Korean Folk Village

I visited the Korean Folk Village in the Gyeonggi Province on December 2010, I realized I never really posted about it so, this was a good time to do it. 

Here's some of the History of the Village:

About 30 folk villages were relocated and recreated in the approximately 200,000 pyeong (660,000 square meters) vacant land around the area of 107 Bora-ri, Giheung-eup, Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province on August 5, 1973 and opened to the public after completion on October 3, 1974. 

The Korean Folk Village isopen all year-round and nearly 1.8 million domestic and foreign tourists visit here throughout the year. The Folk Village is a venue where visitors can learn Korean culture in a short time. 

All year round there are Folk Performances performed twice a day like

-Fasmer's Music and Dance

-Acrobatics on a tightrope 

And a traditional wedding  (Mar-Nov)

(This might be canceled due to weather)

Entrance Fee 

Adults: 15,000 Won

Adolescents/Seniors 12,000 Won

Chil 10,000 Won

For more info visite the KFV website here.

But why don't I show you more about it with pictures? (I sure love pictures!!)

After the Music/Dance performance

You have to write a "wish" in those papers and make a knot to put it there

I took this picture because my mom is a huge fan of this Dorama.

At the entrance of the KFV

This lady was making silk out of the worms,,,very impressive, she was really nice and explained those can be eaten as well.

The Dance....awesome how they make that lace move only with the head.

This man was walking on that rope dancing and jumping... I failed to take a video thou :(

Are those filled with..... Kimchi? Soy paste?... I couldn't help but wonder....

Another one for my mom... The KFV was set for Dae Jang Geum

How to ger Silk Fabrics... Next t the lady we saw before n_n

And after that... we had a nice lunch at a restaurant inside the KFV!

Banchan.... loved it <3

There was a couple in one of those tables (sitting on the floor) next to us and the Ajosshi probably listened that I wanted Makgeolli and was kind enough to offer me a cup of Makgeolli.... Priceless... Thank you Sir!!! (You kind of made my day that day)

Well, I hope you get a chance to visit this Village, I know I want to go back and re-visit.

-Gisela V.

My 12 reasons to visit Korea

1- Food

I want to eat more Korean food, street food, drink Makgeolli, go to lots of restaurants, visit a Mexican food restaurant (I'm intrigued). Go to all thos mini marts and buy crazy snacks!

                                    
2- Busan / Incheon - Travel Around

I want to go to Seoul first and then travel around S. Korea. I would like to visit North Korea but that's going to be way to complicated for a little while.

3- Visit people I met on my 1st visit

I want to meet with the people I met last year (In Seoul and Mexico) and would also like to meet some of my fav K-Bloggers (stalker much?? Lol)

4- Noryangjin

On my 1st visit to Seoul I went to the 63 building and I could see the Noryangjin market from there but I didn't have time to go that day since I had to meet a friend and I still regret I didn't go back :(

5- Take my mom/sister

I want to show them why I fell in love with Korea :)
                                     

6- Do a Temple stay

Again I didn't have enough time to do this the 1st time but the 2 temples I visited felt so peaceful...I need to do this next time.

7- Do a Korea Home stay

You can read more about it here:

8- Go to the Kimchi museum

What else can I say? I love Kimchi ^^

9- Take cooking lessons

You know I love my Korean Food!!!
                                                 

10- Speak more Korean

This is a MUST... Meaning I also have to study more

11- House of Sharing

Would like to do some volunteer work at the House of sharing
                                    

12- Take a tour through some of the "My name is Kim Sam soon" locations.... I have to!! This show got me to love Korea!!!           
                                                     

-Gisela V.

Wild Korean Review

Are you studying Korean???

Well, as many of you know I am, fortunatelly for me I met Sanghyun Ahn and Jo-Anna Lynch last year and WHY would you care if I met them?, well Sanghyun Ahn is the author of Wild Korean "A fieldguide to Real Conversation" - For Beginner to Intermediate Levels. 

 

On my 1st day in Seoul I met Jo-Anna Lynch and she was kind enough to take me to her Korean Class, I was ment to attend a Begginers class with Sanghyun but as you know, I am WAY to shy to be truth so I didn't want to go on my own, instead I went to Jo-Anna's class ...it was a HUGE mistake and I know that!, her class was mostly in Korean and I understood nothing u_u , later I find out Sanghyun was writting a book and ever since I've been waiting. Around August it was announced the publication of this Book and I was really excited for this and asked to buy one, a few weeks later I received a Free copy of the book. 

