"The Best Taste City in Korea" - Jeonju

Jeonju is known as "The Best Taste City in Korea," and for good reason.

Jeonju (전주시) is the capital of North Jeolla province, South Korea.

•    Bimbimbap

Bibimbap is so central to Jeonju culture, there is an entire festival dedicated to the dish.

The Jeonju version of Korea's beloved lunch in a bowl counts bean sprouts (콩나물) and raw beef (육회) as key ingredients.

Add Jeonju's gukbap to your list of hangover cures.

Gajeok Hwaegwan (가족회관) - one of the most famous restaurants in the area for Jeonju bibimbap. The flavorful side dishes and your steaming bibimbap bowl will promptly follow. It might be a little on the pricier side (especially outside Seoul) at ₩11,000, but the difference is in the quality of ingredients, and is well worth it.

• Jeonju Hanok Village 

It's living history not a movie set.

Korea's stunning traditional houses are displayed beautifully at Jeonju's Hanok Village. The Hanok Village in Jeonju has more than 700 traditional hanok house, many of which offer rooms to stay in.

The village itself is where many of the festivals and events are held, every weekend it is brimming with the craft markets and street food stalls. 

For more information :  http://www.jeonjuhanokvillage.com/ 

• Jeonju International Film Festival

Second to bibimbap, Jeonju is famous for its annual International Film Festival, referred to as the JIFF, which is held in the last week of April. During the festival, Jeonju invites actors and directors from all over the world.

More on here:  http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=292997

• Hanji Paper

Colorful rolls of hanji are perfect for gift-wrapping

Every visit calls for a good souvenir, and hanji paper qualifies as one of Jeonju's best. The Korean traditional paper made from the bark of mulberry trees is dyed and designed into and array of vibrant colors or ancient scipts. Hanji can be made into almost anythings : lamps, socks and even neckties.

Here is the official website :  http://tour-eng.jeonju.go.kr/index.sko

By XY

Weird Things People Eat In Korea

Seoul is one of the largest cities in the world and is home to nearly half the population of Korea. It's an extremely cosmopolitan city, home to hundreds of Western chain restaurants, including T.G.I.Friday's, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, McDonald's and KFC.

But what if you don't live in Seoul? What if you spend 2.5 years living on a small island in an even smaller village, with no fast food at all and limited options for Western cuisine? What you do is sample as much Korean food as you can, no matter how odd it looks (or how long it continues to wiggle on your plate after you're served). Here are the top 10 weird things I ate while living in Korea.

Raw garlic

Peeled, whole garlic cloves are served with almost everything in Korea, from chicken soup to barbecued ribs. Koreans will prove their fortitude by eating it raw. Most Westerners prefer to throw it on the grill for a few minutes first. But the true test of strength is surviving the next 48 hours with the smell of garlic radiating from every pore in your body.

Kimchi

Ahh, kimchi. The national food of Korea. Enough of a cultural treasure that Korea's version of NASA, KARI, specially fermented a batch to send into space with the first Korean astronaut last year. Essentially pickled cabbage, with some spice thrown in for good measure, kimchi is served with almost every meal, and if you're lucky you'll get multiple varieties. Some kimchis are seasonal and unfermented, such as the spring onion kimchi that's served in the early part of the year. Most restaurants make their own, and every batch tastes different.

Ginkgo Berries

Ginkgo trees cover Korea, and during fall their leaves cover the streets like a yellow brick road. As the weather gets colder, warm ginkyo berries are sold in street stalls and are often added to soups. The nutty taste and fleshy texture make them delicious, and Koreans have a saying that if you eat six a day you'll live to be 100 years old. Ginkgo consumption has been shown to improve memory, but the seed is no miracle food. Kids can be subjected to ginkyo poisoning if they eat too much, and some people have a poison ivy-like reaction to handling or eating the seeds. In addition, when the small round berries fall off the trees and rot on the sidewalks, they reek to high heaven if they're stepped on or they burst, leading some to call the fruit "stink-o berries."

