For this cultural post, I want to talk about the show called “Shin Suh Yoo Gi” or “New Journey to the West.” This is one of the most popular and well-known Korean entertainment programs that has ever been produced. Currently, they are on season 7, and they are calling this season’s theme “Homecoming,” since this season is taking place in South Korea. Usually, each season they go to different countries, and they play outrageous games against each other and the producers in order to get rewards.

This show is greatly recognized for its notable cast. They have Kang Ho Dong, which is one of the top MC in all of Korea. Also, they have Lee Soo Geun, one of the most recognized comedians in all of Korea. They also have notable idol members from various popular K-pop guy groups that are also a part of the cast. Over the years, they started with just four members, and now they have created an amazing group of brothers that have fun and provide the viewers with so much laughter and enjoyment.

As I mentioned earlier, every season the members are sent to a different country in Asia, such as Vietnam and China. But this season, they are staying in South Korea, and are planning to film there, due to the recent pandemic. The premise of the show is that the seven dragon balls (stolen from the Dragon Ball series), has been lost and dispersed in whichever location they go to, and their job is to work together in order to get these dragon balls back. If they manage to collect all seven, then they will each be granted one wish. However, these challenges are catered to each and everyone’s talents, but they are extremely difficult. An example of this is when Kang Ho Dong, a man who is extremely well known for his eating and the amount he eats, was tasked to identify three cuts of meat that look almost identical. All the other members doubted him, but to everyone’s surprise, he managed to get them all right, which helped his team get the first dragon ball. However, if even one of them fails, the challenge is over, and the season ends.

This show is very well-known due to the number of highlight clips they produce. Whether it be of something funny that they do, or just something incredible that they do, this show, and its cast has shown that they are capable of creating a very entertaining show. I am always excited when they announce a new season because I know that they will not disappoint. I think a big factor that contributes to why this show is so successful is the fact that they act very genuinely. The jokes, the teasing, the support, and just everything about the way they interact with each other just shows so much love and true friendship that it just reminds me of me when I am with my friends. Therefore, this show is something I have no problem re-watching over and over again, and I highly recommend this show to any person that is familiar with the Korean language. I know that this show would be difficult for non-Korean speakers because some of the games contain Korean sayings and idioms, which even I have difficulty identifying. But overall, if you watch it with English subtitles then you are good to go.

For this cultural post, I will be talking about the controversy regarding Tzuyang. Tzuyang, or Park Jeong Won, has been caught up in a huge controversy that has been occurring in Korea, which involves backdoor online advertising. This young YouTuber has gotten big for her huge appetite and bright personality. She has always had this innocent and kind image, but people were shocked when they found out that she had been secretly advertising products without the knowledge of the viewers. The issue with this was that she specifically said that she was not taking sponsorships, so we could see where the issue lies.

In August, a YouTuber by the name of Cham PD was receiving backlash for the same reason. He lost over a million subscribers and was getting a huge amount of backlash from the community. However, he was not going to go down alone. He released a video that exposed dozens of fellow YouTubers that were doing the same thing, which included Tzuyang. This came as a huge surprise to the community because of the reputation she had, but the evidence he presented seemed irrefutable. As a result, an apology video was made.

In the image above, a snapshot of Tzuyang can be seen, where she is giving an apology for the actions she had committed. The public was confused and outraged because the video confirmed that she was admitting to receiving money for this backdoor advertisement. The young girl and her manager came together and released a formal apology. She burst into tears and continuously asked for forgiveness from her subscribers, but would ultimately state that she would quit YouTube altogether.

The response the young girl received was mixed. Many were furious at her for lying and taking money and sponsorships when she said she wasn’t, while some were empathizing with the girl. Some claimed that she was too young and it was the actions of her manager or older people that influenced her decisions. But the majority still looked at the situation negatively and she was “canceled”. 

When I personally heard of this situation I felt indifferent but surprised at the reaction the viewers had. As a YouTube watcher in America, I know that American YouTubers take sponsorships all the time and I see that as a normal thing. Many people who pursue YouTube wish to make their content creation as a profession and as a result, would need money in order to achieve that. As a result, I was always comfortable with this concept. So, I was confused when I found out that accepting sponsorships and advertising was looked so down upon in Korea. I feel as though she should have been more honest about her sponsorships and advertisements, but I also feel like she deserves the treatment she is getting for explicitly lying to her viewers. It is interesting though because though she said she would quit YouTube, she took about a two-month hiatus and has resumed making videos, which makes me question the validity of her apology video.

For this cultural post, I want to talk about and give my impressions about a news article that genuinely surprised me. This post will talk about the “cancelling” of Cook Gabbie and Josh Carrot from Korean Englishman. Both of these people are well known in the YouTube community, especially Josh Carrot from Korean Englishman.

I have made posts about Josh and fellow producer Ollie in previous posts talking about Korean Englishman, and how they are very informative and the content they produce is centered around spreading Korean culture to famous actors, entertainers, and the general public. They are highly respected and well liked, because they are so kind, friendly, and for their love towards community and subscribers. So it came as a surprise when this news came out.

