push me

at the sinchon train station.  a cement block disguised as a panic button?  what is this for?  does it tell the train where to stop?

360 map

Daum 지도  is way better than google maps.  지도 means "map."
their 360 street view is really clear.  but you have to be able to type in korean to do a search.  hrm.  
if you're curious, copy and paste "이촌역" into the website, hit enter, and then click on the "" icon.  
a 360 street view should pop up.  in the lower left corner of the view is a map.  you can drag the camera around to see more. i teach sometimes around here.  

ice skating

i love ice skating.  i'm not very good, but i love it.  there are lots of places to go skating in seoul, indoor and out.  we went out last weekend at the mokdong ice rink.

the skates.

the rink.  of course, being seoul, it was pretty crowded.  i got pretty nervous towards the end of our skating time.  people were falling left and right.  you had to be careful not to skate over them.  eeeeee.

hockey games and other competitions are held at this arena. 

the center is blocked off for the figure skaters & speed skaters to practice.  

a fallen figure skater.

korean language resources

well.  i'm trying to study korean again.  on my own, for a while, with (hopefully) a return to a less-intense school in spring or summer.  this post by The Korean gave me some inspiration. 


i've updated the links on the left to include more info about korea.  will periodically update as i find other helpful sites.  but, the language section is pretty short.  i don't want to link to a bunch of schools, so here's a post instead about places you can go to study korean, inspired by a friend's recent article on korean-language resources online.


please note that the following is just my opinion, based on my experiences and what i've heard from friends.  and i know i'm missing a ton of places to study.  please add your recommendations!


so.  in no particular order:  Language Schools (Not Free)


1.  sogang university, my korean-language alma mater.  they have a fantastic program, if you want to start to speak really fast.  it moves fast.  it doesn't cover as much grammar or vocabulary as other schools, from what i've heard.  but you can speak well much more quickly than at other schools (again, this is based on what i've heard from other people).  if your learning style doesn't go well with listening and speaking, you might want to try a different school.


2.  yonsei university.  have heard it's a great program.  very difficult.  lots of grammar.  speaking comes later.


3.  konkuk university.  their book looks really good.  (YBM uses their book at the moment.)  don't know anything else about their program.


4.  ganada language institute.   less intensive than the university programs (and less money).  have friends who liked this place a lot.


5.  ybm language institute.   similar to ganada, but larger (and even less money).  have friends who also like it here, possibly due to a recent book change & a good leveling system.  they're now using a university program's book.  


6.  yonsei's online program.    it's not free, but it only takes 6 months to complete, all online.


7.  korean class 101.  another online program.  


if you don't want to pay, in no particular order: Language Schools/Resources (Free)


1.  seoul global center classes.   the global center has a great class.  the boyfriend went to class last year and had a really good time.  they use a university program book and his teachers were university professors.   this link goes to the 2010 spring term announcement info.  for future reference, check out the SGC news section under the communication board.  


2.  sogang online program.  an online tutorial.  registration might be required, i can't remember, but it's free.  it's based on sogang's old books, i think?  but the lessons are still very good, though sometimes a tad cheesy.~^^   


3.  let's speak korean on youtube.  let's speak korean is an arirang tv show to help teach korean to foreigners.  this link just takes you to the season 2 videos, but you can find season 1 & 3 on youtube.  or maybe here at the arirang tv homepage?  hrm.  well, it looks like season 3 is here.


4.  if you are a korean-adoptee, some of the adoptee service organizations offer language resources.  GOAL has a free tutoring program and a language course (not free, but very minimal fee).  also, if you are a korean adoptee, GOAL and INKAS offer language scholarships to the university programs.  


Finally, here's a list of links on GOAL's site.  it's much more extensive than mine.~^^


hope this is helpful!

winter photos

some photos from lately...

winter lights at the cheonggyecheon.

seoul is having a crazy winter this year, with record snowfall and cold temperatures.  it may even have been colder than minnesota for a bit.  bizarre. 

icy water.

pizza.  really yummy bacon mushroom pizza.

korean fried chicken, covered in honey sauce, with beer, cider (like sprite but better), and pickled radish.  duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.  this is amazingly delicious.  i want some now.  ~lol~ 

a kiwi smoothie.

back at the cheonggyecheon.  horse-drawn carriage rides.  

catch this.

part of the 2010 World Design Capital exhibit at city hall.  

enter the antarctic wind tunnel.

stuffed antarctic seal.  it just screams for a close up, doesn't it...

...so.  here you go.  close up.  ah, this makes me giggle uncontrollably.  seriously.  who stuffed this poor inquisitive seal?

directions to south korea's antarctic base, in case you want to drop by for dinner.

inside the outside design exhibit.  i know she's a painter, but she also sort of looks like she's going to throw a small turkey breast at someone after squirting them with the turkey baster. ..... but maybe that's just me.  anyway.  moving on...

where?  seoul!

at the center of the outside exhibit is this massive cube.  it changes color.  i love it.  it becomes every color of the rainbow.


red.

sideways blue.

sea-green.

white.

purple.   a really cool exhibit.

eavesdropping

was eavesdropping today while waiting for take out at my favorite quick korean restaurant in the neighborhood. (by quick korean restaurant, i mean a place that we think of as a sit-down korean restaurant that serves delicious food, but actual koreans think of as a not very delicious fast food-type restaurant where you only go if you're broke.  ~lol~)  


this is the first time i've gotten take out at this place.  we usually just order delivery.  


setting:  a small restaurant with an open kitchen in the back.  


characters: 
three sweaty ajummas (older woman) cooking in a tiny kitchen.  
one cranky ajumma packaging up food for serving/delivery (basically, preparing the banchan )side dishes),
     wrapping delivery items in plastic wrap, serving food if 
     you're eating in, etc.).  
one old ajosshi (older man) taking phone orders.  


the conversation:


three cooking ajummas:  (yelling something at the cranky ajumma) "it's right there."


tired ajumma: "no."


three cooking ajummas:  "yes yes yes there there there. get the banchan. here's the soup."


tired ajumma: (muttering under breath)


ajosshi:  "you're loud"


three cooking ajummas: "get the bowl"


ajosshi: "it's not there."


three cooking ajummas: "YES IT IS GET IT RIGHT---"


ajosshi: "I SEE IT" (rather violently throwing styrofoam bowl at ajummas)


three cooking ajummas: (laughing loudly)


ajosshi: "aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, you are so noisy.  shit."


~LOL~ 


so then, when i was trying to leave, they asked if i needed a spoon.
i said no, i was going home.  
then they asked where i lived.
i said "i live in this neighborhood, it's close." 
then they said "you're from japan, right?"
i said, no, i came from the US.  
and then they gave me a delivery menu (i have two at home) and said "next time just order delivery, don't come here."  


which i think means that since i live so close they can just deliver, instead of meaning they don't want me in their restaurant.


but who knows.  ~lol~  

avatar & instant ramen

we saw avatar today in 3-D.  dude.  it was awesome.  here's us in our gigantic 3-D glasses.  taken w/my camera phone, so the quality isn't the greatest.

also, saw this at the train station.  a ramen vending machine.  press the button, wait 2 minutes & 30 seconds, and then a hot bowl (cup? tinfoil platter?) of ramen is dispensed at the bottom of the machine.  dude.  why don't we have cool vending machines in the US?  we must catch up our vending machine technology.   

i hope you all had a happy new year!  i had a happy, peaceful night, but am now getting sick.  rats.  but, hopefully it won't last too long.~^^  happy new year!  here's to a healthy 2010!