KoreanClass101.com Blog

Every year the orphanage sets up a bazaar to raise money. It is usually at the end of October. I wasn't volunteering there last fall, so this was my first one. Preparations started a few weeks before. Josh warned me that the staff would be pouncing on us to buy some tickets for the event. Each ticket cost 10,000원 and then could be spent on various things at the bazaar. Each staff member is charged with selling 10 tickets. So, one called me up and asked if I would buy some tickets. I agreed to buy 2. Then, I decided I could afford to invest a little more in the event, so I gave her enough money for 5. But I should have been more discreet. Another worker (the one Josh and I call "Mean 오마" overheard our conversation. She... Show more

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Look at the name written on this signboard of a (probably) fried chicken restaurant (오마이치킨= Oh my chicken) . What do you think this is a parody of? It's obviously not a literal translation of "오, 나의 치킨" or "오, 나의 닭", right? Of course, you would often hear Korean people saying "오 마이 갓!(Oh my God!)" in a joking manner even if they don't really speak English, but looking at this 오마이치킨, I am sure 90% of all Korean people who use the Internet (which is ... almost everybody) would think of the name "오마이뉴스". 오마이뉴스( is an online newspaper that has the motto "Every Citizen is a Reporter(모든 시민은 기자다)" and it was founded 7 years ago in 2000. It's an interesting form of media because about 20% of all the articles from Ohmynews.com are written... Show more

Today, in Seoul, we had the first snow of the year!! It started like a little rain, but then the rain got thicker and turned into heavy snow!! I'm sure all of you have different ideas coming to your mind as you hear the word "snow", but this is what came to my mind when I saw the snow piling up outside my window a few hours ago.

Something really serious happened when I was home for vacation. My friend Josh, who also volunteers at the orphanage told me that some of the older boys were caught with stolen money! Apparently each kid is given 5,000원 (about $5) each month as "allowance." I'm sure it gets spent immediately on 컵라면 and other unhealthy snacks. But sometime during the summer break, a few of the older stole 500,000원 (about $500) from a man in the neighborhood. You might think that they would have tried to hide it really well, but money really burns holes in these kids' pockets. So four kids split the money amongst themselves, the older ones threating the younger ones within an inch of their lives to keep silent. It wasn't long before the staff got... Show more