Cutsie Culture #2

It's that time again. What material object or image has Korea made unbelievably cutsie?

Mr. Happy Sweet Potato

Korea sells these amazingly delicious sweet potato chips. Mr. Happy Sweet Potato enhances the eating experience by his ... uh ... creepily compliant facial expression.

Language Class Graduation

I graduated...again! This time it was from my Korean language program. I'm proud to say that I graduated with a 92% (one of my proudest achievements to date). I couldn't believe it! My language class was administered by Korean University in Seoul, and is one of the reasons the Korean F*lbright ETA program is such a fantastic program. Thus, our graduation ceremony was a big deal. Representatives from KU and the F*lbright office joined our teachers in handing out certificates of achievement. Now, just take a look at that certificate in the photo. It is set within a red velvet folio with gold colored leafing. It is nicer than my college diploma. Wow. We also got free t-shirts from KU. No matter how many free t-shirts I get, it's always really exciting to add another one to my collection.

Last night, the beginning classes went out noraebaanging with our teachers. 노래방 (pr. noh-ray-bahng) means singing house. Basically, it's a place to karaoke with food, drinks, and friends. Our teachers really did love us to subject themselves to bad renditions of Take On Me, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Livin' on a Prayer. A couple students sang Born in the U.S.A, but replaced U.S.A. with the Korean equivalent, 미국 (pr. mee-gook). "We were booooorn in the meegook land."...and so on.

The males sang Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight and, again, inserted Korean phrases. "Sansaengnims, you look yeboyo tonight." 여뻐요 (pr. yeh-boy-yoh) means "pretty" or "beautiful." Our teachers got up and sang too! They're so wonderful. They cried at the class day of class and today at the ceremony. They said that they feel a "special connection" with the ETAs because they saw us for so many consecutive hours. In fact, the teachers lived in the same dorm as us. Both of my teachers said, "If you ever are in trouble, call me." I hope not to contact her under those circumstances, but I'll definitely text message her.

Korean Class

I love my Korean class, mostly because of my wonderful teachers. Today, we were practicing relationship vocabulary. We answered questions like, "What do teachers need from their students?" The answer, "Respect," and such. Well, we got to the boyfriend/girlfriend section and the respective question was asked. My 산생님 (teacher; pronounced sahn-sayng-neem) said, "Well of course they need love," 사랑 (pr. sah-rahng) "And I think they really need trust," 믿음 (pr. mee-tuehm). "But you know, when you date somebody, you need to fight. I mean, when you are mad at him because he doesn't call all week, yeah, you need to fight with your boyfriend, so you need patience." 인내 (pr. een-nay) We all kind of chuckled because, well, she was right! hahaha She wrote all these words on the board. "But what if you don't have a boyfriend or girlfriend? What do you need?" [Personally, the first word that popped into my head was chocolate.] "I think that you need hope." 산생님 turned around to write 희망 (pr. huuee-mahng) on the board, but didn't make it all the way because the entire class was laughing. "Why are you laughing?" she asked. "I don't think it is funny. I need hope!" The ETAs thought this was even funnier, so we laughed harder. She let us have our chuckle, and being the sweet, wonderful woman that she is, didn't hold it against us.

Cutsie Culture #1

If I had to describe Korean culture in one word, it would be "cutsie." Everything here has some sort of cutefying touch. Pigs happily smile on the front of pork restaurants, notebooks feature smiling croissants, stickers feature smiling dead fish. Yeah. I've seen all of these. All office materials and school supplies are cute colors with funny or inspirational phrases. Koreans want you to feel good when you see your things. Thus, a simple eraser becomes a mini pop-tart box with a cute, freckly girl being reminded to "Just Heat in Toaster" and enjoying the "Sweet 100%" and "Imitation Strawberry Flavor."

You have to see this stuff to believe it. [And it really does make you happy.]

Hence, I hereby establish the Korean "Cutsie Culture" series. It will be an ongoing project until...well, almost everything here is cutsie, so don't hold your breath for the capping post.


