Last week I commented on "Culture Class #17 - The Bathhouse" that there are Korean saunas here in New York, but I didn't know how soon I'd actually go check it out because I'm not a huge fan of getting naked in public. I actually posted that on Saturday morning, but nonetheless, I found myself at 찜질방 later that same afternoon! I still haven't quite figured out how I was talked into it, but it probably had something to do with my friend saying, "Come on, 누나~ I don't want to go all by myself~" However he managed to persuade me, I'm glad for it. It's one of the best things I've ever done! Here is how the day went: I didn't know what to expect and I was quite nervous, so the entire time on the way there was spent by me being nervous,... Show more

Last week I wrote about the Korean experiences I had during my first week here in NYC. It's been another week, and I've had many more experiences that I can share! Here we go.. First, I went to the larger Korea Town area in Flushing Queens last Saturday for a few hours. It was just me and my trusty map (in Korean, no less) and the 7 train.. As soon as I stepped out of the subway station it was like I had gone to Korea instead. All of the signs were in Korean, everyone was speaking Korean; It was much more "Korean" than the area in Manhattan. There were quite a few amazing shops that I found - a few bookstores, The Face Shop (it's the Korean version of The Body Shop, basically), and a little novelty store called Magic Castle. ... Show more

Well, I've made it safely to New York City! I have been here for less than a week and have only made it to the city 3 times (I live just across the river in NJ) but I have already had some awesome Korean experiences I'd like to share. First, Korea Way. There's a block of Korean shops and restaurants in Manhattan (W 32nd St between 5th and 6th Aves). It is pretty small, and mostly consists of restaruants, but it is undeniably Korean. One minute you're walking towards Times Square from Macy's, then you turn the corner and it's like you've gone to Korea. All the signs are in Korean, most of the people are speaking Korean - It's fairly awe-inspiring. There is one restaurant on Korea Way that I particularly enjoy called 우리 집 (woori... Show more

안녕하세요. 현우예요. Hi. I'm Hyunwoo. Are you all following the Olympic matches(경기)? What is your favorite(가장 좋아하는) sport? I love watching all kinds of sport matches, but my favorite is gymnastics(체조)!! So if you have a favorite sport match that you never want to miss on TV during the Olympic Games period, here's the list of the 28 major match names in English and Korean. ___________________________________________ Modern Pentathlon = 근대5종 (geundae o jong) Basketball = 농구 (nong gu) Wrestling = 레슬링 (re seul ling) Volleyball = 배구 (bae gu) Badminton = 배드민턴 (bae deu min teon) Boxing = 복싱 (bok sing) Shooting = 사격 (sa gyeok) Cycling = 사이클 (sa i keul) Softball = 소프트볼 (so peu teu bol) Swimming = 수영 (su yeong) Equestrian =... Show more

안녕하세요! 현우예요. We're all here to learn Korean, and we already know the language, but here's some more tip on the words themselves that we use to refer to 'the Korean language' ^^ As you know, the Korean language is called '한국어(han gu geo)' or '한국말(han guk mal)'. Both the words '한국어' and '한국말' are composed of two meaning blocks : Korean + language. 어, which can be written in the Chinese character 語, means "language", and 말, which is a native Korean word, also means "language". So basically 한국어 and 한국말 are the same meaning, but I'd say 한국어 is a little more formal word while 한국말 is a more colloquial word. '어' can be found in many other language names, but '말' is not so commonly used other than in the word '한국말' or '우리말(uri mal -... Show more