Now i Know My "ABCs"...

So, i've been studying the alphabet with the little free time i have here. The Korean alphabet is made up of twenty-four characters. It's relatively easy compared to Chinese, which has about forty thousand. Hangul was created under King Sejong during the Choson Dynasty [1393-1910]. in It's a simplified system, since he knew many Koreans could not write [because they used Chinese characters] and it prevented them for communicating. Only the educated, elite learned to use the Chinese characters. King Sejong was aware of this and knew that the Chinese system did not capture nuances and phrases unique to the Korean culture. Hangul also gave Koreans more of their own cultural identity and independence from Chinese thought.

There are fourteen basic consonants and five compound consonants in Hangul. There are ten basic vowels and eleven compound. Most people can learn to read and write. They just have no idea what the meaning of the syllables are. There can be three characters per column. Each column of words makes up one part [syllable] of the word.

It's been difficult seeing these characters as actual representational letters instead of being abstract, forms. i now have even more respect for my students that know both Hangul and English!

i think Hagul is elegant and definitely distinct. There is beauty in simplicity. For those who have difficulty distinguishing between Japanese, Chinese, and Korean characters...Korean is the least ornamented or complex-looking.

Here is a chart of the alphabet broken down. It does not include the compound consonants and vowels. They'll be a test in a week ;)

Good eats

So, i have been doing a good share of eating out while i've been here. Good, fresh, and mostly healthy food is readily available here for a good price. It's much easier to avoid the temptation of bad food here. Not that there isn't McDonald's or Pizza Hut here. There is. But why would you want to fill your gut with that stuff when you've access to authentic food?

My favorites dishes have been the soups. Mostly, because i've been sick on an off since i've been here. Kal-gu-su is a clear-broth-based soup with green chilies, rice noodles, leeks, eggs and clams. Sun [soon] du bu is a spicy, red pepper-based [also contains kimchi, which is the Korean signature, fermented cabbage dish] soup with green chilies, shrimp, and mussels.

i also love that vegetables are just part of cuisine, rather than add-ons or after thoughts. Koreans eat little dishes with their rice, soups, and bits of meat called panchan [the a is pronounced like ah, as in father]. They are relishes and little flavour bursts that really enhance the meal. i always feel like royalty because the table is covered with about a dozen of small dishes.

We got all of this food [pictured below] for five dollars. This bi [bee] bim bap was served with meat [my friends got pork, i got squid] marinated in chili-pepper paste. Rice is mixed in with Korean-style greens, carrots, bean sprouts radishes, etc. It was delicious.

Seoul-City

i have made two trips recently to Seoul. Once, by subway and once by bus. Even though the bus takes less time, i prefer the subway. i never experienced much motion sickness before coming to Korea. However, the drivers here are on and off the gas like nobody's business. It's ridiculous. i think even the strongest sailor's stomach would be tested.

Seoul is the ultimate modern city. The subways are over-flowing with people, much like New York City. You'd better have a cell phone or a meeting point because it is so easy to get lost in the shuffle. We had to fight our way up people- clogged stair cases throughout the duration of the trip.

There are a good mix of Western and Korean stores. We visited Kangnam. It is a trendy, wealthy area of the city. There is a huge bookstore called Kyobo, where they offer a nice selection of English texts. i bought a Korean language book [i'm sure the first of many] and a dictionary.

The first trip to Seoul ended concluded with non-traditional Korean fare. We ended up eating at this place that offered burritos. Suffice to say, my potato and egg burrito was pretty tasty...although i couldn't get over the fact that i had left my mostly-Latino neighborhood in Chicago, and was now half way around the world eating the aforementioned inspired cuisine. The appropriated, Korean version if you will....We even got horchata which did pale in comparison to the authentic stuff i've had in Pilsen...but i was thankful for globalization of the gastronomic persuasion at that moment. [ You can see my burrito and my friend Susan enjoying her horchata in the image below].

Like many major cities, i found Seoul to be brimming over with street vendors. Food, clothing, jewelry...pretty much anything you could desire can all be found within the nooks of crannies of the city. My favorites included these fleece-like pants that seemed to be a real hit with the locals [see below].

i know i have just scratched the surface of Seoul. i don't know if i'll ever be able to see it all [please refer to an older post of a diagram of the city's subway system...it's the Bermuda Triangle of mass transit, even compared to Paris!] i look forward to finding new places and discovering more about the city where i was born.

What's In a Name?

As i've mentioned before, students and both teachers alike at the school i teach at have chosen "English names" for themselves as a way for them to be more easily identifiable by the foreign teachers [like myself] and so they can form some kind of identity and or bond within themselves as well as the language itself.

i find both of the reasons to be rather absurd, given the fact i have heard a very sad story of a Chinese friend moving to St. Louis as a fifth grader and being told to pick an English name so he could better "fit in" with his classmates. He went as the plain, vanilla "Eric" until he graduated from high school. It was only when he entered college, that he re- assumed his given Chinese name and probably a genuine sense of pride of being able to be his true self.

At any rate, i'm not quite sure how some of my students have gone about choosing their English name. i feel like it's my civic duty as a Korean-American to let them know what's up. So far, my favourites are: Axel, Ace, Mickey, (Mouse) Harry, (Potter...there have been girls named Harry as well, apparently gender does not pertain to literary heroes) Mario, (Brothers) Donny (dare i think...Osmand?) and Betty (Boop?). Hilarious. It's humorous to think that these names are down right ridiculous to my American ear without accounting for the pop culture reference. If there was a boy named Mickey in the States, i tend to think lots of black eyes awaited him in his ill-future. We also have a male administator at the office that dubbed himself, Pulitzer. Somehow, i think things like egos don't need any translating.

A name can be a defining personification of who someone ends up being in their adult life. It's quite amazing how this way of branding or labeling can affect and shape a person's character. Some are so fitting that there is no question whether or not they were meant to be an "Eve" or a "Dottie" [although, i'm sure someone would beg to differ].

Sometimes, i don't think parents give enough thought into how much trauma they've instantly bestowed or how they've sent their child up for life-long ridicule just by choosing the wrong moniker. What may seem "unique" or "trendy" to the name-giver, may not be seen in the same light by the receiver's peers. And trust me, traveling down the already- laborious and, at times treacherous road of life, is already a task for any child. You're just throwing another giant obstacle in their path; a constant reminder of an unfortunate, misguided, [although well-intentioned] permanent and primary parenting misstep.

i, myself, have struggled with my own name my adoptive parents gave me. My Dad always takes pride in naming me with a classic Irish epithet. Many people have noted that they think it suits me quite nicely and appropriately. It's not that i dislike it, there could be FAR worse things to be called in life. That being said, because of who i am on the physical, outside does not quite match the nice Euro-American tag. Because of my yellow outside and my "cream filling," [in the words of CJ] i have learned that i have the ablility to confuse people [white, Asian, and others] alike.

Lately, i have felt like i do identify with my given Korean name more than my American one. i can't give a solid reason why i feel that way. It's not just because of other's expectations. There are plenty of people of different ethnicities rockin displaced-sort-of names. It's another example of globalization. Nor is it that i feel more Korean than American. i really and truly, more than ever feel like i AM and CAN be both, equally.