Howdy!
Friday, May 23rd, 2008Hey everyone! matthew254 here and I’ve decided to reveal my true identity - my real name is “Matthew”. Yes, yes, I know - shocking, right? I’m excited to join the galaxy of stars known as KoreanClass101’s Blogging Team and can’t wait to get started. First, a small introduction of sorts.
I was born the same year that Star Wars: Return of the Jedi premiered and am originally from a city that neighbors the largest Army base in the world. I am currently a senior at the University of North Texas majoring in English as a Second Language for students Early Childhood through Fourth Grade. I grew up in Killeen, TX which houses over 100,000 people with an estimated 3% of the population being Korean. Doesn’t sound like much, but due to Fort Hood, and Killeen’s recession-resistant economy, it’s been cited as the 49th fastest growing city in America in 2007. I bring up my hometown largely due to the fact that it helps define me. Koreans (among other ethnic groups) have always been a part of my everyday life. I didn’t really know that Caucasians were the majority in America until high school geography class. As such, one develops a unique perspective of other cultures in an Army town like Killeen - it has been called the “Melting Pot” of Texas due to the sheer number of cultures, religions, races, and ethnicities represented.
On the language side, I started seriously studying Korean around March of 2007. I have a couple private tutors (more like friends really) that I meet once a week, as well as a small number of “just” friends to practice my Korean with. I enjoy Korean dramas, music, and especially history. Although I’m as white as they come, I genuinely feel a strong sense of comfort among Korean people.
So, now onto the good stuff. Nowhere in my introduction does it say that I am an expert on Korean culture nor would I ever claim to be one. I simply want this blog to be a place where cultural and linguistic differences can be discussed as a group in a safe, no-judgments-made environment. I encourage students from all levels (especially our more advanced learners) to participate and share their views. Each week I will present an observation and pose a question or two about it. I would like steal an idea from a great philosophy professor I once had: You don’t have to change your mind on any given subject - rather - just recognize that each of us has a cultural lens in which we see the world. I’ve always been partial to this idea; that an objective truth exists but before we see it, we look through lens that change our perspective.
So, having said all that, I eagerly look forward to next week’s post and I hope you do too. Until then!
Posted by Matthew in How Koreans Do It |
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:11 am
Welcome, Matthew! What a great addition to the KClass blog team. With Holdfast, you’re in good company
I’m still fairly new to Korean, after only 3 months of study, but I’ll try and keep up. But so far, it’s a huge deal for me that I can play 쥐를잡
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:12 am
oops! the post got away from me. I mean to say “쥐를잡자”. Pressed the wrong button. I hate when that happens.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:10 am
Welcome to the blogging community, Matthew!!
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:11 am
Bouks, I’m pleasantly *shocked* to hear that you can play 쥐를 잡자!!
Haha!!!
May 23rd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Welcome Matthew
Can’t wait to read about your insights 
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Welcome, Matthew.
Bouks,
You could say that “포스트 놓졌다!” (instead of a mouse) hehe.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Matthew…
Welcome! This should be really interesting!
May 25th, 2008 at 10:47 am
hey! i’m excited that you’ll be blogging! i love linguistic debate… ^^
May 25th, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Sounds like a cool idea… Looking forward to reading your blogs!
May 27th, 2008 at 6:19 am
i just signed up for an account at koreanclass101 and am happy to meet some new people who also study korean… check out my blog of which i think is included in this post…soon i will upload some videos on youtube of me speaking korean…i want to do a kind of journal posting of videos to exchange with other korean speakers…
June 13th, 2008 at 11:47 pm
hello matthew. i see you said that being vegan on a korean diet is really easy. i have been living in korea now for 8 months and while i have maintained my diet it hasn’t been so easy. can you maybe suggest a few things i should now about in order to make being vegan in korea easier. thank you
June 14th, 2008 at 1:48 am
hey michael - glad to hear of another roughing it in the ROK.
If you’re able to hold tight for a while, I actually have a blog in queue that addresses how Koreans do vegetarianism/veganism. It will be much more comprehensive.
Keep in mind that many dishes are naturally vegan while others can be modified. Most 순두부찌개 comes with 해산물 (seafood) but as long as you point out to the server that you can’t eat 해산물, you can enjoy the spicey goodness that is 순두부찌개.
For a sneak peak at the blog entry, give me a an email!
July 9th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Hey~ Its Rizuk from Youtube. Yep..I know EXACTLY what you’re talking about with Killeen. I love it here…its amazing xD So weird that we would actually meet on this site, huh? Did they have O-mart when you lived here? I love that store xD I also love R&B Karaoke down on 8th Street….I go there like 5 times a month….
July 10th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Good ol O-mart. It sprung up during my junior college years in Temple so I was kind of far away at the time it opened. Now, each time I visit Killeen, I make it a point to go - if nothing else then to eat some food. I like O-mart’s photography place too - dirt cheap couple photos.
July 29th, 2008 at 3:47 am
It’s a bit late but, welcome ;D
It’s really nice to see you here!
).
What you said about Veganism and Korea, TOTALLY true. I’m a Vegan myself and since I started talking with Koreans I’ve already “converted” 3 to Veganism and 2 are vegetarian ( going vegan
I’ll be waiting for more posts, keep it up. The culture it’s one of the topics that interests me the most :].
안녕~