This is a topic that's made me scratch my head for a while now and I'm not entirely sure about it. Over the years, I've come across many non-Korean-heritage learners who have adopted a Korean name and introduce themselves in class and to their native Korean friends using that name. Usually it's a Korean-sounding name [...]
Category: Culture & History
That poem in ‘Because This Is My First Life’
There are a lot of reasons I loved Because This Is My First Life. Like, a lot. One of them is Jiho's penchant for making literary allusions and using extended metaphors to express her complicated thoughts and feelings. This was a nice bit of character development, I thought; even though Jiho doesn't work as a [...]
육예 – The Six Arts
I've learned a lot about Korean Confucianism reading <성균관 유생들의 나날>. The main point being, everything academic—including the meritocratic Joseon government—was rooted in the teachings of Confucius (공자). Even "extracurriculars," like archery had deep philosophical meaning. 대사례 [大射禮], for example, was a ceremonial archery demonstration that scholars partcipated in alongside the King. The act of doing archery alongside [...]
화초서생
In terms of genre, 구르미 그린 달빛 checks all the boxes for me--historical rom-com, crossdressing (guilty pleasure don't judge), princes who pretend they aren't princes, and dramatic angst delivered in the most delicious of ways. Also I mean: If you've watched the first couple episodes, you'll notice that Sam-nom/Ra-on has an amusing nickname for our prince-in-disguise: 화초서생. [...]
The thing about 책임감
Let's talk about 상류사회 (High Society). That show should win some kind of award for creating two of the most precious side characters in a drama full of people I couldn't care a whit about. Changsoo and Jiyi's flirtationship is, at least in the first six episodes (and honestly I don't see myself continuing with this [...]
Buying and selling rice
I've said over and over again that it is impossible to truly understand the essence of a language without knowing a bit of culture and history. Language is contextual. An idiomatic phrase or saying that is difficult to remember because it seems "odd" might stick better if you understand its origins. Such was the case for me [...]
외눈박이 물고기의 사랑 – 류시화 시집
Way back when, I read a poem by Korean poet Ryu Shi-hwa. My friend and language partner at the time, Kwang-im, suggested him when I was suddenly struck with the desire to read Korean poetry. Now, I'm not inherently a lover of poetry but through my many years as a student of English literature (which [...]
9 things that are an actual “thing” in Seoul.
In September 2014, I went on a 10-day vacation to Seoul. I didn't find it too difficult to adjust to city life there, actually, and didn't face any huge cultural hurdles. But I did notice some quirky trends that I thought I'd share! Here are nine random things I noticed while out and about in Seoul. Horizontal [...]
한글날 축하합니다!
I'm going to cheat and set this post as published on October 9, 2014 (even though it's really October 13 here shhhh) because that day was Hangeul Day! I have so much admiration for King Sejong. He took the problem of illiteracy into his own royal, ink-stained hands and literally created a whole new alphabet so his subjects would be [...]
소자 vs. 소신
The good thing about having so many Korean novels is when I get bored/frustrated with one, I can always move onto another. I'm pretty sure that at the moment I have a bookmark in every single one I own - but I'm close! So close! This close to finishing 우리들의 행복한 시간.... and I started reading 해를 품은 달 [...]
