Family name in South Korea

Hello readers,

I know it's been a while since I post something on this blog. I have many reasons to not be able to write anything here but mostly because I was really busy of school. And now that semester is over, I can continue writing :).

Alright, during semester I took this really interesting class which actually my interest in this class did not give me my expected grade (it destroyed the beauty of my grade!!!!!) nevertheless, I got much much better knowledge which I think the sweetest thing in taking this class. This class was Korean Culture for International Student. Yup, I loved this class. You know, the first year i was here i thought i had enough of this korea thing. Like, i have been to many places in Korea, an island, museums, amusement parks, (just) parks, universities, coffee cafe, restaurants, shopping malls, traditional markets, traditional village, sleep in traditional house, etc ... but this class gave me something fresh, really crunchy like cookies from the oven.

This is one interesting lesson. About family name in korea. As you might know, there are a lot of Kim(s) in korea, and yeah from this class I became to know that in fact, Kim is on number one in the list of family names in korea, here are the top 10:

1. 김 (Kim)
2. 이 (Lee)
3. 박 (Park)
4. 최 (Choi)
5. 정 (Jung)
6. 강 (Kang)
7. 조 (Jo)
8. 윤 (Yoon)
9. 장 (Jang)
10. 임 (Im)

isn't it interesting? ... no? hahah anyway, I guess I will post many interesting things that I have learned from this class. And regardless, I am back!!!

Merry Christmas for whoever celebrate it :)

Angga

Incheon, South Korea

The Korea Blog

I was the 3rd batch member of WSK (World Students in Korea) blogging program. And now I am selected as one of members of the first batch of The Korea Blog. Happy ^^

Congratulations for the other selected winners :)
http://blog.korea.net/?p=1767

About The Korea Blog --> Here.

2011년 2월 27일
ㅏㅇㄱ

설날 먹는 거 | What you eat on Lunar's New Year's Day

설날 [Seollal] Lunar's New Year's day. We do have this celebration in Indonesia called "Imlek" means Chinese New Year. In Indonesia there are a lot of Chinese ethnicity that a long time ago came to Indonesia and since then has become part of Indonesia. And here in Korea, it is one of the biggest holiday.

Today, while doing class, my teacher gave us this sweet cake made from rice .... it is called 한과 and she said it is eaten during Seollal.

한과 [Hankwa]

Also, today I had the opportunity to taste Ttokguk which is a soup that is usually eaten in Lunar's new year's day. People said that if we eat one bowl of ttokguk, you also eat one year of age. So, if you eat 10 bowls of ttokguk, you will earn 10 years which means you will get older by 10 years :)

떡국 [Ttokguk]

2011년 2월 1일

앙가

N에 지나지 않다 | N에 불과하다

http://files.youngsamsung.com/uploads/campus/editor/make_1190456420441.jpg

You might be wondering what does this post about, what is that picture, etc. The title of this post is about some grammars that I learned from my teacher in level 4. And the picture above is 정심화국제문화화관 some kind of hall where they can hold concert and etc, it is located in Chungnam National University, right next to Language Center. But, what's the relation?

Yeah, when I was in the class and leaning that grammar, my teacher gave us one interesting example. So, the grammar is about something that is not really a big thing. For example:

10.000원에 지나지 않다 -> it's not more than 10,000KRW

So, my teacher told us about this story of a grandmother who, for her lifetime, used to sell Kimbab (rice roll?)  for like 500-1,000KRW and she then collected the money and gave it to Chungnam National University. Do you know how much did she give? ... I was very surprised, too ... she gave like, according to my teacher, 1,000,000,000KRW and the money was used to build that building.

"It's not much ... this is all that I can give" ... that's what she said.

I was touched. :)

2011년 1월 23일

앙가

New Year 2011 in Korea

One of interesting fact in South Korea is that as the year changes, you get older by one ... so it doesn't depend on which year, month and date you were born, but it depends on which year you were born. As an example, I was born on July 7th, 1989 (please remember ... I expect presents), then, my age is 21 and it's going to be 22 by July 7, 2011. But then in Korea, as soon as the year changed to 2011 (January 1, 2011) I -in their term- eat one more age, so my age is 23 on January 1, 2011. wait ... isn't that supposed to be 22?? Nope~ because in Korea as soon as you are born, you are 1 year old :). Yes~ I am 23 years old.

