While checking links on some of my old posts to make them work in this new blog, I found out that Park Chan-wook's Paranmanjang, a short film made entirely with a iPhone 4, is available on iPhone Film Festival's YouTube channel. It is a 33-minute video and, though there are no English subtitles, the images captured are quite beautiful and need no translation. Do check it out!
Sunday 1 April 2012
Movie of the week #1: Paranmanjang, Park Chan Wook
While checking links on some of my old posts to make them work in this new blog, I found out that Park Chan-wook's Paranmanjang, a short film made entirely with a iPhone 4, is available on iPhone Film Festival's YouTube channel. It is a 33-minute video and, though there are no English subtitles, the images captured are quite beautiful and need no translation. Do check it out!
Right now...
I'm in the process of bringing all Korea-related posts from my Tumblrs to this blog, so expect posts below this one to appear out of the blue for a while, ok?
=)
=)
Monday 18 April 2011
Photo of the day #1
Employee puts up lotus lanterns in a temple in Seoul to celebrate Buddha’s birthday (석가탄신일 or seokga tansinil) on the 10th of May.
The picture was taken by Jo Yong-hak for Reuters.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators’ blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Monday 11 April 2011
My private Korean Movie Week
GD & TOP - High high
This week will be Korean Movie Week for me, yay! Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, Thirst, A tale of two sisters and, if possible, My sassy girl. Comments will follow. (And click on each of the names to see the trailers!)
I'm also preparing a post with lots of lovely pictures of modern first year birthday parties, that include my favourite Korean tradition: the part in which the child "chooses" her or his future. Parents nowadays are really creative and come up with a lot of really pretty and modern solutions for this moment.
And, well, the video has nothing to do with any of this, but I find TOP is extremely handsome in it, so... why not post it?
edit: i do realize my sassy girl has no connection whatsoever with any of the other movies, but i do feel i'll be in need of something to cheer me up by the end of the week.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Friday 8 April 2011
Korean movie made with iPhone 4
This is not news but for me, but I thought it was quite interesting and worth posting.
Earlier this year, the news that director Park Chan-wook was about to release a 30-minute movie shot entirely with an iPhone 4 made headlines all over the world (obviously, I missed them due to my post-London depression). The feature, 파란만장 (that means something like "life full of ups and downs" and was translated as Night Fishing), tells the story of a man that, while out fishing one night, ends up catching the body of a woman. Mixing horror and fantasy, the movie was co-directed by his brother, Park Chank-yong, and cost only $133,000 (financed by Korea's only iPhone provider).
For those of you who don't know or can't remember, Park directed other great movies like Old Boy, Lady Vengeance and Thirst.
Check out the teaser trailer:
Below, the Behind the scenes for the movie. Bad thing is in Korean with no English subtitles.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Monday 4 April 2011
Worldwide Korea Bloggers Roundup #01
I was checking the other blogs that also contribute with The Korea Blog and chose a few posts to share in here. This may become a weekly feature, but I won't be making any promises, because I know myself all too well.
So, without further delay, here are the posts that caught my eye today in this network of ours:
# http://ellacino.blogspot.com/2011/02/koreas-7-cant-miss-festivals.html
Eleonora tells us which 7 festivals we just cannot miss in Korea. My favourite one has got to be the mud festival; I read about it some time ago and I think it must be one of the most fun events to take part in the whole world (with the Spanish Tomatina in a close second).
# http://www.buhaykorea.com/2011/03/06/n-seoul-towers-a-lock-of-love
The author posts a few picture form her last visit to N Seoul Tower, where you can find the famous locks. I love it how people are so fond of that idea that they try to replicate it everywhere. I've taken quite a few pictures of bridges with locks when travelling 'round Europe.
# http://mymariamargareta.blogspot.com/2011/03/namsan-padlock-lock-your-love-here.html
One more blog post on N Seoul Tower, but this one has a short video!
