KoreanClass101.com Blog

We do a lot of shopping at the local Korean grocery store. It isn’t that local–about 40 minutes away–but whenever we are in the neighborhood we stock up on the essentials, namely, 라면, 초코파이, 김, 된장/고추장, and 김치.

We typically buy our 김치 rather than make it more out of convenience than anything. My wife does make good 김치 but finding the time to get it all done is the hardest part, so we buy. Usually the 김치 is pretty good, not great, and the flavor changes according to the season. The flavors can change according to what part of the 배추 leaf is used as well. This last bottle of 김치 was not my wife’s favorite. She likes the yellow leafy 배추 but that bottle of 김치had green leaves. She said it was not as flavorful and it went sour in a bad way. The bottle is still sitting in my fridge. She can’t throw it away for some reason. You know the saying “when life gives you lemons make lemonade?” Well, I say when life gives you bad 김치 make 김치찌개. One day…

일숙씨: My favorite 김치 that I remember when I was a young girl are 오이김치 and 굴김치(baby oyster in 배추김치) I say when you like to eat the food the natives enjoy you will learn the language easier. Koreans love food and 김치 is a staple of the Korean diet. If you like to eat Korean food then you will have more opportunities to be with the natives and see the culture or characteristics of the people. The language is a living thing that evolves and changes according to the situation and changing culture and ideas in that society. Good luck learning Korean. I’m still learning Korean even though Korean is my mother language.

Enjoy all kinds of 김치!

화이팅!!

For your reading pleasure my daughter is going to tell us all about her experience at a 찜질방. 

So, in Korea, there are these things called 찜질방. usually, there’s a 목욕탕 there too. When I went to korea a few years ago, a few of my friends had talked about a 찜질방, but I didn’t know what it was, only that it was ‘fun’. So this year I got to find out.

I went there with a couple of my friends and upon entering the building, it appeared to be just a 목욕탕. The person at the counter gave us some  pink uniforms (shorts and a T-shirt kind of thing). Then we went up a few flights of stairs and put our things in some lockers and changed into our uniforms outside of a small 목욕탕. Then we went up more stairs and into a big room. There were people (men, women and children) just lounging around in their unifoms (guys got blue ones) watching one of the two TVs (one had dramas goin on and the other had soccer). The walls were all covered with shiny quartz rocks of all different colors and depicted a mural of some giraffes and jungley things. There was also many small celtic looking doors (like what you wood imagine Snow Whites cottage to have) in the walls with a temperature and the name of the room over it. Some of the doors were just big enough to crawl through, but I didn’t go in, because they looked a little scary. These were usaully the hottest rooms. In the back was a small ‘restaurant’ type thing.

My friends and I went back there and they purchased hard boiled eggs and a salad bowl sized thing of 매실. We watched a drama, then went and sat in one of the hot rooms (70C) for a while. Inside were more murals of a huge sun, (well it was called the sun room). I peeked in at a few more rooms and they were all completely tiled with a shiny rock mosaic. There was one room, called the 얼음방. which was like the inside of a freezer complete with ice on the walls. We pretty much skeedaddled out of there.

The next time I went, we actually sat in the hot room instead of watching Golden Bride, and after I had become sweatier than I had ever been in my whole life, we went and washed off in the 목욕탕. Apparently becoming extremly sweaty helps detoxify your body and is very good for your skin and helps you lose weight. (Everyone in Korea is concerned about losing weight.) All in all it was indeed a fun experience.

When my wife and I first had children (child actually since you have to start somewhere) we decided to try to raise her by speaking Korean to her at home. This worked for a while, her first spoken words were in Korean (although I can’t remember exactly what they were -shame-). She probably said 마마, I’ll have to look this up in her baby book now…

Some of her first sentences were in Korean as well. I think that my parents were frustrated and amused at her bilingualness. Once her socialization expanded beyond our immediate family her Korean language use decreased to the point that after beginning school she hardly spoke it at all. Now, as a teenager, she is trying to regain her Korean ability.