The two in the photo are a married couple, and the drama started on their trip to South Korea. As we are aware, the coronavirus is prevalent and has affected everyone around the world, and for many this pandemic has been really tough emotionally. During their trip to Korea, Gabbie uploaded a video during their time in quarantine. In Korea, people from outside the country are mandated to stay at a government approved facility for two weeks before entering the country and public. This requirement is very strict and taken very seriously. As we have seen in the news and media, South Korea has been able to contain the spread of the coronavirus very well, due to the strict regulations placed. However, in the video that she uploaded, the video contained clips of how she celebrated her birthday during the two week mandatory quarantine. In the video, she showed friends and family coming to where the two were staying and would exchange hugs and gifts. The issue was that it was not just one group of friends but many people were seen dropping by. This sparked controversy almost instantly. The backlash they received was great and the amount of hate they got was just as great. Though Gabbie tried to justify her actions, it was clearly an irresponsible act and people were furious that they were taking this virus lightly and disobeying the mandatory quarantine.

The backlash she received caused Gabbie to delete her channel altogether. However, the video also caused backlash towards Korean Englishman and Josh, her husband. In the photo at the top (left), an image of Josh delivering an apology video can be seen. Josh had to deliver this message on the main channel of Korean Englishmen and they have also since stopped producing videos.

I am very saddened and yet disappointed that this happened. I respect the two very much and have been continuously watching their content for over a year. However, I can not overlook the irresponsible actions they took. They put themselves and others in risk of spreading the virus that South Korea has been trying so hard to deter. Though I hope that they would eventually return and make content again, I hope they take this time to reflect on their actions. These apology videos and articles can be found online and I also included the link to his apology video down here.

https://youtu.be/2gQzvV_yGMM

This is the final biweekly journal entry I will be writing for SDLC Korean IV. Over the past two weeks, both thanksgiving break and the last week of classes had passed. In this journal post, I will be talking about this year's Thanksgiving break and what I did to expand upon my Korean learning experience during this time.

This year, due to the coronavirus, our family was unable to meet all together like we usually would. However, I was able to meet with the immediate family that we knew kept quarantine laws and maintained social distancing. In addition, we only met with a small number of people to ensure that we were protecting ourselves and our family. During Thanksgiving dinner, I was able to see my grandma again. I never get to see her as much, but it was nice seeing her in person. She was happy to see me, so when I saw her I was able to show how much I have improved in my Korean speaking ability. I had no trouble speaking with her and understanding what she was saying to me. She was genuinely impressed with my improvement and was happy with my progress. In addition, I also got to see my aunt and uncle this break. I was able to talk to them about my job as a server at a ramen restaurant, and how work has been like during this time of the coronavirus. I spoke in Korean and I found that I was successful in conversing with them about business and how work was like during this pandemic.

The following week was the final week of classes. I found that I was not able to practice as much Korean as I would have liked due to the amount of work that was assigned to me and due during this week. I had two papers and a poster presentation that week, so I found that I was unable to make time for my Korean lesson plan. I met with Vivian and talked about our schedule and course work in Korean as practice, but other than that I was unable to do anything more substantial. I was not able to make time to watch Korean programs and other Korean entertainment that I usually would indulge in. As a result, I feel disappointed that I am finishing off this final week with low performance. However, I am proud to say that I see improvement overall in my performance and how far I have come over these past semesters of taking this course. 

Looking into the future, I wish to continue practicing Korean so that I do not lose the progress I have worked so hard to achieve. I plan to continue watching Korean entertainment programs and speaking to my parents in Korean. I have gained much confidence in my Korean speaking skills and I wish to take this skill into my workplace in the future, by providing care to those who may only be able to speak Korean. This has been a wonderful experience and a course that I will never forget.

For this week's biweekly journal entry, I will be talking about some of my successes and failures I experienced during these past two weeks. Overall, I found that I was successful despite the little time I had to focus on my Korean studies.

As we are approaching Thanksgiving and the end of the semester, I found that my classes are getting busier and the assignments are starting to pile up. In addition, because I am planning to graduate a semester early, I have a lot of presentations and outside priorities to focus on. However, I still try to participate and practice my Korean speaking every day. Over the course of these two weeks, I continued to watch the Korean entertainment programs I was watching from the previous weeks. Unfortunately, I still have not gone around to start watching the new Korean drama I said I would watch last week. I completely forgot and as a result could not watch the drama. In addition, I continued to speak Korean with my parents. In order to practice more, I called my grandma over the phone and talked to her all in Korean. I was proud to be able to hold a conversation with her but be able to talk about how I’ve been doing, how life in quarantine is like, and how she was doing. Looking forward, I plan to continue calling family members that I do not get to see due to quarantine and catch up with them.

In addition, in order to practice my Korean writing and reading skills, I am now texting in Korean to practice. I have been texting my parents but also a friend of mine who agreed to help me practice. She was born in Korea so she has been really helpful and has taught me a lot of things regarding spelling and grammar. I will definitely keep messaging her and asking her to help me in the future. 

