[촬영장소] City Hall – Porridge Restaurant 본죽 당산점

Any City Hallers would know this porridge restaurant that has been on a number of City Hall episodes. How can one forget how Jo Guk tried hard not to cry while eating his porridge and looking at Mayor Shin Mi Rae’s photo?

scene from the drama

scene from the drama

scene from the drama

scene from the drama

scene from the drama

What I love most in this shop is that they preserved the props used in the drama  – the tarpaulin with Shin Mi Rae’s photo even if it has been 3 years already. They also proudly display some more photos from the drama inside and outside the shop. There’s even a nice signage that reads “City Hall Filming Location” outside. Whereas some of Kim Sun Ah’s filming drama locations have either renovated their place already or have taken down photos from her dramas.

ADDRESS:

서울특별시 영등포구 당산동6가 216-8
+82 2-2635-6287

HOW TO GET THERE:

Take line 9. Get off 당산 station. Take exit 8. Walk straight ahead. You’ll find the porridge shop on your left.

[촬영장소] City Hall – National Assembly of South Korea

Alright, there were actually no scenes that was ‘really’ filmed inside (or even outside) the National Assembly, I believe. Just a POV of Jo Guk from his car and some studio-filmed scenes that was supposed to be the inside of the National Assembly (unless they really filmed it inside?).

Nonetheless, for Kim Sun Ah / City Hall fans (fondly called Cityhallers), the National Assembly = Congressman Jo Guk!

scene from the drama

scene from the drama

photo taken from the back – which i think is how it was shot in the drama as well

HOW TO GET THERE:

Take Line 9 and get off 국회의사당 station Exit 1.

How Scent Of A Woman made me nuts

ME 1: Good morning!

ME 2: What’s so good about the morning. Did you forget what day it is today?

ME 1: Don’t start! Did you know how depressed I was last night? I’m glad I was able to get over my depression after a good night sleep, and now you’re ruining my mood again!

ME 2: Sorry, but I’m still not over last night’s episode. And I’m so scared about tonight’s episode.

ME 1: Alright, that’s it! My mood’s ruin! Happy now?

ME 2: Are we… really gonna watch it tonight?

ME 1: We’ve seen it from episode 1 – no fail! And you’re telling me to skip the final episode? The FINAL episode! Of all episodes!

ME 2: You don’t have to point out that it’s the FINAL episode! Besides we missed Episode 3, right?

ME 1: Well, that one’s forgiveable, given the circumstances. Besides, we were still able to 본방사수 the first few minutes, right? So it’s still counted.

ME 2: Still, can we just not watch it?

ME 1: And what? Pretend that the drama didn’t finish and wait for it next weekend? Are you joking?

ME 2: Among all of Suna Unnie’s dramas… Why is this drama too difficult to watch?

ME 1: I’d say, among all Kdramas!

ME 2: Well, I don’t watch other Kdramas – unless Suna Unnie’s on it.

ME 1: Well, me neither…

ME 2: Ey…

ME 1: Alright, I watch other Kdramas too… but I don’t 본방사수 them.

ME 2: Would Yeon Jae die?

ME 1: I guess that’s what making this drama the most difficult drama to watch. As if bidding the drama goodbye is not sad enough, we also have to deal of what would happen with the character that we learned to love so much.

ME 2: You didn’t answer my question.

ME 1: Because I don’t know! Ask writer Noh!

ME 2: Alright, let me rephrase. Would you like Yeon Jae to die?

ME 1: YES.

ME 2: Ey….! I knew it, you have a stone for your heart!

ME 1: Well, I’ve been very vocal right from the start that I want her to die. End of story.

ME 2: You are sooo mean! A mean masocist!

ME 1: I guess I am then.

ME 2: I don’t want her to die. Why did they make her character so loveable and why did they make YJ and JW so happy, then kill YJ at the end? That is just plain torture and cruelty.

ME 1: Life is cruel!

ME 2: I’m watching a drama, not life!

