10. Leaving America

Hello, 안녕!
Did you guys spend wonderful weekend?
Summer vacation is coming up, which means there is only one week left for me to stay in Eastern.
I'm sad :( I have always missed Korea, but now I want to stay here more.
Anyway, it was wonderful experience for me to be an exchange student here for this semester.
So, today I want to talk about what I love about USA and what I miss about Korea.

What I love about USA
1. diversity
    People have different races and ethnic backgrounds but still have an identity as a citizen of United States.  It was impressive for me becuase in Korea, people are mostly from one ethnic background, and there are not much foreigners so we look at foreigners or other races with curiosity. This diversity helped me adjust myself to here because I didn't need to feel like I am an alien just because I am an Asian.  Maybe this kind of diversity made people tend not to judge people only by the way they look, I guess.

2. Ben & Jerry's
    I LOVE BEN & JERRY'S!! My roommate had me taste this on the first week of this semester. I don't remember what flavor it was, but it was epic. I opened my eyes about the ice cream. I fell in love with this ice cream soon and decided to taste all kind of Ben&Jerry's ice cream. Although I spent most of my flex money to buy this ice cream, there are a lot of other flavors that I haven't tried. If you are reading my post, please let me know which flavor is the best of Ben&Jerry's. I just want to send this wonderful ice cream to my country if there is any way to keep this from melting. I will miss this the most ㅠㅠ

3. People
    People are so kind. When I traveled NYC or Miami alone, a lot of people helped me find directions or right bus. Also, I think American people like conversation. I had never chatted with strangers that much before. Even though I am a stranger, some people talked me about their day or asked about my travel. And people hold the door for the next person which made me confused at the first time. I am now totally adapted to it and I like it!

What I miss about Korea
1. Internet speed
   Sorry but network here is so slow and unstable. Korea has the fastest internet speed in the world. I was so used to the speed in Korea that it drives me crazy when I search for somthing on the internet and the results come up more than a second later. I think most Korean people have this problem when they are in other country...

2. Public Transportation
  United States are so big that I should get a car to move freely. However, I had no choice but using public transportation since I am temporary student. So, I tried to go to the city or Korean market in other area by train or bus, but the trip was so exhausting. First of all, there is no notice alarm for the stops. In Korea, there is a voice alarm in every stops so that passangers cannot miss their stops to get off. Secondly, transportation fees are much cheaper in Korea; taking a bus or train costs about a dollar. Also, I don't need to carry any cash because we use electronic transportation card and just recharge it. We can get the cards from convinient stores which is located in anywhere in 3 minutes away on foot.


3. Food
  I just miss Korean food. Thinking that I can eat Korean food for the rest of my life, I tried to eat American food more and did not bring any Korean food. However, I reminded that I will drop by Europe for a month after this semester ends. There is one more month to wait.. I am so craving for Korean food! Fortunately, I got packages from my friend that have some ready-made Korean food last week. I think I can bear for 2 weeks with those food. I love American food too, but you know, home is home.


 I think I will miss this country after leaving here. It was glorious time to take classes with you guys, travel alone and meet new people. It was not easy at fisrt, though. I have missed my country all day, but now I feel like it would be great if I have one more month to stay. I'm not sure if I can come here again, so everything feels valuable to me. I am so sad but I gotta go! I hope you guys take your finals well. Thank you for reading this post and thank you for being the one small part of my good memories in America :) 안녕!

9. No more Gangnam Style

Hello, 안녕!

I think you guys have listen to 'Gangnam Style' at least once, and some of you even know how to dance 'Gangnam Style.' The song is performed by PSY, the Korean singer.
It's amazing that the culture of a country, which is so small that it is hard to find in the world map, can reach to this far and enormous continent. Apart from K-Pop, you can see Korean dramas, movies and products in everywhere in your life, like Samsung or Hyundai. I am proud of being Korean when I find these cultures of Korea in America.

