary animals like gragon and Sonokong. People believed that these animals
protect from fire (In that time, most builings were made out of wood )

I introduced some of this palace. If you know more about Gyeongbokgung Palace, go http://www.royalpalace.go.kr/

My heart was fluttered because I was standing there where in the past normal people never could enter. I recommend Gyeongbokgung Palace to those who are interested in Korean history or structure :)

New7Wonders! Jeju Island

Wow! New7Wonders made an announcement and Jeju Island was selected as the one of the new 7 wonders!!! I mean really WOW. I knew visiting Jeju Island was one of the most memorable trip, but I didn't expect them to win the new 7 wonders. Note, Jeju Island being the most memorable trip means a lot because my dad always wants to travel somewhere; he can't stay home. So out of numerous places, being the most memorable place means a lot. Even still, winning the new 7 wonders means a LOT.

Jeju Island has a very nice sea view
Jeju Island probably is not famous for beaches. Malaysia, India and etc has better ones, I bet. However, I did find the sea view of Jeju Island really beautiful. Its not a beach, but composed of rocky surfaces. The water is clean, but very very dark blue. When you look at the waves, it makes you feel empty. Somewhat peaceful, despite the loud wave constantly throwing themselves to the rock cliff.

Jeju Island has one of the freshest sea food
I'm sure few of you know that fish taste better in cold water. Well, at least I believe cold water makes fish taste better. Jeju has a cold water current going through it, so Jeju island offers amazing fish cuisine. If your visiting Jeju-do, you should try eating hae(aka sashimi).

Its not just fish that taste good. Jeju island also offer a variety of treasures of the sea. Clams, crabs, octopus and etc. Jeju is a home of the hae nyos "해녀" which means sea women. They dive the sea and find fresh sea goodies. They slice it and the fish goodies are eaten raw. May sound disgusting, but what nature offers us, is purely delicious.

Jeju Island has a lot of horses 
I can't really comment about this. I lack knowledge. But I do know that Jeju has a lot of horses. And they have famous horse meat, which I have not tried. It is pretty common to see horses on the field.

Jeju Island has a mountain 
This mountain is actually a volcano. Thats why we see a lot of dark stones in Jeju. (I kind of like the dark stones, I find them pretty). The main mountain in Jeju is called Halla mountain. Apparently, it has all 4 seasons. But, I can't confirm this because I went during the winter. I honestly think its a lie..... But, for now, it is said to have all 4 seasons. Well, plants from all 4 seasons can be found. Its pretty amazing.


Jeju Island has a lot of history and culture
I assume this is the main reason that made Jeju island distinguishable to other places. I mean with just natural beauty Jeju isn't as appealing compared to other candidates, but truly how Jeju is merges humanity with nature is beautiful. I feels like your living in a very fresh environment. Moreover, Korean residents produce art, agricultural product and etc. Going to Jeju can bring a lot of learning experience of the history of the people of Jeju residents.

I love Jeju do. I probably am bias, because I love 회 hae. Able to eat good hae probably made me love Jeju do. I can't wait to eat hae there again.

Again, congrats!

Korean Pride

A lot of foreigners would agree that Koreans have a lot of pride being Korean! lol. Well I have too! Korean Pride. Basically we think "Korea is the Best!".

Korea is the best would probably become worst, if Korea develops more haha.

But, why would Koreans think Korea is the best??? Lets have a look.

Korea is the Best

Korea has the best electronics. 

     In terms of quality and cost. I would say yes. However, we still can't say we are the best in technological     advancement

Korea has the best skater
     Yes.

Korea has the best transportation
     I can't really answer this. However, from all the countries I have been, Korea did have the best public transportation.

Korea has the best internet
     Korea does have the best internet in terms of affordable super fast internet. However, lol the fastest is Norway, I believe.

Korea has the highest IQ
     Yes, Singapore has the highest IQ. lol and I think that guy lied about Korea being the 2nd. I know it was like around top 10, but not that high lol!!

Korea made great economical growth
     lol, this is probably our greatest pride. We have pride in the fact that we developed so fast in such a short time.

Why don't we check out what we are bad at as well?

Korea is the Worst

Koreans are loud
     lol, I've heard this a lot. Yes, I think this is true. However, Koreans are not loud in public transportation. They are extremely aware that they shouldn't be loud in public transportation. However, in hotels, classrooms and when they are eating, we are pretty loud.

