Why I Love South Korea

Annyeong haseyo! :)

South Korea is one of the places I want to travel and discover someday. In the Philippines, there is a growing population of Koreans, even on national televisions the Koreans are having a good show. The show business industry of South Korea is also having a market share in the Philippines. Filipinos may not be good at Korea's language, they still enjoy listening to their songs. There are many reasons to love South Korea. Why do I love South Korea?

Travel

Someday, hopefully soon, I want to step into the 'Land of the Morning Calm' and enjoy the interesting life of Koreans. Korean dramas are giving me an expectation of enjoying the life in the cities of South Korea. First place I want to go to is the capital city, Seoul. The night life seems very fun and alive there. One spot in Seoul that interests me is the Namsan Tower where the people brings a metal lock and locks it in that place. I wonder why, but one friend of mine mentioned to me before that the purpose of the lock is for couples to vow to never separate. I would love to put my own lock with someone there. :)

One more place is the Jeju Island, a beautiful place to stay. In Korean dramas I could see couples having their honeymoon in the place. Is it that romantic in Jeju Island? Interesting.

I also want to take a look at the Kirin Art School. The setting of my favorite Korean series - Dream High.

Here is a good promotional video of Seoul I watched years ago:

Someday, if favored, I would want to go to all those places and to some other beautiful places in South Korea. And if I go there, I would definitely try many kinds of food. :)

Food and Cuisines

Kimchi, a spicy korean dish, is one popular food in the Philippines as influenced by Koreans. My father is fond of making his own Kimchi as well, which is kinda similar to that of the Koreans. At times, he just buy imported Kimchi products. I already had a taste of the said Kimchi, and it's good! :)

Known korean dish is Bibimbap. The dish consists of rice and served with seasoned vegetables on top with additions of beef and newly cooked egg. A food chain in SM Clark, a mall in the Philippines, is serving the said dish and there is where I first encountered it. My sister also likes the dish as she cooks her own Bibimbap in the kitchen and our family is delighted with the greatness of the dish.

A korean franchise has opened in the SM Clark, the Caffe Bene. The franchise is serving korean varieties of food from cakes to latte to bingsu. The bingsu is definitely a must-try! The cold dessert has variety of ingredients such as the fruits you want, then the milk, syrup, ice cream topping, condensed milk and of course ice. Other desired flavors can also be incorporated if you will make personalized bingsu. I find this food similar to Philippines' Halo-halo.

Korean community is expanding in the Philippines. In Angeles City, you can find a place called Korea Town because of many Koreans living there. Korean restaurants are also growing in the city. I want to try the samgyupsal and other food cuisines offered by these restaurants. The Korea Town is said to exist within the so-called Friendship Highway outside the area of Clark.

The last food I will mention is very famous in Korea, for having it's own special day during November 11 (11/11) and is observed to be similar to Valentine's day. I really love this cookie stick, known as Pepero, a chocolate-filled flavored snack in South Korea. I have known about this Pepero day where people give Pepero to show affection to other people. How sweet, as sweet as the Pepero.

I would want to taste some more of the Korean cuisines! And it is best eaten while enjoying the Kpop industry. :)

Show Business

First of all, I am not into Kpop industry. But just because I am not into it, I won't be a fan.

I like Kpop. I may not be like idolizing too much of the Korean artists, but I have thorough knowledge of the industry as it is famous in the Philippines. The music, the dramas and movies, the artists - very awesome!

Korean Music. I don't understand Korean language but as far as music is concerned, I sing korean songs. (I may not be good at singing, that doesn't mean I won't sing :D) My favorite song is about a birthday, the title is 'Winter Child' as sung by Suzy Bae (Miss A) in a series. When I likely korean songs, I am looking for their english meanings so as to understand its meaning. But at times, I just sing though I don't understand. :D Well, as said by Mr. Kang in the series Dream High, "Music is a universal language. They (Korean&Japanese) understand each other through music." Though I don't understand them, so far I already memorized the songs though with inaccurate lyrics. For the record, though I'm not a solid fan of Super Junior, my favorite music video with its song is the No Other.

Korean Series and Movies. Korean dramas are very famous in the Philippines. In every TV channel, there are like 3-5 series being shown everyday. Korean series has been an additional flavor to the national television. And no doubt, the series are very good as they continue in being aired, when a series end, another one will air. Filipinos already accepted the Korean culture, and many are already into it. Generally among the teens, they love watching series and dramas from Korea. And at times, they already have watched it before even coming to national television. The internet greatly helped the filipinos in coping with Korean culture. I, personally, have favorites of course. Among the series, I love Dream High the most and others are Secret Garden, Baker King, etc. The first series I have watched I guess is Full House starring Rain and Song Hye Kyo. When it comes to movies, I will never forget Miracle in Cell No. 7, the story of societal injustice to a man with disability, a father who greatly loves his child named Yesung. In Youtube, I have watched a lot of Korean movies uploaded there, all with english subtitles. :)

Korean Artists. Ask a teenage Filipino and he will give you a name of his favorite Korean artist(s). My personal pick (my 'bias' as called by fans) is Suzy Bae, I knew her first in the series Dream High. She's a member of a Kpop group, Miss A, but she got very popular in korean series. Another notable acting performance of Suzy is in the series Big and on the movie Architecture 101.  But my first korean crush is Song Hye Kyo who starred in Full House, next is Jeon Ji Hyun who starred in My Sassy Girl and Windstruck. I also know other artists namely Kim Soo Hyun, Kim Hyun Joong, Psy, Dara, IU and many more. Some other Kpop groups such as 2NE1, SNSD, Super Junior, SS501, UKiss, etc.