Dried Cuttlefish

Go to a movie theater in Korea and you don't order popcorn. Your snack is dried cuttlefish, or sometimes squid. Often you can get it on a stick at corner marts, or buy entire horizontal segments. But the shredded sdtuff is the best. It tastes kind of sweet, and has only the slightest fishy smell.

Ski Resort Introduction (Gangwo-do)

Here to intro the resort of ski in Gangwo-do

For those who would like outdoor gaming such like ski or board , there are 9 resort at Gangwo-do will listed at below:

1. Alpensia Resort 

2. Yongpyong Resort: 

3. Daemyung Vivaldi Park: The Thrill of Nighttime Skiing

4. Phoenix Park Ski Resort: Snowboarder’s Heaven

5. Sungwoo Resort: International Snowboarding Mecca 

6. High 1 Resort: Fantastic Natural Slopes 

7. Elysian Gangchon: Closest to Seoul

8. Oak Valley Snow Park: Ski Resort in Nature 

9. O2 Resort: A Family Ski Adventure 

According to the copyright , I here to intro the resort for you guys only and may you guys visit the official website to get further information about the ski resort at Gangwo-do. 

Thank you.

Here is the official website which bring you more information regarding about the resort

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?gotoPage=1&cid=860691

by S1nG

Korea traditional games part 2

Let's continue on our games this week~ What will we going to play? Hmm, let us start with.....

Tuho 투호

It is a game of the players try to cast the arrows into a narrow-necked jar. It is a form of entertainment for aristocrats in royal court yards and noblemen’s residences, but today it's played by people from all walks of life. The score is determined by counting the number of arrows collected in the jar. It looks easy, but the hole is quite small and to throw the arrows accurately to make it go into the hole is not as easy as it seems, for it requires good concentration and patience.

Jegichagi 제기차기

Jegichagi is an outdoor-game usually played among young boys. It can be played alone or with friends. Jegi looks like a shuttle-cock in a badminton game and is made of an old coin and hanji, traditional Korean paper. The player kicks a jegi up in the air and has to keep on kicking it to prevent from falling to the ground. A player usually uses one foot to kick the jegi up, but they can switch feet, too. In an one-to-one game, a player with the most number of consecutive kicks wins. In a group game, the players stand in a circle, and take turns kicking the Jegi. Players who fail to kick the Jegi upon receiving it and let it drop to the ground lose. As a penalty, the loser tosses the Jegi at the winner so that he can kick it as he wishes. When the loser catches the Jegi back with his hands, the penalty ends and he can rejoin the game.

Baduk 바둑

This games is said that origin from China and come over to Korea during fifth century.Two persons are required to play this game. They alternately placing black and white stones on the vacant intersections of a line grid. The standard size of this grid is 19 × 19. The objective of the game is to control a larger part of the board than the opponent. To achieve this, players strive to place their stones in such a way that they cannot be captured, while mapping out territories that cannot be invaded by the opponent without being captured.

Gonggi  공기

This game is played using 5 or more small grape-sized colorful pebbles. This game requires hand-eye coordination, quickness, planning skills and patience. 

Number of players: 1 or more 
How to play. There are five levels for this game. 
Step 1 The first level you toss down the fives pieces on the ground. So that they are in front of you randomly. 
Step 2 Then you select one (piece A) to be the one piece that you toss into the air. You only use one hand for this game. 
Step 3 As you toss piece A into the air you pick up one of the other pieces with the same hand, as piece A is still in the air. 
Step 4 Then catch piece A before it hits the ground while you have the other piece you just picked up in your hand. * modifying to make it more difficult/easier: To make it more difficult keep all of the pieces in your hand as you try to pick up each of the pieces one by one. For beginners after you pick up a piece you put it on the side and then go for the next one.

