Introduction

Those learning Classical Chinese (漢文, 한문, Hanmun), and even those just learning Chinese characters (漢字, 한자, Hanja), should invest in an in print Chinese Character dictionary, known as Okpyeon (玉篇, 옥편) in Korean. The dictionary need not be an expensive one: the one this blogger uses is called Practical Great CharacterDictionary (實用大玉篇, 실용대옥편), pictured above, and costs 24,000 Won (about $22). Although there are online dictionaries such as Naver and Daum, it is still beneficial to own an in print dictionary and know how to use it. This is because online dictionaries do not have all the useful information about a Chinese character. The following is a character entry in this printed dictionary:

Included in this dictionary entry are:

1. its pronunciation(s) written in Hangul;
2. the tone and rime; 
3. different definitions described in Korean and in Classical Chinese;
4. excerpts from Chinese Classics where the character is used; and
5. character in different script styles.

Other in print dictionaries may have the character’s stroke order and banjeol (反切, 반절). In contrast, online Korean dictionaries typically do not have tone, rime, banjeol, and different definitions in Classical Chinese. They might list the pronunciation in Mandarin, but as mentioned in a previous post the tones and rimes of Mandarin are not the same as the ones in Classical Chinese. 

This blog post will cover first the organization of a Chinese character dictionary and then go through examples on how to navigate and find a character within the dictionary.

Organization of the Dictionary

There are a variety of Chinese character dictionaries; however, they are usually organized in the same manner. Characters are indexed by:

1. Radical, Busu (部首, 부수);
2. Total number of strokes, Chonghoek (總劃, 총획); and
3. Pronunciation in Hangul order (i.e., 가나다), Ja’eum (字音, 자음).

Radical Index

The radical index (部首索引, 부수색인) lists all the radicals by the number of strokes. There are 214 radicals. Some dictionaries may list more classifications, but the following is the conventional classification.

Number of Strokes Index

The number of strokes index (總劃索引, 총획색인) lists all the characters in the dictionary by the number of total strokes. This section is perhaps for last resort, when users are unable to determine which radical the character falls under.

Pronunciation Index

The pronunciation index (字音索引, 자음색인) lists all the characters in the dictionary by their pronunciation in Hangul alphabetical order (i.e., 가나다).

Step-by-Step Guide

There are two different situations that call for two different methods of navigating a Chinese character dictionary: (1) when the pronunciation of the character is known; and (2) when the pronunciation is not known.

If the Pronunciation is Known

If the pronunciation of the character is known, then finding the character is very simple: (1) first, go to the pronunciation index (字音索引, 자음색인) and find the character listed under the pronunciation written in Hangul; and (2) finally go to the page indicated. For example, take the character 殼, which is pronounced “gak” (각) in Korean.

1. Find the Character in the Pronunciation Index

The pronunciation index lists characters in Hangul order. The index indicates that the character  殼 is on page 362, shown in Chinese numerals.

2. Go to the Page Indicated

Surely enough, the character is listed on page 362. The dictionary entry shows that 殼(각) rimes with the character 覺(각), which is also pronounced “gak.” It also shows that the character has four different meanings: “shell” or “skin” (껍질, 皮也); “to hit” (내리치다, 打也) ; “originally” (본디, 素也); and “foundation” (바탕, 物之質).

If the Pronunciation is Not Known

On the other hand, if the pronunciation of the character is not known, then finding the character is not as simple. In this case, to find the character: (1) first find the radical of the character and look it up in the radical index; (2) and determine the number of the strokes of the character. For this example, take the character 斷.

1. Find the Radical of the Character in the Radical Index

A radical is a component of Chinese character, and may appear in any position of the character. For the character  斷, the radical is 斤, which appears on the right.

To find the radical in the radical index, determine the number of strokes of the radical. In this case, the number of strokes is 4.

The radical index lists out the radicals by the number of strokes and indicates which page number it starts. As seen in this dictionary, the radical 斤 is listed under four strokes (四畫, 4획), and starts on page 306.

2. Determine the Number of Strokes of the Character Minus the Radical

First, go to the page indicated by the Radical Index, which in this case is page 306. Note that dictionary is organized not only by the radical, but is further divided by the number of strokes of the character minus the radical. In the example below, 斥 has one more stroke than 斤 and thus is listed under one stroke (一畫, 1획).

To find 斷, the number of strokes minus the number of strokes of the radical must be determined. Writing out the character may help in figuring out the number of strokes. For 斷, the total number of strokes minus the radical is 14 (18-4 = 14).

Next, go to the section with 14 strokes under the radical 斤. Unfortunately, there is no index for where this section start in this dictionary, and the user has the traverse through the section until he finds the correct number of strokes section. The character 斷 appears in the 14 strokes (十四畫, 14획) section. In the dictionary entry, this character is listed as having the pronunciation “dan” (단), but has two rimes, “han” 旱(한) and “han” (翰, 한). The definitions are further subdivided based on the rimes. The first definition listed as riming with 旱 indexed under “一” is “to cut” (끊다, 截也). The first definition listed as riming with 翰 indexed under “二” is “to decide” (결단하다, 決也).