Korea has disgusting toilets.
    Depends. But, quite true. I would say 40% I would encounter a dirty toilet.

I dare not post pictures -.-

Korea have drunkards on the streets
    lol!!! Yes, we have so many drunkards on the street. I think its something that would last for ever. Its such a common sight to see drunk people sleeping on the streets.

Korean military is the worst!
     I definitely agree lol... My 2 years of youth is going to be wasted.

Korea has the highest percentage of plastic surgery
     I think it is probably true. I used to deny this, but I guess its pretty obvious that we do have a lot of people doing plastic surgery. However, being Korean doesn't mean they are all plastic and fake lol.

Korea has pretty bad garbage control
     We probably have the best recycling system. Where people have to distinguish trash. However, we are really bad at keeping our trash to the end until we find a trash disposer. Usually what happen is people just leave their trash on the streets -.-.

I can't think of any more goods and bads lol. But, basically this is an overview XD
Hope nobody is raging!

I think Korean pride is kind of fun to play with haha Just to joke about. I don't think people are too serious about it!

Anyways good night!

Pepero Day 11/11/2011

This year is the ultimate Pepero day!!! In Korea, we have snacks called Pepero. It is exactly alike to Pocky. It is a long stick with chocolate covering. In South Korea, 11/11 is a celebration of Pepero! because 11/11 looks like 4 Pepero sticks! Its basically another form of a valentine day! Koreans give Pepero to each other, their classmates, friends, love, family!  It is interesting how we are celebrating Pepero day because its a event that is made only recently; its not a traditional celebration.

Anyways, Pepero day is meaningful to many and you can be very creative on your Pepero. Some people bake their own, some people decorate the boxes and etc.

Honestly, its pretty amazing how much effort people put into making Pepero day a success! Sometimes I think Pepero is purchased only during Pepero day... haha

The best Pepero box is.....

Korean Manhwa Noblesse

Again Manhwa isn't as popular as Manga. Well, technically they both mean the same thing, except Manhwa is made in Korea and Manga is made in Japan. However, Korean Manhwa are getting more popular. Its growing :). 

One Manhwa I really enjoy reading is Noblesse. Noblesse is a webtoon that is submitted in Naver, a Korean internet portal. Its not just funny but has strong main story underneath it. Usually, artists find it really hard to balance both, but Noblesse does it wonderfully. Moreover, it really portrays a lot of Korean culture. Well, the characters are mostly foreign looking, but a lot of Korean culture is expressed in the Manhwa. For example, eating Ramen. Koreans just love eating Ramen. Another was small backpacks the characters had. Koreans unlike Americans have tiny backpacks. This is probably because they think its fashionable. 

If your interested in Korean culture, reading Manhwa is a good way to approach it. 

Btw, this Manhwa is for both GIRLS and BOYS. :) 

Once funny scene is where the main character waits for his ramen is to get bigger. lol, this is when your noodles absorb all the water and gets bigger, but the main character who is a vampire doesn't understand it and waits for it to get bigger lol...

Want something fishy?

It was fall break, so we got a 4 day weekend :). My roommates and I went to H mart, its basically a giant Korean supermarket. I was able to fill my cart with Korean goodies and we also got "해물탕", which is pronounced hae mol tang. Its a spicy seafood soup. It has a lot of seafood XD... lol and is very spicy...

Again... like I did in previous post about the indian restaurant, I ate the chili in the soup -.- Yes, of course it was spicy... and I almost died. I will never learn and keep eating chili even though I know its going to burn!!!! ARRRGGGH

Anyways, if your tired of sashimi, steamed seafood, and want to try something different, you should try this dish. Its not just seafood but has vegetable in it as well. For me, I bought the ingredients for 9 bucks. This was really cheap because it gave us around 3 portion :)

Yummmm, I'll definitely buy this again.

October 2011

Just a little update on my life. Well this blog post will probably for me to look at and realize what I need to do to become a better person.

Currently, I have bad grades. I have no idea why this is happening, but I just a few ideas. First, my body is really tired. I feel very slow. Reading takes forever, and I cannot focus at all. -.-  I tend to surf the internet too much. Second, I feel really demotivated. Mainly, "why am I doing computer science" quote keeps going through a while loop. This happened to me before at freshmen year, but its happening again. Lastly, I feel I need to see my parents/family as soon as possible. I probably didn't like my parents much, but I do feel that they are the reason I go to college.


So, maybe it is a slump for me.

