I figure it's about time I do this, so this post will serve as a running glossary for my blog, keeping track of Korean words, people, and places.
Chuseok - Korean traditional harvest holiday, observed on a full
moon. Generally occurs at the end of Sept or beginning of Oct. Wiki it
for more info.
Dakgalbi - Korean chicken dinner, spicy and cooked up in a giant pan with veggies and tokbokki
Ddokbokki - Round rice sticks cooked up in dakgalbi, extremely delicious. Can also be bought on the street on sticks.
Dwejigalbi - Korean barbecued pork rib, extremely delicious.
Gyeonggi-do - The province in Korea where I live
Hangook - Korea
Hwado-eub - Another name for the area where I live. I don't know how it's different from Maseok.
Hye-hyun Kim - Kim Hye-hyun. My coteacher/coordinator, in charge of managing the native teachers.
Kimbap - Korean California rolls, basically. Veggies rolled up
in rice and seaweed, sometimes with other ingredients added, commonly
creamed tuna. Synonymous with the fast food restaurants serving kimbap
as their main staple, where all sorts of other Korean food can be found
for extremely cheap.
Kristy (Byun Su-bin) - 20 year old university student who, with her father, gave us a scenic tour of Jeju island.
Kyu-chul Lee - Ii Kyu Chul. AKA Brian. The Korean guy who manages the soccer playing.
Mandu - Korean dumpling/potstickers.
Maseok - The most common name for the town where I live, at the northeast end of Namyangju
Migook - America
Namyangju-si - Literally translated means Namyangju city, however Korea has a different perception of city than in America. Namyangju is where I live, but it's much more like a county or district than a city. Slightly north and east of Seoul.
Native teacher - The name for English teachers in Korea, because we are native English speakers. Oddly enough, we can be referred to as both Native Teachers and Foreign Teachers.
Noraebong - Literally, singing room (however, sometimes referred to as noraeyunsupjang, meaning singing practice place), a place where one rents a room when drunk and sings karaoke
Nouth - The other native teacher at my school. Teaches 1st grade, in Korea about 3 months longer than me.
Oksoosoo cha - Toasted corn tea, sometimes referred to as "corn water." Drink at your own risk.
PC bong - PC room, a place where one can pay about 1000W for an hour on a computer
Samgyupsal - Korean barbecued pork belly, maybe. It's like thick
bacon. The name samgyupsal means "three layers of fat" or something
like that.
Seoul - The capital city of South Korea, and the largest metropolitan area near me, and in Gyeonggi-do
Sikhye - Korean traditional sweet rice water. A good backup when you can't drink corn water anymore.
Songra Middle School - The school in Maseok where I teach, named for Songra mountain
South Korea - This is the country where I live, work, and play
Su-won Kang - The pregnant second grade teacher, one of my favorite coteachers. Took maternity leave and gave birth to a daughter in October 2009.
Waegook - A foreigner
Please feel free to email me or comment with any questions/concerns/anything you want to know that I can add to the glossary. Thanks!