Nota Bene: Some characters consist of more than one radical that appears in the radical index. For instance, the character 坡(파) has two radicals: 土(토) and 皮(피). The “default” radical, where the character will be indexed, is usually the one the left or at the top position of the character. Some dictionaries will list the character multiple times for those multiple radicals. In such dictionaries, the full entry for that character will be indexed under the default index; entries in all other radical sections besides will merely indicate which page the user should go to.

Conclusion

Even though there are online dictionaries, it is still beneficial for those learning Classical Chinese or even just Chinese characters to know how to use a Chinese character dictionary. It not only gives information not available in online dictionaries, but as evident in the guide above also helps develop other pertinent skills such as writing characters and understanding how characters are constructed.

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I love toys~ and I think most of you guys that read my blog on a regular basis are aware of that fact! If not, I have a whole related category that I plan to fill up with all sorts of features and eye candy ^^

Today I want to share a place with you that many of us know quite well though~ Toys R US!!

Why is this interesting? Because we are checking out a Toys R Us IN KOREA! CUTE KOREAN TOYS!

For the longest time, Koreans would often buy toys at places like 문방구which tend to carry mainly cheap toys, but a few good ones for gifts even if they are little hole in the wall places. Dongdaemuntoy market is another toy hot spot in Korea which is still a bit of a chaotic jumble of plastic and color, but what about the fancy air conditioned shops we are familiar with?

Yes, nowadays in growing numbers you can find toys western-style as dedicated aisles in large department stores like E-mart or Lotte-Mart (sort of like the Walmart in Korea) and even out beloved Toys R Us has finally arrived in South Korea which has the largest selection of them all!

Toys R Us opened its very first South Korea location in 2007, boasting that it was now Korea’s largest toy store under one roof! Currently Korea has around 26 Toys R Us locations, these are all (to my knowledge) built in sections of larger Lotte-Marts . Usually the store will have a whole floor dedicated to the Toys R Us so even though it is not a 100% stand-alone location it is still a large and legit Korean toy store filled with goodies!

The presentation at Korean Toys R Us stores is top-notch. Lots of places to test things out or fun displays.

In some ways it feels very much the same as a store back home, but in other ways it is very different! You can really tell you are in Asia by the types of toys they sell…. yes, lots of sparkle-tastic kawaii girls toys and giant robot boys toys. A fair amount of what you see in Korean toy stores like this are Korean characters or re-branded Japanese toys, so for a foreigner a lot of it is new and interesting!

You would be surprised how many original characters Korea has for children~ you really realize it when stepping in one of these stores though. Forget Dora the Explorer~ they have Kong-Suni. Forget Mickey Mouse, they have Pororo Penguin!

Korea does have its fair share of imported products too like Marvel, DC, Barbie, I even saw Monster High recently~ but they are a bit more expensive and not as plentiful as the Asian lines/characters.

Nara is not impressed with “I’m Asian” Barbie or “I’m Totally Australian” Barbie.

Currently the boys department seems to be dominated by Japanese shows like Bakugan, Power Rangers, and Gundam. That little boy looks totally overwhelmed lol!

Lots of cellphone toys! I guess so they do not ask to play with yours? lol

Gundams are very much a thing here in Korea, so naturally they have a HUGE section dedicated to it in the Korean Toys R Us stores! Mostly kits and all that fun stuff

Nara has been fighting off the urge to buy a Gundam since we visited the Gundam Base Shop in Seoullol

I would have totally lived in that tent house as a kid.

aw everything you could every need for your baby doll in one GIANT box

I found a few interesting Korea-specific motherhood roll-playing items for girls, like this Pororo포대기 (podaegi) which is a type of traditional cloth carrier mothers use in Korea to carry their babies! You still see these frequently used today by young mothers and especially by grandmothers tending to the babies (which is very common)

I want a pink iron and bunny washing machine…..

Naturally Hello Kitty makes an appearance here!

This needs to be in adult size.

Geoffrey Giraffe is so flipping creepy in this store…..

Pororo lego blocks

Ice cream shop!

Or how about an ice cream stacking game? Haha we own this one!! Blogged about it HERE XD

What little girl would want Barbie, when they could get 쥬쥬 Juu Juu instead!

미미 VS 쥬쥬

Korea has two main “Barbie” type dolls, 쥬쥬 Juu-Juu who is a little more sparkle-tastic with a sharper face and 미미 Mimi who is a little like a cheaper Licca-chan from Japan. I really want to feature these dolls in a dedicated post someday~ hard to find any exhibits or proper collectors of them though!

쥬쥬 Juu-Juu has lots of related crafts and accessory kits that are just over the top adorable.

Piano,Vanity, Microphone, AND Jewelery case! I am a princess who does it all!

Almost bought this one like 20 times~ looks like something from Sailor Moon!

Can’t pick between a Juu Juu bag or doll?  Here is a doll that lives in a “bag house” perfect!

Now on to the Mimi aisle! Bit more girly cute over here

Pretty fashion Mimi

Special Hanbok Mimi dolls!

Another line in the Mimi Doll collection is 리틀 미미 Little Mimi! She is like a little sister dolls, but has her own house, car, play sets etc~ they are all really adorable, I actually find them cuter than the regular Mimi doll stuff.

