Korean Wave! Korea and Jeju Island

A long time ago, I experienced an embarrassing situation. I used to visit a certain place at the same time. A few months later, I didn't need to go there anymore. Once I drove a car in a hurry to an appointed place. As I was driving a car, I suddenly blanked out. Because I was driving on a road I normally took by habit, in the opposite direction of the appointed place. My body moved according to the habit I had formed regardless of my will. **** 아주 오래 전에 어이없는 일이 있었다. 언제나 같은 시간에 어떤 곳을 방문했던 적이 있었다. 몇 개월 후, 나는 그곳에 가지 않게 되었다. 한번은 서둘러 약속장소에 나가게 되었다. 차를 운전하면서 한참 달리고 있을 때 갑자기 정신이 멍해졌다. 왜냐하면 나는 습관적으로 약속장소 반대 방향인 그 길을 가고 있었기 때문이다. 내 의지와 상관없이 내 몸은 이미 습관에 젖어 있었다.

Today, it is raining all day long. When it rains, I often think of a Korean-style Pancake, "부침개". The reason is something I saw on the news on TV a long time ago. There was a segment about the frequency and the amplitude of the sounds between the falling rain and the sizzling pancake. The results were very similar. That's why when it rains, people think of the pancake. Now I plan to make this pancake with some mushroom and chives. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water. **** 오늘은 비가 하루 종일 내리고 있어요. 비가 올 때마다 저는 부침개가 생각이 나요. 오래전에 텔레비전에서 그 이유에 대한 뉴스를 들었어요. 비 오는 소리와 지글거리는 부침개 소리 사이의 주파수와 진폭에 대한 실험이 있었어요. 그 결과는 거의 같았어요. 그런 이유로, 비가 올 때 사람들은 부침개가 생각난대요. 이제 저는 버섯과 쪽파를 넣어서 부침개를 만들 생각이에요. 단지 생각만 해도 입에 군침이 돌아요.

Jul 31, 2013. These days there is a program called 'Hidden Singer' on TV. On that program,] the audience of 100 people try to find the real singer within some people who mimic the real singer's songs. The people's ability mimic the singer's songs are very good so it's not easy to distinguish the real singer from them. Every round the audience is very surprised at their ability. A few days ago, I watched the program and I tried to find a singer called 이문세. In the final round, when I found him I was also very glad. It was because if I haven't listened to his songs, I wouldn't be able to find him. ****** 요즘 방송되고 있는 '히든싱어’라는 TV프로그램이 있어요. 100명의 방청객이 가수 모창자들 사이에서 진짜 가수를 찾는 프로그램이에요. 모창자들의 실력은 아주 대단해서 진짜 가수를 구별하기가 쉽지는 않아요. 매 라운드마다 방청객들은 모창자들의 실력에 놀라워해요. 며칠 전에 그 프로그램을 봤는데 저 역시 가수 이문세 씨를 찾으려고 노력했어요. 마지막 라운드에서 제가 그 가수를 찾았을 때 저도 너무 기뻤어요. 왜냐하면 제가 만약 그 가수의 노래를 즐겨 듣지 않았다면 아마도 그 가수를 찾을 수 없었을 거예요.

Korean Thanksgiving Day, Chuseok is Korea's biggest holiday. It is on August 15 on the lunar calendar, so every year, the date of Chuseok changes. Many people go home for the holidays, so the roads are crowded with cars and buses. Fortunately, my husband's house is not far from my house. It takes about 15 minutes by car, so I don't have to worry about getting stuck in a traffic jam. During holidays, there are various events throughout the country. One of them is a Korean traditional dance, gang-gang-suol-lae. This dance has an interesting origin. During the Japanese Invasion of Korea(1592-1598), when admiral Yi Sun-shin was appointed again in his post as the naval forces controller in August 1597, he had only 13 fleets. But he was not disappointed and asked for women to make a big circle and go round to pretend to be many soldiers. He then completely defeated 133 Japanese enemy ships. The 'gang-gang' means 'a circle', the 'suol-lae' means both '...

In Korea, there are different kinds of markets such as shopping malls, marts, supermarkets, convenience stores, outdoor markets, etc. Most markets are open everyday, but a once-every-5-days village market, '五日場 (Oiljang)', opens once every 5 days. ‘五’ means ‘5’, ‘日’ means 'day', ‘場’ means 'place'. The days of the market vary from region to region. Here, it happens on the 2, 7, 12, 22, 27 of every month in Jeju city. When it opens during the weekend, it is especially crowded with people and cars. This market offers a wide variety of goods, including trees, flowers, pets and domestic animals such as chicks, hens, ducks and rabbits. And it has lots of kinds of food such as rice cakes, cookies, rice cakes in hot sauce, sundae, fried food, hodduk, etc. Would you like to come with me? **** 한국에는 백화점, 마트, 슈퍼마켓, 편의점, 재래시장과 같은 다양한 종류의 시장이 있어요. 대부분의 시장은 매일 열리지만,‘오일장’은 5일에 한 번씩 장이 열려요. 지역마다 장이 열리는 날은 조금씩 달라요. 여기 제주시는 2일, 7일, 12일, 17일, 22일, 27일에 오일장이 열려요. 특히 주말에 장이 열리는 날에...