Over Thanksgiving break, my parents have planned a small gathering with immediate family. We will of course follow social distancing guidelines and meet safely since our family does not want to catch COVID-19. This is a great opportunity for me to speak directly with my family and practice speaking with them. I am also excited to see them because I haven’t seen them in a long time. I believe that this is a good opportunity for me because they only speak Korean, so it is an opportunity to show them how much I have improved over the course of this semester.

Lastly, looking forward to the next two weeks. I feel as though I do not intend to put in as much work as I do during the normal weeks, at least for Thanksgiving break. However, during this time I will definitely have more time to watch more Korean entertainment programs and talk with my parents more. So, though I will not purposely put more effort, I believe I will unintentionally continue my Korean learning experience by applying it more directly to my life and immersing myself more in the culture.

It is time for another biweekly journal update, and I am now writing my sixth journal entry. These past two weeks have definitely been more successful than the previous two weeks have been. More specifically, our family had moved in these two weeks to a neighboring city and with every move, there was a lot of work that had to be done. So, thankfully, my extended family came and helped us pack and move our stuff to the new house. This for me was an opportunity to practice my Korean language with new people. Also, with the context of how we were meeting, I was put in a position where I would have to explain what to pack and not pack and give instructions in the Korean language. Though I didn’t think this would be easy, I found that I was able to communicate effectively and give proper instructions. I am proud of myself and how far I have come over these past years. I have found that I am much more confident and comfortable speaking in Korean to people other than my parents. In addition, I was praised by them that my Korean had improved and that they could hear the improvement I had made.

In addition, I had placed a couple of challenges for myself last week. I continued to text my parents in Korean, but I found that there were still instances where I could not explain what I was trying to say without using English, so I am still working on that and having my parents explain some Korean grammar rules/ vocabulary that hinder my ability to text them in Korean. I also continued to speak to my family in Korean and continued to force myself to practice my Korean. I also talked last week about starting a new Korean drama. I, unfortunately, did not have the opportunity to watch the first episode of this drama, due to the circumstances of moving and packing everything. However, I plan to watch this drama in the coming two weeks. I find that I have a problem with starting Korean dramas because there is such a huge time commitment involved with starting a drama. I say this because I’m sure everyone knows what it feels like to get sucked up into a good show. Once you start, that is all you are thinking about, and when the next opportunity to watch the next episode comes. Korean dramas in particular have this effect on people, especially me, which is why I am always hesitant on starting a new drama. In addition, each Korean drama episode is approximately an hour and a half long and comes out once or twice a week. As a result, if the drama is new I find myself just constantly wondering and longing for the next episode to come out. For these reasons, I find myself really hesitant about starting a new drama. However, in the upcoming two weeks, I will definitely try to make time to watch this drama since it is part of what Vivian and I agreed to work on. Also, I will continue to work on the same challenges I have set for myself this semester.

We have reached the fifth biweekly journal and once again I will take time to reflect upon how my language learning journey has been like over the course of the past two weeks. I met with Vivian, my language learning partner, over zoom and we talked about potential activities we could do for the rest of the semester. One suggestion she had was to watch a Korean drama that had been praised and was very popular in Korea. This drama was called When the Camellia Blooms. I have seen this drama pop up while I would scroll around netflix, but I never had the opportunity or interest to watch this drama. However, Vivian and I agreed to watch the first episode and talk about it during our next meeting. 

Concerning my challenges I have set for myself, I found these past two weeks to be unfruitful. I have been overwhelmed with a lot of work regarding not only dental school, but just school in general. As a result, I have not been able to go out of my way to put as much effort as I would like into my Korean learning experience. I find that this is one of the problems with this course, or not a problem but a mild inconvenience. As much as I would like to go above and beyond to improve my Korean learning experience, I find that when I get busy with other course loads, I begin to reduce the attention I would normally give for this class and only do the bare minimum, which is something I would not like to do. Unfortunately, over the three semesters of taking this course, I knew this was bound to happen. However, I also know that this only occurs when school becomes busy, but once it begins to settle down again I am able to put more effort into my learning. Therefore, I hope that these upcoming two weeks will fair better and I will be able to put more attention into my Korean learning.

In addition, I continued to speak Korean to my family, but also I was able to complete my challenge of texting my parents in Korean. Though I was very slow initially, I have started to figure out where the characters are on my screen, and I have become better at typing in Korean. I believe that this is a very effective way to practice not only writing but reading Hangul. I say this because in order to type accurately, I have to put a lot of focus in what I am typing and have to read it back to myself to ensure that what I typed was what I was trying to say. As a result, I plan to continue doing this activity. Looking forward to the next two weeks, I have set for myself a couple of challenges/tasks to do. I will continue to speak only Korean at home, I will text my parents in Korean, and I will try to watch the first episode of the Korean drama I said I would watch.

