Letter 4

Here is my most recent letter #4. I am telling the story of the raccoons from last weekend.

토요일, 나는 흥분 시키는 체험한 일 있었어요.
토요일, 나는 흥분되는 경험을 했어요.
Saturday, I had an exciting experience.

아침 일찍이, 나는 혼자 사무소 이었어요.
아침 일찍, 나는 혼자 사무실에 있었어요.
Early in the morning, I was alone at the office.

소리 들었지만 같이 일하는 사람 없었어요.
어떤 소리를 들었지만, 같이 일하는 사람은 아무도 없었어요.
I heard a noise, but no co-worker was there.

로비에 겄었어요. 나는 너무 기습핬어요.
나는 로비로 갔어요. 나는 너무 놀랐어요.
I went to the lobby. I was very surprised.

로비에 두 미국 너구리가 천장을 실패로 끝났었어요!!
로비에 두 마리의 미국 너구리가 천장에서 떨어져 있었어요!!
In the lobby, two raccoons had fallen through the ceiling!!

경찰관을 전화핬고 그분들 사무소를 왔었어요.
경찰관에게 전화를 했고, 그들은 사무실로 왔어요.
I called the police, and they came to the office.

그리고 우리가 미국 너구리들을 쫓아냈었어요.
그리고나서 우리는 너구리들을 쫓아냈어요.
Then we chased away the raccoons.

끝.
The End.

VOCABULARY

Raccoon 미국 너구리
Ceiling 천장
To fall 떠어지다 or 내리다 /떨어지다. 내리다
To fall through 실포로 끈나다 or 수포로 돌아가다
/실패로 끝나다 , 수포로 돌아가다.
Policeman 경찰관
Surprise (verb) 기습 하다 / 놀라다
To telephone 전화 아다 or 얘기 하다 / 전화하다 , 얘기하다
To chase away 쫓아내다
Excite (verb) 흥분 시키다
Excitement 흥분
Exciting 흥분 시키는
Experience 체험한 일 / 경험, 체험
Office 사무소
Early 일찍이
Noise 소리 / 소리, 소음
Co-worker 같이 일하는 사감 / 같이 일하는 사람 , 직장동료,
함께 일하는 사람
Lobby 로비

Breakfast Time

One of my artistic friends prepared this excellent diagram of my breakfast food, complete with labels for each food in Korean. If I understand the title, it says "Chris' Breakfast Time".

Breakfast Diagram 

Santa's Village

Last night we braved the cold weather, and headed out to Santa's Village. This is an event put on by our city every year for the children. Unfortunately, YS#1 could not go with us. She went looking for a part time job yesterday. At the third store she asked for an application form, they told her she was hired if she could start last night! So, she was at work at her new job - selling clothes in a small store in the mall. Here are some photos from Santa's Village:

YS#4 Meets Santa Claus 

One of Santa's Reindeers 

YS#4 Meets Gingerbread Man 

Concentrating Hard on the Craft 

Letter 3

Well, I have a numbering problem with my letters, but I am too lazy to change it. We go from Letter 1 right to Letter 3. This story is about my car. I drive an old 1989 Mazda 626, which just won't die. Instead of making car payments to the bank every month, I make payments to the mechanic about every 3-6months. I guess I'm coming out ahead.

I noticed several places in this letter and others where I just make a spelling error on a new word. I checked a few of these in my dictionary, and I am just seeing the words wrong. The problem is twofold - my Korean/English dictionary has very small size printing, and my eyesight is getting worse. My eye doctor told me two years ago that I would soon need reading glasses, maybe that time has come. In the meantime, I'll just use a magnifying glass for the dictionary.


요즘에 나는 너무 여해하고있어서,
요즘에 나는 여행을 많이 하고 있어서,
These days, because I am travelling a lot,

9월30일 에서 지난주까지 내 차 오직 주치 핬어요 – 안 몰었어요.
9월 30일부터 지난주까지 내 차를 계속 주차했어요 ( 몰지 않았어요).
From 30 Sep until last week my car was only parked (it wasn't driven).

미국에 돌아왔었어요, 그때 내 차 조금 문제 있었어요.
미국에 돌아왔었어요. 그 때 내 차는 문제가 조금 있었어요.
I came back to America, and my car had a small problem.

어제 나는 문제에게 발견 핬어요.
어제 나는 그 문제를 발견했어요.
Yesterday I found the problem.

기겨공 봤었어요, 그리고 물펌프과 라지에터는 새고있었어요.
기계공이 와서 차를 봤었어요. 그런데 물펌프와 라지에터가 새고 있었어요.
I took my car to the mechanic, and my water pump and radiator was leaking.

오늘 내 차 수리하지만, 내 지갑 50만원 가볍게 하세요.
오늘 내 차를 수리하겠지만, 50만원이 지출이 되어 내 지갑이 가벼워지겠군요.
Today my car was repaired, but my wallet became $500 lighter.

