Day: August 23, 2010

Caveat: 제목: 공룡액자

Kids / Language & Linguistics / My Photos / Teaching & Methodology / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

I don’t know why exactly, but I love this picture that my first-grade student Eun-ji made for me.  She wrote 제목: 공룡액자 in upper left and bottom center.  It means “Title:  Dinosaur Picture,” roughly.  She wrote my name, 왜제렏 (my own prefered transliteration), but then appeared to have second thoughts and crossed it out (or else maybe she experienced the vandalism of one of her peers?), and wrote 선생님께 (to teacher) instead.

picture

And here is a picture of the sixth grade town-building class.  These are five girls who refuse to leave – the picture was taken 20 minutes after the end of class, and they’re still messing around with arranging things in the town, discussing things they want to do, decorating their houses and businesses, etc.

picture

CaveatDumpTruck Logo

Caveat: If it weren’t for that ad…

Found Online / Life in Korea / Media (Texts/Music/Movies etc)

I had an American friend, Peter, who worked in Ilsan.  He's back in the US, now, but one time when I was hanging out with him and the TV was on, and this commercial came on.  One of those ubiquitous, twitchy, obnoxious TV commercials.  Peter and I had been talking, rather seriously, about the positives and negatives of "life in Korea," and when that ad came on, Peter said, in a wry tone, "If it weren't for that ad, I would love this country."

That ad still comes on the TV all the time, half a year later.  And it came on, and I remembered Peter's joke, and laughed.  And just to give everyone a taste of something small and irrelevant but absolutely, undeniably a part of "life in Korea," here is that ad.  Enjoy!  Or throw things at me!  Whichever.

I think 원캐싱 (won-kae-sing i.e. "won cashing") is a check-cashing or salary-advance type service.  As if you could tell from the ad – although note the exhorbitant interest rate that flashes up in the fine print at one point.

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