믿을 수 있어요?

Will you ever believe someone who walks up smiling to you and says, "지금부터 긴 이야기를 시작할 텐데 믿어 줄 수 있어요?" (From this moment onwards, I will start a long story. Will you believe me?). It really depends on whether you believe in miracle. I like "Il Mare" because it plays with miracle and yet makes it almost believable.

I like seeing the effect of love on time and space in this movie. At the movie's ending, love manages to break them all down. In reality, we are never really separated by time and space but rather by the lack of love for one another. I recall one story. Why do people shout at each other when they are unhappy? They need to shout because their hearts are separated by a long distance. The further the separation, the louder the shouting will be. So love does break down time and space and conversely the lack of it creates time and space.

Till today, seven years after, the movie continues to bring me inspiration. It doesn't matter where you are in the time spectrum or where you are physically located, if you do like the movie like I do, the time and space between us will break down. And if we do meet, I will be curious to know "who" meets "who". Is it the future-me meeting the past-you or the past-me meeting the future-you?

My Kwangsoo's Thought of the day: We are separated by heart and not by time and space.

The attached video clip is the last 9 mins of the movie "Il Mare". If you have not seen the movie you may not want to watch this.

마음을 훕치는 사람

I was first introduced to this Korean comics during our Korean Culture Course at NEX. 광수생각 or "Kwangsoo's Thoughts" is apparently a very successful comics series in Korea. The main character is called "Sin Bborie" (신뽀리) and not Kwangsoo as I first thought. The name "Sin Bborie" has the meaning of wanting to steal your heart. Yes, Bborie does successfully steal a lot of readers' heart by filling their hearts with warmth. Bborie is a sensitive guy with a lot of empathy for others. He does not lie. He has integrity. He is frank and last but not least, he is patriotic. Kwangsoo's Thoughts, in general, talks about love and separation of lovers, the nostalgia in people, friendship and family and the warm feeling and thought of life. If you can read Korean, you will probably love the comics like many other Koreans do. However, if what matters to you is the drawing then perhaps "Kwangsoo's Thoughts" may not appeal that much. Below are two comics strips of Kwangsoo's Thoughts. The translation is found below each comics.

Picture 1:
Teacher: Remember the homework on family tree and writing down the characteristics of your relatives which I teacher gave you the last time? All done?

Picture 2:
Bborie: Yes!
Other students: Yes

Picture 3:
Teacher: Oh really? Shin Bborie, shall I see what you have come out with?

Picture 4:
Teacher looks at the family tree. Bborie wrote the following characteristics about his family and relative.

Grandfather - Never gives me money.
Grandmother - Gives me a bit of money.
Father - Come back late at night so cannot get money from him
Mother - Only gives me 100won a day. Nothing more.
Uncle - Never gives me money and yet still makes me run errand for him.
Me - And I need to eke out a living with this little money.

Footnote:
Please tell your children that there is more important things than money


Picture 1:
Woman: Honey, do you love me?
Bborie: Of Course~! Like sky that much ...

Picture 2:
Bborie suddenly realizes that if he is to say I love you like sky that much, she may feel that my love is very low.

Picture 3:
Woman: Honey, do you love me?
Bborie: Of course~! Like earth that much ...

Picture 4:
Bborie realizes again that if he is to say I love you like earth that much, she may feel that my love is very limited.

Picture 5:
After all these thoughts, Bborie thinks to himself that he should just say I love you.

Woman: Honey, do you love me?
Bborie: Um, I love you!

Footnote:
When you want to say I love you, words other than I love you must not be said.

딸기도 비싸지다

In March 2006, a box of strawberry at Hoegidong was sold for a price of 2,000won. In March 2007, a same box of strawberry at Hoegidong was sold for 3,000won. Wow, that is a 50% increase in price. Did the property price at Hoegidong shot up as well or was the strawberry much sweeter in 07 than 06?