Another large girls brand character is Kong-Suni 콩순이 ~ does the name sound familiar?

Kong-Suni is that pooping + farting doll I featured a while back that seemed to go mini viral and made its way around the internet lol thanks for the traffic Miss fart doll! Too bad several places forgot to credit me as the source for this valuable information

Anyway, Kong-Suni has her own little line of additional (non farting) kids toys~ mainly roll-playing stuff like cooking, doctor, etc.

The most adorable cash register EVER

Kong-suni “laptop” for studying + a Karaoke feature lol why not?

AHH! Sylvanian Families!!! Korean Toys R US has a huge section dedicated to them!

They even have a corner for a photo op with a few GIANT versions of the toys! ADORABLE NARA!

I wanted these fluffy baby kittens so bad, I never could find them though T_T only on display!

Sylvanian Families / Maple Town / Calico Critters ~I used to lLOVE these little flocked animal town toys growing up! I had Maple Town which is long gone now, however the Japanese line Sylvanian Families is alive and well here in the Korean shops!

You can find “Calico Critters” sometimes in the USA at stores, but seriously the detail of the Sylvanian Families stuff is way cuter nowadays. Look at all those little ice creams *_*

Tiny picnic!

If you want to buy cute craft kits, this is the place! They have SO many~ I am way too old, but gah! I WANT TO TRY EVERYTHING! The largest line is “Angel’s” with cute kits, but they have a bunch of others. Some are originally Japanese, and others are Korean-made lines.

One thing I love (aside from the cuteness) is the fact they usually display the kits showing what you can make.

Stamp kit and pencil toppers! These look like fun :3

Clay sparkle accessory kit!

Children’s baking kit to make edible 붕어빵 (red bean hot bread in the shape of a fish, a popular Korean street food) plus corn dogs… because, why not? Wonder how it tastes…

Another adorable kit to make edible shaped rice treats for your 도시락 Dosirak lunchbox!

They also had plenty of inedible food kits for making dough dumplings or steak~ complete with a little fake gas grill like the ones you frequently come across here in restaurants.

This visit to Toys R Us in Korea we found a great selection of Korea’s own Ddung 뚱 dolls PLUS other dolls from Sol Toys like Celli Cat and Blings 블링즈 which I have featured here on the blog in previous articles!

They had lots of really cute Hanbok Ddung 뚱 dolls in the larger and mini size!

Wedding set!!

They even make some play sets for your mini Ddung~ adorable!

I love Blings 블링즈 so much, the faces are extra cute! Had to buy one for my collection…

I’m an adult! WEEEEE~

If you are in need of party supplies, but can not seem to locate a local party shop you can buy lots of what you need here as well! Invitations, wrapping paper, balloons, etc. Some are cheap and some do have licensed characters on them.

Hanbok sticker dolls!

In the front they have a few final places to blow money on Arcade games or capsule toys (most of these are Japanese for things like Power Rangers, Jewel Pets, Doraemon, etc)

WHAT DID YOU BUY TODAY ELLE?

Where to visit Toys R Us 토이저러스 in Korea

Hours vary depending on the location , most open around 10am and close from 9pm-midnight

Seoul (according to the official listing) has 5 locations currently, while Korea overall has around 26~ so even if you are not in Seoul you may have a location in your area. It is important to note that Toys R Us in Korea is always connected to a Lotte Mart in some way, usually it has its own floor or obvious “section” with cash registers.

Toys R Us is not at EVERY Lotte mart, only select locations!

서울 송파구 올림픽로 240 롯데마트 잠실점
2F Lotte World Shopping Mall | Jamsil-dong 40-1 | Songpa-gu | Seoul 138-220

The most popular location is in Jamsil, connected to the HUGE mall where Lotte World and Lotte Hotel is, so if you are visiting Korea this would be an ideal location to visit because it is nested among a ton of other things to do! This whole area is like a huge mall, but just look for signs and it should be on the 2nd floor in the Lotte Mart area

서울특별시 구로구 구로동 636-89번지

A location a bit closer to where I live that I visit normally is at the Lotte-mart in-between Guil and Guro station on the Blue line #1, just off the Green line #2 around Sindorim. It is open till midnight usually which is good, but it is kinda far from the station so I always have to take a cab to and from this spot :/

Check the links below to see which location is closest (or easiest) to get to in your area!

♥Toys R Us Korea listing + info/hours (in Korean)♥

♥International Toys R Us listing (English)♥

What would you like to buy if you could visit Toys R Us in Korea? Have you been to a toy store overseas before? What do you like about it?  Do you have a favorite Korean toy? Comment and share below!

This framed photo will be auctioned off to help raise funds for the family of Jean-Marc Lalonde

Earlier this week, I received the news that a long time resident and friend in Ulsan was killed in a traffic accident.  Jean-Marc Lalonde was probably one of the friendliest and most passionate guys that I have met over here. We traveled in different circles but always met up once in a while at the local bars to shoot the breeze about whatever was going on. As time moved on, we both got married and saw less and less of each other but he always was a great member of this community. I only wish that I got to know him better.

