I have bought a couple cool things lately, though.
한글 (han-geul, the Korean alphabet) keyboard stickers.
As mentioned before, Korean has its own alphabet. It's one of the reasons I initially really liked and wanted to study the language... I'm a fan of logic (I've always been good at/enjoyed math for this reason), and I think Korean is probably the most logical alphabet ever created (yes, created, during one king's reign ~600 years ago). It's phonetic (each letter has one distinct sound) and the consonants are even drawn/written based on the vocal organs used to create the sound (ㄱ, said like "g" in "goose" is made when the tongue, against the back of the throat, takes that shape), whereas the vowels are slightly different but similarly clever. ㅏ is said "ah" and ㅑ is said "yah"... double lines always mean an ionized (+"y") version of the single-line equivalent. I'll stop now before I get too far into it, but this is why I love Korean linguistically... it's unique, and smart. And learning Korean from a linguistic standpoint has made me appreciate all I've come to know in English without having to "learn" it. Syllable stress, and the fact it's not phonetic (e.g., nation is said "nay-shun," which is not what you'd expect "-tion" to sound like)? No thanks. Anyone can learn the Korean alphabet in a few days and, after memorizing ~6-12 rules, read (with correct pronunciation but without understanding) any Korean text ever. It's amazing!
Anyway, thanks to my Galaxy S3 and my Korean friends (who alternate talking in English, for their benefit, and Korean, for my benefit, with me), I've become pretty adept at the Korean keyboard, but my words per minute (WPM) is still nowhere near my English level (~80-100), so I bought the above stickers at the SNU Student Center for my laptop. The pack came with stickers for all the keys (including number pad), but nothing really changes between the English and Korean keyboards except the actual letter keys, so those are the only ones I applied for now. They're raised up a bit and foamy and it feels weird, so I may end up adding the others, just so my fingers can travel less distance (you may laugh, but even a few millimeters after years and years of the same distance is a strange feeling).
Brazilian dinner, Iza and I's namesake store!
Iza's returning to Brazil on Thursday (3/7) so last Thursday (2/28) she came to my new place and cooked a Brazilian dinner for a few friends and my roommates, since our place has an actual stove and dishes and dinner table. It was really good! She went to culinary school so I expected it to be tasty, but it was surprising so. :)
Also, there's this store around the city (I've seen it at Homeplus in Mullae and near Sillim Station in Sillim-dong) called 이브자리 ("i-beu-ja-ri"), which is a perfect mix of Iza and I's names in Korean (이자 "i-ja" and 브리 "beu-ri"). So, if for some reason we should ever start our own business together in Korea, we'll have to name it 브이리자 ("beu-i-ri-ja") since Iza's name first is already taken. :(
New shoes!
Korea actually has VANS more readily available than in the US. A shoe store by my house has a wall of them, and there's a VANS store out exit 4(?) at Hye-hwa Station (line 4). Sadly it's a tad more expensive than in the US (these cost me ~$60), but not too much. Mary's boots are on the left above. Everyone has a pair, and I want one too, but unfortunately my feet are huge (my purple VANS are 260 in Korean sizes, or US female 10), so I can't find my size on any ol' street corner (just in more expensive shoe stores). :( I'm not sure what Mary's cost, but there are similar boots in Dongdaemun for $10... but they stop at size ~240.^^
A whole new world
That's where we'll be
A thrilling chase
A wondrous place
For you and me
(thanks Aladdin, and Anne for the photo)
On Saturday (3/2) Anne, Mary and I went to an event at SNU subway station's Lotte ("lot-teh") Cinema. For $8, we got to watch the movie 신세계 ("shin-se-gye," New World) then immediately after the movie, the movie's producer, director, and 4 of the main stars introduced themselves to the audience. The man in the middle with the mic starred in one of the more famous Korean movies, Oldboy. The actors to his left and right were in dramas I've seen. (I've yet to find a really good Korean movie besides "The Crucible" though I think I'm biased towards that due to the sign language... but I like a lot of Korean dramas.) Overall, it was pretty surreal to watch a movie then less than 5 minutes later, see all the stars of the movie right in front of my face. I wish I could watch every movie like that, especially those with actors I really like (coughLeeMinHocough). :)
And finally, 2급 (level 2) Korean started today. My teacher seems pretty cool. He taught mostly in Korean (with some English to explain word definitions), but he spoke slowly enough that I could understand. That's the problem with most "real-world" Koreans... they speak super-fast, making it impossible to follow along. So, thanks, 선생님 ("seon-saeng-nim," teacher) for teaching to your audience. I also appreciate that our homework is to preview the next class's lesson. I did this anyway in Level 1, but it left me feeling really ahead of other students that obviously didn't do it. Now, hopefully, we'll spend more time helping people understand the grammar/vocab, rather than teaching it to them for the very first time (which usually requires more time to process). He's only the teacher for Mondays and Tuesdays, but if the other two teachers are as awesome, I'll be quite happy! Here's hoping. :)
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