# http://insidemybackpack.blogspot.com/2011/03/incheon-international-airport-worlds.html
I'm not particularly fond of airports (I actually hate flying), but Jepoi gives some useful information for whoever is flying into Korea through Incheon.
# http://sliceofseoul.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/the-main-use-of-sliced-cheddar-is-for-chijeu-kimbap
Cheddar cheese kimbap recipe! I have no idea how traditional this is, but, oh, my gosh, it looks delicious.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
So, without further delay, here are the posts that caught my eye today in this network of ours:
# http://ellacino.blogspot.com/2011/02/koreas-7-cant-miss-festivals.html
Eleonora tells us which 7 festivals we just cannot miss in Korea. My favourite one has got to be the mud festival; I read about it some time ago and I think it must be one of the most fun events to take part in the whole world (with the Spanish Tomatina in a close second).
# http://www.buhaykorea.com/2011/03/06/n-seoul-towers-a-lock-of-love
The author posts a few picture form her last visit to N Seoul Tower, where you can find the famous locks. I love it how people are so fond of that idea that they try to replicate it everywhere. I've taken quite a few pictures of bridges with locks when travelling 'round Europe.
# http://mymariamargareta.blogspot.com/2011/03/namsan-padlock-lock-your-love-here.html
One more blog post on N Seoul Tower, but this one has a short video!
# http://insidemybackpack.blogspot.com/2011/03/incheon-international-airport-worlds.html
I'm not particularly fond of airports (I actually hate flying), but Jepoi gives some useful information for whoever is flying into Korea through Incheon.
# http://sliceofseoul.wordpress.com/2011/01/17/the-main-use-of-sliced-cheddar-is-for-chijeu-kimbap
Cheddar cheese kimbap recipe! I have no idea how traditional this is, but, oh, my gosh, it looks delicious.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Sunday 3 April 2011
Learning Korean - Talk to me in Korean!
When I talked about some of my favourite websites to get extra study material on Korean, I completely forgot about a recent but great find: Talk to me in Korean! It is, actually, good that it happened like that, because I think this one deserves to be featured alone.
Talk to me in Korean has weekly lessons that come out as podcasts on their website or via iTunes. They start at a very basic level and go up 'til Level 5 (so far), so almost all learners will find appropriate lessons. Besides having the regular video/audio podcasts, they also release every once in a while Iyagi lessons, which are "recordings of Korean conversations, at natural speed, about various topics". And that's not all! TTMIK also produces several other videos or audios with original content for you study times.
One great thing about it is that they have PDFs with each lesson's notes and worksheets for all lessons (but 1-10, Level 1), so you can also practice a bit after listening to the podcast. This is the best part for me, 'cause I'm one of those visual learners, so I need to have something to look at when studying.
But nothing's perfect, and I find that their putting the Korean word side-by-side with its romanization is a considerable drawback. It may be only me, but my eyes go straight to the letters I'm more used to read, instead of focusing on the Korean alphabet. This is manageable, though. I just used a black marker to "erase" all unwanted romanization. I reckon you'd be able to tweak the files if you have that Acrobat Professional (or something like it), but I just cannot say for sure.
All in all, it's quite good and it's been helpful to me, so I'd definitely recommend it!
Their last post is this fun video on popular exclamations. I love those kind of things and I hear "진짜요?" all the time on Korean TV shows, so it was nice learning how to write it properly and also learning a few more expressions. Take a look at the ones below and at the video I'm pasting here. And don't forget to check Talk to me in Korean and subscribe to their feeds!
"Here are some popular expressions used by Koreans when they are surprised or express exclamations.
1. 엄마야! = Oh My God! / Oops!
2. 대박 = Super cool! / Awesome!
3. 우와 = Wow
4. 진짜요? = For real?
5. 그래요? = Is that so?
6. 정말요? = Really?
7. 아이고! = *sigh* / Whew! / Oops!
8. 아싸 = Yay! / Hurrah!
9. 네? = Yes?
10. 어? = Huh?
