Word for the Travel Wise (07/02/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Earlier I mentioned the cool film festival to check out in Korea if you so happen to be around. For the few with little to no interest in foreign films all because of the language barrier, get over it and read the subtitles! There are so many incredible movies to watch beyond our Hollywood summer blockbusters.

Today’s word is a Korean word used in Korea:

mol-lah-yo – I don’t know

My past lessons focused a little more on Korean dining which can be consumed about anywhere though finding a good restaurant might be tricky. For more vocab words found on the menu check out Korea infogate. Several more words in the Korean alphabet with excellent pronunciation guides can be found at Mr. Oh’s Learn Korean website. It’s a fun place to start to learn the basics. KBS World Radio has a three part, 30 chapter online learning guide all for free. I can’t get the hangul text to show up, but they’ve got sound clips of all the sample conversations available. Learn Korean dot net has most of the aforementioned along with a forum to meet other speakers both fluent natives and beginners. For a list of Korean language programs in the country click here.

Past Korean words: shik-sah, sollongtang, yuh heng

Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival

by Adrienne Wilson on

Film Fest alert: Fans of fantasy and Asian culture will be glad to find the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan) is in it’s 10th year and running from July 13 – July 22, 2006. Screening low-budget films, horror, sci-fi, thrillers and non-mainstream genres has placed the nighttime festival in the world of cult movie festivals. Actually, it’s the back-to-back night marathon said to be a major highlight. Three or four films in a row, unconventional themes, and let’s say a special baby-baby, love done by your side to enjoy the previewing…  Sounds like good summer movie fun!

The PiFan festival will take place at the Boksagol Cultural Center, Bucheon Citizen’s Hall Auditorium, Bucheon City Hall Auditorium, Wonmi-gu, Sang 1-dong, Bucheon, and Gyeonggi-do.

Word for the Travel Wise (05/04/06)

by Adrienne Wilson on

Known for its incredible weather around this time of year it’s no wonder South Korea would play host to their spring-time, Hi Seoul Festival. Running from today until May 7, 2006, the event gives touring visitors the opportunity to explore the city and learn a tremendous amount about Korean culture through classic music performances, parades, and various other acts. Now would be a good time to go, but if you can’t make it due to the last minute heads up, perhaps it is time to prepare for travel next year.

Today’s word is a Korean word used in Korea:

yuh heng – travel

My past lessons focused a little more on Korean dining which can be consumed about anywhere though finding a good restaurant might be tricky. For more vocab words found on the menu check out Korea infogate. Several more words in the Korean alphabet with excellent pronunciation guides can be found at Mr. Oh’s Learn Korean website. It’s a fun place to start to learn the basics. KBS World Radio has a three part, 30 chapter online learning guide all for free. I can’t get the hangul text to show up, but they’ve got sound clips of all the sample conversations available. Learn Korean dot net has most of the aforementioned along with a forum to meet other speakers both fluent natives and beginners. For a list of Korean language programs in the country click here.

Past Korean words: shik-sah, sollongtang

Spain Unearths lost Roman City — and Builds a Car Park In It

by Karen Walrond on

Archeologists found a lost Roman city
beneath the main plaza of Ecija, a small town in southern Spain.  According to an article in the Sunday Times, they discovered "a
well-preserved Roman forum, bath house, gymnasium and temple as well as dozens of private homes and hundreds of mosaics
and statues — one of them considered to be among the finest found."

This, however, didn’t stop the
city from completely destroying the archeological site — all in the name of building an underground municipal car
park. 

Dr Sonia Zakrzewski, a senior lecturer in archeology at Southampton University, said: “It
is a real shock when things like this happen. I am surprised it has gone ahead. There is no doubt this site is of
fundamental importance to archeology.”

Hmm.  Guess I’ll have to scratch that archeology-dig
vacation in southern Spain off my list.

New Korean Passports

by Adrienne Wilson on

Here’s a scene you’ll probably never catch sight of at the post office here in America. Apparently the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade adopted a new
system of printing, where photos are printed through a digital printing process using laser or chemical treatment.
The process limits the number of passports issued to 600 a day. If you look closely you can see at the time this shot
was taken they were on number 372. How I would hate to have 416, 402, or even 390 and we all know if the lines ever
looked like that in the U.S. Americans would probably stop doing the little bit of travel we do all together. This
picture also makes me wonder if having a passport is mandatory in Seoul or does the world really do that much more
travelling than Americans do?

via Korea.net