 

Step 5 When you have all five pieces in the palm of your hand you toss them and flip your hand over to try to get them to all land on the back of your hand. 
Step 6 After it is on the back of your hand you toss them again and try to catch them in your palm. The number of pieces you catch is the number of points you get. Step 7 The second level you need to pick up two pieces as piece A is in the air instead of one. And then repeat steps 3-6 
Step 8 Third level you pick up three pieces and then one or vice versa it does not matter. Then repeat steps 3-6 
Step 9 Fourth level you pick up four pieces and then repeat steps 3-6 Other rules: - You are not allowed to move the pieces on the ground to group them up or make them easier to pick up - you are not suppose to touch any of the other pieces on the ground other than the one you are trying to pick up - when the pieces are on the back of your hand you are not allowed to adjust them to make it easier to catch back into your palm.

Although it looks like game for children, but young age also love this game too~

So, hope you will gain some ideas on playing folk  games from Korea. Next time, invite friends to play and have some fun~ :D









sources from: http://koreajjang.com/2010/05/15/korea-traditional-games/

                    http://visitasiaguide.com/visit-korea/korean-folk-games.htm

                    http://mymariamargareta.blogspot.com/2012/01/korean-folk-games.html

                    http://news.mofat.go.kr/enewspaper/articleview.php?
                             master=&aid=1743&ssid=23&mvid=626

by JY

Korea traditional games part 1

Nowadays, kids are playing electronic games more than traditional games, for me, I would like to play traditional  games rather than computer games or programmed games~^_^  Let us see what are the traditional games play by Korean. 

Yeon Naligi (Kite flying) 연날리기

Kite flying is a square shaped  and well-wishing symbols are written on  yeon (kite) made by putting bamboo sticks on a changhoji paper cross ways and sewing them down.   It is sent up into the sky as far as the attached string will go,   the string is cut. Koreans used to make wishes for health and happiness for the New Year as a part of yeonnalligi. You can also play games with yeonnalligi by competing to see who can cut the other’s yeon string first. The Pangp'aeyon (shield kite) and Kaoriyon (stingray kite) are just two of the many different types of kites. Kite-flying is very popular when it comes on traditional holidays such as Lunar New Year's Day or other folk festival days.

Paengi-chigi (Top-spinning)파엔기치기

Top-spinning is one of the favorite sports of boys played either indoors or outdoors, this game offers a diversion from the heat of summer and the cold boredom of winter storms. 
The frozen rice paddies or ponds offer the best place to spin the top.

Tops were originally round pieces of wood that had been sharpened to a point at one end. A string was wrapped around and yanked to set the top spinning. Many games are played with tops. In one such game, a mark is made and the first person who can spin their top around the mark and back to its original position is the winner. In another game, each player tries to knock down the opponent's top in a game of "fighting tops".

Yutnori 윷놀이

It is a stick-throwing board game, which is believed to have its roots in divination rituals practiced by farmers in the 5th century. Now it is considered as the most popular traditional game.
It is played with four bamboo sticks — round on one side and flat on the other. First, the sticks are thrown on the ground, and you move your game piece according to the number that comes up (The combination of flat and round sides in each throw determines the number of spaces one can move on a board marked with 29 spaces). All four sticks are thrown together, and your game piece must cross the finish line to win.

Neoltwiggi 널뛰기

Neoltwiggi is a girls' jumping game played on boards that look like western seesaws. First,  place a rolled-up straw mat under a long board called a “neol”. One girl stands at the edge of the seesaw, and the other one stands at the other side. Each jumps in turn, and when one comes down, the other is launched into the air. The object of the game is to see who can jump higher.  This game originated from the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) when women, especially young girls, were confined to their homes. Folklore says the game developed out of the women’s desire to catch a fleeting glimpse of men passing outside their homes’ walls. New Year’s Day used to be the only time of year that girls could see over the courtyard walls. Thus the see-saw became a sport of love instead of physical exercise.

Go-Stop (고스톱)

This is also probably the famous game you often see in Korean dramas, where famiy members sit down together making noises of card being slapped to the cloth (they even have special blanket lookalike for this game). It is called hwatu (화투) in Korean. There are two or three players at a time for this game. The general point of this game is to score points, usually three or seven, and then call a “Go” or a “Stop.” When a “Go” is called, the game continues, and the amount of points or money is first increased, and then doubled, tripled, quadrupled and so on. When a “Stop” is called, the game ends and the winner collects their winnings.