After failing physics, I forgot how to be good on tests...  and I did the same thing on one of my computer science class.


I need to put myself together and start working from tomorrow. Fall break is coming, so I was thinking about relaxing, but I need to study.

Oh yeah.. it was also annoying that my computer would keep breaking that my homework would keep getting deleted. However, I got a new computer on the way so it should be fine.

I hope I remind myself to focus on the next test.



Fall break is coming soon. I'll post more about Korea soon!

Happy Gaecheonjeol!!!

Its national foundation day for Korea!

People usually set their flag in front of their house, but since I don't have one I decided to hang it on my blog <3

Why do Koreans eat cucumber when they climb mountains?

Actually I only found out about this 2 years ago, when I went mountain climbing in Korea with my grandmother. Well, for my grandmother it was more like mountain eating. She just likes to do a short climb and find a good place to eat and talk with other grandmothers -.- lol I would usually go ahead and go to the top. After I came back she gave me a cucumber.... At first, I was "...." Then started eating it.

But, when I thought about it on the way back, a lot of Koreans were eating cucumber on the mountain. I'm probably the weirdest kid to think this pretty funny because I keep picturing a kappa when imagine someone eating a cucumber. (Sorry, I'm those dumb people who laugh loudly without any particular reason). Anyways back to the main topic.

So, I quickly googled "why do people eat cucumber mountain climbing". Didn't work.. So I googled in Korean "오이 등산 왜" which is translated "cucumber mountain climbing why" lol.... Its actually grammatically wrong in Korean as well. Either way I got results!!!

1. Cucumber has a lot of water, easy to carry and eat.
2. When you sweat, your not just loosing water from your body. There are a lot of nutrients that leave the body and the cucumber can supplement your body.

I guess these are two very reasonable reason to eat cucumber while climbing or jogging.
Just a side note, cucumber is really good for your skin as well.
So, why don't you try cucumber during your long walks?

Sweet Potato Korean Style 군고구마

I  probably can't say much today. I have to go to class in an hour, have to check my homework, take a shower and eat. So Korean sweet potatoes....Can't say why I brought this up... I just felt like eating one right now.

First of all, Korean sweet potatoes are different from American. Its not orange inside, but its white. And its amazing how it tastes.

In homes we usually boil our sweet potatoes. However, we burn it in fire outside. Well, that  is how our parents did it. Right now we have these black round "thing" with fire inside cooking it for us.

Its pretty cheap and tasty. No, actually very tasty.

However, this can be done in homes as well. Just put your sweet potatoes in the oven. But use foils so that the potatoes become burn on the skin. (probably cause cancer, but... it taste good... <3)


And wala!

yummy potatoes!!!


You can also get them in Korean restaurants. Some places in Korea give free potatoes while you cook your meat.

Probably the most rushed post ever, but I hope it made you people hungry!

Cafe culture in Korea *.*

Cafe culture in Korea.



If you visit Korea , I'm sure that you will be astonished by too many cafe .
There are as many as 3000 major brand coffee house in Korea !!(Caffe bene, Hollys coffee, Tom n Toms, The coffeebeans, Angelinus, Starbucks ...)
Plus, there are countless small cafe.

You may not be surprised but The south Korea's area is just half of California's.
It seems that someone crumpled tons of cafe and put into small area.

I don't know how to express this :(
I think Korea has the most numerous coffee house per area in the world and also has the most developed cafe culture.

-This is Caffe bene . It is ranked No.1 cafe in Korea for its number. It has about 660 franchises.



Korean people go to cafe just for drinking coffee.
We could rest, study, work and chat with other people for a long time in a coffee house.
Coffee house provides the place that people stay.
There are new word 'Coffice' and 'Cafebrary' that is conbined coffee+office and cafe+ library .
As a university student , I often stay at cafe to do my homework, chat with my friends.
Whenever I hang around with my friends and don't know where to go or what to do , we just go to a cafe.
You could use coffee house for your place as much as you want with small amount of money in Korea.




These days Korean people visit unusal cafe.
All of these cafe have their own special stuffs.
Recently I visited an special unique cafe . There are tons of memos in that cafe, so I wrote my memo and hung it with string.
The cafe has 100days mail box so that customers write postcard and put it into that box , then the cafe send their postcards 100 days later.

- this is my boyfriend's memo.

-This is the picture of my boyfriend . He was writing postcard to me waiting our drinks.
I'll be received 100 days later.