ME 1: Let me remind you that the reason why you are this addicted to Korean dramas is because you find it so different from the dramas produced in your own country. And for the first time you get to see the point of your professors in the Film Institute in your university through Korean dramas.

ME 2: Oh, that was a loong time ago! I can’t remember it anymore! I want a happy ending.

ME 1: Escapist!

ME 2: So what? Besides, even if they give us a happy ending, I still won’t be completely happy. The fact that the drama is ending is already making me so sad.

ME 1: So, just because you don’t want to be sad, you want a fairytale-like ending to ruin this drama that has been so awesome right from the start? That is selfish! So very selfish!

ME 2: Don’t you know that a lot of viewers wishes for the same thing?

ME 1: Then all of you are selfish!

ME 2: Stone-hearted!

ME 1: No, I’m not! I’m as sad and scared as you are! I crie with you last night, don’t you remember?

ME 2: So why not join us in prayers so that YJ will live.

ME 1: I don’t want a fairytale! Walt Disney has produced a lot of it. I could easily chose from one of them if I want to. Oh, why would I have to bother with Walt Disney? I have City Hall here.

ME 2: Why can’t it be just like City Hall?

ME 1: o.o

ME 2: City Hall is awesome! I bet you’ll agree!

ME 1: Yes it is awesome!

ME 2: And you love it to death!

ME 1: Yes, I love it to death!

ME 2: So, what’s your problem? If you love City Hall to death – with it’s “fairytale ending”, then why don’t you want a similar one in SOAW?

ME 1: City Hall and SOAW are different! They have a different premise. City Hall’s message is way different from SOAW’s point.

ME 2: They are all Korean dramas for me.

ME 1: I just want a meaningful ending, that’s all. The drama has instilled a lot of life’s lesson over the course of 15 episodes. I won’t forgive the writer if everything that they are trying to point out would all go down the drain simply because viewers wanted a happy ending. If I were to make a wish though, I just wish that SOAW will not end tonight.

ME 2: How dare you call me selfish earlier? That’s a very selfish wish! Don’t you know how difficult it was for Suna Unnie. She deserves a good rest.

ME 1: I know, but I am just so in love with this drama. I still can’t believe it’s ending tonight.

ME 2: Well, me neither. Sigh… I really just want YJ and JW to be happy!

ME 1: YOU want to be happy!

ME 2: Yes, I want to be happy. So what?

ME 1: Sigh… It’s useless talking to you!

ME 2: I can dream, can’t I?

ME 1: You can dream that Suna Unnie and Dong Wook would date in real life. And with that, I’m with you!

ME 2: That made me feell better, thank you!

ME 1: So does that mean we are gonna watch it tonight?

ME 2: I guess so…

ME 3: Both of you are making me crazy! Why don’t you just shut up, eat breakfast and do the things you need to do today, so that you’ll be comfortable watching it tonight. Get your tissues ready and prepare your hearts to say goodbye to the drama. Whether YJ will live or not, all I’m after is a good execution. If YJ will live, a lot of people would be happy, and I guess I’m pretty with that as long as they still get to clearly point out their message about life and death. If YJ would die, a lot of people may be sad, but again, as long as they get their message across, then that wouldn’t be so bad.

ME 4: I can’t understand the three of you… I’m just gonna watch WALL-E today. Less complicated!

It’s official! This drama made me nuts! Would anyone be kind enough to bring me to the psychiatric ward after tonight’s episode?

Subbing

I’ve been a member of a subbing team since 2007. That time I was already starting to learn Korean. I used to watch Korean dramas in bootleg DVDs before. But as I learn the language I get more and more frustrated to the incorrect subs. Back in 2007 there was a good drama I’m watching (H.I.T.) whose theme is too complicated to be understood in gibberish English subs. There was a subbing team, D-Fansubs, who was doing the fansub for that drama but there was no progress. I decided to join them in the hopes that I can help the subbing progress.