11. 아/아야 = Ouch!
12. 헐 = What the…
13. 헉! = *gasp* / OMG!"
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIvZSdN3d8Y]
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Talk to me in Korean has weekly lessons that come out as podcasts on their website or via iTunes. They start at a very basic level and go up 'til Level 5 (so far), so almost all learners will find appropriate lessons. Besides having the regular video/audio podcasts, they also release every once in a while Iyagi lessons, which are "recordings of Korean conversations, at natural speed, about various topics". And that's not all! TTMIK also produces several other videos or audios with original content for you study times.
One great thing about it is that they have PDFs with each lesson's notes and worksheets for all lessons (but 1-10, Level 1), so you can also practice a bit after listening to the podcast. This is the best part for me, 'cause I'm one of those visual learners, so I need to have something to look at when studying.
But nothing's perfect, and I find that their putting the Korean word side-by-side with its romanization is a considerable drawback. It may be only me, but my eyes go straight to the letters I'm more used to read, instead of focusing on the Korean alphabet. This is manageable, though. I just used a black marker to "erase" all unwanted romanization. I reckon you'd be able to tweak the files if you have that Acrobat Professional (or something like it), but I just cannot say for sure.
All in all, it's quite good and it's been helpful to me, so I'd definitely recommend it!
Their last post is this fun video on popular exclamations. I love those kind of things and I hear "진짜요?" all the time on Korean TV shows, so it was nice learning how to write it properly and also learning a few more expressions. Take a look at the ones below and at the video I'm pasting here. And don't forget to check Talk to me in Korean and subscribe to their feeds!
"Here are some popular expressions used by Koreans when they are surprised or express exclamations.
1. 엄마야! = Oh My God! / Oops!
2. 대박 = Super cool! / Awesome!
3. 우와 = Wow
4. 진짜요? = For real?
5. 그래요? = Is that so?
6. 정말요? = Really?
7. 아이고! = *sigh* / Whew! / Oops!
8. 아싸 = Yay! / Hurrah!
9. 네? = Yes?
10. 어? = Huh?
11. 아/아야 = Ouch!
12. 헐 = What the…
13. 헉! = *gasp* / OMG!"
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIvZSdN3d8Y]
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Thursday 31 March 2011
Learning Korean - a few online resources
After two months of classes, exercises, repetitions and a lot of writing practise, I can honestly say that Korean is, hands down, the hardest language I've learnt. Not that I'm finished learning it, of course, but you get my point. Anyway, it was early on, when the classes had just started, that I came to realize that, in order to really learn the language, I would have to find a lot of extra material for self-study; as good as the weekly classes I attend are, they're just not enough.
Fortunately, nowadays it is super easy to find lessons, vocab lists and all other sorts of things in any language you may want to learn on the internet (whether this material is good or not, well, this is a whole different story), so that's where I headed.
I have to admit that, at first, it was kinda hard to find exactly what I wanted, because that search actually began way before I started the course, so I actually didn't really know what to look for, but, little by little, I came upon language forums and Korean blogs that put me in the right path. Now, even though my learning is in its early stages, I do have a better understanding and am able to So, below, you will find a small compilation of websites that may help you along the way.
The Sogang Korean Program is one of the most recommended all through the internet. That's actually the main reason why it made into this sort of top 5 list, because I found the first lessons, the ones on Korean sounds and alphabet, quite bad. And since pronunciation is my biggest problem so far, you may understand why I prefer other resources for that. Still, I liked the way they structured the lessons and I can tell it'll be quite useful as soon as I get to a higher level of understanding.
Professor Oh has a few videos on her YouTube channel in which she explains the basics of Hangul pronunciation. These videos were really helpful whenever I forgot how to say a specific character or in establishing more clearly the difference between some others. She also has a couple worksheets for download.
KBS World Radio also offers Korean lessons. The best thing here is that they have the explanations in 10 different languages! The grammar explanations are brief (I love loooong explanations that cover all rules and exceptions), but they have lots of example dialogues with audio for lots of different situations.
