A little more about Korea

I know, I know - it's been a while since my last blog. I could blame work, studying (I'm doing an online course) and climbing, but it's more about just putting off writing. 

Anyway, I'm on a roll now, so here it is ...

Seoul is full of coffee shops and so, to stand out from the crowd, some shops have a gimmick. There are dog cafes ... 

cat cafes, and then there are the more creative … 

This one has two sheep. They were in their pen while I was there but they sometimes wander between the tables. You can buy food to feed the sheep, allowing you to get your caffeine fix and tapeworm at the same time. 

Staying on the theme of cafes and restaurants, I saw this in the centre of Seoul. I’m not sure they’ve got the right idea about marketing.

I ordered a kimchi jigeh (stew) the other day. I've now learned how to say 'not spicy' and so I used it on this occasion. However, kimchi jigeh is spicy so my request caused the ladies in the cafe to launch into a heated discussion that must have gone something like:

A.   He just ordered kimchi jigeh, not spicy.

B.   But kimchi jigeh is always spicy?!

A.   I know, I know. What should we do?

B.   Let's just take a few chillies out and see if he eats it. 

A.  Worth a try

And eat it I did. It was about right. 

I've since learned how to say 'a bit spicy', which would make more sense in these situations.

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Talking about Korean, here's your next quick lesson:

Of all the rotten luck, there are two ways to count in Korean. This is a quirk of history dating back to the days when China had an influence here. So, there's the native Korean number system and the Chinese (Sino) -Korean system. I found the Sino-Korean numbers quite easy to learn but had all sorts of difficulties remembering the native Korean numbers.

일   ‘eel’   one

이 ‘ee’ two

삼 ‘sam’ three

사 ‘sah’ four

오 ‘oh’ five

육 ‘yook’ six

칠 ‘chill’ seven

팔 ‘pahl’ eight

구 ‘koo' nine

십 ‘ship’ ten

하나 ‘hana’ one  (I’m sure you can guess the rest)

둘 ‘tool’

셋 ‘set’

넷 ‘net’

다섯 ‘tahsot’

여섯 ‘yosot’

일곱 ‘illgop’

에덟 ‘yodol’

아홉 ‘ah-hop’
열 ‘yool’

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the characters are stacked into blocks, and each symbol has a sound. So, 이 is 'ee' and ㄹ is 'l', making 일 sound like 'eel'. 

They each have specific uses so, as well as having to learn two sets of numbers, you also have to learn the correct occasions on which to use each. 

So, when telling the time, you use the Sino-Korean numbers for the hours and the native Korean numbers for the minutes. 

여섯시              6 o’clock

여섯시  십분    ten minutes past six

When saying how many items you want to buy, you use the native Korean system:

커피 한잔     one cup of coffee 

Like many words, ‘coffee’ is what’s known as Konglish - English words Koreanised. So, 커피 sounds like ‘copy’ (as there’s no ‘f’ sound in Korean). 

... but you use the Sino-Korean system for money

오천 원    ‘oh chon won’      five thousand won (about £3.40)

They say it gets easier.

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As ever, I’ve seen a few quirky things around town that take a bit of explaining. 

On a walk, I came across these steps …

... and at the teaching centre in Gangnam, I noticed that the building didn’t have a 4th floor. 

This one turned out to be easily explained - the word for the number 4 in Korean is 사 (sah). This is also the word for ‘death’ and so the number is avoided; very much like the number 13 in other cultures. Don't point out to anybody that the 5th floor is really the 4th ...


There was a lot of confusion in a class I taught a while back. I had ticked their good work only to be asked if everything they had done was wrong. I was very surprised to discover that ticks are used to indicate incorrect work here. Circles are used to indicate correct work. Apparently, several other countries consider a tick to mean ‘wrong’ too. I’m baffled. 

Here's an efficient uses of space that needs no explaining ...





















and another that might - you put your bike on the rails, pay your money, and it's sucked inside ... 

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A short trip to Vietnam

I had 2 weeks off in May so I went on a trip back to my last home - Hanoi. I also had a weekend in Thanh Hoa, about 3 hours south of Hanoi. 

When I arrived, I stayed with friends some distance from the centre. One thing I'd forgotten is the public speaker system - they start making public announcements or playing music any time from 6am. It's a bit like the Muslim call to prayer but this is more like a call to get up and go to work

Another thing was the concept of lane discipline when driving; or even staying on the correct side of the road. The idea doesn't seem to exist here.