I learned all the basics from D-Fansubs. But unfortunately I didn’t get to work in any of their projects because they stopped doing subs right after I joined them. O.o

That same year, B.O.N. Funsubs announced that they are subbing Kim Sun Ah’s comeback drama When It’s At Night. I was sooo excited to see our Samsoon back on television drama that I volunteered to join them right away. I started as a timer and eventually became a coordinator. I also coordinated City Hall (and was very happy and proud with our output) and also started coordinating I Am Legend (because it was supposed to be Kim Sun Ah’s – decided to continue with the project despite Kim Sun Ah’s quitting – but didn’t get to see it until the end (sorry guys!). I also time some episodes of some dramas here and there with B.O.N.

I also sub some random Kim Sun Ah videos here and there – news, interviews, old dramas, etc.

And now I’ve joined WithS2 as a timer for Suna Unnie’s new drama Scent Of A Woman.

I’m so excited to join WithS2. I’ve been a patron of their subs since I started my k-drama addiction years ago. A lot of Korean dramas I’ve watched are subbed by WithS2. I’m glad they’ve picked-up Scent Of A Woman. I’m also excited to be part of their team. And I’m back to my first love – timing! And hopefully in two years time I can be a translator already. I’ve tried translating a few episodes of some dramas before. But with my level of Korean right now, it’s still very difficult and it takes me lots and lots of time – then I’d end up being wrong. ㅋㅋㅋ

Why do I sub?

Others said it’s their way of “giving back”. I guess I can say that as well. Enjoying and loving lots and lots of Korean dramas over the years with free subtitles makes me feel grateful to everyone behind the gruesome process of subbing. As a way of “giving back” to the K-drama community, I want to give some of my time to help fellow subbers complete a project.

But more than “giving back”, I think I sub because I want to bring Kim Sun Ah and her dramas closer to the audience that are non-Korean speakers. If a drama remains unsubbed, no one would bother watching it unless they understand Korean or they are so big a fan of a certain actor. But if a drama is subbed, more people would definitely watch it.

And on top of that, it helps my Korean too. I learn a lot of new vocabularies, grammar patterns and expressions here and there. I also learn about the art of translation. And subbing helped my ears got used to the language too. Subbing along with unending dramas and loops and loops of Korean songs on my music players I became at ease in listening. That even if I still can’t understand a lot of words, I can determine the word and sentence boundaries. Thus I feel comfortable during listening exams (TOPIK or classroom).

Then today I started subbing in Japanese. It’s just a very short music video I need for our Japanese class. And for the first time I realize that subbing can be frustrating too. Having zero knowledge about the language, I can’t figure out when does a word or a sentence end. I was just on the 4th line and I’m totally lost. I don’t know if I’m timing the lines correctly. O.o It would just normally take me less than 30 minutes to time a similar MV in Korean, but now I’ve spent about 15 minutes already figuring out the first 4 lines. ㅋㅋㅋ

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By the way, if there’s someone interested in joining us in WithS2 in subbing Scent Of A Woman, please leave a comment or e-mail me. We are still recruiting members for the drama. Thanks! 

[노래] 불안한 사랑

I was really planning to study City Hall‘s 불안한 사랑 tonight when I saw CoreanBigSis’ translation. 🙂

I love 불안한 사랑. I like the singer (호란), I like the composer (노영심), I like the melody, I like the lyrics. I think it’s very poetic and very sad too. And I’ve memorized this song when City Hall was still airing.

This is the song where I actually learned the -면 pattern. 🙂

Here’s the song and the lyrics translation by our City Hall team in Bon Funsubs. There are some differences from CoreanBigSis’s translation. And it’s interesting to compare the two versions and analyze them. Translation really is a very difficult, tricky and artistic job. And I love it!

Thanks to CoreanBigSis and to whoever requested the song!

And to my City Hall team in Bon, I missed you guys~!