Why do Koreans say Niga?

Today I read an article about an African American English teacher in Korea, punching an elder...

I heard it was because the elder said "shut up please". According to the people on the bus, the African American was talking really loud in the bus. Talking loud in the bus isn't a proper thing to do. Its like farting in the elevator. So... The African American got mad and punched the elder. I guess saying "shut up please" isn't a proper thing to do as well. But, I assume he saw it in the movies and followed it -.- Since Korean elders, well a lot of them lack English. However, punching elders, isn't a proper thing to do as well. There probably was another reason that he got really mad.




According to few comments, I read that the African American thought the grandfather was racist saying "niga". Well, niga in Korea means.. "니가" you!... So, he had it completely wrong. I don't think old Koreans know what niga means in English anyways -.- Most grand parents didn't go to school.

As for tourist, I hope you people don't feel bad cause someone said "niga". Its just a word in Korean, that means you!. Moreover, the Chinese use the word "nigee". It was pretty funny how my white friend was very angry at his Chinese friends for saying "nigee". I forgot what it means, but for sure its not the racist comment we all know about.

Just wanted to post this, so that future misunderstandings are somewhat prevented.

Oh if they start saying "gae se ki" (개새끼) "mi chin nom"(미친놈), they are dissing you. So, you can go say "mae rong"(메롱) to them.

Why do Koreans eat Dogs?

I was quite busy, so I couldn't really update my blog... Well, I learned the skilled called procrastination. I can't focus at all... Anyways, school just started for me. I finished my first week, but still I became incredibly busy this weekend. Work WORK WORK!. I also got a research position! (show off show off show off!) I don't get paid but I might be able to next semester.

So, back to the topic of why Koreans eat dogs... Before we start, have a deep breath and calm yourself. 

Koreans started eating dogs back in the days, when we didn't have animal rights, electricity, cars and hamburgers in Korea. Korea was somewhat like Ireland. Personally I don't know much about Ireland, but the fact that they were invaded a lot so that they could only eat potatoes which grew underground. Korea when through somewhat of the same situation. Koreans were extremely poor. Korea is a small country stuck among China, Japan and Russia. Not so much of the Russians, but China and Japan kind of tried to invade us a lot of times and not to mention civil wars too. Its not that food are taken away from families to the military, but also invaders steal from the locals as well. So, for centuries Korea had a hard time feeding themselves. Since food was hard to find, they found dog meat to eat. It had a lot of nutrients and dogs were not hard to breed or find. 

That is like the briefest summary of where dog eating customs origins. Now lets look at the current issue. At an international level dog eating is just disgusted by a lot of cultures, especially a lot of western countries have a hard time understanding. But, its quite unfair for Koreans, since they have been eating dog for ages like how everyone eats cows, chickens and pigs. Farm animals, breed to eat, are defined differently in Korea, they include dogs. The main problem is how life is valued differently, because dogs are cuter and smarter. Cows, pigs and chickens aren't as cared for. Have a deep thought about it. If life of different animals are worth differently. 

Anyways lets say you somewhat understand that dogs, cows and pigs have the same life-value. Now, lets get to the real problem of dog eating. Its the inhumane condition of the lives of dogs that are caged and cared for. They are abused by their owner. So, finally we have reached the MAIN PROBLEM. 

However, its not just the Koreans fault that this was resulted. Why do you think the Korean government doesn't keep watch over this dog trade??? Think carefully. They don't want to admit the legal dog trade in Korea. However, they didn't make it illegal as well. And why do you think they don't want to admit the dog trade??? Its because international voices that are against dog eating in Korea. The Korean government is just too scared to admit. If there were regulation and a more legal dog meat trade, most likely the dogs would get a better living condition. 

So a better way to approach this situation is to approach this situation is to legalize the dog meat market and eventually reduce it through the government, rather than try to ban the dog eating because it doesn't make sense for Koreans. Say you eat pigs and some country says eating pigs is just unimaginable, are you going to stop eating pigs?... 

And dog eating isn't something common. We don't have dog for dinner or anything like that, nor we find dog meat in the super market. I haven't eaten dog meat before, but I might try just to see what it is like. My dad does eat dog meat, if he has the chance, but I think he ate it twice after I was born. He probably understands why Koreans eat dog eat more since he came from a really poor family. 

Oh, and Koreans do love their dogs. We have a lot of people who dedicate themselves for the animal rights of dogs! We even have cafes for dogs. 