The news came as a shock to a lot of people as Jean-Marc was a proud member of the community here. He loved playing for the local ice hockey team and was involved in many of the iconic moments of Ulsan’s expat history. He was also a great father and a loving husband.

Jean-Marc leaves behind his young son and wife. His family from Canada has arrived in Korea to make the final arrangements to have him repatriated back to Canada, which is not a cheap process. With that said, the community here is doing all that they can to raise money to help Jean-Marc’s family.

This weekend Ulsan will host a Sports Day sponsored by T-Hope, to help raise money for the family. I will be putting one of my limited edition gallery prints up for silent auction. The photo is a high quality print and one that is very precious to me as it was used in the International Photo Festival this past year. If the auction can raise a high price for the framed print, I will be more than happy. All of the money from the sale of the framed print and from the Ulsan Sports Day will be given to Jean-Marc Lalonde’s family.

If you cannot make the event or do not currently live in Korea, please help bring Jean-Marc home by making a donation here.

If you would like more information here is the Ulsan Online article and the facebook page set up in his honour

If you have some mastery of the English language, you might not need to make use of their services.  The question to me is: “Why do they exist at all?”.  Let me see if I can answer that question.  Recruiters do offer service.

I got the idea after I finished my last weeks post and then this popped up.

Imagine you run a hagwon, but don’t have the ability to communicate in the language(s) that your potential employee speaks (this is already an indication that communication might not be efficient to begin with). Here comes the Mediator.   Someone who professes to master at least on of the languages, should be able to manage the paperwork involved with hiring a foreigner, and can do it whilst saving you time.  The problem is a lot of people look at that business and think that it is easy money, and it is regulated, so the desire to work outside of those regulations is very appealing.  Another point to distinguish is that recruiters can either work for public or private schools, or business.  I am only concerned with the Hagwon business, since I have little experience with any other.

Let’s first talk money.  What do these recruiters make?  I’ve seen quotes from 600.000 won all the way up to 2.000.000 won.  If you can score five to six teachers a month, you are doing fine, but is it really that easy?  To get a hagwon to pay you that money a few conditions need to be met.

You need a database of teachers willing to work.   Easy?  Not really.  The ESL world is very transient and very impatient with constant changes all the time.  Teachers will take the first decent job they can get cause they need the money.  They are not in a situation to wait for your call (and if you do, as a teacher, you are only screwing yourself).  There you have it.  You have teachers who need a job now, if you don’t give it to them someone else will.  Good luck building that database of teachers. On the other side, you need to be able to offer jobs, so you need to build a huge amount of contacts that might be looking for employees.  How many hagwons are you going to walk down and hopefully they’ll think of you when they are looking for an employee.  Ergo sum.  The recruiting is a balancing act where you have to do a lot of work, in the hope you can find a match.  No wonder recruiters want to close the deal as fast as possible, irregardless of the actual level of quality on either side.

If I were to ever have the crazy idea of starting a recruiting business, the approach would mostly be focused on getting schools to commit to me as their service provider, but how many FT’s does a school need?  Most smaller schools only need one or two per year.  So if we go back to scoring 6 contracts a month, and we assume that schools hire 2 teachers per year, you are going to need to have 36 schools committing to you 100% for their HR needs (if you work with 2 people, double the numbers).  I do believe that most recruiters are incredibly inept and unprepared to provide an actual HR service to those companies.  Recruiters need to change their attitude towards hagwons and provide a far more comprehensive service than just resume handling if they want to achieve repeat business.  Constantly hunting for new schools to give you a contract is inevitably going to cost you future growth and your sanity, if not your soul.

Due to the nature of the business and how recruiters set themselves up, it is obvious that they are part of what ails the ESL market in Korea.   Teachers cannot but become opportunistic and play the market in their favor.  Schools cannot but take a chance with a random recruiter, and if it doesn’t work out, drop the recruiter and find another one.  It really is a vicious circle that goes round and round, because for some reason, it is difficult to get rid of all those people just looking for quick and easy money , rather than providing real value to society and build up a business that can sustain itself.   The amount of amateurs in the market just doesn’t make it possible for anyone to take it seriously and change the game.  I know it is unfair to put all the blame on the recruiters, but I am not doing that.  It is a triumvirate (hagwons, recruiters and teachers) of lies and deceit, all looking for that elusive easy cash at the end of the rainbow.

If I ever do see a recruiter business coming up with an attitude to focus on repeat business rather then hit-and-run, I might actually make use of their services, but until then, when I got an offer to make, I can collect my own resumes and make an equally bad choice without having to pay oodles of cash

Boss Out.

Italy is a country that I have coveted for a long time in my desired travel itinerary, featuring highly in my travel dreams along with Argentina, Croatia, Japan and Brazil. A summer in Europe without a significant amount of time in Italy was almost unthinkable. Fortunately for me a cheap flight from Cyprus to Italy presented itself to me and I snapped the opportunity up on the spot. My flight landed in Milan (well near Milan, considering Milan Malpensa airport is an hours drive from Milan) and after a slight baggage delay I managed to grab one of the last buses to the centre of the city. I had arranged to stay with Glauco, a Brazilian living and working in Milan and he had very courteously assured me it was okay to arrive in the early hours of a Monday morning. After grabbing a taxi from the bus stop and being slightly ripped off I arrived at Glauco’s place, an apartment in an old Milanese building with one of the oldest, smallest, quaintest and nerve inducing lifts I had ever encountered, after a brief chat I got my head down on his sofa bed for some well-earned rest.