With our younger two children we have tried to expose them to Korean in a more immersive manner. They spend about a month each year in Korea with their extended family where they learn such useful phrases as:

하지마, 먹어/안먹어, 안돼, 내거야, 만지지 마, 이리 와, 네, 야. Lots of useful phrases…

My oldest, 나래, says that her favorite phrase that she learned this past trip was “어이~, 내 사람아,” a well used phrase of my mother-in-law. Her current favorite phrase in English is “anywho,” which she picked up from watching “Palace (궁).” The phrase “좌우당간” (左右當間 I think) was translated as “anywho” and was a new one for me as well as my wife. I think this is an example of how language can  change.

My youngest daughter often calls me 어빠 instead of 아빠 but she is very proud of the Korean that she knows and tends to use it whenever possible. Because of our recent trip to Korea and the excellent work of Koreanclass101 we are speaking Korean much more at home now.

좌우당간, 새해 복 많이 받으세오!

This past summer we hosted the 여도초등학교 traditional Korean orchestra. The students ages ranged from 8 to 12 years (3rd through 7th grade). The 여도 elementary school is a private school funded by multiple chemical companies in the 여천공단. The orchestra came to the United States to promote the World Ocean Expo 2012 bid. (Congratulations to 여수시 for winning the bid!) For the two weeks that the students spent here we had two boys, two girls, and the school principle and his wife stay at our house. We arranged for the remaining 40 students to stay with various families in the area. Finding host families was not easy in this small community but everyone that hosted these children had a very memorable if not experience.

The children had a total of seven performances while they were here, two at the local high school, two at a theater that we rented, one at a Koean church, and one for the Korean press club in the San Francisco Bay Area. They also perfomed live for a television station morning show. This performance required that they be at the station at 5:30am so the evening prior we had fourteen children stay at our house!

Everyone liked staying at our house. I think that the children that stayed here had the easiest time adapting to American life, probably because we had things that were familiar to them like 김치, 김, 밥, and spoken 한국어. We had the youngest orchestra member stay with us for those reasons and she had no problems at all. Many of the host families were amazed that such young children were travelling away from home for three weeks (they toured for a week before returning to Korea).

There were a few awkward moments with American life for these children. One girl had a very difficult time with one family’s cat. It took her a few days to get used to the idea of a giant (25 pound) cat in the house. She actually spent one night at our house (we don’t have any indoor pets at the moment) and then she was fine. Most of the children were uncomfortable with the idea of indoor pets but by the time they left they were very comfortable with dogs and cats. Another family noticed water all over the floor of the bathroom after the Korean children showered; American bathrooms don’t have drains in the floors of the bathroom as a rule. Despite some communication difficulties everyone got along very well. Several of the families are considering sending their children to Korean for a couple of weeks this coming summer as a kind of sister school exchange. We shall see how this works out.

The performances here were excellent. Some video and pictures can be found here. For a link to lots of photos click the “우리들의 앨범” link on the left. Unfortunately, when someone in America hears the words “elementary school band” they don’t think of well trained performers, skilled in their respective instruments as well as stage presence. Consequently, the performances were not as well attended as they should have been (sold out would have been nice…). Those that attended were treated to an hour and a half long performance of traditional and modern arrangements. Everyone left very impressed and no one missed ”Hot Cross Buns” (our local middle school band favorite heard at every recital).

The instruments featured in the orchestra included the 가야금, 대금, 소금, 거문고, 해금, 태평소, 피리, 아쟁, 모둠북, 사물놀이, 등등. I will try to post some detailed information/pictures of these instruments in the forums. While many of the instruments were foreign to the audience, it was very fulfilling to be a part of this cultural exchange.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Most of my family was in Korea for three weeks prior to my arrival. I travelled with my parents and my oldest daughter. My younger children attended elementary school while in Korea and generally were treated very well. Since we were travelling with my parents and only in Korea for a short period of time, we wanted to do as much sightseeing as possible. We started our tour from 여수 and worked our way back up to 서울.