WELCOME TO THE CONVENIENCE STORE

Well, actually its more COME TO THE CONVENIENCE STORE!

Just a short intro. Welcome to the convenience store is actually pretty funny. It is based on actual happenings that could accord in Korean convenience store. The manhwa(Manga is called Manhwa in Korea) artist started off as a Naver artist. Naver and Daum, the two portal giants, provide a space to Manhwa artists even the unknown to participate in drawing Manhwas. This artist also gained popularity and got an award in 2008. His series also became a book in 2009, animation series were created for this manhwa. :)

Enough talking. I'll just post a Manhwa clip

http://www.mangareader.net/welcome-to-the-convenience-store Go here to read more :)

Banana Milk & Coffee Milk

One of my childhood desires was to drink infinite amount of Banana milk and Coffee milk...... Back then, I rarely got to drink sodas. I hardly remember drinking cola, before going to the U.S. Instead my childhood memories are packed with the sweetness of Banana milk and coffee milk. I think I remembered them better because of their weird packaging -.-. Its really really different from canned sodas or milk carts.

This is the banana milk we drank, well still do. I stopped drinking banana milk since I prefer the normal white  milk. :) You can find these almost everywhere in Korea. It probably taste like any other banana milk.  

The coffee milk I kind of liked it because I wanted to be grown up -.- Like my mom drank it few times and I saw it and thought it was a grown up drink and wanted to drink it. Its pretty good, but this too I have stopped drinking after I went to middle school.


Gah, I'm done with summer school. I feel horrible considering how bad I did... :( Moreover, I bought a violin -.- because I felt nervous of the exam asdfdsafasdfafdkasfjlkljsaj Guess I should start practicing for the two weeks

Gah, would Korea and Japan ever be friends?

The reason I'm posting this is because I really wish the Japanese gov't to encourage Korean Japanese friendship and the policies the Japanese gov't is continuing is kind of destroyed the friendship. Right now, if I read the atmosphere correctly, Koreans ultimately hate Japan -.- The hate just increased by I don't know but at least doubled... which is quite unfortunate.

Let me tell you what happened. So, when there was the huge earthquake, Korea people were pretty sympathetic to Japan. Back then, we were all talking about "Although Japan has bad history with Japan, right now(back then), we are neighbors and neighbors should help each other". The whole nation donated despite their extreme hate towards Japan. Honestly, I thought this was when Korea and Japan was closest to being "friends".

Then,  Japan started claiming dokdo is Japanese -.- right after the earth quake... A lot of Koreans were obviously mad. Maybe it they claimed dokdo was Japanese after a year or at least few months they recovered, the hatred could have been less. (Not that I'm saying Japan has the rights to claim Korean territory -.-)... Its kind of pointless claiming land when clearly another government is controlling it. I mean if everyone does this... world would be in chaos. Think about it. Are the Americans going to leave if the Native American claim America is theirs?... Well, this is just an example. 

After that, this month four Japanese officials tried to go to Olendo, a island near dokdo to find proof that dokdo is Japanese... So what kind of nation would be happy about it...?... Oh, somebody is coming from overseas to take our land!! Lets greet them!!! .... No.... we're not that dumb.... Well thankfully the President issued a ban that prevented the Japanese officials to visit... He said that he cannot guarantee the safety of the officials which sounds pretty much right.

And just yesterday -.- there was this Japanese show that made a Korean women fighter fighting 3 Japanese guys... Well, they were comedians but one was a former k-1 fighter... Ok... if Chuck Norris retires to a comedian and let him fight anyone, I'm pretty sure he can beat the crap out of people.... So, Koreans are now like ultimately hating Japan.... 

Yes, the two nations are child-like. Japan needs like a special division just dedicated on learning what type of actions are offensive to Korea -.- Seriously, sometimes I think its really hard for the oppressors to understand the feelings of the oppressed and its hard to understand other cultures. For Korea, they really need to know how to forgive. I bet I'm going to be criticized for saying this, but we should know how to forgive without apologies and that we have fault in not having a stronger nation. Hence, try harder to build this stronger nation. 

Just saying. Hope nobody gets angry. I just wanted other people to know that the relationship just got worst. 

lol, I would be so amazed when Japan and Korea gets along in near future, which they should. Probably create a reliable and strong partnership. 

Rain Rain Go away!

