중간 (mid-term)

It's hard to believe level 2 is halfway over! I like my teachers and my classmates, but I must say, besides Ines and Joana (whom I met in level 1), I haven't really talked to many of my classmates outside class. By this time last semester, Iza and I were eating lunch and dinner together every day, and a group of us were hanging out on weekends. I don't really know what's different, other than that Ines, Joana and I already knew each other... Though, this weekend we went out with a Taiwanese woman whose English name is Christine (진의, Jin-ee, in Korean). A lot of the students are only here for the short term, which I also think is keeping me from really trying to be friends. I & J are here for a few years, like me. I don't really feel up to making another friend like Iza. I'm glad I met her, but she left after 3 months, and it was hard. Though, on the other hand, that's the nature of this situation, so maybe I should get used to it and be more positive, heh.

Midterm exams are coming up at the end of this week. Again, I'm really nervous about the Speaking test (Thursday, 4/4). I'm also a little nervous about the Writing portion of the Reading/Writing/Listening exam (Friday, 4/5). This semester, we've been assigned lengthy writing assignments. Mine always come back with only a few corrections, but I spend 1~2 hours writing and reviewing them before turning them in. I won't be able to spend that long on the exam, so I'm worried my "rough draft" won't score very well. Still, unless I really screw up, I should be able to get the 70% required to move on to level 3. (Though there's also the final to consider... which uses grammar and vocab from the entire semester.) Sigh.

On Friday, 3/29, we had our first of two field trips this semester. Our class, minus a sick classmate, went to 국립국악원, the National Gugak Center. Gugak means "traditional music" in Korean. There, we spent ~2 hours learning to play the 장구, an hourglass-shaped drum.


Me and my (borrowed) drum.

You play the Janggu with a wooden mallet (궁채, goong-chae) in your off hand and a wooden stick (열채, yeol-chae) in your main. Then you either hit both sides together (덩, deong), the mallet side alone (쿵, koong), or the stick side alone (따, dda). Sometimes the mallet and the stick can both be played on the stick side. There are a bunch of videos on Youtube, but this is a pretty good example.

Anyway, they have a music instruction center (with classes every Saturday morning for foreigners), a museum, a gift shop with CDS and instruments for sale, and a performance center (plus some other buildings whose names I didn't understand). There's also an outdoor a pavilion with some instruments, including a janggu, you can just walk up to and play.



Top: A few pictures from the museum. Bottom: The musical instrument
pavilion, complete with matching(ish) telephone booth.

Ines, Joana and I arrived early, and walked around the grounds for a while. We were a little bored by the end, so we took some pictures. In keeping with my policy of not posting pictures of others' faces on this blog, here's a couple of our shoes and socks.


I'm wearing the khakis in the middle. :)

Joana and I also bought matching SNU sweatshirts from the student center the other day for ~$28 each. The front isn't nearly as exciting as the back, so this works out well.


Seoul National University, represent! Etc.

For that same $28, plus a little more, I got all of this from Gangnam station:


Three t-shirts, two sweaters, and a long-sleeve cotton undershirt for $35.

Gangnam Station has a TON of stores, mostly with clothes and cellphone accessories (covers, earphones). Items are regularly priced inside the stores, but outside, they all have $5 and $10 (really, $4.50 and $9) racks filled with stuff. Obviously the quality isn't great, but the selection is huge, and most things are worth at least the $5 or $10 you'll pay for them.

For once, food won't be mentioned last! I have something else to talk about after this... but:



Top: Marinated chicken and steamed potatoes. Bottom: Vietnamese
spring roll ingredients, ready for assembly.

I turned the steamed potatoes into tasty garlic mashed potatoes. And the spring rolls were delicious (and mostly healthy!). I wish my pictures of the assembled rolls would've come out well, but.... We had chicken, carrots, onions, bean sprouts, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, pineapples, and various chili sauces for the stuffing. There are also bowls of hot water on the table, because you have to dunk the dried rice paper (in the blue bowl) in them for a few seconds to turn the hard sheets into a rollable, soft taco-like shell.