In the morning I woke up as Glauco had breakfast. He showed me some places that he recommended I visit and gave me a city guide to help me out before kindly entrusting me with a set of keys. I took another hour of sleep before I set off to explore. Glauco’s place was just inside the Milan inner ring road so I decided to save some money and walk as much as I could. I would discover, as I or many would be able to predict, that Italy in general is not the cheapest country to be on a long-term backpackers budget. In all honesty this was an approach, I would and have taken, whenever I have traveled. There is no better way to discover a place than walk around and get lost in it! My first impression of Milan as I walked towards the city centre was dominated by the prevalence of graffiti. Prevalence may even be a considerate description. Buildings, almost without acceptance were covered with it. Whilst I am quite a fan of street art, I’m not a fan of mindless tagging and the defacing of buildings that are architecturally beautiful. Which in Milan is most of them. Despite this annoyance it felt great to be back among the grand streets of a truly European city for the first time in eighteen months.

As I munched on some deli delights my wandering brought me straight into the Piazza Del Duomo and into the incredible presence of the Duomo (cathedral) itself. Italy is deeply religious with Catholicism being the main religion. This is aptly reflected in the churches, cathedrals and monasteries that dominate the cities, towns and villages throughout the country. I found it difficult to find a place that I visited that didn’t have a religious building as its main attraction. Despite the variety in styles and wonderment and effort put into their construction it would become a little grating for an atheist like myself. The duomo in Milan was exceptional. A Gothic cathedral that took six centuries to complete, shrouded in a hundred and thirty five spires, over three thousand statues and with a capacity for a congregation of 40,000 (that was the population of Milan when it was first planned) is quite a sight.

After my first ‘duomo’ experience I took some time to walk around a few piazzas and ate some lunch in one of the city parks as lunchtime joggers trundled around me building up a sweat in the sticky overcast heat. Italy has always been synonymous with one specific thing for me. Football. When I think of Italy I think of Schillaci’s bulging eyes in Italia 90, Gazza’s tears, Roberto Baggio’s dodgy ponytail, Gazzetta Football Italia on channel 4 when I was a kid, flares in the stands and the sexiest female presenters (Laura Esposto anyone?), If you were an football-mad English kid and your parents wouldn’t pay for Sky then Italian football was your second love. My first Italian love story, apart from Laura Esposto, was with Juventus but I have always held a soft spot for Inter Milan. A trip to Milan would be incomplete without a trip to the San Siro. Sadly for me I was there in the off-season so I would have to make do with a stadium tour and that was my exact plan when I headed onto the subway. It is a this point that I should commend Milan on the wonderfulness of its subway system. It is dark, old and the cars are uncomfortable yet it is probably the most enjoyable subway experience I have had. You really feel like you are going on a journey and not in some sterile hospital atmosphere. It took me a little while to find the stadium and I’m pretty sure I took the long way round, but it was an interesting walk in a rather dodgy area! At the stadium I payed for a museum ticket and stadium tour. The museum was small but showed off the great history of the two clubs that share the San Siro admirably. The tour was a little disappointing in that the pitch was covered with a huge stage for the summer concert season. It just didn’t feel right, I couldn’t conjure an image of a game without being able to see the field. On the way back to the subway I walked around the ippodrome (horse racing stadium) with its huge grafitti murals lining its walls and also through the QT8 which feels like a spread out English council estate, but with huge amounts of green spaces.

Later that evening when I got back from my more than full day of exploration we went to one of Milan’s more fashionable areas along the Naviglio Grande canal. The closer you get to the city the more the canal is lined with bars and restaurants and an ever increasing crowd of hip Milanese. We walked along the road aligned to the canal before grabbing a beer in a bar. In Milan it is possible to get a takeout beer and finish your beer or take it elsewhere on the streets of Milan so we had a second beer at the Plaza San Lorenzo Maggiore. On the paved flagstones outside the basilica and in the shadow of the Roman columns of Colonne di San Lorenzo we enjoyed our beer along with a couple of hundred other drinkers. People played guitar, chatted with their friends and cheered and clapped the odd drunken dancer. I don’t think you could trust the English to enjoy their drinks in such a relaxed and open atmosphere.

After enjoying the canal at night I took the opportunity to enjoy it on the sunny day that followed with a 10k run. As I ran in the blistering heat teams of rowers glided along the crystal clear waters. I’ve never seen a canal so clean! It seemed to me like Glauco had it made in this area of town. After my run I punished my legs with a long walk to the Sforzeco Castello and the Parco Sempione beyond it. The castle was ominous but not mind-blowing but the park proved a good place to rest and read. From there I went north to the Cimitero Monumentale. You may question why someone would visit a cemetery, especially when on holiday, but I had read that this was a cemetery like no other and I was correctly informed. The cemetery has a grand chapel at the front with bold coloured archways  and behind are hundreds, if not thousands of graves with elaborate statues and grand architectural tombs dedicated to famous Milanese and in many cases their whole family’s. The cemetery was peaceful and soulless as I wandered around trying to work out what kind of person was incarcerated. While I was there a tomb to a mafia Don was visited by a mournful young lady. I’m not sure if he could help her now though, but I guess her emotion reflected the grandeur of the artistic tombs.