For this biweekly journal, I will talk about my progress over the course of the two weeks. Similar to last week, I set challenges for myself to help improve my Korean learning progress. I tried to watch more Korean news and entertainment programs. I, unfortunately, did not have much time to watch Korean news, but I had the opportunity to start a new Korean entertainment program. I started a show called New Journey to the West 8. I talked about this program in previous cultural posts, and I will explain in more detail in my cultural post dedicated to this show. I have fallen in love with this series and I am glad that this series has continued even during the quarantine. I found that Korea as a country has been taking the coronavirus very seriously and have been able to contain the virus outbreak very well. As a result, the people even when it comes to entertainment programs take high precautions to ensure the safety of the staff and the entertainers. I found that watching this program and having them talk about how they are dealing with the coronavirus is both informative and helps with my ability to understand and comprehend the Korean language.

In addition, I have begun working at a ramen restaurant in a local city. I mention this because there are instances where Korean customers would come to eat at the restaurant. I had the opportunity to challenge myself and try to serve the customers using the Korean that I have learned over the years. I had to not only serve and ask them what they wanted but also be able to explain the menu and the items that were included in the ramen and dishes. During this experience, I found that I did a good job explaining to the customers what was on the menu, however, I also found that my lack of vocabulary made it difficult to accurately describe the menu. For example, bean sprout has two words in Korean. With the yellow bean on the vegetable, it is called “kong na mul,” but without the bean on and just the stalk, it is called “sook joo.” I did not know this, and the customers corrected what I said. Later that day I asked my mother about the difference between the two and she explained to me what the difference was. I am excited to have found another way to practice my Korean that is more interactive than just watching videos.

Finally, I continued to talk with my parents in Korean to ensure that I was constantly practicing how to speak Korean. I feel as though this skill will definitely come in handy in the future for my career. As I look forward to the next two weeks, I will like to set up the same challenges for myself. However, I would like to add another challenge for myself. I found that writing is also one of my weak points in the Korean language. As a result, I would like to practice writing by taking time to text my parents in Korean rather than in English. This exercise will force me to really think about what I am saying and be able to write it correctly. I mention texting as a way to practice, because there is an autocorrect feature on my phone, which can be used to help me learn and correct any mistakes I have made. 

For this week’s biweekly journal entry, I will talk about how these two weeks have been and how my Korean learning is progressing. To start off, I would like to mention that I have been keeping up with the usual activities I do as a remote student. I continued to talk and converse with my parents and family in Korean. I found that this method of communication was effective, but also helped me better my ability of pronunciation and comprehension of the Korean language. However, I found that it has been difficult for me to fully portray what I want to say with the limited vocabulary that I know. As a result, last week I set a challenge for myself to learn at least one new word from my parents over the course of these two weeks. I would like to say that this has been fairly successful and though I missed a couple of days, I have learned a lot of new vocabulary. In particular, I have learned vocabulary pertaining to activities and everyday tasks. I plan to incorporate these words into my vocabulary and use them in the future. 

In addition, I challenged myself last week that I would also watch more Korean news and entertainment programs. I have been fairly successful with this challenge also, but I could not watch as much as I would have liked. As classes progress and the workload is starting to build, I find that I have less time to invest time into watching the news/ entertainment program as I would like. However, I have been able to watch on the weekends some of the entertainment programs that I regularly watch and continue to practice my comprehension skills there. Looking forward, I would like to continue this challenge and continue to watch Korean programs and news without subtitles, because I know that this is an effective way to drastically improve my Korean.

Over the course of these two weeks, I also talked to Vivian over zoom. Though my meetings are limited due to me being a remote student, I find that our meetings are always helpful and informative. During our meetings, I had the opportunity to practice my reading. Vivian provided me with an article regarding a relevant issue that has emerged in South Korea. This issue was regarding Korean youtubers accepting sponsored money, but playing it off as though they are not sponsored or receiving money. This issue was huge, especially with a famous Korean mukbang youtuber, TzuYang. This girl has been known for her eating videos and for her kind hearted image she displays on her channel, however information had surfaced that she had been receiving sponsorships and product placement items on her videos without informing her viewers. Though this seems like not a big deal, to me at lease, this became a huge issue and she began to get “cancelled.” I feel as though she did make a mistake by not being honest with her intentions, however at such a young age I feel as though she should not be getting the amount of hate she is getting. 

It has been two weeks and it is time to write another biweekly journal. Though it is still roughly early on into the semester, I have been actively working on my Korean learning journey. These two weeks in particular I challenged myself and tried to watch the Korean news with my parents. This was definitely a struggle because on news platforms the news anchors would use very difficult words and terminology relevant to the topic at hand. As a result, I found myself struggling to understand some of the things they were talking about. One segment I was able to understand was the segment regarding the Coronavirus. The spread does not seem to be slowing down in the US, but in Korea, they are handling the situation a lot better than we are. 

In addition to this practice, I also was able to learn through my lesson with Vivian. For this lesson, we went over the Korean slang and talked about some of the common slang used in Korea. I found that I was able to identify a majority of the examples she prepared but there were some that I did not know. Moving forward, I will try to practice and learn more about Korean slang, and I will try to incorporate it into my conversation with my parents and other Korean speaking people. 