불안한 사랑

Anxious Love

Performed by: Horan of Clazziquai 클래지콰이 호란

@ B.O.N. F u n S u b s @ ~ Band Of Nuts F u n S u b s // Thanks to Fashionista*

이렇게 좋아도 될까요
Can I really fall in love with you?

왠지 난 불안해요
Why do I feel so anxious?

한번도 이런적 없어요
I’ve never felt this way before

그대가 특별해요
You must be special

사랑이 두렵진 않아요
I do not fear love

곧 이별이 온다 해도
Even if separation will come soon

그러나 이 사랑 싫어요
However I do not want this love

더 갖고 싶으니까
Because I will keep on yearning for more

마음대로 물 흐르듯이
Like water freely flowing in the stream

내 맘을 맡겨봐요
I will entrust my heart to you

하루가 지나면 하나씩
As each day passes

버릴께 생기거든요
I’ll find something that needs to be thrown away one at a time

곁에 두면
If I have you by my side

생각 하면
If I think about you

사랑 하면
If I love you

도저히 안될 것 같은 사람
You seem like a person that won’t stay long

보낸 다면
If I let you go

떠난 다면
If I leave you

그때 더 사랑할 것 같은 사람
You seem like a person that will love me more

불안한 사랑
Anxious love

그래도 이 사랑이 나는 좋아요
Even so, I like this love

나 혼자 사랑하고 나 혼자 보내는
I love on my own, I let go on my own

이 뻔한 사랑
This true love

이 토록 간절한 왠지 내게는
I’ve waited so earnestly for you, but

어울리지 않는
we are ill-matched

못된 사랑
An unfortunate love

곁에 두면
If I have you by my side

생각 하면
If I think about you

사랑 하면
If I love you

도저히 안될 것 같은 사람
You seem like a person that won’t stay long

보낸 다면
If I let you go

떠난 다면
If I leave you

그때 더 사랑할 것 같은 사람
You seem like a person that will love me more

불안한 사랑
Anxious love

그래도 이 사랑이 나는 좋아요
Even so, I like this love

그래서 이 사랑을 나는 붙잡아요
Therefore, I will hold onto this love

I’m enjoying studying Korean Songs lately because it makes me retain more words and grammar pattern easily.

[노래] 웃어봐

Incidentally, after I posted a City Hall fanmade MV I made, I heard a sad news about SG Wannabe’s Chae Dong-Ha‘s death. [READ NEWS HERE]

As you all know, I’m totally clueless about K-pop but I’m somehow familiar with SG Wannabe since they’ve sung some of Kim Sun-Ah‘s drama OST – such as 우습지 in 밤이면 밤마다, and former member Chae Dong-Ha sung 웃어봐 in City Hall OST.

It’s just a bit sad… Aside from the fact that I love 웃어봐, it is a song that can usually cheer me up. But, somehow, this song has a faint trace of sadness on it now…

I’m posting this in memory of Chae Dong-Ha.

웃어봐
“Smile”
Performed by: Cha Dong-Ha 채동하

@ B.O.N. F u n S u b s @ ~ Band Of Nuts F u n S u b s // Thanks to Fashionista*

햇살 가득 내린 하늘에
In a sky filled with sunlight,

눈부신 빛으로 다가와준 너
you came to me illuminated by a dazzling light.

이게 사랑인걸 알겠어
I know this is love.

내 눈에 미소를 알게 해준
The one who helped me see the smile in my eyes.

고마운 사람 니가 곁에 있어
I’m thankful because you are the person beside me.

행복할 수가 있어
I’m able to be happy.

비가 오면 우산되고 어둠에 빛이 될게
When it rains, I’ll be your umbrella. When it’s dark, I’ll be your light.

걷다 지치면 우리 사랑 기억해
When you are exhausted, remember our love.