학비가 비싸졌다

Korean courses at NUS Extension are getting so expensive these days after the latest fee adjustment. The latest round of fee increases were meant to offset the "significant increase" in operating and rental costs, so said the NUS Extension. I guess the price hike is inevitable since the Singapore property market are getting red hot again. It also doesn't help that Park Mall building belongs to one of those Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) out there. If the REIT shareholders are going to earn 5% return on their investment every year, the rental cost at Park Mall and eventually the course fee at NEX will have to escalate at more than 5% every year. I started my first Korean course at NEX in Oct 2005 paying only $320. Within two years, the course fee has increased by $100 more to $420. That is about 15% increase in course fee every year. I still prefer lesson at NEX but with the runaway course fee I may drop the idea of going back to NEX completely.

This is not the Park Mall building where NUS Extension is located. This is I'Park Mall at Yongsan, Seoul.

벌써 1주년이다

Today is the first anniversary of this blog but I can do without the bells and whistles. I will write about my thoughts over this one year at a later time. As you can see I am keeping to short posting these days as I am still quite busy for the time-being. By the way, tomorrow is Korea's Constitution Day so there won't be any lesson tomorrow night at Singapore Korean School. The teachers and staff at SKS seem to have the best of both worlds. Regardless of whether it is a Singapore or Korea's public holiday, it is an off-day for them. Apparently, from 2008 onwards, July 17 will no longer be a public holiday in Korea. How sad. Anyway I am still quite relieve that there is no lesson tomorrow because I still owe my teacher a 300-words composition - in Korean of course. My teacher warned me that I need to start practising my writing or I will find it difficult to pass the writing section of TOPIK. No wonder I only see six pathetic souls in the TOPIK class. As they say, no pain no gain.

OTL 무슨 뜻이에요?

What does OTL mean? This is very interesting. OTL is not an initial and you can literally see the meaning of the word. In fact, Gamzadori, the cartoon character to the left, gives away the answer. OTL is actually a "word diagram". "O" is the head. "T" represents a straight back with an arm pushing against the ground. "L" is like a leg in kneeling position. If you look carefully at Gamzadori again, it is showing the "OTL" posture. Does OTL look like a person kneeling down in despair? That is exactly what it is used to illustrate - a person in a state of despair. Apparently, OTL is quite commonly used as an expression for despair in Japan, Korea and China. A derivation of OTL is OTZ. I should think that OTZ means the same as OTL.

시험계절

I don't really like to take test but yet I will be sitting for the Test of Proficiency in Korean (TOPIK) and the Korean Language Proficiency Test (KLPT) in Sep and Oct respectively. This situation is somewhat a "forced" outcome. In this semester, there is no advanced Korean course offered at either Singapore Korean School or NUS Extension. To continue with my Korean learning I can only apply for the TOPIK preparatory course at SKS and the KLPT preparatory course at NEX. My TOPIK preparatory class has already started since July 10. The KLPT preparatory course will start on August 11. It seems that TOPIK will be a much more comprehensive assessment of one's Korean language proficiency. The marks are equally divided among vocabulary grammar, writing, listening and reading. On the other hand, KLPT is biased towards listening with it taking up 40% of the marks and KLPT also does not test one's writing ability. Anyway, I don't have a need for TOPIK or KLPT certificate as I have no intention to study or work in Korea. Lacking of advanced Korean course to attend, taking test is perhaps the next best alternative to continue with my Korean study. The month of August and September shall see me getting busy again with my study as I will be back to having 6 hours of lesson every week. It is the "season of test" for me.