Wonder whats going on in Korea?... Well we're having trouble with nature. Nothing serious as the Japanese Tsunami, fortunately. But, we're having a lot of FLOODS in SEOUL.

It caused a lot of panic in Korea. Well, the thing is, Korea.... Seoul especially.... didn't have any major floods before. Well, I never read about it or experienced it when I was living there..So, when the flood happened a lot of people were.... "what is going on???!". This was for my family as well. Thankfully, they lived at the 8th floor and the flood wasn't threatening. It sank some cars but for us, we didn't own any cars yet. (My family just moved to Korea)

Another problem is that the rain is creating a lot of landslides in Korea. D: Even my family had mud all over the apartment -.- Can't forget the landmines lol. I shouldn't laugh, but its so stupid that we have to watch out for landmines because of the flood -.-.......... Apparently, landmines from North Korea floated down the rivers. So, watch out if your in Korea!

 Just some pictures,  which I stole!

Hope people in Korea safely overcome this!

After my final, I'll discuss about the influence of the INTERNET and a community Koreans have. Its pretty amazing how Korean cyber community is. How it changed peoples lives.

Why do Koreans bow?

So, I've been busy doing nothing -.- Can't study can't be productive. Idk lol Just so... down these days. Anyways I just wanted to post a quick post about why do Koreans bow.

Koreans bow to show respect, like any other Asian culture. Long time ago we used to do the big bows, where our heads touch the ground. This is usually for really respectful people, like the king, elders and etc. Nowadays, we only do the big bow during our 제사 jae sa. Its a custom, ceremony to remember our ancestors who have passed away. Well, we kind of remember more of the elders who have more recently passed away. I have no clue what my great grandfather is like or anyone after my grandpa. I guess this is because Korea was had such chaotic times that we didn't really think it was important. Anyways we usually only bow to our ancestors cause they are definitely respected. Moreover, we also bow to our parents on 추석 chu suk and other ceremonies. However, we don't do big bows in everyday life.

We do the little bow which is where you do a 45 degrees bow. These are like our version of "hello!". We don't do this among friends but towards people who are not so familiar with, elders, and basically anyone older than you are. So, its just to show some respect.

I kind of like bowing. Its really polite and its really easy to do. I used to bow to every teacher whenever they walk by and sometimes to neighbors. Its kind of awkward not to say anything so bowing makes it kind of pleasant. Well, bowing among neighbors are disappearing but it still exist. Oh, and in companies you definitely  want to bow to almost everyone, your superior and etc.

Omg. A lot of you can't believe how much hardship I have meeting friends' parents.... Especially if they are Asian... I really really really really really don't know if I should bow or wave my hand say "HI". I usually say HI and wave my hand, then I feel so much awkwardness inside me. Gah, I guess it can't be helped D: ''

Hope this gave somewhat a idea why Koreans bow and when Koreans bow!

MT with my friends

Trip with my friends.

I was with my university friends , same major.
In korea many university students go on an excursion for membership training

and we call it MT .

One of places that university students go is mostly 'Ga Pyeong'

because Ga Pyeong is closer to place where most student live than other spot .
And there are many wooded valleys !

So I and my friends decided to go to Ga Pyeong for our own MT but it wasn't official MT.
First , we gathered at Sang Bong subway station. We promised that one who is late has to pay 1000 won per 10 minutes. (about 1 USD)

But actually we didn't took money.

It was the thing that scares friends so that they won't be late .

Anyway, we went to market for buying stuffs that we needed during our MT and after buying we went to McDonald for lunch.
Then we rode train for Ga Pyeong.

-This is the picture of ours at Ga Pyeong station. Foreigner took this picture !


First day we decided to choose people who were gonna do chores like making dinner and snack food , washing the dishes ,cleaning our dirty room by games.

We are divided into 3 teams and played a Korean card game called "Sutda or Sudda". My team won ! so my team didn't need to make dinner and wash the dishes ^^

We just did play another card game and winners hit loser's forearm with two fingers. It was really fun.

- This is picture of our team . We rested doing our game ' Sutda'. I'm the left person in front of the sofa



After dinner , we played another game named "Man who cover his eyes catches hiding people"

It is like a game "Playing tag" but this is additionally covering tagger's eyes .

I was a tagger and caught only two people in 3 minutes. So three of us made munchies T.T (sea food pot stew, chicken nugget)

we drank korean alchol - So ju , Makgeolli(rice wine) - and beer !

also we played random games , had a chat while we were drinking.