Glauco was off to the gym in the evening but before he showed me a delicious ice cream stand with the most mouth watering strawberry gelato. The Italian reputation for ice cream would hold strong throughout my time in Italy but thankfully, due to my pedestrian approach to sightseeing, it wouldn’t have its infamous effect on my waistline. I went off on my own along the canal and had my first aperitivo in Italy (buffet and a drink for a handsomely cheap price) before taking a fairly early night so I would be rested for my train journey to Florence in the morning.

A lot of people I have met who have visited Milan have given it less than glowing reviews but I absolutely loved it. I was lucky to have a great host but the city itself has a soul that bursts out where you least expect it, whether it is when you are lost in the Milan suburbs, deep in a cemetery or high among the spires of the Duomo. I think Milan is a place where you have to give it a chance and let it surprise you and not try and compare it to the romantic and historic towns and cities in Italy that grab all the tourism headlines.

This year’s 추석: (Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving Day) is on September 19th. Chuseok gift sets abound as one of the most important celebrations in South Korea is fast approaching. Have you thought of what present to bring along when you visit your husband’s parents or your Korean friend’s home?

If you happen to pass by Dongdaemun station, why not check out 고구마명가 (Goguma myeongga)? This small cafe and bakery, which is actually just a food stall, sells delicious pie, bread, cookies and other pastries made of goguma or sweet potato. They have gift sets which are very affordable and perfect asChuseok presents.

Here are gift set samples for Chuseok.

A 20-piece gift set costs 26 USD (1,137 PHP); a 14-piece gift set is 17 USD (771 PHP)… not too pricey compared to other Chuseok gifts like traditional Korean sweets or pastries, wine, fruit, meat, etc.

Today, I found a Chuseok gift set of traditional Korean sweets in Lotte Department Store, and my jaw dropped when I looked at the price… 200,000 KRW (183 USD) (8,119 PHP)! Traditional Korean sweets are not even that toothsome.

I don’t really like sweet potatoes, but 고구마명가 makes very good sweet potato pastries. My favorite is the pie which is best served warm.

Here in Korea, there are so many dishes made of sweet potato, from appetizers to desserts like salad, pizza, cake… it’s even cooked with meat!

You can also buy 20 pieces of assorted sweet potato cookies in a box for 16 USD (731 PHP). If you would like to bring some for your family, you can buy 10 pieces of different flavors of pie and cookies for 13 USD (568 PHP).

I bought sweet potato pastries for my parents-in-law the other day, and they liked them. I am going to order a Chuseok set for my husband’s eldest uncle. I think his family will like the gift. =)

고구마명가 has shops around the country. Here is a list of where the shops are located and their numbers. Visit their website for more information. 

What other gifts are great for Chuseok? Please share them with us by clicking the comment button. ^^

Have a happy Chuseok! ^^

Related articles

• The Dilemma of Giving Gifts in South Korea (chrissantosra.wordpress.com)
• Different Kinds of Korean Pancakes (Buchimgae) (chrissantosra.wordpress.com)
• Upgrade your Sweet Potato (omnomdallas.wordpress.com)
• Recipe: Sweet Potato Bread (chilabuffs.wordpress.com)
• Recipe: Sweet potato fries with basil and garlic (nicolecla.com)
• Sweet Potato Lentil Burgers for 1 (foodfitnessfolly.wordpress.com)
• Runningman vs. Idols on Chuseok Special (koreanupdates.com)
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes (that actually freeze well) (debcb.com)
• Sweet Potato Sausage Cakes (ashleyrightnow.wordpress.com)
• Expat-orientated Chuseok Film Festival Prepares for 1st Edition (hangukyeonghwa.com)

Kim Yuk (金堉, 김육, 1580-1658) was a Chosun literati bureaucrat. He was of the Cheongpung Kim Clan (淸風金氏, 청풍김씨); his courtesy name (字, 자) was Baekhu (伯厚, 백후); his pen name was Jamgok (潛谷 , 잠곡); and his posthumous name was Munjeong (文貞, 문정). As a bureaucrat, he is most notable for having vigorously advocated for the “Grand Union Law,” or Daedongbeop (大同法, 대동법). This was a uniform tax law that eliminated the prior tax system of requiring special types of goods from various parts of the country with a system of taxing grain from all throughout Korea.

In the poem below, Kim Yuk writes about Baekro (白露, 백로), literally “White Dew,” one of the 24 solar terms of the calendar year. Baekro is when the sun is between 165 and 180 degrees on its celestial longitude. As a solar term, which month and day it falls on varies on the lunar calendar from year to year but always falls on September 7th on the Gregorian Calendar. In Korean culture, the food traditionally associated with this day is grape. Indeed, a name for the period between Baekro and Chuseok (秋夕, 추석) is the “Ten Day Season of Grapes,” or Podosunjeol (葡萄旬節, 포도순절).