Being a remote student, I find that it is a lot easier for me to practice and work on my Korean. One aspect of this is because I live with my parents who are native Korean speakers. As a result, whenever I had questions about anything I was trying to say or just any question in general, I would ask them about it. I feel as though it is beneficial for both me and my parents because while I am practicing Korean, they get to practice speaking and understanding English. However, I try my best to speak only Korean in the house, but I find it to be difficult at times to accurately portray what I want to say. Therefore, moving forward I would like to work on a couple of things.

Looking ahead to these next two weeks, I will work on a couple of things. I want to expand my vocabulary by asking my parents every day for a word in Korean that I may not have known about. I will do this in order to expand my vocabulary. In addition, I will practice my Korean by actively trying to only speak Korean in the house. Lastly, I will work on my comprehension by challenging myself to watch more Korean news and Korean entertainment programs. I found this to be an effective method to improve my understanding of the Korean language. I will update you on how these challenges go in the next biweekly journal.

For the first cultural post, I will talk about the Korean Drama, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay or 사이코지만 괜찮아. This drama was released on Netflix starting on June 20, 2020, and aired 16 episodes. The story was written by Jo Yong and starred actors Kim Soo Hyun and Seo Ye Ji as the two main protagonists. This romance drama was aired internationally through Netflix and gained a lot of popularity for its interesting plot.

The story is revolved around the ill-fated love between Moon Gang Tae, a health worker at a psychiatric ward, and Ko Moon Young, a well-known children’s book author. Moon Gang Tae does not have time for love, because of his busy life and his need to protect his older brother who has a mental disorder. However, one day while working at the psychiatric ward, Ko Moon Young came to read her newly released book to the patients. However, trouble rises as an escaped patient goes on a rampage to find her daughter and take her life with his. Among the chaos, Ko Moon Young finds herself confronted at the backstage with the delusional patient and she begins to provoke the patient, calling him a coward for wanting to take the life of his daughter instead of just his own. The angered patient tries to attack Ko Moon Young, but she retaliates. Right before she attacks the patient, Moon Gang Tae stops her and begins their first encounter. Gang Tae tells her to calm down and not to provoke the patient but is surprised by her assertiveness. Gang Tae continues to be patient and tells her to leave, but Moon Young begins to grow interested and starts to pursue the emotionless Gang Tae. Thus, beginning the comedic sequence of Moon Young trying to gain the attention of Gang Tae.

I first heard of this drama through friends, who told me that this was a must-watch. I believe, this drama is unique and has a lot of charm to it. The characters are well cast, and you begin to get attached to the characters more and more as you watch the series. Another interesting aspect of this drama is the fact that the drama raises awareness regarding psychological disorders. From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder to Multiple Personality Disorder, various psychological disorders are portrayed in the drama to raise awareness. I thought this was very interesting and something that made the drama more informative. However, my main praise goes to the actor who plays the role of the older brother, Oh Jung Se, who plays Moon Sang Tae. This actor has gone above and beyond and manifested an autistic character very well. There was an article that came out that a fan who has autism loved his character so much that Jung Se met up and spent the day with the fan and acted as his character for the day.

I highly recommend this drama to anyone who is looking for a romance, comedy, and mystery drama that embodies a modern take on Romeo and Juliet. Though the plot may seem slow at times, it is worth the watch and one that will make a lasting impression on the viewer.

It is now the start of the Fall 2020 semester. This semester I will be taking SDLC 113. I will be working with Vivian this semester who is my language partner. This semester I am studying remotely, so we will be communicating through zoom. I have a lot of expectations for myself this semester, but I am optimistic that I will be able to achieve at least some of the goals I have set up for myself. Some of these goals include working on my pronunciation skills, learning how to read more efficiently in Korean, and to study more Korean vocabulary.

In addition, I am studying remotely this semester, so I am living with my brother and parents. I think this is beneficial for my Korean learning journey because both of them are native Korean speakers and we speak Korean at home. Though I would usually speak a mixture of English and Korean to them, I will try to solely speak Korean this semester, while I am at home. In addition, I mentioned this last semester for SDLC 112, I wanted to practice and get more immersed in the Korean culture. I wanted to engage in the cultural food of Korea. I wanted to familiarize myself with traditional Korean food and the significance of the food for the country. For example, a dish known for its historical significance is budaejjigae, which in English is translated to Korean Army Stew. This stew has a spicy rich broth with beans, sausage, onion, ramen, and rice cake. This stew was created by army members in Korea, who wanted to eat a stew but lacked the normal ingredients to make a proper stew. As a result, they grabbed whatever army rations they could find and created this stew. Now this stew is normalized in Korea and is enjoyed by many Koreans. Therefore, I want to engage and learn more about different traditional Korean foods and learn the cultural significance it had on Korea.