Finally, apartment pictures!




My room.
Top: Standing on my bed. Middle: Closeup of the colored organizers I bought for $13
total (incl. shipping) on the interwebz. And the view of my room from the doorway.
Bottom: A view from my screened-in "veranda," i.e. storage area on the other side of
double French doors (one is clear, one is frosted).




The rest of the apartment.
Top: The stairwell outside our door. We live in a 3rd-floor walkup. And a picture of the
entryway. In Korea, you have to take off your shoes. Currently, I'm the only one home,
but usually there's quite a pile on the floor, despite the shoe storage closet by the door.
Middle: A picture towards my room from the back corner of the living room. And a picture
of my roommates' closed door (they share a room with bunk beds) and the bathroom entry.
Bottom: The bathroom here is about as big as my bed/desk area in my last place. Finally,
the kitchen. A stove with four burners, sink, big fridge. Our washing machine and more
storage is behind the door on the back wall.

Back to studying for the midterm. :)

쓰기 숙제 (Writing homework)

I'll be honest... level 2 is kind of hard. :) I know (most of) the grammar points already, but I'm still pretty awful at speaking -- pronunciation and thinking of things on the spot are rough, and I still am like a deer in headlights when someone is talking at me directly. Still, my writing isn't too bad (for 2nd level, heh). So far, in two weeks, we've had 3 writing assignments. Each had to be 15-20 sentences (harder than you'd think), ideally using that week's grammar points. If you make more than a few mistakes, you have to rewrite the assignment (I think just copy what you wrote with the corrections, not start from scratch, though I'm not sure.. as I haven't yet had to do that). Below are my short essay responses, with rough translation. I'm doing this to share with you all, but also to practice typing Korean on my computer. I bought those stickers a few weeks ago and still haven't got much use out of them.^^

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The grammar was "(noun) is called (noun)" and "try to (verb)."

나의 고향 소개 숙제
제 고향은 피츠버그라고 합니다. 피츠버그는 미국에 있습니다. 지금은 미국은 겨울입니다. 피츠버그는 겨울에 춥고 눈이 많이 옵니다. 제 고행에는 세 개의 강과 446 개의 다리가 있습니다. 그래서 피츠버그는 "다리의 도시"라고 합니다. 피츠버그는 작은 도시입니다. 약 30만 명의 사람들이 삽니다. 그리고 피츠버그에는 대학교가 많습니다. Carnegie Mellon (카네기 멜론) 대학교가 유명합니다. 하키 팀과 미식축구 팀도 유명합니다. 피츠버그에는 맛있는 음식이 있습니다. 피로기와 프르만티 샌드위치가 마주 맛있습니다. 피로기는 감자 만두입니다. 프르만티 샌드위치 위에 감자 튀김과 양배추 샐러드를 넣습니다. 피츠버그에 가면 피로기와 프르만티 샌드위치를 꼭 먹어 보세요!

My hometown introduction homework
My hometown is called Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is in the US. Right now, in the US, it is winter. Winter in Pittsburgh is cold and snowy. In my hometown, there are 3 rivers and 446 bridges. So Pittsburgh is called the City of Bridges. Pittsburgh is a small town where ~300,000 people live. And there are many colleges in Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon is a well-known college. Our hockey and (American) football teams are also well-known. In Pittsburgh, there's also tasty food. Pierogies and Primanti (Brothers) sandwiches are delicious. Pierogies are potato dumplings. Primanti (Brothers) sandwiches have fries and coleslaw (cabbage salad) inside. If you go to Pittsburgh, you must try pierogies or Primanti (Brothers) sandwiches!

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The grammar was "during (time noun)" and "and/but (background information leading to the main point)" and "(verb) in order to (verb)".

