jejudo 09:38

This picture sums up well my thoughts and feeling during my two days on Jeju Island. Enjoy!

omija tea 08:43

I find it intellectually stimulating and satisfying when I 'discover' a 'new' word that cannot be accurately described in the English language. It feels as though I have tasted a little more of life.

I was bouncing around Jeju Island this weekend with my two friends Meredith and Seongjik when we happened upon a folk village. A lady gave us a tour and at then end of the tour we were privileged to taste Jejudo Omija Tea. (오미자차) It means five flavored tea. Meredith captured it well when she exclaimed that it was like a rainbow in your mouth.

There is an initial sensation of sweetness and then a shocking tartness. Bitterness and saltiness follow and then a final 떫은 (tteorbun) taste. In the dictionary, this word comes up as astringent and puckery. Obviously, these meanings do little to explain this word. It is that taste one gets when taking a bite out of a persimmon or date that was not as ripe as it could be. It leaves one wanting another bite of something a little more sweet. Eat the peel of an apple without the flesh and you will begin to understand this taste.

the fifth taste 07:38

When we were kids, we were taught that there were only four tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter. According to a new study however, we now have a new "fifth" taste called "umami." It was coined by a Japanese scientist about a hundred years ago. It is best described as a "savory, meaty, and satisfying" taste. I think in Korean it would be best described as 짭짤하다 (Chapchalhada). So the next time you eat anchovies or parmesan cheese see if you can sense "umami." Apparently, Asians have known about it for hundreds of years but now since a study was done, I guess it can be taught. Check out the full article at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119706514515417586.html.

o how i miss autumn 04:21

Autumn in Korea was nice. Now it is winter and I am freezing to death.

i 03:57

In Japanese, you must choose your I's and you's depending on your relationship with the person you are speaking to.

私 watashi - used by both men and women in formal situations.

私 watakushi - an extremely formal way of saying 'I.'

我 ware - another formal 'I.' Used in places like the Bible.

俺 ore - used by males between friends. A very masculine usage of 'I.'

僕 boku - more polite than ore but more casual than watashi.

あたし atashi - used by females between friends. Seen as cute.

あたくし - a more formal version of atashi.

あなた anata - the generic, polite 'you.'

あんた anta - a 'you' that expresses some anger, contempt.

お前 omae - used to condescend in certain situations.

手前 temae - a rude and confrontational 'you.'

貴様 kisama - the hostile 'you' when you want to pick fights.

君 kimi - an informal 'you' used in a lot of love songs.

blue 00:59

This is another one of those untranslatable words. Sort of. In the Korean Language, the two most commonly used words for blue is 'paran' (파란) and 'pureun' (푸른). The first word 'paran' is the general word for blue. Blue car, blue house, blue crayon. Interestingly, it can be used to refer to somethings that are green as well. One will sometimes hear older people say the leaves, grass, or the green street light are blue! Otherwise, not a difficult word to translate. The second word however requires more thought. When used to describe things, it carrys a connotation of freshness and cleanliness. For instance, a 'pureun bada' (blue ocean) would be roughly translated as a blue, clean, and enviromentally friendly ocean. A 'pureun gil' (blue road) could be translated as a 'good and healthy road to take in life.' It is especially used by companies on billboards these days to avert or at least their attempt to avert global warming and pollution. It resonates with the Koreans very well.

huh? 00:25

The other day, I had an interesting conversation with my students about the word 'huh.' Apparently, their previous teacher used the word 'huh' after everything she said and they would laugh everytime. "Did you do your homework, huh?, Where is he going, huh?" I unknowingly used it and out of the blue, they all bursted out in laughter. The previous teacher had never explained to them what it had meant, so I spent the next ten minutes trying to get them to understand. What an undertaking. In the end, we all laughed and agreed that it was quite a strange sound.

the new old tea house 04:18

Visiting the "New Old Tea House" in Insadong is one of the top ten things to do in Seoul according to Lonely Planet. It is a very difficult place to find because it is nestled in an alleyway away from all the tourists in Insadong. Once you get there you can drink overpriced tea while having birds fly over your head... Well, not exactly. But they do have lots of birds. And they talk too. We went to it and found it surprisingly nice and relaxing. It is now one of my top ten things to do in Seoul.