Korean language

Time to get a TiVo?

I took a break from Christmas card writing and studying Korean to do a little channel surfing on cable TV. I do that sometimes when I take a study break. My wife thinks I’m great at finding interesting things to watch on the “stupid box.” (“Stupid box” is the North Korean word for television; it is such a fitting word!) There wasn’t much on at 1 p.m. on a weekday before Christmas. I surfed until I came upon the classic movie “Tremors,” the Kevin Bacon featuring oversized worms that eat anything that moves (literally). It’s probably the umpteenth time it’s been broadcast on cable. I think the cable movie stations have it on permanent rotation. It’s one of those movies cable features over and over. Other films that are cable standards include Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s “Kindergarden Cop” and “Predator”, “National Lampoon’s Vacation” featuring Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo and “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” starring Steve Martin and John Candy. Although I don’t watch TV that often, I’ve probably seen parts of “Vacation” dozens of times. I always seem to stumble upon “Tremors” and “Vacation” halfway through the movie. Whenever I turn on the TV and find Kevin Bacon, Reba McIntyre, and Michael Gross talking in cheesy southwestern accents perched atop buildings or vehicles and fighting off grotesque earthworms with tentacle tongues. I almost always stumble upon “Vacation” when the Griswold family is driving through Kansas en route to the Grand Canyon. I usually turn it off after they drop dear old Aunt Edna off at their cousin’s home in Arizona. Although I’ve seen these movies’ endings dozens of times, I rarely have a chance to catch the beginning. Take the movie “The Ring” for example. HBO aired the show ad nauseum a couple months ago, and I always found it on TV mid-way through the movie. I’ve seen the ending about 4 times, but I’ve never seen the beginning. I even thought about renting it so I could see the beginning of this intriguing flick, but why would I when I’ve seen the ending so many times? I’ll wait until it cable airs it again, and maybe I’ll go see the next installment of “The Ring” due out next spring. Maybe it’s time to get a TiVo and a TV guide so I can pre-record these shows and watch them in their entirety. Until then I guess I’ll have to be content with watching half reruns.

12 Days in Hanguk

As promised, here is the Korean song I wrote. Enjoy!

12 Days in 한국

Sung to the tune “The 12 Days of Christmas”

On the 1st day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

A jar of 배추김치.

On the 2nd day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 3rd day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 4th day in 한국,
My 선배 gave to me,

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 5th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 6th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 7th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Seven 서울지도,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 8th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Eight 한국드라마,

Seven 태극기,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 9th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Nine 신용카드,

Eight 한국드라마,

Seven 태극기,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 10th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Ten rounds of 노래!

Nine 신용카드,

Eight 한국드라마,

Seven 태극기,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On 11th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Eleven 태권도판,

Ten rounds of 노래!

Nine 신용카드,

Eight 한국드라마,

Seven 태극기,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

On the 12th day in 한국,

My 선배 gave to me,

Twelve 전자제품,

Eleven 태권도판,

Ten rounds of 노래!

Nine 신용카드,

Eight 한국드라마,

Seven 태극기,

Six bags of 홍차,

A 표 to 제주도!

Four 젓가락,

Three 한복,

Two 핸드폰,

And a jar of 배추김치.

Sharing a vehicle

This is my first day going solo since I started Korean in July. My wife has been going with me to Korean class from the very beginning, but today I’m on my own now that she has finished her language course. She finished early so that she can take care of our son. Until now her parents had been taking care of our son, but now they’re returning home in anticipation of our departure. My wife will stay home with our son full time until at least mid-February when we head to Seoul. After we get to Korea she may work part-time or full-time if she can find a good job there that does not require fluent Korean. In the meantime she’ll be a stay-at-home mom.

We only have one car now. We got rid of our other vehicles before we moved to the D.C. area, and now we’re down to one vehicle. That was fine when we both had the same schedule, but now that we’re on different schedules we will have to time-share the car. It takes a bit of creativity. The weather is cold now and it won’t be fun walking outside for extended periods of time or waiting at a bus stop. The Metro isn’t as convenient as it could be. She will drive me in and pick me up while her parents are here, but after that I’ll be on my own if she needs to keep the car. Having a second vehicle is so convenient. I wish mass transit were convenient, but unfortunately not. Perhaps when we return to the D.C. area in the future mass transit will be a more viable option for us. In the meantime we’ll have to do some fancy schedule coordinating, and I’ll have to spend more time getting to and from school on my own. It’s just two months–that’s not too bad. I just hope that I won’t get caught in a big snowstorm between now and when we leave for Seoul. We won’t always have a car around the world, but in most parts of America it’s such a necessity.