Next day we relieved a hangover with Korean noodles ' Ramen' then went play in a valley near to our pension.

- when we arrived , we took a picture for memory. we soaked watermelon so that it got cold . then we cracked it by sharp stone and ate it together !

- after playing in the water , this three men barbecued pork belly ,sliced onion and garlic.

I asked them why they were making a dinner by themselves. and one of them answered that they can't make food anymore for us after they enter the military.
( In korea, every young man must go to army for 2 years. )



all of us fell asleep because we were so exhausted by playing in the water.
next day we cleaned our dirty rooms and then go to home

-this is picture in front of pension that we stayed for 2 days .



There were many funny episodes . one of episode is that two friends intended to deceive rest of us by their quarrel.(We all know it was fake quarrel because they did a really poor performance).
In the process of deceiveing us, they broke a window of door by mistake. We compensated for that with our dues.

anyway, It was really fun and good MT for us.
I'm so sad that I can't have a clear pictures on this blog. I don' know how to fix it. T.T

Why do Koreans? say ww?

Just another interesting thing to post about every month maybe? Basically, I am going to google "Why do Koreans" and google will give me auto completion of the sentence and I will try to explain it.

So, the first post is "Why do Koreans say ww?"

This is probably asked by a lot of Starcraft 2 fans as Korea hosts so many games there and have a lot of good players.

So, what do people say when they finish a Starcraft match? "gg" which stands for good game
Many of you have saw Koreans saying "ㅈㅈ" instead of saying "gg"
Its how "gg" is pronounced and typed in Korean.

And finally, Koreans press "ww" because it is the same keyboard location as "ㅈㅈ". They are just saying good game, with a typo.

Just a post

So, I have upload my photos on the Incheon Airport. Click on it to go to that post. Oh yeah you people reading my blog -.- Comment! COMMENT DONT BE SHY! I really don't know whose reading and it gets boring just me blabbing about non-sense. Having comments will keep me from being INSANE.

Another picture that I'm uploading. This is Malaysia from 2 years ago. I don't know I'm just so attracted to this photo. It looks as if the buildings can touch the clouds. And if you look at the clouds, it just makes me feel weird haha.

Mister: The Man From Nowhere

Just a short post about a Korean movie that I would advise a lot of people to watch. It was one of the best movies I watched. Its because of all the crazy action and a really good story plot. The action scenes are very realistic and professional. Apparently,  the main character the Mister, played by WonBin, was a retired special forces member of Korea. It was hell bloody, but it wasn't disgusting. Not like those horror movies -.- where they spew their gust out everywhere. It was more like Jackie Chan, but with an impression that was like "wow, that guy is just so manly". (Can't deny he was freaking manly.)

The story plot was really deep and realistic as well. Its basically about the main character trying to save a child from having her organs stolen. It deals with a modern day issue where gangs steal people's organ to make money. I am pretty sure this happens a lot to people who are unprotected and I've heard stories -.-

Moreover, there was no love story! Yay. I am so sick and tired of love stories between the main character and another character. -.- Its so cliche now. Every movie... even family movies Harry Potter, Sherk, and Oscar has a love story.... Anyways, I might have lied. Mister does have somewhat a love story in it. But, I really can't say it was love... I mean did WonBin love the little girl he saved?.... I would argue it wasn't love, if it was it would be a father-daughter love.... like in Finding Nemo. But, I don't think it was the case.. I lean more towards that it was "jeong"(정). Jeong is a Korean word to express this particular feeling towards a person, which is really hard to explain since there is no English word for it. Its like empathy or a bond that connects people. Say I had a dog. I can have jeong towards the dog. If it went away I will feel weird because of the jeong. You also have jeong towards people you hate. Say you had a person you hate and you had class with him or her for 5 years. Then he transfers, you feel somewhat weird without him or her. Again this is because of the jeong. I guess its more like the feeling of not having something around when your so used to having it. Anyways, I think this is really arguable. But the point is that there was not cheesy love.

Back to Mister. I would really recommend people to go watch it :) Or watch it on your computers lol since its been out almost for a year now.

Spinach Bacon Riceballs!

This previous week I bought a bag of spinach -.- I thought I really needed vegetable or I would die. So, I have been eating Dangjang stew with spinach for a three times this week and finally got bored of it. It taste good, but there was endless, endless amount of spinach. So, I google, "시금치 요리", meaning spinach dishes. And I got few. The one I tried was Spinach Bacon Riceball. It was pretty easy to make and it tasted pretty good, considering it had spinach in it.