Since I haven’t started my lessons yet, I will talk about some of the things I did over the summer that helped with my Korean learning. I have begun to watch more Korean dramas over the summer. Though I had the subtitles turned on, I tried my hardest to not rely on them. I found that my ability to understand and comprehend Korean has significantly improved as I immersed myself more around programs that spoke my target language. In addition, I found that I was able to pick up on hidden Korean jokes that are not accurately translated in English. In addition, I have begun to listen to more Korean music. One artist I particularly enjoy is Sam Kim. Sam is a Korean American artist, but he is able to speak both languages fluently. While I listen to his music, I try my best to listen to the lyrics and try to understand what he is saying and what the lyrics are about. As I look forward to this semester, I will continue to engage in these activities to aid my Korean learning journey.

https://richmond.box.com/s/vh7pnhlxx1pc51nsdu7dd95t0vnm854y

For this cultural post, I am going to talk about a topic that is very prevalent today, which is regarding SARS-CoV-2. At this point in time, the coronavirus has impacted the lives of everyone and has caused a halt of schools, jobs, and social interactions. The virus that had originated in Wuhan, China, has now spread throughout the world and has now been declared a global pandemic. People are coming together and isolating in order to stop and slow the spread of COVID-19, but it seems as though it will be a long time until our normal days can resume.

            South Korea was one of the first countries to get impacted by this virus, and they got hit very hard. However, South Korea has been able to deal with this pandemic very well, which caused other countries to try and follow their example. I think one of the reasons they were able to this is a result of the culture and mindset of the Korean people. While other countries have continuous new cases every day, South Korea has been able to nearly flatline their new cases back around in mid-March. A reason for this is that the Korean people emphasized that it was imperative that everyone who is sick to come out in order to contain the disease and virus. As a result, in just a month, South Korea was able to contain the disease. In the image above, we can see one of the drive-thru testing options they implemented to ensure that everyone who thinks they have it can get tested without going out and spreading the virus even further.

            In addition to providing tests, South Korea was able to produce an efficient test kit for SARS-CoV-2. A test kit produced by Seegene and his team, comprised about 80% of all South Korea’s testing kits. The testing kit targets primary structures and gene sequences, like the spike protein, of the coronavirus for testing. This efficacy has caused other countries all around the world to reach out and try to purchase these testing kits. I am excited and so glad that this testing kit was found early on and is now being used to help those around the world contain this virus.

            SARS-CoV-2 has caused an immense amount of pain and struggle for everyone around the world. As the number of cases began to rise at an exponential rate back in February/March, I was very worried. Though I am sad that daily life for everyone has become halted, I know that it is more important than we think about keeping everyone safe. During these difficult times where so many people are dying and getting sick, it is important that everyone does their part in battling this virus. That is why I think South Korea set a good example in their method of dealing with this virus because they took the necessary steps in order to contain this disease. I say this because other countries, America included, were slow to react regarding this disease. If they took precautions early on, then the situation may not have been so dire, but it is important that we continue to strive and do better for our future.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmcg-ynTdJg

For this cultural post, I would like to talk about a recent Korean drama that I really enjoyed called Itaewon Class. This Korean drama was originally a webtoon, which means that this story line was originally produced as a cartoon/manga. The drama was then produced by Showbox, and then aired throughout Korea from JTBC Entertainment. Once popularity sparked in Korea, the drama was then released and streamed through Netflix. I personally did not hear about this drama until my parents and brother told me that this was a very entertaining drama to watch. So, I gave it a try and I was immediately hooked on the drama.

            The drama follows Park Saeroyi, the son of a man who works for Director Jang. Director Jang is the man who owns one of the biggest food businesses in all South Korea. As Saeroyi attends high school, he gets into a fight with the son of Director Jang, Jang Geun Won, who abuses his father’s status to rule the school with an iron fist. Saeroyi, an honest, stubborn, and upstanding individual, could not stand the sight of a classmate getting bullied by Jang Geun Won, so he decides to stand up to him and fight him. This resulted in a situation where both parents got involved. Director Jang, who likes Saeroyi’s father, tells him that all will be forgiven if he bows and apologizes to his son. Being the stubborn person that he is, Saeroyi refuses and results in him getting suspended and his father losing his job. Rather than the father being angry at his son, he told him that he was proud of him for standing up to his beliefs. Though their circumstances were not the best, they both put on a bright smile and sought for a way to continue their lives, which was to open a restaurant.

            The summary I gave here only covers about one half of the first episode of the drama. Due to spoiler sake, I will not go any further. However, I can almost guarantee that anyone who watches the first episode of this drama will immediately get hooked, and then fall in love with the characters as the story progresses. I felt like what made this drama so attractive to people are that all the characters are admirable in their own way. The main character stands up for what he believes in and that sense of goodness you get from him makes you want to support him despite all the difficult circumstances he had to overcome. Also, the drama has a mix of romance, action, and comedy so it is continuously engaging, while not being draining or boring to watch. Looking at the reviews, this drama was positively received by most of its audience, and since Netflix has a subtitle option, I think this is a great drama for those who want to get into Korean culture can try out. I know that this drama was the buzz in the Korean community, so I think it will be worth the watch.

For this biweekly journal, I will talk about some of the things I have been working on towards my Korean learning experience, while under quarantine. Over the course of these past few weeks, I found that all I am doing is eating, sleeping, and studying. As a result, I am limited to the number of things I can do. Besides the routine of talking with my parents and teaching from Jimin, I wanted to explore a new way to expand my Korean learning experience. As a result, I decided to try something new, and that has been cooking. In the last biweekly journal, I mentioned that I would be challenging myself by studying and cooking traditional Korean cuisine and talk about my experience.