Korean Flashcards was one of the first sites I visited and I really liked the way they organize and present information. They focus on, surprise, surprise, flashcards and also explain basic, intermediate and advanced sentences word by word. I kinda like their layout and the way content is presented, but there are no pronunciation features.
One more vocabulary resource, the Flashcard Machine is quite useful once you already know how to read Hangul, obviously.
Now, there are some other sites I visit every once in a while, but, depending on what I am after, they are a bit deficient. I also imagine that, for intermediate and advanced students, these three below are lacking. Click on the images to go the sites and, should you know some other good learning resources, share them via e-mail!
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Fortunately, nowadays it is super easy to find lessons, vocab lists and all other sorts of things in any language you may want to learn on the internet (whether this material is good or not, well, this is a whole different story), so that's where I headed.
I have to admit that, at first, it was kinda hard to find exactly what I wanted, because that search actually began way before I started the course, so I actually didn't really know what to look for, but, little by little, I came upon language forums and Korean blogs that put me in the right path. Now, even though my learning is in its early stages, I do have a better understanding and am able to So, below, you will find a small compilation of websites that may help you along the way.
The Sogang Korean Program is one of the most recommended all through the internet. That's actually the main reason why it made into this sort of top 5 list, because I found the first lessons, the ones on Korean sounds and alphabet, quite bad. And since pronunciation is my biggest problem so far, you may understand why I prefer other resources for that. Still, I liked the way they structured the lessons and I can tell it'll be quite useful as soon as I get to a higher level of understanding.
Professor Oh has a few videos on her YouTube channel in which she explains the basics of Hangul pronunciation. These videos were really helpful whenever I forgot how to say a specific character or in establishing more clearly the difference between some others. She also has a couple worksheets for download.
KBS World Radio also offers Korean lessons. The best thing here is that they have the explanations in 10 different languages! The grammar explanations are brief (I love loooong explanations that cover all rules and exceptions), but they have lots of example dialogues with audio for lots of different situations.
Korean Flashcards was one of the first sites I visited and I really liked the way they organize and present information. They focus on, surprise, surprise, flashcards and also explain basic, intermediate and advanced sentences word by word. I kinda like their layout and the way content is presented, but there are no pronunciation features.
One more vocabulary resource, the Flashcard Machine is quite useful once you already know how to read Hangul, obviously.
Now, there are some other sites I visit every once in a while, but, depending on what I am after, they are a bit deficient. I also imagine that, for intermediate and advanced students, these three below are lacking. Click on the images to go the sites and, should you know some other good learning resources, share them via e-mail!
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Sunday 27 March 2011
Video of the week #3: Do you know South Korea?
I'm still having problems with images for my posts, so, as I don't really know how long it'll take for me to find the photos I'm looking for (I'm really messy and my picture archive is in a terrible state), I searched for a few videos that show beautiful things/places in Korea.
I leave you now with this one, “Do You Know South Korea?”, by David Dutton. I found it on seoulful and loved it right away. The video is lovely, some of the places shown are beyond beautiful and the music helps you get into the right mood to fully appreciate it.
Enjoy!
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Friday 25 March 2011
Korea Blog contributors list
The Korea Blog has released the full list of blog contributors with a link to their blogs. I’m in there, which reminds me I’m totally late in posting my texts. There are a few of them pretty much done, I just need to get some picture to illustrate the whole thing. So you definitely can expect a few Korea-related posts in the next few days!
For now, I’ll leave you with the full list of blogs. Be sure to check them all out!