 

At this point I had just started my begginer lessons and I was just learning to read Haengul, due to some family problems (as some of you know...) I had to stop taking my lessons and I had to re-take self-studying, The Wild Korean book has been a great way to do it and I'm glad I still remember how to read Haengul because you won't find any romanization in here, The good thing about NO romanization is: You can't be lazy and will make you study harder and will improve your reading. 

 

If you know ZERO haengul, I would definitely recommend to learn the basics and to read, this way you can get the most of this book.

The book will start with the basics being "Nice to meet you" the 1st lesson and being followed by "I am", "I'm from"... this is obviously really helpful if you want to Visit Korea and want to impress everyone with your "Korean Skills" ;) 

If you already read Haengul, then make sure to get this book as it will help you transitionate from Begginer to Intermediate :)  , hopefully soon they will release another book for more advanced levels.

The ilustration on the book is made by hand by Douglas Holden and gives the book a funny perspective on each Lesson.

In addition to the book, you can follow their blog Wild Korean in here Sanghyun or Jo-Anna will answer your questions, post links to helpfull resources and from time to time will post a Joke in Korean (See? another way to impress your Korean friends with a joke!!), Downloadable audios can be found here as well.

 

Some basic information on the book: 

Writen by Sanghyun Ahn

Edit by Jo-Anna Lynch, Megha Dubal and Megan Morrow 

Ilustrated by Douglas Holden 

Price: ₩15,000 (Currently they are running a Special Promotion from 2011 November 1st ~ 2012 January 31th, 1 Copy + Free Shipping for $15USD!!!) 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/wildkorean1

Email: wildkorean1@hotmail.com

I want to invite all of you to get this book and keep your lessons going on! 

 

-Gisela V.

Changes....

So many changes, so many challenges....so many things
But I'm still around.... hopefully in a couple of days I'll be giving you GREAT news...at least for my mom, sis and I :)

Things are a bit more complicated these days, but as long as we are together I think we are gonna be fine.

So, see you around.... and hopefully I'll have to update on my Korean lessons soon! :)


-Gisela V.

To be a freak or not to be a freak???

That is the question.....

I've been thinking about this for a couple of days... Thanks to my Korean lessons and my love for Korean Culture I am being catalogued by some of the people around me... I used to fight it....until today...when I decided to embrace it because let's face it...F--k'em!

I really do

I'm tired of giving explanations to all those who keep asking me if I want to be "chinese" or why am I so obsessed with Asia.... REMEMBER it's different if someone comes to me and genuinley ask me "Why my interest for Korean Culture".... Just a few days ago someone asked me "Do you have like a chinese ghost??".... HUH??? seriously?? wtf is that?.... 1st...it's not Chinese culture I like...is KOREAN culture,,and 2nd...what do you mean?...Ghost like Demi Moore's movie?? ..I really don't get it... O_O (If someone understand this...please let me know!!)

Is this 2 much??....

Nop, I'm not inlove with every Korean I've met, NO I don't want to marry a Korean men, NO I don't listen to K-pop all day (I only have like 20 songs and most of the times I don't know the name of the song/group), NO I don't watch Dramas all the time (I do sometimes thou... hehe), NO I have never said "I'f I don't marry I Korean I'm gonna die.... :(" but YES, I like learning Korean, I like listening to some songs or watching some Dramas and being able to understand 1 or 2 words, YES I like reading Korean, YES I want to go back to Korea sometime, YES I have met a few Koreans and I like their personality (and NO I'm not in love with them) ...so... Freak??? yea, maybe ...a lil bit, we always consider someone a Freak or a weirdo when "they" (we?) are into something that's not quite popular, right?? ...So yea, I'm a bit of a Freak....and loving it <3

And by the way... No, i'm not the kind of people who wants everyone to join her "Freaks-clan" ... I recently took a couple of friends to have Korean Food and HATED IT.... it was Awkard...some of them had asked me to take them to try Korean food before but this was their 1st time.... and OMG it was awkward and annoying, I recommended the Bibimbap because I believe it's a very KOREAN food but it's not as strong as Kimchi, I warned them about Kimchi  being a bit strong and some will call it and Acquired taste since I know Korean Food is not for everyone....but No I had to deal with the "Don't they give you salsa for this blend rice??", "This is weird", "I don't like them", "Is all korean food that bad?" ...ok ok ok I GET IT!, you didn't like it... next time we'll go for some Sushi O_o  ...WAIT!.........not all my friends hate Korean Food.. Some of my friends and family DO like Korean food and had asked to take them for som K-Food...those are the friends I love..........lol jk!! ;)  I love them all