웃어봐 사랑이 날 기다리잖아
Smile, love is waiting for me

세상이 날 막아선대도
Even if the whole world is against me

눈물이 나도 가슴 아파도
Even if I shed tears and my heart aches

너 하나면 충분해
As long as I have you, that’s enough

웃어봐 사랑이 날 부르고 있어
Smile, love is calling me

슬픔이 날 막아도
Even if sadness comes my way

혼자가 아닌 둘이잖아
I’m not facing it alone; there are two of us.

너 하나면 괜찮아
I’ll be fine as long as I have you.

널 사랑해
I love you

내 눈에 너를 새겨넣고
I’ll engrave your image on my eyes.

고마운 사랑 너를 지킬게
I’ll protect you and this thankful love,

니가 행복할 수 있게
so that you can be happy.

비가 오면 우산되고 어둠에 빛이 될게
When it rains, I’ll be your umbrella. When it’s dark, I’ll be your light.

걷다 지치면 우리 사랑 기억해
When you are exhausted, remember our love.

웃어봐 사랑이 날 기다리잖아
Smile, love is waiting for me

세상이 날 막아선대도
Even if the whole world is against me

눈물이 나도 가슴 아파도
Even if I shed tears and my heart aches

너 하나면 충분해
As long as I have you, that’s enough

웃어봐 사랑이 날 부르고 있어
Smile, love is calling me

슬픔이 날 막아도
Even if sadness comes my way

혼자가 아닌 둘이잖아
I’m not facing it alone; there are two of us.

너 하나면 괜찮아
I’ll be fine as long as I have you.

널 사랑해
I love you

– RAP –

사랑은 중독 그러나 무독성 non toxic
Love is addicting, but not toxic. Non toxic.

넘쳐나는 내 몸속에 endorphin은
An endorphin that floods my body,

늘 makes me high
always making me high.

넌 내게 그런 존재 no doubt
That’s what you are to me, no doubt.

나 사랑을 물랐어
I didn’t know my love.

아니 내 두려움 뒤에 숨은 사랑을 못봤어 늘 바보처럼!
No, like a fool, I couldn’t see this love that was hidden behind my fear.

내가 원한것 또 내가 바라던것 꿈꿔왔던
What I want and what I seek, what I dream of,

그 모든것 i got dat
all these things, I got that.

너는 내 전부 all dat i got
You’re my everything, all that I got.

사랑해 한마디 말이면 웃을게
“I love you”, I’ll smile at these words.

힘든 날도 있지만
Even though there are hard times,

너로 인해 난 숨쉴수 있어
I’m able to breathe because of you.

그 하나로 괜찮아
And that makes everything alright.

사랑해 이 한마디만 난 기억해
“I love you”, I just need to remember these words.

다시 태어난데도
Even if I were re-born,

내가 누릴 사랑있다면
If I could fall in love again,

너뿐인걸 약속해
I promise it would only be with you.

널 사랑해
I love you

Happy 2nd Anniversary City Hall!

Has it been two years? Wow! Time really flies!

Actually I was a month late. The real anniversary of City Hall is April 29th.

Nonetheless, I made an MV for City Hall. I’ve always wanted to do this MV using the song 이런 게 사랑인가 봐요, but yeah, busy… I thought of doing it for City Hall‘s second anniversary, but only managed to finish it a month after. ㅠㅠ

Anyway, here it is:

Lovingly dedicated to all City Hallers! I miss you guys~

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

하지말라고…

Yesterday was a weird day in our Korean class… I don’t know why but it’s just… uhhmm… weird. It seems like everyone doesn’t have energy. Our 선생님 looks a bit tired (probably because of the upcoming Korean speech contest/Korean short play contest) that she’s organizing. And us, the students, were all kinda feeling stressed trying to memorize our speeches/play lines and trying to fit in practice schedules on our already full (and brimming) schedule – not to mention finals is just around the corner.

Plus the fact that the lesson discussed yesterday was pretty difficult. Okay, not really ‘that’ difficult, but very confusing. Our lesson yesterday was still quoted speech. A/V -다고 했어요 – 자고 했어요 V -(으)라고 했어요. I don’t know. It doesn’t really look like very difficult, but it seems like all our brains were all so drained out yesterday.

