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A few exciting things have been happening for me on the music fandom front, and there's quite a few things that I'm looking forward to in the next week or so as well. FT Island came out with a new MV, 나쁜 여자야, from their latest mini-album Jump Up. It's a little weird without 오완빈, and a little strange to see and hear 송승현 in his place, but the new guy fits in quite well and FT Island's sound hasn't suffered from the member change. If anything, their music sounds a little more mature than it did before, which is never a bad thing. Epik High's Tablo released a book last year in November, 당신의 조각들, which was a collection of short stories he'd written in 1998-2001. Originally in English, these stories were translated and published in... Show more

반찬- Side dishes. It's all about presentation. I should mention that rice is like the daddy mac and kimchi is the mac daddy (that reference just happened. you heard it here first). Where one is the other is, too. They are expected at all main dishes (save noodle-based dishes like 짜장면 or 비빕국수). I mentioned rice before but I'm afraid that I missed a crucial cultural point. Rice is just about the only "side dish" that really should be finished. It's not overtly rude to leave some rice in one's bowl, but make it a point to finish your meal off by making that rice bowl empty. If you find yourself getting full fast, put the brakes on the 잡채 and finish your rice. If you're feeling particularly hungry or if your eyes perk up at the... Show more

Korean nursery rhymes First and foremost, unless you teach kindergarten or have small children, listening to nursery rhymes (regardless of language) is like dragging nails on a chalkboard. Even then, it can be a cruel form of punishment. For only the brave, continue reading. The first one that comes to mind for me is 곰 세 마리가 (Three Bears). Here's a blog entry that seems to dissect the song entirely. I'm sure anyone who watched 풀하우스 remembers it fondly. 내 동생 is made from pure sugar and should be considered mandatory for all kids. Here's a great flash animation. 동, 동, 동대문 is a twist on London Bridge is Falling Down. At 3:52 there's a cute game known in English as the "Rose of Sharon" (no relation to the epic song from... Show more

여러분! Dear all our podcast listeners and blog readers.  :) Great news! Our blog, this KoreanClass101 Blog has been nominated for the Most Helpful Blogs to Expats, 2008 for the Golden Klog Awards ! Go to this page to find out more about Golden Klog Awards, and if you think the KoreanClass101 Blog has been helpful, please vote for us here. Thank you!!

I know, I know. I promised last week that I'd come with some hiphop today. But there's something else I want to write about today instead. I've been a fan of FT 아일랜드 or FT Island since their debut. They're a five member boyband - and by band, I mean an actual band. They don't all sing and dance - they actually play their instruments, and generally suck pretty bad at dancing. There's 이홍기 on vocals, 최종훈 on guitar, 이재진 on bass, 최민환 on drums, and 오원빈 on guitar and backing vocals/'rap', and my favourite. They debuted in 2007 and since then they've released two albums and repackages, and a Japanese mini album and single, as well as performing songs on a couple of drama OSTs. The above is the first single, 사랑후애, from their second album... Show more