Though she's just my second female korean idol, Jeon Ji Hyun is still the best actress I have ever watched and idolized for I have watched almost all of her movies, my favorites are My Sassy Girl and Windstruck,  and watched her series with the Philippine title My Love From The Star. Another notable movie is Il Mare. She is incredible I should say, and very beautiful.

Dara is a Korean artist from 2NE1 who started her career in the Philippines, and I have been a fan of her even before she became famous in South Korea.

UKiss is the first Kpop group I witnessed performing live on-stage in SM Clark. They have a little influence on why I like Kpop music.

There are a lot of great people in Korea that I want to meet. It must be good to have Korean Friends.

Korean Nationals

I already said this a couple of times in this article that the Korean population in the Philippines is growing...a lot. I also mentioned the so called Korea Town in our city. In our school, there are also Korean students and some have became my classmates already. And sometimes, in our neighborhood, I could see some Koreans walking and I just greet them with 'Annyeong!' :)

It's great to have Korean friends. I am happy to say that I got part of our university's buddy program for having a month-long interaction with Koreans. For a short period time, I enjoyed having to talk with the Korean nationals.

To mention, they are from Korea Nazarene University in collaboration with Holy Angel University to have the Koreans an English Learning Program. As a part of the program is the HAU students having interactions with the Korean students.

A Certificate of Appreciation for being part of the program

First impression: They are cheerful. When I first entered the room where the Koreans are, I see everyone smiling and having fun. And on the subsequent days, I learned they are very friendly and cooperative. I also find them very cute :)

I am very pleased when I got my haircut and many of them are saying that I am cute. That was the first time Korean people made compliments to me and it's a pleasure.

I am surprised and happy to know that they love Philippine Mangoes as well as the dry mangoes. I didn't expect them saying a huge 'WOW' when we entered the room with mangoes. To one of my friends among them, she mentioned one particular product which is a mango chocolate and as a token of friendship, I gave her 2 packs of the said Philippine product. Hi Seu! :)

Yes, one month went too fast, but in that short period we have made friendships with one another. We became friends on Facebook for continuous communication and interaction.

And in that short period, I could say, I will miss them...very much. I am very honored and glad to meet the Korean buddies and hopefully we could meet each other again someday.

Here is a picture of our Korean friends with a tour guide in a vacation trip to Pangasinan visiting the Hundred Islands, photo credit to 오한나 (Hanna Oh).

A group picture of our Korean friends with a tour guide.

I hope when I travel to Korea, I could meet them again. :) I love South Korea.

South Korea

I love the country with the fact that I have not been there. I already know many things that excites me to go to that country. What more if I experience life in South Korea? I will surely love the place more than how I love it now.

Having Korean friends, reaching out on their culture, enjoying their industries, loving their food and cuisines, and seeing the beautiful views of South Korea in photos. I cannot say that I am just a wanna-be tourist of their country, obviously I am in love with South Korea. I want to learn more about South Korea! :)

What else do I want to learn about South Korea?

First of all, I want to learn Korean letters or the 'Hangul'. I might have deeper appreciation of the Korean culture when I learn this since I can personally understand when I read Korean texts. Learning the 'Hangul' includes writing the korean letters and reading them with korean language. So it involves learning their language as well. This will be hard, but I hope I can do it. So far, I have limited words once I encounter Koreans I can greet them Hello, Goodbye, Thank You, and Happy Birthday. (Annyeong haseyo, Annyeonghi gaseyo, Kamsa Hamnida, Sangil Chukha Hamnida) I greeted one Korean today saying 'Sangil Chukha Hamnida' :) I learned from the Koreans the korean word for cute which is Gwi Yeo Wo, when they praised me as cute as stated earlier. Credits to 이슬이 (Seullee Lee) for the spelling of Gwi Yeo Wo. :)

Another is reaching further of their culture. Culture is very interesting to learn as it involves the norms, customs and tradtions of people. I knew that in Korea, Valentine's day during February 2014 is celebrated with women giving chocolates/goodies to men and a month later they will celebrate White Day when men will be the one to give something to women. Another tradition is mentioned earlier, the Pepero day.

Anything else, it will come along the way. I would learn more with friends.

How did I know stuffs about South Korea?

'Experience is the best teacher.' As I encounter Korean stuffs in life, I am happy to learn about them. When Korean songs got famous, I gave it a try to listen and sing as well. When the Korean series was first played in national television, I gave time to watch it. In life, you just have to be open to learn more things that are new to you. Learning is a continuous process, we don't stop learning.

Learning is also part of friendships. I have numerous friends who are great fans of the Kpop industry and they almost had adopted some of Korean traditions. Of course, being a friend, they may talk about it when you talk with them. There comes learning, sharing of learned stuffs to people. I could say that most of my knowledge about Koreans are greatly because of my friends.

The Korean friends mentioned earlier in this article are a little shock when I mention to them things I know about Korea. It's not that I boast that I know them, but to show them I appreciate their culture long before they came to the Philippines. :)

Some other sources to learn is the internet, where most of the information exist and have access immediately. :) Knowing more stuffs makes me love South Korea even more. :)

South Korea, I vow to meet you someday. :)

*Everything written here are personal ideas and experiences. I may not be accurate at some information but everything is with the best of my knowledge. To readers, this is something personal, and I hope you would love Korea the same as I do when you have an encounter of it as well. Photos with no credits were taken from Google Images.*

Thank you for reading!