VOCABULARY

여해하다 to travel 여행하다
주치하다 to park 주차하다
물다 to drive (차를 )몰다
발견하다 to find 발견하다, 찾다
기겨공 mechanic 기계공
펌프 pump
라자에터 radiator (also 라디에이터)
새다 to leak
수리하다 to repair 고치다, 수리하다
지갑 wallet
가변게 하다 to lighten (opposite: to make heavy) 가볍게하다. 가벼워지다

Homecoming, Kimchi

Yesterday Young Stumbler #1 came home from college for the Christmas Holidays. She has been home before this Fall, but because of my travels I have missed her. She will be home for over a month - we are all glad for her to be home, although YS#3 must give up her new room for her older sister. Here we all are in front of the Christmas tree.

All the Family at Home 

After dinner, the girls wanted to watch a "chick flick" (movie for girls), "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants". My son, YS#2, only lasted about 1/2 way through the movie before he left to his room. I made it all the way through the movie, because the girls kept telling me that there would be jet fighter planes "very soon now".

Today I made kimchi soup for breakfast, but the story begins over a week ago when I bought some kimchi at the local Korean grocery store. I wanted to make some fried kimchi (뽁음김치). But, the kimchi I bought was very very salty. I think there was some mistake when they made it - I have NEVER tasted kimchi this salty. I was about to throw it out, when I took YS#2 to have his hair cut on Wednesday. My haircut lady is Korean, and she suggested that I wash the kimchi in water and make some kimchi soup (김치찌개) with it. I have heard that it is a simple dish to make - she said basically all you do is put kimchi and water in the pot and boil it. You can add some various things if you want - some meat, ricecake slices (떡), or tofu (두부) for example. So, Wednesday night I boiled a big pot of kimchi soup, smelling up the whole house. Yesterday, on the drive home from work, I stopped at another Korean grocery store and got some tofu and rice cake slices. Last night I sliced up the tofu and put in the big lock-n-lock container of kimchi soup.

So, this morning, I made my Korean style breakfast. I boiled some of the kimchi soup, and added a handful of rice cake slices, and some leftover meat (fish and turkey). Once it came to a boil, I added an egg to the soup, just like I do with Sundubu soup (순두부찌개). It was delicious. But my lock-n-lock container is still full - I think I have many more mornings of Korean breakfast before I finish it.

Korean Breakfast Ingredients 

Kimchi Soup w/ Tofu, Ricecake Slices, Fish and Turkey 

Korean Breakfast 

Letter 1

Some of my Korean friends were interested in my recent attempt to study Hangul by writing short letters (e-mail, actually) to a penpal. This person makes corrections to my letter and sends it back to me for study. I will not name this person. In Korea, when I have asked a grammar or spelling questions to my friends, I have seen them almost come to a fight over the answer. One particularly rough argument was whether the spelling of the future tense was -을거예요 or -을거에요. After listening to many discussions, I have convinced myself that the correct spelling is 예요, but apparently many Koreans spell it the other way, and both groups strongly believe that they are right.

Anyway, to avoid embarassment to my penpal / teacher, I will not give the name. I'll publish my letters as I write them, about 2 or 3 per week. Some of my Korean friends have also complained about too much English words on my blog, so this should make them happy. Although the Korean probably uses the same language skill as a 2 year old baby. For my English speaking friends, this letter describes one day my colleague John and I went to the nearby Korean restaurant for lunch.

So, at the risk of embarassing myself, here is my first Korean letter. My writing is first, and the correction is below in red. (EDIT: I added the rough English equivalent in BLUE, for my English speaking friends and family)

_______(아/야) ~ 크리스 입니다.
_______씨, 크리스입니다.
Dear ______, This is Chris.

지난주, 저와 전가 한식 첨심밥 같이 갔었어요.
지난주, 저와 죤은 한식 점심밥을 먹으러 같이 갔었어요.
Last week, John and I ate went to lunch together and ate Korean food.

나가 뷔패 있고 닭구이 먹었어요.
난 뷔페를 이용하며 , 닭구이를 먹었어요.
I ate from grilled chicken from the buffet.

전이 뷔패 없고 만두국 먹었어요.
죤은 뷔페를 이용하지 않았고, 만두국을 먹었어요.
John didn't have the buffet, he had dumpling soup.

당연히 반찬 많아요.
당연히 반찬도 많았어요.
Of course we had Korean side dishes, also.

예컨대, 유리가 김치를과 만두를과 깍두기를과 밥을과 먹었어요.
예를 들면, 우리는 김치와 만두, 깍두기 그리고 밥을 먹었어요 .
For example, we ate kimchi, won-tons, radish kimchi and rice.