So, am I the only Korean freak over here??............am I?  u_u 

Oh!! by the Way... My lessons are going well :) ...I have tons of Vocabulary to learn ...plus Work plus...a trips in the next 3 weeks (OMG!!! So excited!!...i'll let you know more about it later!!),, 2 weeks ago I had the worst class ever!! I had a rough week and I didn't study and I honestly wasn't worried about it since the teacher said we were not doing TESTs every class...but tan tan taaaaaaaaan!!..we had one!!! I only asnwered 3 out of 10 "questions" ...and only got 2 of those 3 correct :'( ...I spend the whole class feeling guilty and dumb (let me remind you I'm int the Top 5 of the Oldies of the class...), so last week I was better prepared and even thou I don't think i'll get a 10 (A+) on my test...at least I know it won't be a 2... This time I know I have to study harder if I want to make it............Any advise????? :)

-Gisela V.

Update!!!

I miss you Blog and readers if I have any :/
*** I really do! ***
I have updates on my Korean Lessons!
This week I HAVE to bake something, I just miss baking so much u_u
Work?...bleh!!!

Well, see you guys later this week!!

-Gisela V.

Anybody home??

Hello??

Seriously!... I know I've been absent for a while, it's been a few rough/complicated weeks... As some of you know my mom had to go back to the Hospital a bit less than 3 weeks ago... it took us all by sorprise but things are....getting better?... well..I'm not sure what's going on, I don't know if I'm really understanding things or if this is denial.... to be honest I DON'T KNOW!!!!, but right know we have to focus on what happens NOW... we have to live day by day the best way we can...
I know I'm not saying much, but it's hard for me to talk about this... So for now... all you get is this lousy post :S *sorry!!*

So... Hola Corea... it's been a Month since I started my Korean Lessons...and NO I don't speak Korean yet... everyone keeps asking me if I speak Korean now.... why don't YOU try taking 1hour a week of a new language and let me know if after 4-5hours you can actually speak that language.... ¬¬ 
Good thing is.... I can read!!!...Awesome, isn't it?? I started learning Korean 2 years ago but I dropped it about 1 month later...I knew some of the vowels ans consonants, but this time I know much more!, I'm still having a bad time with ㅐㅔ ㅗㅓ  .... Specially with the O's since we only have 1 O sound in Spanish....but I'm happy I'm learning to read, the sounds and new study techniques!
Next saturday I have class #5 (there are 8 classes per Level....i'm still on Level 1) and each week we have a lil test.... next week's have me a little nervous, I have to learn 20 words and even thou it's not hard I still have a full time job and it's been a bit hectic at home because of the big C.... so, we'll see how it goes :)


What else??.... I have 2 things I would loooooooooooove to talk about, but it's too soon u_u

I promise I will upload a recipe soon!!
Meanwhile,,,, here are some pics taken this month :D

Charlin...aka The Cats whisperer

Con Joss @ Carito's

Beric & Joss

Chillin' @ Reforma :P

Ah veda!!

<3 <3 <3

Jessy's Bday

Jessy's Bday2

You guys are MY everything.... Love you!

Well... I'll be back... SOON!! I promise!! and I'll writte something good next time!

-Gisela V.

Hola Corea

So I finally signed up for Korean Lessons again!! It only took me 2 years to decide to go back to take some classes... I've been "studying" (or trying) by myself for the last month but it's just not the same as to have a Son-seng-nim (선생님) aka Teacher... to help you. 


If you are like me and don't know much or ANYTHING in Korean then this is definitely what you need...

You can visit the Facebook page here or here. Or you can send him an email to holacorea@hotmail.com

This if of course for people living in Mexico City, the mothly fee is $400 pesos + $180 pesos (for 2 books and an audio CD), and you get 4 classes a month and each level is takes 2 months (in order to pass to the next level you need to pass the Tests u_u *lol* )
Yesterday I went to my first Begginers class and loved it, we learned the vowels and consonants, got some tips on how to remember the alphabet and the sound, You can really tell he is a good teacher by the way he handles the class so I'm glad I finally decided to do it!

Isn't this a cute way to teach? 

Something about JinSub sshi (My son-seng-nim) 

- Nativeee Korean Speaker.
- CELA (Certificado de Español como Lengua Adicional), Nivel Superior.
- JLPT (Examen de Aptitud del Idioma Japonés), N2.
- The Korean Honor Scholarship, Embajada de Corea en EUA.
- Korean American Scholarship, KASF.

I'll keep you posted on my classes and my korean, hopefully i'll pass my tests and continue onto the next level. 


-Gisela V.( -Gisela imnida)