KoreanClass101.com Blog

I arrived shortly before dinnertime, which is pretty normal when I go during the week. The boys were playing around, and some were even studying! But I couldn't find any of the regular adult staff. It seemed like the boys were fending for themselves again. At dinnertime, someone (presumably an 엄마 from a different section made some announcement about dinner: "얘둘아..밥 먹으러 가!" (Kids, go and eat!) Most of the kids headed out for dinner, but a few were being stubborn. They claimed they weren't hungry and they didn't want to go to dinner. That really doesn't matter, they are still supposed to eat at every meal, and they really should. Sometimes I think they try to skip dinner so they can whine later. Then they might get to pig out on... Show more

Last week all of the kids and staff went out for dinner. Hence "외식." 외 literally means "outside" like in 의국인 "foreigner" or literally "outside-country-person." 식 means food, or a meal. You may remember a culture class from a few months ago where the KClass crew showed us what a typical "희식" looked like. 희 in that case means company, so 희식 is a meal with your co-workers. The orphanage does this at least once a year, and by good fortune I happened to be there this year again. It's really just a fun time with the kids, and I get to seem them in a different setting. I think it's a pretty good day for them, and one they really enjoy. It is one of the rare occasions when they really get to do something special with themselves that... Show more

또 하나의 '여러 얼굴을 가진 단어'로서(As another 'word with many faces) 오늘은 '쓰다'라는 동사를 소개하겠습니다(I'd like to introduce the verb '쓰다'). If you already knew this word, what meaning was new to you? :-)

Wow, I just uploaded this post and it disappeared! Gone! So here it goes again in a shortened version. I posted about the Korean Children's Orchedstra coming to town a while back but I didn't get much feedback on it. I said I would post some instrument pictures to the forum but I am still in that going to mode... Here are some pictures from the performance rehearsal. The show opened with drums: Here is Stephanie practicing the 해금: The 태평소 soloist: Here is an interesting variation on the traditional 가야금. It has 25 strings instead of 12. The North Korean version has 24 strings. I will get these into the forum too. Soon.

Remember how the boys were being punished last week? Well, they were in trouble because some of them apparently went in to the room where their dog was giving birth! That night, just after dinner, the dog went into labor, and the boys were told not to go in. I thought they were staying out, but I guess the excitement got to them. I happened to have my camera, so I could record a quick movie about the incident. There is actually a lot of footage from that night, some of it is apparently inappropriate, and other things are just downright hilarious. Today, watch one of the real versions, and later, I'll share the sillier ones as well. I didn't subtitle it because the conversation is simple enough that I think you'll be able to... Show more