Then there's the food. This is Bún bò Nam Bộ, and very nice it is too. 

And here's cà phê sữa đá, iced coffee with yoghurt. Possibly the nicest coffee in the world  




In Thanh Hoa, I stayed in the Trades Union hotel - a hotel specifically for the members. Minh's mum is a member. It's just across the road from the beach.

On the Saturday night someone decided to sing karaoke - it happens a lot here. That would be fine but he turned up the volume so it could be heard a kilometre away. Not good for me as my room was 100m away. In the morning at 8am he (or someone) started again. The phrase 'don't give up the day job' definitely sprang to mind. 

Minh & Nhung in our breakfast cafe 



I spent the week catching up with a whole load of friends and look forward to seeing them all again soon.

I also found time to pop in on my favourite Vietnamese charity - REACH. I was shown around their new centre and lots of photos were taken (I mean lots!). They're doing a wonderful job helping disadvantaged young people in Vietnam.  

When I got back to Seoul, I jumped straight on a train and headed south to the hills. Over the next few days I walked part of Jirisan and Hallasan (two of the highest peaks in South Korea). The views are magnificent.

You see a few interesting warning signs on the paths. The first one made me wonder whether the bears are reasonably tame ...




but the next one changed my mind...

 


However, they're so rare the chances of encountering one on the path are pretty slim.

There was one more ...

Needless to say, I looked where I was putting my feet.

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One of my students gave me this the other day. It's a bag of wasabi balls. They might look like peas but need a health warning - they're hot and not my idea of tasty. I popped one in my mouth and got a bit of a shock. Can't see me going out of my way to get more. 

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Food photos of the month ...

Here it is, the Korean 'sandwich', 김밥 (gimbap) Literally, 'seaweed rice'. It looks like Japanese sushi but isn't, mainly because it is covered in 김, Korean seaweed (which they will tell you is far tastier than the Japanese version) and also, the filling isn't raw fish. They come in all varieties - this one is tuna and salad but you can have ham, BBQ pork etc etc. 

Why eat boring old olive ciabatta when you can have the squid ink version?

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One last memento from Hanoi ...

Snowboarding

I was recently introduced to snowboarding. One resort can be reached in an hour by train and another provides a free shuttle bus straight to the door. There are several more resorts within a day’s reach of Seoul.

Snowboarding has got to be the most painful sport to learn. Apart from Sumo wrestling maybe. I defy anyone to learn how to snowboard without falling over. Just standing on the board on a slope was hard enough but as soon as I started moving I was all over the place. Sliding downhill facing downhill turned out to be the easiest way but then came the fun of learning to turn, and facing into the slope (uphill). That was much harder. I lost count of the number of times I went over but, after 3 days of pain, a few bruises, and a thumb I thought I might have broken (when I did it, it really hurt and I found myself sitting on the slope, inspecting it and wondering where I could get some ice only to realise I was sitting in the stuff),  I found that I could get down a slope facing both ways and could turn the board round on the move.

On the first day, I chose an all-orange suit but was told I looked like a bin man. 

So, the next weekend, I went for a cool yellow, patterned snowboarder’s jacket. This time, I was told I looked really 80s. At the very least, it meant I was easy to see, and hopefully avoid. The biggest risk on the slopes is the other skiers and snowboarders flying into you. It was a whole lot of fun. We’ll get back there a few more times this season I hope. 

Apparently, if you’re a snowboarder and wear stuff like this, you’re supposed to have attitude and look cool, so I had a go.

Might not try that again.

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We’ve had a load of really cold (eg. -12C) days in the hills (getting down to as low as -18C at night) and two of my buddies (Dominic & Rachael) and I got out on a day that froze the streams and even the water in our bottles. We met Santa that day too, no doubt enjoying his off-season. Most days have had clear blue skies to go with the cold weather. 

The Koreans love walking. The mountains are rarely quiet and it’s easy to find your way to the start of any walk – just follow the line of walkers, rucksacks and walking poles off the tube. They make the day an event – picnics are carried to the top where kimchi, gimbap and who knows what else comes out … (more about food in future blogs). Makes my sandwiches look pretty feeble. 

There are plenty of ‘characters’ out there. This chap – complete with snake stick – is one of them.