            Traditional Korean food consists of rice, soup, and many side dishes. If you have ever visited a Korean restaurant, it is common to be given many side dishes along with the main dish you order. Though I do not know when this cultural tradition started, it is evident that this is now an integral part of the culture. As a result, I grew up eating this way, and I even eat like this to this day. So, for my challenge, I wanted to replicate a traditional meal that Koreans would eat. In other words, I wanted to help my mom make food/ have her watch over me and give me pointers as I try to cook for my family.

            My mom is the person who primarily makes food for our family. She cooks very well and is very knowledgeable about how to make a variety of Korean dishes. So, I asked her to help me make a Korean staple dish called dwenjang jjigae. Dwenjang is a type of bean paste that has a very distinct flavor that is like miso in Japanese cuisine. This stew is one of the most common staples of Korean cuisine and is loved by most Koreans. This is a simple dish and a perfect and easy way to get started.

            In order to prepare, I looked online for different recipes and YouTube videos that showed how this stew was made. I also asked my mom to help me. The recipe consists of the bean paste, water, onion, tofu, and potatoes. From the different recipes I looked up, I realize that there is a different variation with a ton of different ingredients, but the ones I listed were the ingredients that all of them agreed on. Once I figured out the recipe and gathered all my ingredients, I was ready to cook. I chopped up the vegetables and tofu and measured out the bean paste that I was going to use. In a bowl, I brought the water to a boil and then diluted the bean paste into the water. I tasted it to make sure that I added enough bean paste. Once the flavor was adjusted to my taste, I added the tofu, potatoes, and onions and allowed the mixture to boil for a couple of minutes. Once the potatoes were cooked, I knew the stew was done and I served it with rice to my family. I was happy with the product. I enjoyed my experience cooking, so this will definitely be something that I will continue to practice and do in the future.

            We have officially been told not to return to campus for the rest of the semester. I am concerned since there is no way in the near future for me to come and get my stuff from my dorm. However, during this pandemic, I am not complaining, since I would rather be at home and be safe. It is quite scary to hear the number of deaths and the economic impact this virus is causing. However, in times like these, it is important to remain positive and ensure that you and your loved ones are self-isolating and only leave when you absolutely have to. If we think about the vulnerable people around us, such as the elderly, and how by staying inside can help them out, it makes quarantining not so bad.

            I bring this up because I have been told this nonstop by my parents, for these past weeks. Koreans, I have learned, are very health conscious. In Korea, people are advised to go to the hospital for virtually anything. As a result, in times of illness and such, Koreans are quick to administer treatment or refer you to treatment. Therefore, I have been keeping up to date with this whole coronavirus situation through my parents and my own research. My own research is primarily America focused, while their research is focused on what is happening in South Korea. I have learned that a pharmaceutical company in Korea has been able to create an efficient testing kit for the coronavirus and is being sought out by other countries. Coincidentally, I am taking a course on molecular virology, so it is extremely relevant during this time. So, I am able to relay the information I learn in class to my parents. However, I cannot explain in English terms, so I am forced to explain a difficult concept like virology to my parents in the Korean language. This required some prior research regarding the vocabulary I would use, but I found that I was able to successfully talk about the subject matter with my family and relay the information that I was taught in my class.

            In addition, regarding my Korean learning process, I am limited to the things I am able to do except for the normal routine that I do regularly, which consists of talking with my family, talking to Jimin, and watching Korean entertainment programs. However, I believe this is arguably the best form of practice since I am constantly speaking with two native Korean speakers, my parents, who are able to teach and correct my Korean. So, though I am unable to access materials I would normally be able to back at school, I gained another amazing resource. Looking forward, I want to challenge myself by applying a passion of mine and try to learn Korean/ Korean culture along with it. Though I learn a lot regarding Korean culture through my parents and entertainment programs, this is an opportunity I can take now that I am home. This challenge is regarding cooking Korean dishes at home. I always had a passion for cooking, so now that I am home, I am able to practice it. So, on my next biweekly journal, I will talk about how I did regarding this challenge.

These past few weeks have been so hectic. As the coronavirus continues to become more and more prevalent throughout the world, it seems as though my sanity is also leaving my body. The only bright side to this situation is that I am able to be home with my family during this time of quarantine and isolation. As a result, I have the opportunity to continuously be exposed to the Korean language. My parents speak only Korean within the household, so they are always willing to teach me and correct my Korean. They also correct my grammar and give me tips on my pronunciation, which has helped me immensely.