좋아하는 한국 드라마/영화/노래/책 소개 숙제
제가 제일 좋아하는 한국 드라마는 시티헌터라고 합니다. 시티헌터는 액션 드라마입니다. 저는 2011년5월25일부터 2011년7월28일까지 두 달 동안 시티헌터를 봤습니다. 시티헌터의 주인공 이름은 이윤성인데 주연배우는 이민호라고 합니다. 이민호는 "꽃보다 남자"로 유명한 사람이 되었는데 시티헌터에서 더 멋있습니다. 시티헌터는 연기과 연출과 드라마 대본 쓰기가 모두 다 좋습니다. 보통 연기만 좋거나 연출만 좋거나 대본 쓰기만 좋아서 제가 본 드라마 중에서 시티헌터는 특별합니다. 그리고 시티헌터의 이야기가 재미있습니다. 약 25년 전에 이윤성의 아버지를 살해하고 이윤성과 이윤성의 아버지 친구가 살인범에게 복수를 하고 싶어 합니다. 어렸을 때부터 이윤성은 복수하려고 싸움을 배웁니다. 그리고 이윤성은 범인 한명 한명에게 복수합니다. 좋은 드라마를 보고 싶으면 시티헌터를 한 번 보세요!

A favorite Korean drama/movie/song/book introduction homework
My favorite Korean drama is called City Hunter. City Hunter is an action drama. For two months, from 5/25/2011 to 7/28/2011, I watched City Hunter. City Hunter's main character's name is Lee Yoon-sung and the lead actor is named Lee Min-ho. Lee Min-ho became famous through "Boys Over Flowers" but I think he is cooler in City Hunter. City Hunter's acting, directing, and script writing are all good. Usually, only the acting, directing, or script writing is good, so of all the drama's I've seen, City Hunter is special. And City Hunter's story is also interesting. ~25 years ago, Lee Yoon-sung's father was murdered, so Lee Yoon-sung and his father's friend want to get revenge on the murderers. From a young age, Lee Yoon-sung learns to fight so he can get revenge. And so, one-by-one, Lee Yoon-sung gets revenge on the criminals. If you're looking for a good drama, watch City Hunter!

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The grammar was "(noun) that (the subject verbs)" and "(noun) is more (adjective) than (noun)" and "I think that (subject) is (noun/verb-ing/adjective)"

한국에서 가 본 곳이나 자주 가는 곳에 대해 쓰기
한국에서 제가 자주 가는 곳은 판코라고 합니다. 판코는 커피숍입니다. 스타벅스보다 판코 커피가 더 싼데 맛있는 것 같습니다. 판코가 서울대학교의 언어교육원 옆에 있어서 많은 한국어를 배우는 학생이 갑니다. 1급 동안 저는 작은 방에 살아서 숙제하러 판코에 갔습니다. 가끔은 판코가 별로 조용하지 않지만 괜찮았습니다. 그리고 요즘은 수업 전에 판코에서 반 친구를 만나서 커피를 마시고 베이글이나 스콘을 먹습니다. 우리는 먹으면서 항상 이야기합니다. 앞으로 연습하려고 한국어로만 말할 겁니다. 열두시부터 한시반시쯤까지 저를 찾고 싶으면 판코에 오세요!

Write about a place you have been or a place you go often in Korea
In Korea, the place I go most often is called Fanco. Fanco is a coffee shop. Compared to Starbucks, Fanco's coffee is cheaper but I think it is also tasty. Because Fanco is located next to SNU's Language Center, many students who are studying Korean go there. During level 1, because I lived in a small room, I would go to Fanco to do homework. It was sometimes not very quiet, but it was okay. And these days, before class, I meet classmates and we drink coffee and eat bagels or scones. While eating, we always talk. In the future, to practice Korean, we'll only talk in Korean. If you want to find me between ~12 and 1:30, come to Fanco!

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If you couldn't tell from the translations (which I tried to keep true to what I wrote), Koreans tend to say the noun/name over and over again, rather than using pronouns. Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh; City Hunter, City Hunter, City Hunter; Fanco, Fanco, Fanco... It's still kind of strange to do it that way, and I thought about using pronouns in the translations, but..whatever. :)

The last homework hasn't actually been checked/graded yet, so there's probably some mistakes.