Alexandra DeMaria - http://www.chooseyouradventure25.blogspot.com
Anne-Maria Cole - http://kimchisoul.wordpress.com
Austin Wallace - http://austininkorea.wordpress.com
Belinda Kew - http://metal4plastic.blogspot.com
Betchay - http://www.buhaykorea.com
Chris Backe - http://www.chrisinsouthkorea.com
Cindy Zimmer - http://lifesanadventure2.wordpress.com
Daria - http://darika-korea.blogspot.com
David Teszar - http://namhanman.blog.hu
Eleonora Ibragimova - http://ellacino.blogspot.com
Francesco Morello - http://www.vabenecorea.com
Huidrom Renuka - http://mystickorea.blogspot.com
Hyekyung25 - http://morningcalmadness.blogspot.com
James Larter - http://www.englishkimchi.wordpress.com
Jen Pace - http://teflorbust.wordpress.com
Jennie Griffin - http://notjustkimchi.blogspot.com
Jepoi Ordaniel - http://insidemybackpack.blogspot.com
Jihyun Siera Lee - http://ktownblvd.blogspot.com
Jo-Anna - http://smileyjkl.blogspot.com
Jordi Sanchez - http://bitsandbeats.blogspot.com
Joy Iris-Wilbanks - http://www.foreignerjoy.blogspot.com
Jun Duong/octotoni - http://octotini.tumblr.com
Katie Herron - http://www.blueherrondesign.com
Kieran Tully - http://kierantully.blogspot.com
Kimberly Hiller - http://www.kimberlyinkorea.com
Lauren Kilberg - http://laurenkilberg.tumblr.com
londone7 - http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/londone7/1/tpod.html
Magdalena Sieminska - http://sliceofseoul.wordpress.com
Maria Margareta - http://mymariamargareta.blogspot.com
Nana Cuellar - http://littlecraziness.tumblr.com
Nicole Gonzales - http://koreafrommyeyes.tumblr.com
Oliver Geronilla - http://olivergeronilla.wordpress.com
Paul Matthews - http://ajosshi.blogspot.com
Pearl Grace - http://jinju0717.blogspot.com/2011/02/adrenaline-rush.html
Philip Gowman - http://londonkoreanlinks.net
Roger Tyers - http://www.rogertyers.blogspot.com
Saftira Angga - http://www.saftira-in-korea.blogspot.com
Shelley D’souza - http://5mysausage.blogspot.com
Somchandra Nahakpam - http://nahakpam.blogspot.com
SooHee Oh - http://sooweetie.blogspot.com
Suzanne LaGrande - http://www.betweencultures.net
Yelena Lim - http://eyesinkorea.blogspot.com
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators’ blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
For now, I’ll leave you with the full list of blogs. Be sure to check them all out!
Alexandra DeMaria - http://www.chooseyouradventure25.blogspot.com
Anne-Maria Cole - http://kimchisoul.wordpress.com
Austin Wallace - http://austininkorea.wordpress.com
Belinda Kew - http://metal4plastic.blogspot.com
Betchay - http://www.buhaykorea.com
Chris Backe - http://www.chrisinsouthkorea.com
Cindy Zimmer - http://lifesanadventure2.wordpress.com
Daria - http://darika-korea.blogspot.com
David Teszar - http://namhanman.blog.hu
Eleonora Ibragimova - http://ellacino.blogspot.com
Francesco Morello - http://www.vabenecorea.com
Huidrom Renuka - http://mystickorea.blogspot.com
Hyekyung25 - http://morningcalmadness.blogspot.com
James Larter - http://www.englishkimchi.wordpress.com
Jen Pace - http://teflorbust.wordpress.com
Jennie Griffin - http://notjustkimchi.blogspot.com
Jepoi Ordaniel - http://insidemybackpack.blogspot.com
Jihyun Siera Lee - http://ktownblvd.blogspot.com
Jo-Anna - http://smileyjkl.blogspot.com
Jordi Sanchez - http://bitsandbeats.blogspot.com
Joy Iris-Wilbanks - http://www.foreignerjoy.blogspot.com
Jun Duong/octotoni - http://octotini.tumblr.com
Katie Herron - http://www.blueherrondesign.com
Kieran Tully - http://kierantully.blogspot.com
Kimberly Hiller - http://www.kimberlyinkorea.com
Lauren Kilberg - http://laurenkilberg.tumblr.com
londone7 - http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/londone7/1/tpod.html
Magdalena Sieminska - http://sliceofseoul.wordpress.com
Maria Margareta - http://mymariamargareta.blogspot.com
Nana Cuellar - http://littlecraziness.tumblr.com
Nicole Gonzales - http://koreafrommyeyes.tumblr.com
Oliver Geronilla - http://olivergeronilla.wordpress.com
Paul Matthews - http://ajosshi.blogspot.com
Pearl Grace - http://jinju0717.blogspot.com/2011/02/adrenaline-rush.html