I want to introduce especially about K-Pop, because sometimes I feel like American people only remind of Gangnam Style when it comes to Korean song. Although I am happy for Gangnam Style to be famous, I just want to let you know there are much better and diverse kinds of Korean songs.

Actually, the biggest part of K-pop is idol bands, which I don't like that much. Korean boy bands and girl groups are really popular even in adjacent countries like China and Japan. Consequently, a lot of entertainment agencies try to make idol stars for money, so there has been new artist almost once a week, which I can't remember the hundreds of names any more. The reason why I do not love this industry is that it contributes for media to merchandise sex of minors, and they are usually not good at singing, but just for showing. Nevertheless, there are also many of quality idol groups and individual singers that have amazing talent. I want to introduce Big Bang and SHINee. Both group has unique characteristics.

BIG BANG

They started from hip hop based group, but now individually making their own music, they perform electronica, dance, and R&B and so on. GD, the leader of this group is famous for his unique fashion and composing talent; he makes almost all songs in the albums. I recommend you to listen each members' individual songs.

SHINEE

SHINee is, as they named themselves, a contemporary band, so they perform experimental and unique music. Sometimes it's like modern art; at first, it is strange and hard to understand. But I think they have special color in their music and atmosphere which nobody can mimic. There is a song which is composed by Bruno Mars and performed by Taemin, one of the members of SHINee. Its title is 'Press Your Number' in the second video I attached. 

Secondly, I want to introduce Korean Hip-hop. There have been hip hop from 1990s in Korea, but recently it is getting popular than before. I think some of Korean hip hop artists want to follow American hip hop, and some wants to have there own characteristics in their music. I think most korean hip hops are like later one, and cuter than American hip hop. Here are my two of favorite hip hop artists: Dynamic Duo and Beenzino.

Dynamic Duo

They have been performed for over 15 years in Korea. I think the best part of their music is that all their song has great lyrics arousing sympathy. Some songs are strong with swear words, and some are smooth like slow jam. They are good.

Beenzino

He is a good-looking young rapper (Sorry this songs do not have a music video!) 

His songs are usually about art, youth and love. He got famous from 2010, being exposed numerous by concerts. Now, he is kind of fashion and cultural icon. I'm sure you are going to like his music once you listen to it.

Also, there are lovely and ambient songs, too. (I don't know what specific genre they are. Chilling music?) I actually don't know well about the artists, I just like going to bed with these music.

CHEEZE 

일기예보 (Weather Forecast)

Eddy Kim 

너 사용법(The Manual)

Crush & Zion.T 

그냥 (Just)

If you ran out of songs to listen in your playlist, and looking for new songs, how about listening K-pop songs I recommend? No more Gangnam Style !

8. Shopping / number

Hi, everyone.

Did you have great weekend? The weather was weird, but it is going to be warmed up from next week. So, we maybe need to go shopping and prepare clothing for this S/S season. Here is how to shop in Korea.

A: 이 가방 얼마에요?

( Yi ga bang eol ma e yo? ) 

-How much is this bag?

B: 삼만 육천 원이요.

(Sam man yuk cheon won yi yo)

-This is 36,000 KRW.

A: 카드로 계산할게요.

(Kadeu ro gye san hal ge yo)

-I will pay with credit card.

B: 여기 있습니다. 감사합니다.

(Yeo gi it sub ni da. Gam sa hab ni da.)

-Here you are. Thank you.

Korean Won (KRW) is Korean currency, which is about ￦1,200 for $1.00

Also, Korean clerks don't usually ask you how to pay, but they handle it. 

Here is how to count number in Korea.

0: 영(young) 

1: 일 (yil)

2: 이 (yi, It just sounds 'E')

3: 삼 (sam)

4: 사 (sa)

5: 오 (oh, just 'O')

6: 육 (yuk)

7: 칠 (chil)

8: 팔 (pal)

9: 구 (gu)

10: 십 (ship)

100: 백 (baek)

1,000: 천 (cheon)

10,000: 만 (man)

100,000,000: 억 (eok)

 If you want to say 7,000, you can simply combine 7 and 1,000 like in English.
- 칠천 (chil-cheon)

Also, if you want to use the number above 10,000, you can combine 10,000 (man) and the less units.
- 100,000 (ship-man)
- 1000,000 (baek-man)
- 10,000,000 (cheon-man)


If you are a girl and want to check some trendy items, I give a shout out SOSO Daily, which is run by my friend Sohee. This is a Korean style fashion blog that you can refer to.