Feb 5, 2013. Yesterday was the first day of spring. After putting 2 sheets of paper written in '立春大吉' and '建陽多慶' on the gate at 1:13a.m., I couldn't fall asleep so I watched a program on TV. On the show, there were some people, including singers, composers, and MC's, talking about there memories of the late Kim Guang Suk. He was a famous singer that died 15 years ago. Every year a special concert is held to commemorate the anniversary of his death. One singer recalled that he always kept his composure during his concerts. I also think that, too. When I was a senior in college, I saw his concert at the university festival. When he was tuning his guitar before the show, one of the strings suddenly broke. But he didn't look embarrassed. With a smile, he said, "A guitar string broke. I usually carry extra strings. I just need to change it". He then easily changed it. I was surprised by his easygoing demeanor. His voice and singing still live in my hear...

Sep 21, 2013. . Now it's the Korean Thanksgiving Day holidays, so cultural events featuring traditional games are being held. Yesterday my family and I went to the Museum of Natural History. There were already adults and children enjoying traditional games such as Jaekichagi, Slap-Match, throwing Tuho, rolling a hoop, top spinning games etc. My children also enjoyed the games. I also enjoyed playing these games when I was a child. These days, children seem to enjoy computer games more than traditional games. And there was a game for adults in which they roll a hoop. I was fascinated to see participants rolling that hoop very well. Are there similar games in your nation? ***** 요즘 추석연휴라서 전통놀이를 체험할 수 있는 행사가 열리고 있어요. 저는 가족들과 어제 '자연사박물관'에 갔어요. 그곳에서는 이미 어른과 아이들이 제기차기, 딱지치기, 투호던지기, 굴렁쇠 굴리기, 팽이치기 등 전통놀이를 즐기고 있었어요. 저희 아이들도 전통놀이를 체험했어요. 저도 어렸을 때 이런 놀이를 즐겨 했어요. 요즘 아이들은 이런 전통놀이보다는 컴퓨터게임을 즐기고 있는 것 같아요. 그리고 어른들이 참가하는 굴렁쇠 굴리기 게임이 있었는데 참가자들이 굴렁쇠를 참 잘 다루는 모습이 신기했어요. 여러분의 나라에서도 이런 비슷한 전통...

Oct 16, 2013. I think the hot summer was yesterday. The last hot summer night I used to go to a park near the seashore to cool off. Now fall has really come so it is now chilly in the evening. I don't like cold days, so I don't like winter either. Although summer is very hot, I don't think it's a bad season to take a trip. I am very glad that the fall that I had been looking forward to for a long time has finally come, but I am very sorry that the hot summer is over.**** 무더웠던 여름이 벌써 엊그제 같아요. 지난 무더운 여름날 밤엔 바닷가 근처 공원에 가서 쉬곤 했어요. 이젠 진짜 가을이 왔어요. 그래서 밤엔 많이 쌀쌀해요. 저는 추운 날이 싫어요. 그래서 겨울을 그렇게 좋아하지는 않아요. 비록 여름은 무덥지만 여행하기에 나쁘지 않은 계절인 것 같아요. 기다리고 기다렸던 가을이 온 게 기쁘지만 한편으론 여름이 지나간 게 너무 아쉬워요.

I went to a nice park called 'Dolharbang Park' and we enjoyed seeing various shapes of Dolharbangs. Jejudo is the largest island made by volcanic activity in Korea so we can easily see basalt. Dolharbangs are also made of the basalt. 'Dol' means 'Stone' and 'Harbang' means 'Grandfather'. The stones all look like grandfathers so we call them 'Dolharbang'. According to an old document, 260 years ago, the word of Dolharbang was appeared and it was known as patron saints of each village in Jeju. These days, some Dolharbangs are made in various poses so they are so cute. I posted my video of Dolharbangs on Youtube. Have a nice day!**** 저는 돌하르방공원에 가서 여러 모양의 돌하르방들을 구경했어요. 제주도는 한국에서 화산활동으로 만들어진 가장 큰 섬이에요. 그래서 쉽게 현무암을 볼 수 있어요. 돌하르방 또한 현무암으로 만들어졌어요. ‘돌’은 ‘Stone'이고 '하르방'은 'Grandfather'를 의미해요. 그 돌하르방 모두 할아버지를 닮아서 ‘돌하르방’이라고 불러요. 문헌에 따르면 260년 전에 ‘돌하르방’이란 말이 기록되어 있는데, 제주에서 각 마을의 수호신으로 알려져 있어요. 요즘에는 돌하르방들이 다양한 모습으로 만들어져서 무척 귀여워요. 제...

Mar 9, 2015 Last weekend I had a good time with my family. We went to Sabyel Oreum(새별오름) to enjoy the Jeju Fire Festival. Every year Jeju province holds the festival in hopes of a good harvest. Sabyel has the story of a bird flew into the sky and became into a star. I attended the parade to fire the sheaves with a torch last year, but I just watched it from far away this year. Even though I was far away, I could feel the heat in my face. The burning oreum was very nice and the fireworks was also great! Next day, when I passed away the Sabyel oreum by car, I saw the burned and black oreum. I hope to see the Jeju Fire Festival next year again. Let me show you the Jeju Fire Festival that I took video shoots and pictures. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nwpETpXl0Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fh-2biUlsPY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLc8ke2CI6c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R5X1VEUrgI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3MWRB1twJg 지난 주말에 저는 가족들과 즐거운 시간을 보냈어요. 우리는 들불출제를 보러 새별오...