The last day of 2010, in Korean language class I asked my teacher what will happen that night in Korea. I was expecting some fireworks like what Indonesian always do every new years, but nope ... she said there would be no fireworks ... instead, in Seoul there is an event where they ring a very huge bell for 33 times. 33 because a long time ago there are 33 important people in history of Korea. And the ones who will ring the bell are 33 famous people in Korea. Seoul would be crowded by people instead the fact that it  must be freaking cold!! that's what she said.

What did I do last night to spend last night of 2010?? Friends!!yeah, I spent my time with special friends I met in Korea. Felicia, Edvan, Yongam, Sophia, and a lil bit late with Seon Uk. These specials people, with a small celebration has left a very special memory in 2010 =].

Three of us first went to a chicken restaurant called Chicken Island to eat ... chicken of course hahah. The chicken restaurant is located in Gung-dong and its a pretty place.

Next, as I mention about the interesting fact in Korea that as soon as the year changed we gain one more age, I had this idea to buy a cake to celebrate our "birthday". We then went to BaskinBRRobbins and buy the cake. 

and we (5 of us, excluding Seon Uk) went to Edvan's house and there we played poker hahahah and you know what the bet was ... candies ^^.

And as the year changed, we took that quite nice picture that I put up there, where all the cellphone's clock are either 12:00 or 00:00 and we ate the cake while saying our resolution for 2011, the best thing in 2010 and the worst thing in 2010. Mine was:

Resolution for 2011 (common wishes excluded):

- I want to get accepted in one of university in Korea.

- I want to go to other countries at least one

- I want to have "someone"

That's all. then Seon Uk came and we ate chicken (again!!) and continued playing poker until we were exhausted.

Other things are that every new year, I always remember my best friend birthday in Indonesia. His birthday is on the last day of the year =]. And my family called me and hearing their voice made that new's year eve ... really special. I felt like they are always there next to me =].

Happy New Year 2011~~

January 1, 2011

앙가

오늘 배운 것 | What I learnt today ^^

Despite the fact that today I was so powerless and lazy in class ... my teacher -while explaining about what we should learn from the book-  tucked in a quite interesting thing about Korea life. If you want to have a date in Korea, there are some food that you don't want to eat together with whoever you are going to date:

자장면 [Jajangmyon]

taken from: http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a287/thewreckoning82/jajangmyon.jpg

Why? because the black sauce of this food will make your mouth become black and it's really gonna be an awkward view on your face and you don't want to look ugly, do you? so... no jajangmyon ^^.

Kimbab

taken from : http://www.kyungku.net/xe/food/files/attach/images/175/7845/DSC05256.jpg

No kimbab also ... my teacher said it's because it's too cheap .... like 1000KRW so you don't want to spend your special time eating something cheap, right?

She also mentioned about Samgyopsal which is pork barbeque but then I did not really catch the reason.

So ... what should you eat? Based on my teacher advise ... go to somewhere clean and with nice environtment and eat ...:

Pizza

taken from: http://blogfile.paran.com/BLOG_672301/200705/1178532280_pizza.jpg

Spaghetti

taken from: http://idothings.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/spaghetti2.jpg

She said it's because the place will be really nice and clean ... but ... its your preference, right? ^^

go and have a date ^^

2010년 12월 30일

앙가

겨울 | 冬 | Winter | Musim Dingin

You guys know what winter is, right? It's not always with the snow .. but for me ,,, snow is winter :).

I love snow ... it's white and when I step on it it feels so crispy. I wish there were winter that is not cold and has snow ... 

Anyway ... My first winter in Korea, but not my first winter though. Nothing much different than my previous winter experience. The same snow, the same slippery road.