첨심밥 뒤에, 난 아줌마를 말하셨어요:
점심식 사 후에 난 아줌마에게 말했어요:
After lunch, I said to the waitress:

“요즘에, 난 특한식을 먹을수있어요. 이를테면 산낙지와 생 간과 산새우와 …”
“요즘, 저는 특한식을 먹을 수 있어요 . 이를테면 산낙지와 생간과 산새우...등등( and so on) "
"These days, I can eat special Korean foods. For example, raw octopus, liver, and shrimp."

아줌마 너무 놀란 이었어요!
아줌마는 너무 놀 랐어요!
The waitress was surprised!

이번주 뽁음김치 요리하고싶어요.
이번주 볶음 김치 요리하고 싶어요.
This week I want to make some fried kimchi.

이주말, 김치를 샀었기 때문에요.
이번 주말에 김치를 샀기 때문이에요.
So this weekend I bought some kimchi.

끝.
The End.

VOCABULARY

OF COURSE 물론 or 당연히
FOR EXAMPLE 예 컨대 or 이를테면 예를 들면
AFTER 뒤에 후에
WEEKEND 주말
LAST WEEK 지난주
THIS WEEK 이번 주
SURPRISE 놀란
THE END 끝

EDIT: There was a subtle hint in the salutation of the letter to the identity of my penpal, which I have just removed by changing it to (아/야).

Racoon Surprise

Today I arrived to my office as normal, and after maybe 1 hour I heard a noise in the front lobby. I thought someone else had arrived. But, after a few minutes, I realized that nobody had walked by my office. Strange, I thought. A little later, I went to the break room to make some tea, and I heard a noise again in the lobby. I went to investigate, and there was a hole in the ceiling. I looked more, and found a racoon! I tried to photograph it, but the light was poor. Here is the photo with some adjustments, but it is not clear:

Racoon Attack!! 

You can see him on the wall. I called the city animal department to help, but they were not open at that time. They sent the police to help me. Before the police arrive, I discover that there are TWO racoons! One of them is friendly, and I am able to make him go outside through the door. The other one is too shy, and he will not come to the door. The policemen arrive, and they and I are able to push the racoon out the door with broom and carpets.

Quite a surprise.

Greatest Show On Earth

Last night, we took Young Stumbler #4 to the Circus. It was a surprise - she has always wanted to go to the circus. We first went to dinner, and during the meal we gave her some hints. Finally, on the drive to the circus she guessed it (after we spelled circus for her C-I-R-C-U-S ). Here are some photos, not that great, but the show the general circus atmosphere and most of the cool animals.

Elephant Art 

Every Circus Must Have Clowns... 

Stack of Clowns 

Horses and Zebras 

Camels - One Hump, Two Humps, More? 

Tigers - GRRRRRR..... 

Whoa.... 

Elephants on Stools 

Step One, Step Two, Be Careful... 

Through The Hoop ! 

More Violin Playing

When I left my home, it was 2 months ago and the weather was still warm. The weather was turning cold when I returned last week, and now I would say it is now winter time. But, my car has been having some problems. First, I noticed the heater was not working, or it would only work sometimes. Yesterday morning, I left my office at 8am to see YS#3 play violin in a quartet at a local department store.

As I got to my car in the parking lot, I saw some frost on the windshield. No problem, I cleaned it off with the scraper. But the window was STILL not clear! There was also frost on the INSIDE of the windshield! Something is very wrong here. I scraped the frost on the inside, too, and my car looked like it was snowing inside:

Snow INSIDE My Car??? 

Anyway, I arrived at the department store and got to hear some of the music. Here are two photos:

Young Stumbler #3 on the Violin 

YS#3 Playing in Quartet 

I finally figured out my car problem last night. The radiator was VERY low on water. This morning I added antifreeze, it needed just over 1 gallon (4 liters)! But, now the heater is working well. I still cannot explain the snow inside the car, weird. Hopefull I won't have that problem anymore. Now I need to be alert for any small leaks, to find out why the water was so low.

Chaeyeon Search

I thought I would search to see if there were any photos from Chaeyeon's comeback specials these days on the internet. To my surprise, when I did a search on Google images, there was my photo with her from last year! If you spell it one word "chaeyeon", my photo is first. If you spell it two words "chae yeon", my photo is 6th. Interesting...

Chaeyeon Search Results #1 Photo 

Handel Concert

This weekend, Young Stumbler #3 demonstrated her considerable talents again. This time it was a concert of the Messiah by Frederic Handel, who lived in the 18th century. The Messiah is an incredible piece blending of choral, vocalists and orchestra. Even more amazing is that Handel wrote it after having a stroke, which paralyzed the left side of his body, and further more he wrote it in only 21 days! It is highly recommended.

The Stumbler, still suffering from jet lag, had a little trouble staying awake at the beginning, despite Handel's genius and YS#3's talent. But about 1/3 of the way into the piece, the soprano vocalists started singing, and I was wide awake. It was an excellent experience.

Here is the only decent photo (and it's not great) I was able to take. Enlarge it and you can barely see YS#3.

The Stumbler is Very Proud of YS#3