Matt Rowe, Don't Go.
...but he did.
And now we are sad.
And now we are sad.
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Life in Korea: 100 Korean words to sound more like a local (part 3 of 3)
To my wonderful veteran expat readers - 'Life in Korea' posts are aimed at the newer expats among us. Think of these as the Idiot's Guide to Life in Korea - helpful for some, and a review for others. Please feel free to contribute what you know in the comments!
This part has been vetted by multiple Korean adult students - something I probably should've done with the other two parts. If something managed to slip through, make a note of it in the comments :)
UPDATE x 2 - 7 September 2009 10:08pm - HT's given where HT's are earned, and some more corrections made. Thanks for your kind contributions asadalthought and Gomunshin Girl - your turn to blog about learning Korean - especially you GG! :) As usual, check the comments for more.
Presenting the last part - and more Korean words to add to your Korean vocabulary. Check out part 1 here, while part 2 is over here.
The expressions
33 in the first post, 34 in the second one, and 33 in this one - hope you enjoyed and learned something new. There's far more to learn than three admittedly basic posts - but here's hoping you learned something you can use!
© Chris Backe - 2009
This part has been vetted by multiple Korean adult students - something I probably should've done with the other two parts. If something managed to slip through, make a note of it in the comments :)
UPDATE x 2 - 7 September 2009 10:08pm - HT's given where HT's are earned, and some more corrections made. Thanks for your kind contributions asadalthought and Gomunshin Girl - your turn to blog about learning Korean - especially you GG! :) As usual, check the comments for more.
Presenting the last part - and more Korean words to add to your Korean vocabulary. Check out part 1 here, while part 2 is over here.
The expressions
- 가자 - ga-ja - let's go, or come on (to someone with you)
- 요즘 잘 지내? yo-jeum jal ji-nae - how are you doing these days (literally, how well are you doing?) - (HT to asadalthought for the correction)
- 죽여주는데 - juk-yeo-ju-neun-de - you look great (literally, something is killing me) (caution: very sexual / flirty - consider avoiding or just use for the shock value!)
- 무슨 일 있니 - mu-seun il -iss-ni - what's the matter?
- 잠깐만요 - jam-ggan-man-yo - wait a minute, or hang on. (more polite) (HT to Gomushin Girl for the correction)
- 비켜 주세요 - bikyeo juseyo - move please!
- 정말 - jeong-mal - 'really?', or 'you're kidding'
- 별일 없지요? byeol-lil eop ji-yo - what's new?
- 나야 - na-ya - it's me
- 나도 - na -do - me too (as a response)
- 하지마세요 - ha-ji-ma-se-yo - don't do that
- 곧도착해 - god-do-chak-hae - I'll be right there, I'll arrive soon (HT to Gomushin Girl, who also suggested 이따봐요 or 이따가 도착할거에요, which means essentially the same thing)
- 잘해 - jal-hae - good luck (to a friend) (HT to Gomushin Girl for pointing that the Konglish term 'Fighting!' is closer to saying 'good luck')
- 이거 얼마에요? - i-geo eol-ma-e-yo? - how much is it? (follow with 깎아 주세요, or ggakk-a ju-se-yo, meaning 'discount, please!')
The games
- 장기 - jang-gi - Korean chess (see this Wikipedia article for more)
- 바둑 - ba-duk - Go (see this Wikipedia article for the rules)
- 족구 - jok-gu - soccer volleyball (see this ancient post)
The relationships
- 소개팅 - so-gae-ting - blind date (literally, introduction meeting)
- 주선자 - ju-seon-ja - the person who introduces guy to girl, and vice versa (AKA the matchmaker -HT to Gomushin Girl for the clarification)
- 저녁 같이 드실래요? - jeon-yeok ga-ti deu-sil-lae-yo - will you go out with me tonight?