While in 여수 my parents did a separate tour while I took care of some dental work. I am not that fond of dentists and generally have pretty good teeth but I did have to get a crown two years ago. It cost a small fortune and didn’t last all that long. I fell out two days before I left for Korea. I did not have time to get it fixed before leaving so seeing the dentist was a priority when I got to 여수. My wife knows a dentist who came highly recommended (although I have to say that just about everyone that there that found out I saw a dentist had their own to recommend) so I let him fix my tooth. He did a great job. He told me that Korean dentists are more skillful and have smaller hands than their American counterparts; I’d say he was right. By my best guess I would say dental work is about 25% of the cost in America for comparable work. I wouldn’t be worried about seeing a dentist in Korea again but I wouldn’t wish for it.

We toured the sights in 여수 briefly and then moved up to 순천. We toured a landscaped garden with a 예식장 and a 찜질방 as well as a 찻집. The day was very cold and windy and place was empty. We then took a hike to see 서남사, a small Buddhist temple. It was being renovated but despite that and the cold weather there were many people there. My parents were able to be driven to the temple despite the many people on the trail. (My mom doesn’t get around that well.) After that we went to a folk village (낙안읍성 민속 마을). It really was getting too cold, however. We didn’t stay very long. On our way back to 여수 we took a driving tour of the 여천공단. This is an area comprised of chemical and petroleum factories. At night each factory is lit by a different colored bulb that I believe signifies the type of chemicals produced there. It is quite a sight.

Here 일숙 and Luke try their hand at 널뛰기.

When we were in 부산 we rented a driver and a van to take us on an all day tour of 경주. It was a long day, We saw four main sights: 석굴암, the sight of a sitting Buddha in a cave, 불국사, a large and famous temple, 왕릉, the kings burial sight, and 경주 박물관, the national museum in 경주. It was a lot to do and see in one day. We found a tour similar to this that cost about 345,000원 per person (times that by eight!) but we did it for about 300,000원 altogether. If you aren’t a complete tourist it really pays.

We did a similar thing is 서울, we rented a car and driver and were able to see the palace and the nearby museum as well as 인사동 and 동대문. We really didn’t have enough time to see everything we wanted to but we didn’t have to much time to rest either. That is typical of any vacation though, especially one that is for touring: you need a vacation once you get home.

Our first night in Korea, after a day of touring around 여수, my wife had arranged a 한정식 dinner for us with her family. This turned out to be a very large meal. It included her four older brothers and their spouses/girlfriends, a few of their children that could make it, her mother, my parents, our four children and, of course, myself.

My mother has a difficult time sitting on the floor. Prior to making restaurant reservations, we had confirmed with her that she could indeed sit “Korean style.” However, when she arrived at the restaurant she made it clear that she could not sit on the floor. My parents had been out all day touring with another family and we were to all meet at the restaurant but my 일숙 and I were running behind. 일숙 began to get phone calls from her family asking, “how could you make reservations at a place where your mother-in-law can’t sit!” We were very concerned about what to do if we couldn’t eat there, where would we go and could we find a place with tables that could accommodate all of us. Because my mother couldn’t sit down, everyone was waiting outside in the cold for us to arrive and fix the situation. (Etiquette dictates that no one can sit until the guests do.) When we got to the restaurant (30 minutes late) we were pleasantly surprised that the restaurant servers and 일숙s’ brothers had stacked two short tables (상) and brought in several chairs for those at that table; my mother could sit on a chair and everything went well.

