KoreanClass101.com Blog

This has been an interesting week. Last week we sent Michael home. He was ready to go. As soon as he got home he was headed for a week long field trip to 제주도. We Skyped with his mother before he left. She missed him a lot but it looks like she had to wait another week before she got to see him. We, on the otherhand, just sent our oldest daughter to Korea. She will be there for the next seven weeks. She is doing a "service project" for school credit here where she will be volunteer teaching at an elemetary school, helping out with English instruction. Her first day will be tomorrow. She is feeling a bit overwhelmed with the lack of English interaction already. Not understanding anything that is said around you can be headache inducing,... Show more

I've been a bit of a lousy orphanage volunteer these days. I am taking a class 3 nights a week, and buy with some other appointments on 2 days, so I haven't been spending the kind of time I used to at the orphanage. In a way, that's OK since I will be leaving in August, and to kind of gradually make my exit it probably the healthiest and safest thing for those kids. But on the other hand, I've really missed them! During a recent long weekend, I planned to spend the whole day with the orphans. They were going to some nearby beach. However, my friend Josh and I had to leave separately, and subsequently got stuck in a enormous traffic jam. Because of the holidays that week, the roads were absolutely jammed. We left the center of... Show more

Hey everyone! matthew254 here and I've decided to reveal my true identity - my real name is "Matthew". Yes, yes, I know - shocking, right? I'm excited to join the galaxy of stars known as KoreanClass101's blogging team and can't wait to get started. First, a small introduction of sorts. I was born the same year that Star Wars: Return of the Jedi premiered and am originally from a city that neighbors the largest Army base in the world. I am currently a senior at the University of North Texas majoring in English as a Second Language for students Early Childhood through Fourth Grade. I grew up in Killeen, TX which houses over 100,000 people with an estimated 3% of the population being Korean. Doesn't sound like much, but due to Fort Hood,... Show more

This picture also happens to have been taken in 신촌, and 신촌 is not only a major entertainment district but also a neighborhood that are surrounded by four universities (연세대학교, 홍익대학교, 이화여자대학교, 서강대학교). And if you go near a univeristy in Korea on a weekend, you can easily see something like this. What do you think it is? Why would somebody do this? Where does it lead to? These *marker* lines are usually used for guiding people from the 지하철역(subway station) or from 캠퍼스 안(inside the school campus) so that they can easily find the right 술집(bar) or 모임 장소(meeting point) for a reunion. :) While it's funny when you think about all the work that has to go into making this long long line (one line is usually 400m ~ 500m long or even... Show more

If hope you can wait another week or so for an orphan story. Since Thursday was Teacher's Day (스승의날) I thought I'd share a little bit about that, since I am currently teaching in a Korean school. 스승 is kind of a fancy word or "teacher" but it means the same thing as "선생님" with some more nuance of "mentor" or "master." Anyway, that's what they use to name the day. Traditionally, it was a holiday and schools were closed, but sometime in the past few years that changed....oh well! Students typically give carnations and a letter to their teachers. I am sort of a novelty at my school, and for a variety of reasons never know what to expect on a day like 스승의날. Since I am not a homeroom teacher, there is virtually zero obligation for... Show more