- 남자친구 - nam-ja-chin-gu - Boyfriend (남친, or nam-chin, for short)
- 여자친구 - yeo-ja-chin-gu - Girlfriend (여친, or yeo-chin, for short)
- 사랑해요 - sa-rang-hae-yo - I love you (사랑해, or sa-rang-hae, is a little less formal)
- 바람둥이 - ba-ram-dung-i - a playboy or player, a man who is smooth with women
The 5 W's and an H
- 누구 - nu-gu- who
- 무엇 - mu-eot - what
- 언제 - eon-je - when
- 어디에 - eo-di-e - where
- 왜 - wae - why
- 어떻게 - eo-ddeo-ke - how (HT to asadalthought for the correction)
- 급행 = geub haeng - express train (lines 1 and 9, primarily)
- 지하철 = ji-ha-cheol - the subway itself
- 행 - haeng - the final destination where the train is going, usually as a suffix to the destination itself. On line 2, you might see 신도림행, where 신도림 is the station's name and 행 indicates it's the final destination.
33 in the first post, 34 in the second one, and 33 in this one - hope you enjoyed and learned something new. There's far more to learn than three admittedly basic posts - but here's hoping you learned something you can use!
© Chris Backe - 2009
RSS FeedCanteen Food
While I'm always thankful for the cheap and relatively well-balanced meals at the university canteen, these days a certain amount of tiresomeness is starting to wane my once stalwart positivity. With the first year nearly at an end, and only another (hopefully) three years to go, this gochujang-marinade-weary-blogger is starting to wonder whether packed lunches from home are a viable option. Probably not.
Laziness being the primary obstacle.
I'm pretty sure there are around 14 different dishes that the canteen cycles through in a predictable fashion. There are other options available, but most of them are too far away for a short lunch break. So I guess I'll just have to buckle up and enjoy nature's bounty.
Things could be worse. Soylent Green for example.
Laziness being the primary obstacle.
I'm pretty sure there are around 14 different dishes that the canteen cycles through in a predictable fashion. There are other options available, but most of them are too far away for a short lunch break. So I guess I'll just have to buckle up and enjoy nature's bounty.Things could be worse. Soylent Green for example.
No Skin Required: Healthy Images of Couples in the Korean Media
Much as I’d like to always present a sophisticated and hard-hitting persona on the blog, I’d have to admit that the following two commercials from Bang Bang (뱅뱅) are very sweet and endearing, and put big smiles on my wife’s and my faces.
More to the point though, they also provide a timely reminder that if presenting healthy images of couples is the deliberate intention, and (much needed) ones of romantically assertive women in particular, then you don’t need to have them lounging around in their underwear or “accidentally” falling into awkward sexual poses to do so. Ironically however, the first two commercials in this series with Han Ji-hye (한지혜) and So Ji-sub (소지섭) featured precisely that, which makes one wonder if Bang Bang mixed the order up.
Here’s what was said in the first video, a little stranger than it looks:
용감한 데님
[Her] Brave Denim Jeans
난 아직 그녀를 안아줄 용기가 없습니다.
Ji-sub: I haven’t had the courage to hug her yet.
이때 그녀의 데님이 내게 속삭입니다.
But this time, her denim jeans whispered to me.
대신 나를 살짝 잡는거예요.
Ji-hye’s jeans (to Ji-sub): Instead, [you should] softly grab me (the jeans).
그녀의 친구는 나보다 용감합니다.
Ji-sub: Her friend [the jeans] is braver than me!
Be my best, 뱅뱅
Be my best, Bang Bang.
And in the second one from Ji-hye’s perspective, which came out at the same time:
친절한 셔츠
[His] Friendly, Warm-hearted Shirt
이 남자, 아직 내 손도 잡지는 못해요.
Ji-Hye: This man, he hasn’t [even] been able to hold my hand yet...
이때 그의 셔츠가 내게 말합니다.
But then, his shirt spoke to me.
“먼저 내 소매를 잡아봐요.”
Ji-sub’s shirt: First, try grabbing his sleeve.
그의 친구는 내게 친절합니다.
Ji-hye: His friend [the shirt] is very friendly to me!
“Be my best, 뱅뱅”
Be my best, Bang Bang.
( Image Sources: Paranzui )
All together now: awwwwwww! But seriously, are any readers aware of any earlier Korean commercials featuring couples in which the woman…or her clothes…took the lead in becoming (slightly) more intimate with her partner, like in the first one here? Not that it’s that radical of course, nor – even if it is the first of its kind – that by itself it will make serious dents in Korean social expectations of romantically meek and passive women. Hopefully it is the start of a trend though, and that would indeed make a difference.