Part one: "You're so a cute tomboy! I hope to love your freshness."

Erin came upon this gem in one of the many stationary stores. Searching for the perfect folder (to hold papers), Erin knew she'd found the perfect complement to her loose leaf.

It's Almost a License to Kill

We received and practiced in our new belts today. They are quite shorter than our white ones. This is probably because they're meant for five-year-olds, not twenty-two-year-olds. Grand Master did not take it easy on us. He called on me to demonstrate a three kick combination...and I forgot to move forward. Oops. Grand Master corrected me and asked very emphatically, "Understand?!" I shook my head emphatically up and down. "Ok, ok, ok." We semi-sparred today. It's not quite sparring until we learn how to block each other's kicks. Regardless, I loved it, though it was tiring. Today was definitely a good day. Plus, Dana complimented me, which, coming from Dana (Most Likely to Earn a Black Belt while in Korea), means a lot. There are very few words that can describe the way I feel about my new yellow belt. I've included pictures to more accurately portray my elation and pride. Attachment issues? Perhaps.
License to kill? Not yet...stay tuned for developments.

Chuncheon Food

I am surprised by how little chicken is consumed in Korea. The meat of choice is pork. Chuncheon is known for a particular chicken dish called "닭갈비" (dakgalbi). You go into a restaurant that specializes in this dish and sit down at a table with a grill in the center. They bring out a heaping plate of marinated chicken, cabbage, rice noodles, and other greens. They plop this down on the grill, fire it up, then cook it right there. When it's done, you place a couple pieces on a piece of lettuce, add a little salty red paste, then fold it up and enjoy. The thing is, like most food in Korea, this chicken is fiery hot. I mean, if you go to the right place, your mouth feels like it's going to explode. It burns so good. Cost ~$6-7 per person.

Another Chuncheon specialty is a dessert called "팥빙수" (patbingsu). This you find anywhere is Korea, but I'm told it is best here at a place called Icy Cool in particular. You go to Icy Cool with your friends and order a big bowl for (fill in the blank) people. They come out with a glorious concoction of deliciousness. The bowl has shaved ice at the bottom, on top of which are pieces of fruit (banana, kiwi, watermelon, nectarine, pineapple), red bean, rice cakes, and frozen yogurt. [The secret to Chuncheon patbinsu is the addition of a little condensed milk and sugar.] Everyone grabs a spoon and mashes the contents together. Dig in! Yes, it's a communal bowl. Korean culture is very supportive of communalism. It'd be a strange sight to see one person eating patbingsu alone. Ok, some people may think this dessert doesn't sound appetizing. You're wrong. It is one of my favorite Korean inventions. What makes it even more special is that Icy Cool has these awesome swings to sit on. So, not only are you consuming the definition of "delicious," but you get to do it with friends...on swings. And yes, we eat the entire bowl. Cost ~$2-2.50.

Yellow Belt Test

[Grand Master Yang, in the black belt, and the group post-yellow belt test.]

I did it! The yellow belt test is over, and we've all been awarded the next level in taekwondo. I was a little intimidated before class, but once we got into the actual testing, it was cake. We went up in groups of five and demonstrated the punches and kicks learned up to this point. The real trick was knowing when my name was called. We had to write it on an evaluation form ... in Korean. Thus, Noelle Easterday became 노에 이스터데 , phonetically "Noh-ehrl Ee-suh-tah-deh." (Double consonants don't exist in Korean.) Grand Master called out our names, we stood up, bowed, and responded with"네." ("Nay" means yes.) My group in particular was more quiet than the others, so Grand Master made us do some extra punches and kicks...facing the rest of the group. I was pretty loud, but Grand Master kept looking at me when telling us to be louder. He made me smile, told me not to smile, then smiled at me again...which made me smile. Perhaps that was the test in of itself. The best moment was when he told me "좋아요," which means "good." Teehee!