I have been busy with the university admission things. I applied to 4 universities which are KAIST, Pusan National University, Inha University, and Chungnam National University where I study Korean language courses. And I did the admission on winter :).

I was so happy when KAIST admission team called me for an interview which means I passed the document screening as the first selection of the admission. But then, when I was very nervous and excited at the same time, it was all destroyed by my incapability in interview. I said I was ready, but the truth was I wasn't ready for something bigger than I thought. I did not expect some questions coming, I was like "stuck". My defense system was destroyed ... alright it might be too much for that situation. Anyway, I did my best ... and whatever the result will be, I believe it is the best thing for me. They are expert, and they know whether I am ready to study at KAIST or not, so ... I believe they will make the best decision. But yeah~~ POSITIVE!!!

Pusan National University admission team also called me today, it was kind of interview via phone. Today, i thought I was done with this admission things, but I got another task. The university needs the prove that I am one of the 10% best students from all graduates (at the same year) in my school. I am not even sure or even have any confidence that I am one of them. It is because my average score of high school was below 8.0... I know scores do matter. Those numbers are magical. Anyway, I will try my best to get that prove before 3 of next month ...

During the conversation over the phone, the lady asked me why did I get this scholarship when my score was below 8.0?? I was kind of shock ... and kind of thinking .. what should I answer?? ...

I don't know the reason ... the government does ... they chose me, which means there must be something on my application package that made the Government of Republic of Korea trusted me and granted me this scholarship.

Well, I did not say the exact thing like i wrote just above this ... hahah. I said that I don't know the reason, but it might be because that I have good scores in my college that I attended for 1 year and 2 months. But it did not change the fact that I have to get the prove that I am one of 10% of best students in my school. Yup,,, like Korean said ... Fighting!!

I also did my admission to Inha University. I had some problem because I did not send some required documents and just today I sent the missing documents so I am safe ... for now.

And Chungnam's interview will be on January 13.

Actually I am really concern about this, because if I failed to get the admission in any university, my scholarship is to be cancelled and I have to go back home.

I know there is no relation between this and the title ... but what I meant was that ... all this things happened in winter :) ...

Wish me luck, everybody ^^

2010년 12월 29일
앙가

I hate when the snow is melting ... it's dirty :( ... well ... coins always have 2 sides :)

漢字 | 한자 | Hanja | Chinese Character

Yup, it's been a while. I have been busy with university admission things and I almost finished everything. I did one interview and it went really bad. I really sucked ㅠㅠ. Anyway, the result will be on 11 of January, nice date, huh? 11-1-11. well, I won't expect much .. but yeah POSITIVE!!

anyway, just want to tell that I am starting to get interested in chinese character, so I am learning about it. I am learning it slowly because it's really difficult. I don't even know how to pronounce it. Just learn how to write and to know the meaning. And since some Korean words derived from chinese word, so I think it might help me to understand more. These are some of them:

―  =  1     六  =  6     百  =  100               山  =  산 Mountain   夏  =  하 Summer
二  =  2     匕  =  7     大  =  대 Great        水  =  수 Water       屋  =  옥 House
三  =  3     八  =  8     民  =  민 People      地  =  지 Earth         服  =  복 Clothes
四  =  4     九  =  9     國  =  국 Country    天  =  천 Sky
五  =  5     十  =  10   火  =  화 Fire          冬  =  동 Winter

I know some more, but ,,, maybe later I'll write it more. From those character some characters I could combine it into a Korean word, for example

大  =  대 Great

韓  =  한

民  =  민 People

國  =  국 Country

大韓民國 = 대한민국 [Daehanminguk] Republic of Korea

韓  =  한

屋  =  옥 House

韓屋 = 한옥 [Hanok] Traditional house of Korea

韓  =  한

服  =  복 Clothes

韓服  =  한복 [Hanbok] Traditional clothes of Korea

中  =  중 Middle/Center
國  =  국 Country

中國 = 중국 [Jung-gook] China

火  =  화 Fire
山  =  산 Mountain

火山  =  화산 [Hwa-San] Volcano

大  =  대 Great
田  =  전 Field/Farm

大田  =  대전 [Daejeon] Daejeon --> City that I live ^^

安  =  안 Peace/Safe/Secure
家  =  가 House

安家  =  안가 [An-Ga] A safe house --> This is my name!!!