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On only one day recently has the cloud come down. It made for a good photo.

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There is a lot of public information around Seoul and they take care to make sure it’s accurate too. Here’s an example – it’s not 90m, or 95m to the next platform. Nope, it’s 93m. This is particularly useful if you’re one of those people who clearly won’t make it 95m.

However, they don’t always get the translations right. I’d like to see the bikes removing themselves …

The most information though, is in the hills. In the British hills you’ll find the odd signpost and might even be able to make out a path if you’re lucky. Here, the paths are very clearly defined and signposted. They even go to the trouble of signposting where the paths aren’t.

I love this photo – taken at a point where there’s a mountain view that would obviously make a great picture but, just to make sure you know, there’s a poster telling you it would make a great picture…

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I never thought I’d see an example of Hanoi-style bike loading, but this guy has made a jolly good attempt and deserves the title of Honarary Vietnamese Biker.

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This warmed my heart. In a public park, there’s a cabinet with kids’ books and a space for reading them, all in perfect condition.

   

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It was touch and go for a while, but the tree pulled through and will be back home soon …

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No doubt you’re desperate to learn some Korean phrases, so here they are:

Hello              안녕하세요  (ahn yong ha seh yo)

There are two ways to say goodbye:

If you’re leaving                            안녕히 개세요       (ahn yong ee keh seh yo)

If someone else is leaving          안녕히 가세요    (ahn yong ee kah seh yo)

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Food photo of the month

Here is the staple of all Korean meals – kimchi. Every Korean meal has a side dish of kimchi. It’s as Korean as fish and chips is British. Now, don’t be put off by the looks – it’s just seasoned, fermented cabbage in chilli. OK, that might not sell it either but, speaking as a fussy eater, it’s really quite nice and can be part of many dishes. There are loads of recipes but the one in the pic is quite common.  However, the Koreans love spicy food and I don’t. Therein lies a problem. I’ve learnt to say ‘not spicy’ when ordering food but that just means it comes spicy rather than really spicy. Luckily, I can manage that.

Here’s a typical meal in a restaurant – the main dish surrounded by lots of side dishes (one of which is kimchi). Usually, the waitresses just leave us to get on with it but in this restaurant they were sticklers for doing things correctly. I made the mistake of serving myself some soup in the brown bowl. The waitress came over and made a big fuss, took it away and then served me the soup in the smaller white bowl. Oops.

A short while later, while were eating the main dish, a waitress came over, removed the dish from under my mate’s nose, and served him some soup. He was doing things in the wrong order. Terrible.

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When I had my snowboarding fall, there was minimal bruising and no swelling so I convinced myself it was OK, would get better in time, and went climbing. Well, three weeks have gone by and I decided the thumb hurt enough to go to a hospital. It’s fractured. Ho hum.

Life in Korea

A few people have asked me about my job. I’d almost forgotten I didn’t come here to go walking.  Well, when I arrived, The British Council was in the process of moving out of the main centre they’d been in for some time and into two new centres. They had also decided to split the Adult and Young Learner programmes so that each centre only taught one of these groups and the teachers specialised. I chose adults so, for the first time in 18 years, I’m not teaching children. Although I miss some of the songs and silly games (or was that games and silly songs?) I played with the children, I’m very pleased with my decision and really like where I work; the adult students are wonderful and a lot of fun to work with. I also have a more academic challenge, especially with my Upper Intermediate academic writing group – their level is very high and they make me think every lesson. Like the children though, adults occasionally bring their teacher presents. One student brought me a chocolate bar the other day. It was green.

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The other day, I asked my Upper-Intermediate students what they listen to or read at home. 

One said ‘The BBC News’. 

Another said, ‘TED talks’. 

The next said, ‘Big Dick’.

 I don’t think my students noticed, but I nearly laughed. ‘Err … what was that?’

 ‘Big Dick,’ she said again.

 I had to work really hard to stifle a snigger now: ‘Err … could … (gasp) … you … spell … that …’

 ‘B-I-G  T-H-I-N-K,’  she told me. 