On Thursday of this week, I have to give a presentation, entirely in Korean, in front of the class, on my hobbies. Anyone that knows me knows how much I like giving presentations in English, so... this should be fun. :) I have to turn in my script by Tuesday, as well as prepare a PowerPoint. It's going to be a busy weekend!

국립중앙박물관 (National Museum of Korea)

Ichon station, line 4. Exit 2 connects directly to the museum.

On 3/10, Ines and I went to the National Museum of Korea. It's located just across the river, near Ichon station on line 4. There's three floors of things to see, as well as an outdoor garden and a special exhibit. Admission to the museum is free (though I think the special exhibit may have a fee). There's also a children's museum attached to it.



NMoK's courtyard; a view of Namsan (N Seoul) Tower, located behind the museum;
and a ad for the current special exhibit.

Ines said the courtyard is packed with people during the summer. Even though it was a not-so-cold day (~40*F), there were only a handful of other people in sight outdoors. The museum is also located in view of Namsan Tower. You can actually see it as you're walking up to the museum from the subway (see pavilion picture below). And the current special exhibit is "Act Across America." I was a little interested in seeing what they had to show there, but not enough to bother going. There was plenty to see in the regular part of the museum, and the exhibit runs through mid-May, so I can always come back another day.


Pavilion on a little lake and the bridge crossing a stream to it.

I really like old Korean buildings (like the ones found in palaces) with the painted eaves. The decorative coloring is called 단청 (dan-cheong, "cinnabar and blue-green"). NMoK has a wooden pavilion overlooking the little lake out front.


A 7-story pagoda; a statue of Buddha.

NMoK has a large outdoor garden with pagodas and statues, as well as (supposedly) a waterfall. We only walked through ~20%, as it was cold and our hands were turning blue..


A nice view of old pagodas in the front, and skyscrapers in the back; me in a 'photo zone'.

It's still interesting to me that Seoul has all these historical buildings (palaces, gates, museums) situated in the middle of this huge city. Some of my favorite pictures are ones that show the difference a few hundred years can make... Like at 경복궁 (gyeong-bok-goong, Gyeong-bok Palace), for example. Literally 10 feet from the front gate (behind which guards dress in period clothing and most of the buildings are reconstructed [due to fire] to look like the ones from hundreds of years ago) is a busy intersection and tall buildings with huge LED ad screens.

Inside the museum, they start with things from thousands of years ago... weapons and tools and jewelry and pottery, mostly, and move to the present, through cave paintings and calligraphy and more pottery and better tools... I'm most interested in the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1897), but unfortunately, by the time we got to that area, we were spent. "Oh look, more pottery! And more armor! And more drawings!" (This reminds me of Yellowstone, where, I swear, if I saw one more mudpot...) So, next time we decided to start at the present and work our way back in time, so that we won't burn out again before we reach Joseon. :) I took pictures of some of the more interesting displays, but unfortunately, because flash wasn't allowed, most of the pictures didn't turn out well, so... sorry. You'll have to go come visit me and see for yourself or Google around. :)

Finally, (Western) food!


Steak dinner with the roomies; Korean pizza.

Anne bought steaks for us to eat, and Mary cooked them with chopsticks (in case I forgot I was in Korea). Meat is generally pretty expensive here, especially anything of good quality (fish paste and fish patties [which, I imagine, is ground up extra fish parts] are the most common... and egg is added to a lot of things, namely soup, for extra protein). The steaks were a little thin, but delicious. And I ordered a "cheese pizza" from the local cheap pizza place. Everything comes with sweet corn. Other pizza choices: sweet potato, potato, hot chicken (seriously, it's really spicy), bulgogi (uniquely Korean marinated meat), chili shrimp. There's also "german bite" and "mexican bite" and "loin crepe"...none of which sound or look (in the little take-out menu) appealing.

Going to type up a couple essays I handwrote for class and make another post here shortly. :)

2급 (Level 2)

Lots of exciting things going on lately!....not. :) Though it was sweatshirt weather last Thursday, it's back to feeling like below freezing again. I'm waiting for warmer weather, then I swear we'll get out and do more exciting things (I miss you, Han River Park!).

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. :)