The only thing that keeps me going is the ~말라고… simply because of this scene from City Hall:

지금 갖고 있는 추억만으로도 아파 죽겠는데

왜 자꾸 보태는데…

왜 왜 아무것도 하지말라고 나한테…

하지마…하지말라고…

I’m so late for my Korean class now… I hope there will be a better atmosphere today…

Push It! Homework 1

Got my graded homework in Push It! today. Got a pretty good grade. 🙂

Final grade: 98/100 (A)

This is a very good first piece of homework! I am confident that you are knowledgeable in the area of what we consider ‘basic/elementary Korean’ necessary for progressing through the Push It! course. Your spelling was almost flawless except for the one mistake in Part C, but that may have also been a typing error! I’m sure that you’ll check more carefully next time 🙂

I wasn’t even expecting it to be that high. Oh well, this is a homework and not an exam. I used the dictionary a lot so this is really not something to be very proud of. Plus this is fairly easy since it’s just a review of Elementary Korean. Nonetheless, it did made my day. My homeworks in our university class this semester is always full of red marks from my 선생님 (My homeworks in class were usually crammed to the last minute before submission and I usually write them while in a bus… I did dedicate a decent amount of time to fulfill the Push It! homework because I want to proceed to their Wang class next time – and for that to happen, I must get a good final grade).

This is not the first time I was ‘commended’ for my spelling. Something I’ve earned after years of continuous reading, perhaps. But what I really would love to happen is for people to start commending me that my pronunciation is almost flawless. I wonder when will that ever happen?

One Filipino professor who is teaching basic Korean in our university once said, “Since you have already decided to learn the language, why not learn the pronunciation properly as well?”. And I do agree with him. I think pronunciation is really important. Especially for Korean language. A slight mispronunciation can, most of the time, lead to miscommunication – or worst a fit of laughter. During my speech rehearsal I’ve mispronounced a few words and my coach would tell me the meaning of what I have said instead (like when I pronounced 별명 nickname she said it sounded like some kind of an eel).

The best thing about this Push It! class is the feedback! Something that self-learners doesn’t usually get. I already listed all the new words that appeared on the homework. And here are some of the mistakes and comments.

• 우리 집 사람 – I didn’t know that it means “my wife”. We were supposed to make possession contractions for an A – B dialogue. The first sentence was A: 우리 집사람은 요리 제일 잘 하지 and then B: 당연하지. ___ 비빔밥은 제일 맛있더라! I was torn between 그 and 그녀. Maybe it’s 그녀 because it was referring to someone who cooked well. But thinking the ‘English way’ (using the He pronoun when gender is unknown), I answer 그의. I’m glad I made a mistake though. Because if not I wouldn’t have know that 집 사람 refers to the wife.
• 삼촌 – I misspelled it to 삼존. Definitely not a typo since ㅊ and ㅈ are very far from each other on the keyboard – but yes, I wasn’t very careful. I basically just have to copy it from a previous sentence, but I still made a mistake. The good thing, I guess from now on I won’t be confused with the proper spelling of 삼촌.
• 우리 vs 제/내 – I already know the Korean’s preference over 우리 with a lot of things (우리 집, 우리 나라 etc). Our homework has actually a lot of pronouns in them. I usually try to avoid pronouns in Korean. I know it’s barely used (am I right?) especially on formal situation (when you refer to other people by their name or title instead of ‘you’). So it was a good practice for pronouns. But I was confused as to when do we really use 우리 and when shall we use 내 or 제. The funny thing is, a few hours after submitting my homework, I’ve gone across and article in our university Korean book about the same topic. The homework question:  A: 가지마. __ 집으로 와. B: 니 집에 지금 가면 어떻게? 내일 보자. I wanted to really use 우리, but I thought, since person B used 니 maybe it’s time to use 내. I was also thinking, maybe person A lives alone. I answered 내. It was not wrong (and actually there were no comments left on that item), but on the article that I’ve read, Koreans will always use 우리 집 even if they are living alone. On another item, I wrote the sentence: 제 동생은 너무 귀여워요. Again, it was not marked incorrect, but a comment was written. Using 우리 동생 is better. And I think it was specifically because the sentence is in a positive form. Maybe if I say that my little brother/sister is lazy I could probably use 제 – 제 동생은 너무 게으러워요.