부산에서 찍었던 사진

一场病生了一个礼拜后总算有点起色。身体状况现阶段还有待改善。现在脑筋也跟着起哄，什么点子也没有，完全一片空白。翻了翻旧照片，选了一张九年前在釜山拍的照片。看着照片，脑筋好像突然间起死回生，很多思绪开始浮出脑海。当年到釜山时，秋意还不是很浓。不过凉凉的秋风，至今仍令我回味无穷。秋天在釜山登山和看海的画面一直清晰的存留在我的记忆里。在釜山夜市闲逛时，秋天盛产的大红苹果，叠得高高的景象，依旧令我忘不了。也许是秋天的缘故，所以一切看起来都很美好。秋天不仅仅是农作物丰收的季节，我觉得心灵也能在这季节里得到“丰收”。九年快过去了，或许是旧地重游的时候了。釜山肯定变了，不过我相信当年的那份感觉一定能找回来。

무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다

A ride on Mugunghwaho (무궁화호-無窮花號) train set me asking what is "mugunghwa"? A check on the internet gave "mugunghwa" as Hibiscus syriacus or its common name "Rose of Sharon". Mugunghwa is the national flower of the Republic of Korea and is worded into its national anthem. "Mugung" means endless or unlimited. It is said that the flower represents the enduring nature of the Korean culture and the perseverance of Korean people.

Though Malaysia's national flower is also called hibiscus, it is of a different species. Its scientific name is Hibiscus rosa-sinensis or commonly known as "Bunga Raya" or the Chinese hibiscus.

My teacher introduced me to a once bestselling Korean novel called "무궁화 꽃이 피었습니다" (The Rose of Sharon has bloomed) written by 김진명 (Kim Jin Myeong). In this science-fiction novel, the North and South Korea are not enemies. The actual enemy is in fact Japan. The nuclear weapons, being developed by the North Korea, are made up to be a conspiracy between the two Koreas. The codeword for the nuclear weapon is call "무궁화 꽃". In the near future, a war finally erupted between the Korean peninsula and the Japan over the sovereignty of Dokdo (독도-獨島). Japan tried to invade the peninsula but the Koreans fought back and eventually nuked Japan, forcing it to surrender. My teacher said that this novel is popular among the Koreans because it creates a strong sense of patriotism.

새 학기가 시작했다

The new semester at SKS started today and I almost forgotten about it. It seems that three weeks is a bit too long to be away from class. When I stepped into the admin office this evening to check out my class, a Korean staff spoke to me in Korean but I was tongue-tied. Just couldn't reply her in simple Korean even though I know what she was saying. I was as good as dumb. As expected, there was no Advanced Two class so I have to settle for TOPIK preparation class. The class started by going through TOPIK level 2 questions. Most of the questions were simple enough but I still stumbled upon a few questions. I saw it as a worrying sign as level 3 questions will be much harder, not to mention level 4. During class, we were reminded about the different Korean action verbs that are equivalent to the English verb "wear".


모자 (hat) - 쓰다
장갑 (glove), 반지 (ring), 안경 (spectacle) - 끼다
귀고리 (earring), 목걸이 (necklace) - 하다
허리띠 (belt), 넥타이 (tie) - 매다
시계 (watch) - 차다
옷 (cloth), 바지 (pants) , 치마(skirt) - 입다
신발 (shoe), 양말 (sock) - 신다

The 반대말 or antonym of "wear" is much easier.

쓰다, 입다, 신다, 차다 <--> 벗다 (脱掉)
하다, 끼다 <--> 빼다 (拿下)
매다 <--> 풀다 (解开)


The "highlight of the day" was actually a 300 words composition in Korean on the topic "여행에서 인상 깊었던 일" (Things that left a deep impression during tour). We were only given half an hour to finish it. It was so frustrating having so many ideas in the mind and yet unable to translate them into Korean on the paper. At the end, I neither hit 300 words nor did I finish writing the composition. This is just the beginning and I am beginning to feel the heat. The teacher is not showing any sign of loosening up on her standard. She wanted us to be able to hear fast, write fast, read fast and solve questions fast. I know she is not over-demanding and I need to build up to that speed in order to have a fair chance of passing TOPIK Intermediate level.


I received my certificate and the result slip for my last semester course. I hope I have not disappointed my teacher with my result though I know she has been quite lenient with her marks. Frankly, I miss her lesson.