Thank you. 안녕!

7. Korean Food

안녕!

Today's topic is Korean food.

I picked eight different Korean dishes that I like the most.

After seeing this post, you will be very welcome to vote to the Korean food you want to try.

 

 

 

 

김치 Kimchi

 

Kimchi is the number one representative food of Korea, because Korean people cannot live without it. Kimchi is salted cabbage with red pepper powder, so it is hot and sour a little bit. Also, it's the best when it is really cold and crispy. We usually eat Kimchi with rice and, or we cook hundreds of other dishes with Kimchi, such as Kimchi fried rice, Kimchi pan cake and Kimchi soup.

 

 

 

 

 

 

냉면 Naeng-myoen

 

This is cold noodle with beef broth and, depending on your taste, you can add vinegar or mustard into it. Even though this is traditionally summer seasonal food, Korean people always have Naengmyeon no matter what the season is, since it taste so good! Most people prefer to eat this after finishing Sam-gyeop-sal, which is the next food I will introduce.

 

 

 

  

삼겹살 Samgyeopsal

This is grilled pork with traditional sauce. Usually when we go to the restaurant, servers hand you the raw pork, and you should grill it by yourself. It sounds a little bit rude, but Korean people are willing to do that, becuase they have a pirde of their grilling skill. Samgyeopsal is generally loved food, so if you want to be closer to somebody, you can just treat him/her Samgyeopsal and Soju.    

 

떡볶이 Ddeok-bokki

 

Ddeok-bokki is rice cake with hot sauce. This is my favorite so I miss this food all day! It is sweet a little and you can put fries or Soondae (sausage made of beef and bean curd stuffed in pig intestine). Ddeok bokki is really cheap so high schoolers usually go to Ddeok-bokki restaurat right after the school. If you can't eat spicy food, there are also curry flavor, cream sauce, and sweet soy sauce Ddeok-bokki, too.    

 

 

김밥 Kimbab

 

Kimbab is friend of Ddeok-bokki, and it has steamed rice, vegetables, and fishcakes. This is similar with sandwich because Korean people usually pack Kimbab for their picnic. Also, when not having enough time to eat breakfast or lunce, we just have Kimbab.  Some people are confused if it is Japanese Sushi, but Kimbab is different with Sushi; Kimbab uses sesame oil instead of vinegar, and it contains a lot of vegetables, while Sushi has only salted radish.

 

 

육회 Yuk hoe

 

Yukhoe is sliced raw beef with sweet sauce, and somtimes it has yalk on it. It looks gross at first, but if you try this once, you would not be able to stop! Even though this is a little beat pricey food so we don't eat Yukhoe a lot, Korean people love Yukhoe.  

 

 

전 Jeon

 

Jeon is traditional holiday food, which has a lot of variation. It basically consists of egg, flour, and salt, and we put different ingredients in it, and fry. Korean people usaully make this food in holidays or traditional rituals, but there is casual Jeon which contains Kimchi or potato. They are beloved by all of Koreans. 

 

산낙지 Sannakji

 

Sannakji means alive octopus. Mostly, octopus is technically dead, but the legs keep moving for few minutes after death so it is called alive octopus. Of sourse, there is another way to eat Sannakji, which is eating alive octopus. If you wonder how to eat alive octopus, you can find video on the YouTube. It's cruel and hard to eat, so I don't eat whole octopus. I put this on the list just because I though its interesting.

 

 

Do you have any Korean food you want to try? Vote for it!

I hope you guys to swing by littel Korea town and try them. It's gonna be an interesting experience.

See you later, 안녕!