Now it makes me think of this scene from City Hall:

When Jo Guk said, “우리 미래 내꺼야!” (미래 is 김선아’s name) we translated it as “My Mi-Rae is mine.”, but we later changed it to “Our Mi-Rae is mine.” before releasing the episode. Would it be better translated in English as “My Mi-Rae is mine” or simply “Mi-Rae is mine” rather than “Our Mi-Rae is mine”. I opted for “Our Mi-Rae is mine” at that time because I find it more.. ummm.. beautiful. I think it doesn’t matter to those who have knowledge about Korean language, but now I’m thinking if this could be confusing to English speakers.

• 시다 – I wrote 선생님이 김치는 맵다고 말했어요. Again, it was not incorrect, but it is better said as 선생님이 김치는 맵다고 말하셨어요. I’ve known about this formal stuff but only started learning it thoroughly a few weeks ago. No, I’m not making an excuse. I just think I need more time (and practice!) to get used to it. I should be more careful next time.
• 것을, 걸, 거 – I wrote 영화를 보는 거 재일 좋아해요. Again, not marked as incorrect, but 것을 was written as a suggestion for a better way of writing it (?). When I first learned it on our classroom, our 선생님 said that Koreans like shortening words, thus 거 is more commonly used by Koreans. Since then, I had this preference over 거 and just casually use it anywhere. It slipped my mind that I’m writing. So I think 것을 is better used if you are writing formally and 거 is more on when speaking.

I’m glad I was able to practice writing sentences through our homework. Too bad I’m gonna miss the next lesson. But I’ll make sure to study Paper 2 well – it would be after the speech contest anyway, so I guess I’ll have more time to spare.

If anyone comes across this blog entry, please feel free to leave comments, especially about the things I’ve written about Korean language. I’m not sure about most of them. 감사합니다. 🙂

The perks of learning Korean

Were there ‘little happy times’ when you feel so ecstatic because you are able to finally understand something… just a teeny-bitsy-something… in Korean? Maybe a few lines from a drama, or your 선생님’s instructions, or phrases that your Korean friend is saying, or a single-sentence-long query from a Korean stranger? Or you’ve managed to successfully convey a message to someone? And that someone understood you and responded to you? I had one of those ‘little happy times’ today.

This morning I saw a photo of Kim Sun-Ah.

고사 지내는 사진 2011.02.08

I was so excited! We missed Suna Unnie soooo much. The last time we saw her was from her 2009 drama City Hall. After that, she was just seen on a few TV interviews, few(er) CFs, some fancafe events and a couple of overseas fanmeetings. And during that time, news about possible projects (mostly movies) come and go – literally (like there was a time when a news about a possible movie with Jung Joon-Ho was posted in the internet and just after a few minutes it was put down from the web). And I miss her badly.

Anyway, we saw this photo and another one. Our source said she got it from twitter. So I quickly went to twitter to check who posted it. And I found a Korean posted tweeted the photo. Curious and obsessed with details (!), I wanted to know when was this photo taken. So I tried asking the Korean if he/she knows when was this photo taken. I tried, but I wasn’t sure if I’m saying it correctly. Later, he/she replied that this photo was taken yesterday afternoon – and asked me if I am a fan of Kim Sun-Ah.

꺄~! I’m just so glad I know some Korean. If not, I probably won’t be able to find out when was this photo taken. I’m happy, but I do wish that my Korean would go further than that – soon! 🙂