羚角灣逢白露節 영각만봉백로절
次書狀(李晩榮)韻 차서장(이만영)운

At Yeonggak Bay, Meeting the Day of the White Dew
Borrowing the Rimes of Diplomat Yi Man’yeong

白露驚寒節 백로경한절
舟中得氣先 주중득기선
遙憐天際月 요련천제월
光細未團圓 광세미단원

The day of the white dew startles the cold season.
In the boat, I sense the energy first.
Afar, how pitiful is the moon at the edge of heaven!
The light is faint; it is not yet round and circular.

Characters:

antelope • horn • bay • white • dew • day
to borrow • records • book • (apricot tree • to be late • glory) • rime

white • dew • to startle • cold • season
boat • middle • to obtain • energy • first
afar • to pity • heaven • edge • moon
light • to be thin • not yet • round • round

Notes:

• This blogger is unsure where Yeonggak Bay (羚角灣, 영각만) is.
• Seojang (書狀, 서장) was a literati bureaucratic position that had the duty of accompanying an diplomat and making records of the diplomat’s trip.
• Yi Man’yeong (李晩榮, 이만영, 1604-1672) was Kim Yuk’s fellow literati bureaucrat.

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kuiwon.wordpress.com

Copyright Notice This work by Kuiwon is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.

 

Ahhhh! Three strips away from hitting a hundred! I don’t know what to do with myself!!

Anyways, here’s another look into my awkward past as a Korean-American. The situation presented here is probably one that many Asian-Americans have dealt with on multiple occassions. It definitely doesn’t help that I was in a small neighborhood in Texas that had no other Korean families for miles. I’ve been called Chinese, Japanese (some people are still banking on this one), Vietnamese, Filipino, Cambodian, and so on. It’s something you kind of had to get used to back then. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little envious of the kids who get to grow up in a society that knows where and what Korea is nowadays, but it was pretty fun exposing people to my relatively unknown culture.

On that note, I still find it a little funny to see how such a large number of people don’t seem to know thw difference between North and South Korea. I can’t count the number of times I had to explain that I wasn’t going into a warzone filled with starving civilians when I initially announced that I was moving to South Korea. I believe many others have experienced this, especially with older people. I feel like a bad person for often being tempted to play along and tell people that I’m some sort of awesome spy.

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Jen Lee's Dear Korea

This is Jen Lee. She likes to draw. She also likes green tea.

Jen Lee and Dear Korea @ Gwangju Blog Expat comic artists aim to draw fans at Comic World @ The Korea Herald 'Dear Korea' now in Busan Haps Got any questions, comments, or maybe even some delicious cookies you want to send through the internet? Feel free to contact us at dearkoreacomic at gmail dot com. You can also leave comments on the comic’s Facebook Page!

 

***If you are interested in finding and english speaking doctor the korean tourism website has a chart of location, kind of medicine and language spoken at each spot, it is very helpful and can be located here:

http://english.busan.go.kr/data/main/medical_services_for_foreigners.pdf

If you have ever asked on a busan discussion forum on where to see a doctor you will see people praising Nurse Lee of Dong Eui medical centre and if you are still unconvinced, let me try.

First off Nurse Lee is the community liaison for the the medical center. Her job is to make sure that english speakers get the care that they need. In addition she is an RN so she is knowledgeable in both healthcare, and english.

My timetable went like this:

9:00 AM : Called her number

Nurse Lee “ Hello Ms. Lee speaking”

Fiona “ Do you speak english?”

Nurse Lee “ Of course I speak english, you called the english number”

Fiona laughing now “ well I would like to make an appointment”

*insert going through the process of making an appointment for later on that day*

I thought that the best part was that she was an RN, so felt ok telling her exactly what I wanted to see the doctor for and she was able to make an appointment with the right doctor.

She then gives me directions on how to get to the medical center (which I will post below)

She also told me to call her when I got there and she would help me find everything that I needed.

I arrived at the center about 10 minutes after my appointment but Nurse Lee did not mind and met me in the lobby. She then took me to the section that has the correct doctor in it. I discussed everything with her that I wanted to see the doctor about, and when I got to see the doctor Nurse Lee was there helping translate and filling in things I forgot.

After the appointment Nurse Lee told me that the medical center had all departments except for vision which was very helpful. She also advised me that if I want things don’t for a medical examination or need to get shots for traveling then I should come to her with exactly what I want done.

She helped me pay, gave me her card, walked me out and sent me straight to the pharmacy.

The whole time while we were talking, it was so nice that I could not help but laughing a little on how simple and like home this all felt I was completely comfortable and was able to joke with her like I did with the nurses back home.

Nurse Lee has a great sense of humor but she is easygoing and very knowledgeable about health problems that westerns experience. Her job may be to help us, but I can really tell its something that she enjoys doing. She loves speaking english and is able to help with medical problems, which is nice when you are living so far away from home.

