111 Biweekly Journal #3

[Seokjoon Han]

For this semester, I have been studying Korean with the help of my language partner, Rachel Kim. We have really come a long way in terms of just getting to know each other better! I think we can both agree that it is very nice have fellow Koreans on campus to talk Korean and just share similar backgrounds with! I’ve talked to her during the usual language partner meetings. She has actually introduced to a bunch of Korean slangs that I never knew prior to talking with her. One phrase that she taught me was “ I got cancer”. The direct translation can seem a little offensive but this slang phrase is used as an hyperbole when someone feels great discomfort. I believe it is very similar to the phrase “I nearly died”. I told her that in America, this would be phrase would offend a lot of people and she agreed. Another funny Korean slang that I learned from our time conversing in Korean is that “ the more perverted you are, the more you hair grows”. This one is just whack. I’m still baffled by why people even say this in Korea. But it is pretty funny. She also told me while we were conversing Korean, that she received her first dose of the COVID-19 Vaccine. She told me that one of her friends in the swimming drover her to get her the vaccine. Apparently, she felt very tired and nauseous the after getting the vaccine. When I was talking to her over zoom, she did look tired and looked like she had a fever. Hopefully she will feel better the next time I see her! She is also very excited to return to Korea to see her family. In fact, she is actually counting down the days till she returns as she has already bought her plane ticket. I shared with her that I bought a new acoustic guitar! I bought it off of facebook marketplace and it plays like a dream. This in fact is my first “nice” guitar as it is a taylor 214ce. We also talked about our favorite foods! Coincidentally, we both agreed that pizza was on top. She told me that pizza in Korea is pretty dank. And I recalled that Korean Costco Pizza is the dankest. Then I asked her a very important question: Do you prefer Korean Fried Chicken or Pizza. And she chose Pizza. Then this conversation eventually lead us to talk about our dining options on Campus. She asked me what my favorite hamburger was a tlyer’s. I told her that I was not a huge of Tyler’s and that I usually order from the Cellar if the menu for the dining hall isn't too hot. She asked me then what I like to eat from the cellar. In which I responded that I like to order their beef burger and sometimes the Salmon BLT. Then I told her that the campus ministry i am apart of is doing an outdoor gathering and invited her! Overall, my Korean has been maintaining well thanks to Rachel!