If you have never experienced 한정식 before you will be in for a treat. The meal typically arrives in courses that are representative of the many varieties of Korean food. Because we were late and this restaurant was quite busy, our courses tended to come out about as quickly as they could be prepared so our tables were stacked with dishes full of food rather quickly. Some of the dishes to come out varied from the simple raw ginseng in a leaf with a cherry on top to puffer fish soup (복어국). This restaurant focused mainly on seafood so we were treated to a variety of 회 as well as cooked fish. The meal concluded with some 찰밥 (sweet rice with beans cooked and served in a bamboo cup) and 수정과, a sweet, cinnamony tea, typically served cold.

We met with 일숙’s family in 부산 as well. Her cousin runs a small 횟집 there, consequently we ate very well. The second night we were there my oldest daughter asked for the opportunity to try live octopus (산낙지). I didn’t think that she was up for it since she had a hard time with 뻔데기 (it went in and then it came out again… she said it tasted like chicken but couldn’t get past the idea of what it was). She waited until the plate stopped squirming so much but then she had no problem. My dad even tried some as well as my seven year old daughter. (일숙 warned her to chew real good or it would stick going down but that didn’t stop her.)

In 서울 her family treated us to 불갈비 but again, the restaurant was a sit on the floor only restaurant. Really, you can’t find a very good Korean restaurant that has table and chairs. During our stay, we had asked many restaurants about stacking tables but none were willing. That didn’t stop my wife. She went back into the kitchen and got an empty milk crate for my mom to sit on: once again, no problem.

During our brief trip to Korea we visited with most all of my wife’s family and in the process ate a lot of most excellent food. I think that food and family transcend cultural barriers. What is that saying? “The quickest way to a man’s heart is through his stomach.” Korea can win over anyone with its great variety of food.

I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area but I currently live in a rural area near Yosemite National Park. When I was living in the Bay Area I regularly commuted by the Bart train (basically a subway system) and on occasion took Muni within the city. Now, however, I travel strictly via automobile. I can’t remember the last time I used public transportation within California, maybe 1992… Any trip overseas must rely on public transportation though, and my recent trip to Korea was no exception.

My trip begins at 8:00am Thursday morning with a three hour car trip to SFO (San Francisco International Airport). I am travelling with my parents and my oldest daughter. Our plane leaves at 1:20pm. We are flying United (I think they have the least amount of leg room available so beware of the reclined passenger in front of you.) and the flight departs at 1:23pm. We have plenty of time despite the lines at security. We arrive at 인천 at 6:35pm, ease through customs and head out into the airport proper. We are greeted by a large amount of photographers, reporters, TV crews, “welcome” signs and lots of flowers and flags. My dad is very impressed. Unfortunately, the welcome committee is not there for us. They are there to welcome back some kidnap victims from a fishing boat that fell victim to the Somali pirates. As soon as we are past the camera crews they all pack up their stuff and make a mad dash across the airport to the other customs exit. Oops, wrong door. My wife meets us though (very nice) and she has tickets for the limousine bus (리무진 버스) that will take us to 용산역. If you are traveling with luggage, this is really the only way to go from the airport but it isn’t cheap: 14,000 원 each.

The plane arrives an hour early but despite this we still have to wait until 10:50pm at the train station for the last 무궁화 train to 여수. So here I am in 용산 but am unable to browse the cool electronics stores that 현우 씨 has told us all about. We board the train and arrive in 여천 at about 4:15am. I believe there was a big exam that Friday and so the train was absolutely packed, standing room only for most of the trip with students returning to their homes. We had seats. I tried to sleep most of the trip. There are no more taxis waiting at the train station when we get there so we lug all of our stuff down to the main road and catch two taxis to the hotel. Our driver is not very talkative. He is just starting his shift. I am not feeling too talkative either. I’ve been up for quite some time.

By the time we get to the hotel it is about 4:30am Saturday. So the trip from my house to the hotel in Korea (including the time change of +17 hours) has taken roughly 44 hours! We have travelled by personal car, plane, bus, train and taxi. We have also travelled within Korea just about as far away from 서울 as possible. In hindsight it may have been better to stay in 서울 upon arrival and toured a bit before descending to 여수. However, my first stop really needs to be a visit to family…