Or am I projecting too much from Koreans’ sexual behavior onto their dating behavior? It is true that many Korean women are so concerned about maintaining virginal appearances as to make them feign lack of knowledge of contraception for instance, and so either not provide nor insist on their partners using it, so it seems reasonable to suppose that this passivity would also be the case at earlier stages in their relationships. But this is a generalization of course (which didn’t even apply to my own wife and former girlfriends), and I haven’t actually dated in 9 years either (sigh), so I may be a little out of touch. I’d appreciate it then, if more experienced readers could pass on their own impressions!
—
Beer Ahoy!
It didn't take long for Sarah and I to discover another Vietnamese institution: the Bia Hoi.
These street bars are located all around Hanoi, and supply the basics - cold beer and a seat from which to watch Hanoi whizz by.
The beer is based on chezch pilsner, and brewed on rooftops all across the city. It has a fresh, hoppy taste, and most importantly, it is cheap - one glass will set you back no more than about 10p.
All this makes it incredibly easy to simply sit back, run up a tab and let the chaos get on without you.
Which is exactly what we did.
These street bars are located all around Hanoi, and supply the basics - cold beer and a seat from which to watch Hanoi whizz by.
The beer is based on chezch pilsner, and brewed on rooftops all across the city. It has a fresh, hoppy taste, and most importantly, it is cheap - one glass will set you back no more than about 10p.
All this makes it incredibly easy to simply sit back, run up a tab and let the chaos get on without you.
Which is exactly what we did.
Korean Photoshop Disaster #1: Magic Hole
Naturally, the unfortunate name of Anycall’s new phone has already led to a great deal of speculation as to what was meant by it exactly. But as a former astronomy major (or at least, before an ankle injury forced me into Korean sociology that is), and considering how stretched and warped poor UEE (유이), Lee [...]
Joke from Expacked - using big words
Definitely the funniest joke I've read since... the last joke in Expacked:
Expacked is a weekly news digest in online format. Check it out.
© Chris Backe - 2009
A group of new entrants were trying very hard to become accustomed to primary
school. The biggest hurdle they faced was that the teacher insisted on NO baby
talk!“You need to use ‘Big People’ words,” she was always reminding them.
She asked John what he had done over the weekend?“I went to visit my Nana”.
“No, you went to visit your GRANDMOTHER. Use ‘Big People’ words!”
She then asked Mitchell what he had done.
“I took a ride on a choo-choo.” She said.“No, you took a ride on a TRAIN. You must remember to use ‘Big People’ words.” She then asked little Alex what he had done?
“I read a book”, he replied.
“That’s WONDERFUL!” the teacher said.
“What book did you read?”
(ya gotta admire this …..)
Alex thought real hard about it, then puffed out his chest with great pride, and said,
“Winnie the SH*T”
Expacked is a weekly news digest in online format. Check it out.
© Chris Backe - 2009A little change of pace
Greetings all my wonderful readers,
A little change of pace around the blog will be coming soon - just my way of getting back on topic or in my niche, if you will. That niche is travel and about life in Korea - editorials and blockquotes from news stories are interesting as well, but I've found I spend so much time on them that I'm getting away from the things I truly want to write about. That means you'll see a few less posts every week - I trust quality will keep you coming back rather than quantity.
Don't worry, you'll still see the occasional editorial / opinion or news story, especially if it pertains to life in Korea or how foreigners are treated in Korea. If you need the up-to-the-minute fix, check out Brian in Jeollanam-do's blog. Seriously, I don't know how he updates 5+ times a day - what's your secret, man?
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming :)
© Chris Backe - 2009
A little change of pace around the blog will be coming soon - just my way of getting back on topic or in my niche, if you will. That niche is travel and about life in Korea - editorials and blockquotes from news stories are interesting as well, but I've found I spend so much time on them that I'm getting away from the things I truly want to write about. That means you'll see a few less posts every week - I trust quality will keep you coming back rather than quantity.
Don't worry, you'll still see the occasional editorial / opinion or news story, especially if it pertains to life in Korea or how foreigners are treated in Korea. If you need the up-to-the-minute fix, check out Brian in Jeollanam-do's blog. Seriously, I don't know how he updates 5+ times a day - what's your secret, man?
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming :)
© Chris Backe - 2009Pages
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