Wants to know more, remember to follow our blog for Korea traditional games part 2~ XD

by : JY

2012, Year of the Black Dragon

One of the attractions of life in Korea for many of us is the two New Years we get to celebrate. Korea has two calendar systems, one governed by the Sun and one governed by the Moon, and each of them has its own year-end holiday. Marking the Year of the Black Dragon, this year’s New Year begins on Monday, January 23. The Korean Lunar New Year, called “Seollal” or “Gujeong,” usually falls on the second new moon after winter solstice. Seollal is Korea’s largest holiday. 

The dragon, a legendary beast that is comprised of a combination of many animals including a snake, carp and tiger, is considered one of the most holy creatures - it is customary for people to buy lottery tickets after they have dreams about dragons.

This year is considered especially lucky, as it will be the Year of the Black Dragon, an event that occurs only every 60 years. Although the Year of the Dragon occurs every twelve years, only every fifth occurrence is the Black Dragon, making a sexagenary cycle. Korean people consider the Year of the Black Dragon to be a year of luck and good fortune, believing the Black Dragon ascends to Heaven at the end of its life. The last Year of the Black Dragon was from January 27, 1952 to February 13, 1953.

Besides being a favorite subject for literature and art, the dragon can also be found as a motif in many aspects of traditional Korean culture: architecture, furniture, clothing, ornaments and jewelry, and various household items. Also, many Buddhist temples are adorned with the dragon as it is said that nine dragons poured perfume from the heavens upon Buddha’s birth. Dragons hold a cintamani in their mouths – the magical jewel representing Buddha’s virtue – which can grant your every wish.

Everything related to the king had a dragon reference such as “dragon face” (용안), “dragon coat” (용포), “dragon seat” (용좌), with dragon engraved in the king’s royal seal. Also, the first work to be written in the Korean alphabet Hangeul was Yongbieochonga (용비어천가), “Song of the Dragons Flying to the Heavens”, praising the achievements of the forefathers of the Joseon Dynasty. A traditional funeral carriage is adorned with a dragon to escort the deceased to the other world. Dreaming of a dragon is the luckiest dream that can ever be, and expressions that equal the dragon with that of excellence and greatness are still used today.

The presence of the Black Dragon is making itself known in Korean society in many ways. The birth rate is expected to rise, as parents will want their children to be born in such an auspicious year. Department stores are selling baby products decorated with the Black Dragon. People born in previous Years of the Dragon can receive discounts at a variety of businesses.


Dragon Years are about important changes. As it is the presidential election year in Korea, there is no doubt that it will be. To learn more about what the dragon means in Korea, a visit to the National Folk Museum of Korea is highly recommended.

For more information :http://www.korea4expats.com/news-year-of-the-dragon-korea-2012.html

                                   http://blog.korea.net/?p=6629

Have a very Happy Black Dragon New Year!

                                                                                                                             Posted by XY

Interesting Facts About Korean Schools

1. Kindergarten is not mandatory, therefore if a student goes to one they are private schools

2. Kindergarten is for kids aged 5-7

3. Elementary school students go to school for only about 5 hours a day

4. Although elementary school doesn’t have long hours, a high number of students go to “academies” after school (like the one I teach at). There are Math, English, Science academies, but if a student goes to piano lessons daily they call that an academy as well.

5. Some parents (like my principal) send their kids to a number of “academies.” My prinicipal’s son goes to SEVEN: English, Math, Science, Essay Writing, Piano, ‘All Subjects,’ and Chinese Calligraphy. The total cost for this is $1,700 per month. His hours are generally 7:30am-10pm and on Saturdays he has about 5 hours worth of school. I’m not kidding. What a tough life.

6. English is required to be taught in elementary schools from the age of 10

7. It’s not out of the ordinary for students to be physically punished if they act up or don’t do homework.