I was greatly relieved. Here it is, should you be interested. It looks good:  http://bigthink.com/

I really must do something about her pronunciation …

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Having failed to learn Polish or Vietnamese to any decent level, I’m working hard on my Korean. I’m pleased to be able to say (at this stage) that it’s fairly easy to pronounce – after Vietnamese, anything is – and the grammar so far seems OK. I’ve worked on learning the alphabet (see below) and some phrases. Of course, one thing you need to learn as soon as you arrive in a country is ‘Where’s the toilet?’. Usually, when you don’t know how to ask something, acting works well but that is a bad idea in this case so I made sure I could say it from the outset. I now have a bank of useful phrases and I’m building my vocabulary. By some coincidence, this country is full of people who speak Korean so you’re never far from someone who can help.

 Hangeul - the Korean alphabet - might look like Japanese or Mandarin but it is in fact, much easier and can be learned in a few hours. Unlike the other languages, in which there are thousands of characters, each representing a word or idea, Hangeul is an alphabet and can be built into syllables like English. I'll do my best to teach you a few things about the language over the next few blogs. Here's lesson 1 ...

콜라    This word is made up of two syllables. The first is a stack of three sounds:

ㅋ     sounds like ‘k’

ㅗ     sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘owe’

ㄹ     sounds like ‘l’

The second syllable is two sounds next to each other:

ㄹ     ‘l’

ㅏ     sounds like ‘ah’

Put all that together and you get kol-lah, or Cola to you and me.

Korean has borrowed a lot of words from English and other languages and adapted them to fit Hangeul. Once you can decipher the symbols, you find they are often familiar words. Here’s another one:

바나나

ㅂ     sounds like a cross between ‘p’ and ‘b’

ㄴ     sounds like ‘n’

So we get pah-nah-nah, or banana.

I am surrounded by print of course and try to make sense of it. This sign is about a bank. I at least know the word for bank:   은행

Some signs rather helpfully write a translation underneath. I love the last line on this one – a whole line to say ‘No pets’.

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I catch the bus or underground almost everywhere these days. I have come to the conclusion that the 143 bus that takes me to work is the best bus service in the world. I rarely have to wait more than a few minutes for it at most times of the day. The buses get a bit crowded at peak times but I never have too far to go so that’s OK. As well as that, people tend to be very helpful; on two occasions, when I was carrying a lot of shopping but had to stand, someone who was sitting took my bag onto their lap. I have never seen that before.

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One problem I have is that in lots of cafes and supermarkets they play Korean rap, hip-hop or whatever it is. LOUD. It sends me nuts. Must be my age. I made the mistake of sitting in one café to have a coffee and then realised that I would be deaf before I finished it. However, I came across this place on holiday and it was playing soft jazz. Felt I deserved free coffee here ...

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I have continued to go walking of course, concentrating my efforts on Buchansan, the mountain to the north of the centre of Seoul. I have now criss-crossed it from several directions and I’m getting to know the area reasonably well. 

Autumn was a lovely time to be in the hills … 

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The Koreans have to be commended for their commitment to keeping fit. The mountains get very busy at weekends but what is unusual is the number of outdoor gyms. They can be found everywhere in the city but also in the mountains. In some cases you have to walk into the hills for at least half an hour to get to them. That’s keen. They all have the usual step machines, weights, bars etc., but I came across this contraption too. Any doctors out there who can explain the benefits of being inverted?

These hula hoops (one with bumps on to presumably give you a massage at the same time?!) were left lying around for anyone to use. Not sure they’d still be there in Britain.

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I’m currently on holiday in for a week in Sokcho, on the north east coast of Korea. It has the advantage of being right next to Seoraksan, a mountain range.

 

I came across these three girls on a staircase between the hills. They were having a party, complete with coffee, beer, soju (a bit like Japanese sake but not as nice) and snacks. I chipped in with biscuits and Doritos and tried my best to communicate. As ever, when a camera is pointed at them, girls in Asia love to put fingers up – usually in a V sign. I’ve explained to my students that one way of doing this is seen as rude in Britain and they find that really funny!

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There are no interesting bike pics to take here alas, so I’m switching to ‘Food photo of the month’

This is Bibimbap. It comes in many forms but this one is vegetables on rice, with a fried egg and seaweed on top. It arrives at the table sizzling away. You mix it all up and munch. It’s very tasty.

As with all food in Korea, it’s best to check how spicy it will be when you order. Koreans love spicy food and I’ve had my tongue burned out a couple of times (it grew back).

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That’s all for now. If I don’t speak to you before – have a lovely Christmas.