Philip Gowman - http://londonkoreanlinks.net
Roger Tyers - http://www.rogertyers.blogspot.com
Saftira Angga - http://www.saftira-in-korea.blogspot.com
Shelley D’souza - http://5mysausage.blogspot.com
Somchandra Nahakpam - http://nahakpam.blogspot.com
SooHee Oh - http://sooweetie.blogspot.com
Suzanne LaGrande - http://www.betweencultures.net
Yelena Lim - http://eyesinkorea.blogspot.com
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators’ blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Friday 11 March 2011
So, I'm a Korea Blog writer!
Life was pretty hectic for a while, but over the last couple weeks I've been organising everything so I'd have more time to do the things I really like, blogging, for example.
Having been chosen as a blogger for The Korea Blog also played a big part in it, I have to admit, since it sort of compels me to become more active than before. I was so glad to be chosen that I told everybody about it, hahaha. So, now, I really have to put some effort into this.
(By the way, if you want to check out all the folks who made the cut, go here!)
To start this whole thing, I'm posting something that was already seen on my old blog, The Annotated Life. The original post dates back to early 2010, when I was still in the beginning of my obsession/passion for Korea. Even though it's not 2010 and the article I refer to in the text doesn't make much sense anymore, I really like this post because it kinda shows a bit how excited I was to be discovering such a rich culture for the first time.
So, here it goes!
Seoul: a city to visit in 2010, according to The NY Times
(originally posted on January 12, 2010)
I guess I haven't talked about my obsession with Korea in here, have I? Well, that's pretty much it: ever since I came to London, I kind of fell in love with it, a country I had never given too much thought before. Yeah, I know it does sound bad, but I'm really trying to redeem myself: I've been reading about its culture and habits, as well as getting started on Korean literature. Of course, I'm also looking for a place that teaches the language and have already begun planning a trip to the place in July (more on that will follow, surely). I subscribed to many Korean-related blogs, too, and it was in one of them, Ask a Korean, that I found out that Seoul, the capital city, was selected as one of the 31 places to visit in 2010. Not only this, but they were voted #3! Pretty cool, huh? Here's what the newspaper had to say:
“Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul.
They have been drawn by the Korean capital's glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces like the sprawling outpost of Milan’s 10 Corso Como and the widely noted Ann Demeulemeester store — an avant-garde Chia Pet covered in vegetation.
And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital. The title, bestowed by a prominent council of industrial designers, means a year's worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other revelries. Most are still being planned (go to wdc2010.seoul.go.kr for updates). A highlight will no doubt be the third annual Seoul Design Fair (Sept. 17 to Oct. 7), the city's answer to the design weeks in Milan and New York, which last year drew 2.5 million people and featured a cavalcade of events under two enormous inflatable structures set up at the city's Olympic stadium. — Aric Chen”
True enough, I'm not a design aficionada at all, but I'm pretty sure I can find other interesting things to do and places to visit (which, in this case, means that I could actually go to Seoul in any year I feel like, not particularly this one).
Interesting fact: a comment on the post I mentioned above led me to discover that, for some people, Seoul is actually quite a bit disappointing. =( Sad, but I'll just refer to a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke that I recently found: “If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no indifferent place.”
Oh, and another list in which Korea appears: the world’s strangest festivals mentions Boryeong, a sort of mud party that happens every July.