2010年 12月 28日
安家

Outstanding Blogger - YAYYYYY -

I am as the blogger of Saftira in Korea was selected as one of the 3 Outstanding Bloggers by World Students in Korea (WSK) program for the 3rd batch.

Thank you for everyone who has read and/or commented on Saftira in Korea and made this happen.

Thank you for WSK for letting me experience Korea through travelling and activities. I have been very proud to become one of the members of WSK and it has been really wonderful time and I am really honored to know the other amazing bloggers I met through this program.

I came late to the award ceremony so I missed the photo session ㅠㅠ;

I promise I will keep sharing my experience through my blog ... and my new camera ^^.

Thank you World Students in Korea

To see the winners click here.

*World Students in Korea is hosted by Presidential Council on Nation Branding - Republic of Korea.

December 05, 2010

앙가

Pepero Day in Korea on 11-11

Yup, in Korea ... every November 11 (11-11) they celebrate Pepero day. What's pepero? it's a snack, it is chocolate stick. With the shape of number 1, they make it the special menu of Pepero day. So, they give and receive Pepero from/to lover or friends ^^.

I unpredictably got some from my students at the volunteering place :) really made my day. Thanks ^^~~

November 11 2010
앙가

Wedding ala Korea

Yay ~~ after going through a hard time deciding whether I should go to the wedding ceremony or not ... finally --by borrowing my friend's white t-shirt (which I haven't returned it yet) and with a big bravery-- I attended the wedding ceremony ... the first time, in Korea =].

So, he is my Taekwondo teacher, and he has this black belt license I guess he is level 5 ... or something like that and he is very handsome and cute ^^. He sometimes gives me like inspirational words ... you know one day he suddenly said like "study hard today for yourself, for future, for your parents", it was the day when I said to him that I was kind of lazy to study. But actually he is not that serious type of person, he likes joking. 

임재종 [Lim Jae-Jong]

Yup ... he is not the one who got married :) ... but his sister did. So, I got the invitation from him and he said it is a really good thing to see wedding ceremony ala Korea, so I was like ... persuaded by him hahah. What happened on that day?

Well, the bride wearing the wedding dress and the guy wearing the suit, the guy got inside the wedding hall first, and then the girl. And the one who married them were talking about something in Korean which I did not really understand, I guess it's like you know "are you ready to live with your wife in happiness and difficult time" something like that. But then after that, this one is I guess kind of different. The guy and the girl then approached the both parents and did the bow. The interesting part was that the guy did the full bow, like he had to touch the ground, but on the other hand the girl just do the bow while standing, you know like when you greet someone in Korea you bend your back a lil bit, something like that. And after that you know what happened ...? so the guy then -in front of the people who attended the ceremony- screamed 만세 [Mansae] 3 times ... it means hurrah, hurray, hooray based on naver dictionary. It was kind of ... interesting =].

After that, I also witnessed 폐백 [Pyebaek] -- based on naver dictionary :

traditional ceremony to pay respect to the (bride)groom's family by the newly-wedded couple right after their wedding

The right woman is 임혜진 [Lim Hye-Jin] - my friend's sister and her husband ^^

It was a great decision to attend the ceremony ... you know, to learn something new is always fun ^^.

Hey you know what, just like in Indonesia, we have to bring and give money if you attend wedding ceremony. Actually my friend told me to not give anything but at that time I saw all Korean came and gave money before getting the ticket for food and I got it without giving money ... I am really embarrassing ㅠㅠ; I should have brought and given money ... so, to all Korean, don't hesitate to invite me to your wedding ceremony ^^.

So ... when is YOUR wedding ceremony??

October 25, 2010

앙가

-- I should study~~~~~~~~~~~ TOPIK test next two weeks ㅠㅠ;

첫날밤 [CheotNalPam] | Wedding Night ala Traditional Korea

This was actually a draft of my post about making bulgogi, but then today I had a really interesting class with my really really interesting teacher, so I decided to change this post.

