Loving Korean

This morning a Korean pronunciation book I’ve ordered has finally arrived. I was so excited to open the package and finally take a look at the book after the whole Kindle fiasco. But I haven’t even set the package on the table and the doorbell rang again. Mailman must have forgotten something. But no, this time it was a different delivery guy, and this time the package was from Korean Embassy no less!

Now this may make it seem like it is a usual thing for me to be getting packages but I assure you it is not. Actually, if not for my boyfriend, I probably would never receive any.

So how did this happen? A few days ago I needed some information from Korean Embassy in my country. I actually felt a bit guilty for bothering them, but instead of making me feel bad about it, they expressed their gratitude that I was showing so much interest in Korea. Moreover, they asked for my address and offered to send some Korean magazines! I was psyched!

I expected just a few magazines but when I took the package in my hands it was really heavy. I got a whole stack of Kwave magazines, a Psy’s CD and two booklets, one about Korean classical music and another also about Korean wave. Kwave magazines are published by KBS and are titled Global Korean culture magazine.

Now, those that are following us on various social networks probably noticed in the last few days that I was curious about magazines in Korean language to help me learn Korean. This solved the problem! Not only are they in Korean but actually every article is written in both Korean and English side by side which makes it just perfect for practicing Korean.

At first I was feeling bad because I know how much you guys are crazy about Kpop, but as I read further on I found more than enough articles for myself as well. Korean food, movies, directors, actors, various cultural topics like Hanok, ancient temples, Korean money, notable historical figures, short lessons about Korean language, examples of Kakao Talk chats and more. Oh, and at the back of every issue is a fold-out poster of some Korean celebrity, usually a Kpop boy band.

The contents of the amazing package from Korean Embassy

Kwave magazine with TVXQ / DBSK cover story.

A stack of Kwave magazine issues that has arrived

Psy CD with 6 tracks

Korean Culture booklets No. 1 and 4

Hunminjeongeum (훈민정음) document describing new Korean script

Korean ‘JUMP’ fusion performance

Blade and Soul a Korean game

Honestly, if you are interested in any aspect of Korean culture I think it’s a great magazine to have.

I only had them for a few hours and I already found out a really interesting story. In 1960 Korean Taekwondo masters decided to travel out of Korea and show the world what they could do, but the problem was: They only had one Taekwondo uniform between them! It’s crazy to think how far Korea has come in such short time.

There was an even an article about wedding dresses and with so many photographs of Korean guys I joked with Kimchi Man if I’m maybe being sent a hidden message here. He replied: “I knew we put a lot of effort into supporting mixed marriages, but I didn’t know we also put effort into creating them ^^” He’s a funny guy, isn’t he? :)

And finally, I would like to sincerely thank Korean Embassy for this amazing gift.

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