Festivals, special days and rituals

Let’s enjoy cherry blossom in South Korea!

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Cherry Blossom at Gyeonghwa Station in Jinhae

It’s the cherry blossom season in South Korea again!  I have just updated 2 blog posts previously written on some cherry blossom-related interesting events, sightseeing spots, food and song.  You may click the following links to read the relevant posts:

Here comes the cherry blossom season in South Korea

More tips on cherry blossom spots in South Korea

The cherry blossom is now blooming in South Korea and the various cherry blossom festivals are in full swing.  If you would like to enjoy the Korean cherry blossom, now is the good time to go there!  Enjoy! 🙂

 

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Some interesting tips for dating in South Korea

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Photo taken at N Seoul Tower
Photo taken at N Seoul Tower

**Last updated on: 15 October 2020**

I have previously written a post about how to find your boy-friend or girl-friend in South Korea.  In this post, let’s talk about some interesting tips for dating in South Korea. Continue reading →

Let’s go shopping in the Korean specialty markets!

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When talking about shopping in South Korea, usually people may think of Myeongdong, Dongdaemun market, Namdaemum market, Gwangjang market and the underground shopping malls where you can find many different types of products like clothes, household goods, food, cosmetics, etc.  In fact, there are also a number of specialty markets which specialize in certain types of products like musical instruments, flowers, jewelry, seafood, agricultural products, ginseng, and herbal medicine in South Korea. Continue reading →

Who are regarded as the Korean mermaids?

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The answer is: Haenyeo (해녀) of the Jeju Island.

Literally, the word “hae” (해) means “sea” and “nyeo” (녀) means “female”, and haenyeo are female divers who make a living by harvesting marine products like abalone, conch, octopus, sea urchins, oysters, clams, seaweed, etc. from the sea. Recently, there has been news that Jeju’s haenyeo culture is likely to be added to the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.  What’s so special about Jeju’s haenyeo?  Let’s talk about them in this post. Continue reading →

Here comes Dongji (Winter Solstice) in South Korea…

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Meaning of Dongji to Koreans

Today (22 December 2015) is Dongji (동지 – Winter Solstice) – this is the day with the longest night-time (or the shortest day-time) within the year.  It usually falls on 22 or 23 December of the Gregorian (or the Western) calendar.  After Dongji, the day-time gradually becomes longer signalling the coming of the spring.  So, in the past, people considered Dongji as the “little lunar new year”, and considered themselves one year older after Dongji (vs. nowadays people consider themselves one year older on New Year’s day). Continue reading →

Who is the founder of the Korean nation?

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Tomorrow (i.e., 3 October 2016) is the National Foundation Day in South Korea.  This day is also known as Gaecheonjeol (개천절) which literally means “the day on which the Heaven opens”. This day commemorates the opening up of the sky and the descent of Hwangung (환웅) , son of the Lord of Heaven, from Heaven to earth which laid the foundation of the first Korean nation of Gojoseon established by Hwangung’s son, Dangun (단군), in 2333 B.C..  This day has been designated as a national holiday in South Korea since 1909.  The story of the founding of the Korean nation is based on the myth of Dangun in the Samguk Yusa (삼국유사 – Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms). Continue reading →

Here comes Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving)…

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13 September 2019 is Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) in South Korea and this is one of the important traditional festivals for Koreans. I have talked about the Chuseok gifts that Koreans may buy in the blog post dated 2 February 2015.  Let’s talk about some more interesting customs about the Korean Chuseok in this blog post. Continue reading →

Here comes the Korean Dano Festival…

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Tomorrow (i.e., 18 June 2018) is Dano Festival in South Korea and this is one of the important traditional festivals for Koreans. Let’s talk about the Korean Dano Festival in this blog post. Continue reading →

Koreanized Chinese Cuisine – Jajangmyeon (Black Bean Sauce Noodles)

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Jajangmyeon (자장면) (Black Bean Sauce Noodles) is a Chinese cuisine adapted to the Korean style served in most of the Chinese restaurants in South Korea and has now become a favourite food among the Koreans.  You can often see people eating jajangmyeon in Korean TV dramas and variety shows. It is said that every day over 7 million bowls of jajangmyeon are sold in South Korea. This is also one of the foods I often ate when I studied Korean in Seoul.   Let’s talk about jajangmyeon in this blog post. Continue reading →