한글 - Hangin' with Hangul Since 1443

The Korean written language has been called one of the most logical alphabets in history. It's an alphabet, not a sign system, like Chinese. Its 24 "letters" consonants and vowels, can be combined in combos of 2-4, arranged in "stacks" or "blocks" to make a syllable. Each stack contains at least one vowel and one consonant

The letters in the Korean alphabet have a required order ("Now I know my ABCs"...), and children learn them in a song, which one can hear/see here

Many Korean words (names, nouns, institutions, etc.) have a Chinese letter behind them, much like English has Latin, Old English, and German among its grandparents. 

That's the lesson for today, October 9, the day each year Korea sets aside to commemorate the invention of the written language by then-King Sejong. The story is that he wanted a more simple way (than Chinese) for uneducated people to write.

Koreans are proud of their language; wouldn't it be kinda cool if we English speakers had a day devoted to its heritage? Here is a game that involves knowing the alphabet:

Class dismissed!

Marc

CARNIVAL, KOREA STYLE

About 80 miles south of Seoul is Gongju, or Kongju. Along with Bu-yeo, it was one of the two capital cities (not at the same time) of the Baek-je Dynasty, one of three co-existing kingdoms in Korea during its "Three Kingdom" times ... about 50 BCE to around 500 CE. 

Every year, one of these two cities sponsors the Baek-je Cultural Festival. HUGE. The entire town is converted into open markets of traditional foods, dramas, crowd-pleasing dramas, costumes, dances ... THE WORKS!

I had two great personal moments. At the Tomb of King Muryeong, there were open aired tents, with women (mostly) serving up, in traditional dress, traditional teas and foods. 

The rest of the afternoon I toured the old fortress area. I should say here that I toured this area with two old English students I had, and had not seen, since 1981, in Daejeon. Here I am with one, on a traditional see-saw.

Second Great Moment: the evening "parade" that had everyone excited. We arrived an hour early at the town's main square/circle, and hundreds of folks had already taken their place.

My first lesson of the evening is that "parade" is nine parts Latin American Carnival and one part parade. Surrounding towns and villages send their "act" to the ancient capital, and they have 15 minutes to strut, dance, sing, and act. Wow! Pictures below will show you this. 

My second lesson was that I was, as a foreigner, with an expensive-looking camera, expected to go right into the middle of the actions. The other photographers were. They thought I was foreign press. I must say, after a day of touring, I needed some alone-time, introvert-mode, and the best way I know how to do it is aim a camera.

Here are a bunch of pictures. DO PLEASE see the THREE VIDEOS I have linked for you at the bottom of the pictures. (If you wish to see the complete picture-set, click here.)

Am I making the pictures too big? Let me know.

VIDEOS on Youtube:

1	Female Buddhist Monks Drumming (Drool on this, Asheville Drum Circle!!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl65vgQsjV0&feature=plcp
2	Rare Korean Performance-Ritual to help the soul to the next  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEX-kANZamw&feature=plcp
3	K-Pop Style synchronized dancing  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GE0k8xat44&feature=plcp

Until next time,
Marc

SeoulFull-Moon

Behind Ewha is a small mountain - Mt. An - that was part of old military and firefighting lookout networks. Read more about "An-san" here.

Last night, with full moon and good weather, I climbed up with my camera. All pictures are looking East. I made the pictures large. Use your side-ways arrows button to re-frame, or your <CTRL+-> (Control + minus sign):

Seo-Dae-Moon prison, now a shrine against Japanese imperialism and Korea's dictatorial recent past.

Thanks for looking. 
-Marc

Caf-fiend!

This post is short on words, long on pictures ... of coffee shops.

Though nearly impossible to find the coffee bean for home grinding, coffee's popularity is nonetheless high. In every subway station and at major public places there is a coffee machine that will dispense to you a coffee-jolt for 30-60 cents. My own theory is that the tremendous energy of Korean industry and commerce is fueled by ubiquitous and cheap caffeine delivery systems. 

Coffee shops are everywhere. They are a major cultural force here, as coffee is a veritable social lubricant. But it is expensive. Most brewed coffee in shops starts at $3.00 to 4.00 for a regular cuppa Joe. I have read that one stereotype of young Koreans is that they will eat Ramen (cheap noodles) all day in order to have the coffee shop money for evening socializing. 

So, brew a cup, and enjoy:

Reportedly owned/operated by The Unification Church

They're everywhere!

Now, hope you caffiends out there enjoyed that.

Marc