As far as medical clinics go, Nurse Lee was able to take the guess work out of much of what was happening, she is a great woman and I can see why so many ex-pats sing her praises.

If you would like to reach Nurse Lee her phone number is : 82 51 850 8941 and her e-mail isimc8941@demc.or.kr

How to get to Dong Eui Medical center

Take Orange line Subway to stop 121, Yangjeong. From there go out exit 4. There will be a blue shuttle bus on your left hand side. That bus takes you to the center front doors.

If the shuttle bus is not there and you do not want to wait, then the small bus number 8 will also take you there.

Getting a taxi is always an option too.

You can walk, but the route is mostly uphill and the shuttle bus is free.

Related posts:

One of the biggest challenges in photography is not so much photography but the marketing and tech side of things. Recently, I have taken to updating my website because these days I do so much work on my blog that I almost completely forgot that I ALSO have a website.

my first webpage designed in Microsoft frontpage circa 2005

I know that sound strange but it is true. The site part of my “site” that should have a portfolio and whatnot is just there. So I sat down and thought about what is the best way to put my photos across and came to the realization about photo-sites. They are not so much for showing your work but to establish your “serious” intent to be a photographer.

This seems like a stretch, but here me out. These days everyone can be a blogger,  photographer, social media icon, etc. Photo sharing sites like flickr host a wide range of talents and not all people actually think of themselves as a serious photographer. So having your own space that you create is step towards a more serious attitude in marketing yourself. Notice that I am trying not to use the word “professional” but rather “serious” because simply having a site does not mean that you are in anyway a professional photographer and that is also an argument for another post.

Thanks to google, people can now find your work on most of the photo sharing sites quite easily and thus the need for a dedicated online portfolio on your dedicated site is starting to diminish. People that are looking for new photographers are turning to social sites more than personal websites. After all, most of the time they are looking for a particular topic or subject and google images or flickr search is an easy way to find what you need in a hurry.

The 2nd version of the site. Like the font? circa 2005

Why Do We Need Dedicated Websites?

A dedicated website shows that you serious about what you do, in a manner of speaking. Sure, anyone can make a website very easily with a variety of templates and options out there but the fact of the matter is that if you put time into making and maintaining a site, then in some way you are more serious than the person posting on facebook. This just gives that added bit of professionalism to your venture. It also gives you a “place”

I look at the internet and photography like a vast city. Google+ and other social sites are like visiting a party. At the party, there will be the popular guys like Thomas Hawk and Trey Ratcliff and they will be circled by a large group of people who all love great photography. School would be Kelby Training and Lynda.com. Facebook is like the mall. Tons of stuff to do and places to take your money. Having a facebook page is like setting up a kiosk next to the guy who sells sunglasses. It could get lots of traffic but if people are seriously looking into your work, you want to have something more than just a facebook page.

Having a website to me is like having a proper office which you can decorate how you please and connect to a variety of different places. So think about a person who likes your photos, so they come to your “office” and upon entering they see a beautiful arrangement of your best photos. Then they chack out your smugmug galleries for purchase or contact you for more information. You have a place that is design to your liking that people can visit and see what you do. You can “talk to them” via your blog and even teach them. It is all there and it shows what you can do.

Sure, there are some sites that look like crap. Even my site probably looks like crap to some but that is not the point. The thing is that I have a place for my work. As I give more time to my site, it will get better and if I really want to design a great site I would hire an awesome designer like Griffin Stewart from the Traveling Designer. The main thing is that it is your space with your name to do what you want with it. Just like an office or a gallery.

The hardest version to create. I did it all in dreamweaver and came complete with flash galleries

How to design a site?

Well, that is the tough part. When you get your site you pretty much get a blank space and nothing else. So how do you fill it? What do you put into it? The easiest way is just to see what other people are doing and do that. Put your own style into it but keep it simple. That would be a good start and then once you have a better idea of what you want to show you can find the resources to change it.

I used Rapid Weaver for the last two versions of my site and I really love it. The reason is that before I was having to learn how to code everything using Dreamweaver and it was a pain in the ass and the product was less spectacular than I had originally planned. This was quite disappointing after spending so much time working on it. This also meant it was really hard to update it as I just didn’t want to sit down and work on it again.

The older version of the site using rapidveaver and archetypon’s supersize me theme

Rapid Weaver allows me to quickly update my site to achieve the results that I want. I have also started using themes by Archetypon  which are extremely stylish and function well. They are also price well and the support is great.

I am not a designer so I have no idea how to put together a great looking site but thanks to the store (add ons) on the Rapid Weaver page, I can piece together something that I like. It is really that simple.

How to Publish your Site?

This was the biggest issue for me. I hated having to transfer everything over to my server and hoped that it would work properly once I got it there. Rapid Weaver publishes everything simply with a single click. As a photographer, this appealed to me as I had failed so many times before with publishing sites and now I can update and redesign without any FTP programs or anything.

Is It Really Worth The Investment?

I think so. Again, everyone has a facebook page, a flickr page, a google plus page and whatnot. Investing in a decent website will pay off in the long run, at least I think so anyway. It shows people that you are dedicated to your product and are putting the time into creating a showcase for potential clients.