Something extra: nice little Lonely Planet video on Korea:http://www.lonelyplanet.com/south-korea#video-ltv-369E92E845CA0F25. The ending is the best part, actually; “say hello to kimchi (…). You'll get used to it”. Yay!
*All pictures in this post were definitely NOT taken by me (surprise, surprise), but come from the Lonely Planet website. Check their South Korea page by clicking HERE.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Originally published here.
Having been chosen as a blogger for The Korea Blog also played a big part in it, I have to admit, since it sort of compels me to become more active than before. I was so glad to be chosen that I told everybody about it, hahaha. So, now, I really have to put some effort into this.
(By the way, if you want to check out all the folks who made the cut, go here!)
To start this whole thing, I'm posting something that was already seen on my old blog, The Annotated Life. The original post dates back to early 2010, when I was still in the beginning of my obsession/passion for Korea. Even though it's not 2010 and the article I refer to in the text doesn't make much sense anymore, I really like this post because it kinda shows a bit how excited I was to be discovering such a rich culture for the first time.
So, here it goes!
Seoul: a city to visit in 2010, according to The NY Times
(originally posted on January 12, 2010)
I guess I haven't talked about my obsession with Korea in here, have I? Well, that's pretty much it: ever since I came to London, I kind of fell in love with it, a country I had never given too much thought before. Yeah, I know it does sound bad, but I'm really trying to redeem myself: I've been reading about its culture and habits, as well as getting started on Korean literature. Of course, I'm also looking for a place that teaches the language and have already begun planning a trip to the place in July (more on that will follow, surely). I subscribed to many Korean-related blogs, too, and it was in one of them, Ask a Korean, that I found out that Seoul, the capital city, was selected as one of the 31 places to visit in 2010. Not only this, but they were voted #3! Pretty cool, huh? Here's what the newspaper had to say:
“Forget Tokyo. Design aficionados are now heading to Seoul.
They have been drawn by the Korean capital's glammed-up cafes and restaurants, immaculate art galleries and monumental fashion palaces like the sprawling outpost of Milan’s 10 Corso Como and the widely noted Ann Demeulemeester store — an avant-garde Chia Pet covered in vegetation.
And now Seoul, under its design-obsessed mayor, Oh Se-hoon, is the 2010 World Design Capital. The title, bestowed by a prominent council of industrial designers, means a year's worth of design parties, exhibitions, conferences and other revelries. Most are still being planned (go to wdc2010.seoul.go.kr for updates). A highlight will no doubt be the third annual Seoul Design Fair (Sept. 17 to Oct. 7), the city's answer to the design weeks in Milan and New York, which last year drew 2.5 million people and featured a cavalcade of events under two enormous inflatable structures set up at the city's Olympic stadium. — Aric Chen”
True enough, I'm not a design aficionada at all, but I'm pretty sure I can find other interesting things to do and places to visit (which, in this case, means that I could actually go to Seoul in any year I feel like, not particularly this one).
Interesting fact: a comment on the post I mentioned above led me to discover that, for some people, Seoul is actually quite a bit disappointing. =( Sad, but I'll just refer to a quote by Rainer Maria Rilke that I recently found: “If your everyday life seems poor, don't blame it; blame yourself; admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; because for the creator there is no poverty and no indifferent place.”
Oh, and another list in which Korea appears: the world’s strangest festivals mentions Boryeong, a sort of mud party that happens every July.
Something extra: nice little Lonely Planet video on Korea:http://www.lonelyplanet.com/south-korea#video-ltv-369E92E845CA0F25. The ending is the best part, actually; “say hello to kimchi (…). You'll get used to it”. Yay!
*All pictures in this post were definitely NOT taken by me (surprise, surprise), but come from the Lonely Planet website. Check their South Korea page by clicking HERE.
Check out more posts from this collaboration HERE.
Check out the other collaborators' blogs here.
Check out The Korea Blog!
Originally published here.
Thursday 10 March 2011
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