1. You boil water and add spinach, try not to boil your spinach to death

2. Take spinach out, and squeeze out the water.

3. Start cooking bacon and cut the spinach into small pieces

4. Cut the bacon into small pieces

5. Place spinach and bacon back to the frying pan. Then cook it for a bit, like 40 sec. Just to remove water from the spinach

6. Add rice and use sasame oil and salt to make it taste good for yourself. So this is very subjective on how much salt you will add

7. Stir fry it for a bit, not long, just enough to mix the rice well with the spinach and bacon

8. Turn off the fire, get a plastic wrap and cut it into a square. Now, your making your riceball. Basically, add some rice on the wrap, then make the rice a bit flat. Add kimchi that will be in the middle of your riceball. Using the wrap you make a ball. 

And thats basically it!

It taste like bacon + kimchi to be honest, but that taste good, making the riceballs taste good. So, later I found out this is a receipt to feed little kids spinach -.- Well, I guess it works on EVERYBODY!

Manners for Korean Public Transport [Guidelines]

These are some guidelines for public transportation in Korea. You don't have to follow them because a lot of Koreans do not follow a lot of them, but its just a general idea of what they are like.

1. Try not to eat in the subway and bus. 
Actually it is "ok" to eat in the subway. I eat bread and kimbab sometimes because I'm really busy going to places and don't have a place to eat lunch. But, a lot of people think its inapproperiate to eat in the subway. For buses, you really don't want to eat there because its more likely for you to drop food since the buses are really bumpy.

2. Don't have your legs wide open. I guess this mostly applies to guys.
A lot of Korean girls complain how guys spread their legs, consuming a lot of space and invade other people's private bubble. I guess it is kind of awkward to have some person's leg touching yours. Girls are quite picky about this so better not do it. Plus, its kind of rude to do leg folds. I'll post up a picture if you are confused what I meant by leg folds. I personally don't know what the action is called, its just when people cross their legs but like not twisting but putting his foot on top of his leg.

3. Don't go sit on the elders' and pregnant women's seats.

Korean subways and buses reserve seats for pregnant women and elders. They can be found in the corners of the subway. For buses its usually the first 3 rows of the bus. For buses, its is OPTIONAL to give away your seat, but a lot of people do it anyways since -.- the elders have trouble riding the bus without a seat. In subways, if the reserved seats are all taken, it is OPTIONAL and polite to give away your seat to the elders.

4. Please don't kiss in the subway

Not because I'm a grumpy single, but its really awkward to have couples kissing in front of everyone 

5. No make up in the subway

This is something that is not always followed, but considered as one of the guidelines. Its ok to do light make up, but there are people who do full make up in the subway -.- 

6. Talking on the phone

Do so quietly. This one is not really followed in Korea, but I am setting it as a guideline so we can start implementing it! lol, I'm such an hypocrite for saying this because I sometimes talk loudly on the phone in the subway mainly because I cannot hear myself -.- Oh well, still its something everyone should stop doing. 

Tip 1.Never take the subway in rush hours.

Even if your a guy, you will get harassed by someone, not because they want to but because they have to.

Tip 2.Don't buy stuff on the subway

Korean subway has a lot of people selling goods. Its usually not safe to buy them. I mean they are ok to buy but once you bought them, whether or not they work, you can never ask for a refund. 

Tip 3. I don't think the blind people in the subway are blind

I donated a lot to blind people when I was young, but I started to realize that they might not be blind 

Tip 4. Some body might say "I forgot my wallet, could you borrow me some money?" "I'll give you my bag"

This is a trick to get cash from you. You have to be a cold person and ignore. 

Tip 5. Don't listen to religious people in the subway

They're probably saying your going to hell in Korean. Just ignore them -.- and don't every follow them. They probably will brainwash you. 

Tip 6. Don't jump into the train rails

If your going to suicide, its a bad idea. Just take pills. (Well, reconsider suiciding if possible) Maybe its a "cool" way to die in the subway, and I have thought of this many many times. But, your just going make people victims. The driver of course will be shocked and the subway is splattered your blood that it is temporally nonoperational. I really don't advise you to go jump in the train rails, just think of what happens if you fail -.- Your going to feel so much pain. 

By the way, these are only guidelines, they don't have to be followed since everyone has their own morals of what is right and wrong.