Did you guys married? or have u ever got married? If you did, or you have, I am totally sure (except if you are really really weird couple) that you have experienced what people call "Wedding Night" ... tadaaaaa ... yeah, even though I have never experienced that, but I am pretty sure it is something special and maybe for some people it is something .... you can say .... exciting? hahah maybe nervous is a suitable word.

Why did I start my post with this topic? hahah yes ... this one in a million teacher unexpectedly gave us this sheet of paper with a picture on it. It was not the picture that I put at the top of this post, but it was similar. Yeah it was a picture of a guy who is taking off his wife's clothes :). I was really surprised when she asked us what is written on that picture, and it was written "첫날밤". At the first time I saw the picture, I thought it was like something about Hanbok, but then when I realized what that writing means, I was like ... really? and why? hahaha it was really something ... unusual :).

The main purpose of this picture was actually to teach us of a kind of grammar in Korean Language, but then what made me more interested was actually the story of this picture ... the way of Korean do the wedding night a long time ago.

So, the traditional way of wedding night of Korea is a new knowledge for me. At the wedding night, the wife actually doesn't have to do anything, she just need to stay calm. The husband than feed her with the food and give her drink, and she still just need to stay calm and doesn't do anything. And after eating and drinking, the husband than will start to take off the clothes or whatever on his wife. Starting from 족두리 [Jokturi] which is a kind of accessory on the wife's hair. He take off the Jokturi and the girl just need to stay still, without doing anything. And of course ... oh yeah I forgot to mention they wear a kind of traditional clothes, maybe wedding dress. So, the guy then take off her clothes and after that he take off her 버선 [BeoSeon] Traditional footwear. And then ...... you know what happen hahah. Anyway, who take off husband's clothes then? I guess the husband does that by him self ... I am not sure, I am going to ask my teacher though. hahah

Isn't that interesting :) But, my teacher told me that nowadays in Korea, people don't really do wedding night the same way as the traditional one ... hmm why not? hahahah

so ... you guys wanna share your wedding night story? I guess some of you will -even only a really small- smile when you remember your wedding night ... ^^ well ... I guess its the sweetness of life =]

*** so this pretty lady who is the first one who commented on this post added that -in Indonesian language- if the husband does not enter the wedding night room, the girl is just going to stay there, waiting for him to come, she will not go anywhere or do anything. If the husband really doesn't come, then she's been left. Sad story, but her professor said that there were some case like that.
Thanks Mba Mutia :)

October 20, 2010

앙가

-- I have midterm test tomorrow ... and I seriously did not study.

단군 [TanGun] - Folklore

A long time ago, there was a king called Hwan-In ruled the kingdom up there on the sky. King Hwan-In had a son whose name was Hwan-Woong. The life the the kingdom was really nice, but Hwan-Woong intended to go down to the earth and live there. King Hwan-In understood what his son wanted and he let him to go down to rule the earth. Hwang-Woong then brought people to help him rule the earth.

And then, Hwan-Woong went to mountain Bekdusan and made a village. Not far from the village that he made, there were one bear and and one tiger who were willing to be human. They asked to Hwan-Woong if it was possible. Hwan-Woong then told them some condition which if they follow those condition they can become human. The conditions were they have to get inside a very dark cave that even a dot of light can't get in, and for 100 days they can't eat anything except mugwort and garlic.

They accepted that condition and went inside that dark cave and only brought garlic and mugwort to eat. The tiger couldn't hold his hunger and couldn't help to only eat garlic and mugwort, he went out before 100 days passed. On the other hand, the bear with patience only ate garlic and mugwort stayed until 100 days and transformed into a very beautiful lady.

This beautiful lady wanted to get married, and she got married with Hwan-Woong. Their first child of them was called 단군 [TanGun]. TanGun then went down from Bekdusan and ruled the Korea peninsula. That area was called 조선 [JoSeon] which is actually the first name of Korea.