            In addition to being at home all day with my family, I started to watch programs that my parents normally watch. By programs, I am referring to Korean entertainment programs and dramas that I normally would never be exposed to. Of these include a show called Mr. Trot. The music genre of trot is very culturally significant for the Korean people. This genre was extremely popular for my grandparent’s generation and is beloved by almost all Korean people. I say almost because I do not see the appeal of the music genre. However, I understand the genre has a significant history and is the music that resonates with the heart of the Korean people. Therefore, this show is beloved by the Korean people and is doing very well with respect to its ratings. The premise of the show is essentially an elimination-style competition program, where people from various backgrounds come out and perform in front of famous Korean celebrities to see who will move onto the next round. The show starts with 100 contestants, but as each round progresses the contestants get eliminated. I could see how this show appealed to all demographics since there were a lot of young people come out and compete singing a genre that appeals to the older generation. I found that, though I do not particularly love Korean trot, thirty minutes to an hour would pass by instantly.

            In addition to this, I found that my ability to understand the Korean language has improved. Since my parents watch Korean programs without the subtitles, I am forced to solely rely on my listening ability to understand what is happening during the show. I believe I did better than I would have expected since I was able to understand what was occurring throughout the whole duration of watching the program. In addition, I found that visual support from the program made it easier to understand, for example when the actors would act out what they were going to do. So, if I do not fully understand what they are saying, I have a general idea of what they are doing. To confirm, I would ask my parents if what I deduced was correct, and they would either tell me that I am right or correct me. So, while I am here stuck at home during quarantine, I found that my Korean learning regiment has only become more intense.

These past three weeks can be summed up essentially with one word, chaos. With the unbelievably rapid rate that the COVID-19 is spreading across the world, daily life for everyone is becoming affected. The University of Richmond has decided to transition into online classes. Thankfully, it is not just our school that has decided to transition to this form of teaching. As far as I know, every school in the United States has decided to either close or transition to online education for the rest of the semester. This is very concerning, since I have no idea how this will impact my education, but I am almost certain that having classes online will only make learning more difficult.

            As far as this course goes, the professors have decided to essentially keep the curriculum exactly the same, which makes sense since this course is primarily a self-directed learning course. One major change is that we will no longer be able to meet our language learning partners face to face, but rather rely on communicating through webcam. Though this may be difficult to some, since I am primarily focusing on practicing communication and pronunciation this will make the online transition much smoother. But for this biweekly journal I want to talk about what I have done in the past weeks and what I am planning to focus on for the upcoming weeks.

            During these past few weeks of spring break, I was able to come back home in California and be with my family. My family primarily speaks Korean, so I had the opportunity to really be immersed in an environment that only speaks Korean. I believe that during my time here, my ability to think and speak in Korean has become much more proficient and natural. I find that I am able to confidently express what I want to say to my parents without having to stand there stumbling for words. In addition, over the course of the break, I watched a Korean drama called Itaewon Class. This was a very fun drama that was released on Netflix. I made it a goal to watch the drama and try not to rely on the English subtitles that they provide. I found that I was able to understand a majority of what they said, but I found it difficult to understand once they started to use slang and curse at each other, which are parts of the Korean language that are constantly changing. But overall, I enjoyed the drama very much and I learned a lot of new vocabulary as a result.

            Looking towards the future, I realize now that I will be home for the rest of the semester, which is something that I am not totally against. While I am here with my family, I will try my best to continue to speak Korean and practice my Korean speaking, while being quarantined. In addition, I will try to get in touch with my language learning partner and continue our weekly meetings.  

For this week’s biweekly journal, I want to talk about some of the high and low points of these past two weeks. To start, I just want to say that I did not have the opportunity to practice Korean as much as I would have liked to. Due to the past two weeks being midterm season, I found that a majority of my time was spent on studying. However, I will talk about some of the things I was able to do amidst midterm season.

            First, I was able to call my parents and family, but not that much. However, when I did get the opportunity to call them, I made sure to only speak in Korean so that I was able to practice my fluency and competency. In addition, I was able to talk to them about the COVID-19 and potential plans for when I come back home for spring break. These are two prevalent topics since the COVID-19 is supposedly starting to spread in California and the fact that I will be going there for spring break. My parents would freak out and ask me if I had a mask and to be careful.

            Second, on YouTube, I started to watch a bunch of Korean content creators. From Yeon’s couple, Korean Englishman, and Gabie kook, there are so many channels that I started to watch. Some of these channels are great to watch because they add in English subtitles, so if I didn’t understand something, I am able to look at the translation and understand what they were trying to say. In addition, there are channels that do not have English subtitles, so I am able to practice listening and understanding what native Korean speakers say and sound like.

            Lastly, I want to talk about future plans, since I was not able to practice and learn Korean as much as I would have liked these past two weeks. This upcoming week, I will focus on calling my family as usual, and work on my fluency and ability to speak Korean. Also, I will finish up my schoolwork to ensure that I can have a restful spring break. Looking into the future during spring break, I will dedicate this time mainly to rest and interact with my family. While I am back home, I will be placed in an environment where I will get the opportunity to speak Korean for a significant amount of time. Going back home to see my parents and family will allow me to not only practice but learn since I am able to ask my parents for clarification. I can get this clarification because my parents also have the ability to speak a little bit of English. In addition, my family spends a lot of time watching Korean entertainment programs, so it would be nice to spend time with them and watch these shows with them. I am excited to go back home and spend time with my family, and also for the chance to impress my family members on how much I have learned about the Korean language over these past few weeks.