Lesson Transcript

Hi, everyone. Welcome to Ask KJIN. My name is KJIN.
안녕하세요, K-Jin입니다 (Annyeonghaseyo, keijinimnida).
In this series, I'll answer your Korean questions.
So ask me any questions. Today, I picked questions related to autumn culture in Korea.
Here's the first question from Jordan. Thank you, Jordan. What are some popular fall hiking destinations in Korea?
This is a very common question from my Korean students. Whenever I say hiking is the most popular hobby in Korea, you know why? The 70% of the land in South Korea is actually the mountainous. So you see lots of mountains.
And here's an example. It's located in east side of South Korea, and it's called Mount Seorak. 설악산 (Seoraksan), 설악산. Here, do you see 산 (san)? 산 at the end. 산 means mountain.
And it's very beautiful like this. I think it's beautiful. And it's not very, very far from Seoul. So I think you can go by car a few hours. So I also been there with my family and it's very beautiful, especially in 가을 (gaeul), 가을, the autumn season. So please check it out.
The other thing is this. This is a beautiful autumn leaves in 지리산 (Jirisan), 지리산, mountain, mountain. 지리 (Jiri), 지리. So, it's located in southern South Korea and 짠 (jjan). I like this mountain too. I've been there many, many times with my family. And this is the one that I want to recommend the most, because this mountain is located in 서울 (Seoul), the capital of Korea. So as far as I know, most tourists are traveling in Seoul. So you can easily access this mountain. You don't have to go very far to go hiking.
So try 북한산 (Bukansan), 북한산. So, 북한 (Bukan) is the name of the mountain and 산, 산, mountain.
And it's really nice. And when I have my friends visiting Korea, I always take them here. Because I like hiking first. And also, yeah, it's very different experience according to my friends. Because usually the mountains are very far from the big city. But this mountain is in Seoul. So when you climb up, you can see the beautiful Seoul scenery. So check it out. Here's the second question from Fima. Thank you, Fima. What are some Korean foods enjoyed in the fall? Of course, there are many foods. And also there are many, many different trends every year.
But first, I want to recommend 감 (gam), 감, 감 is a persimmon.
And interestingly, I don't really find 감 in other countries. I mean, it depends on the countries. I see lots of Asian countries. But when I was in other countries like in Europe or States, I didn't see lots and lots of persimmons like Korea. So try this. This is very sweet. And I personally love it. And these days I'm having one 감 a day at home. And 짜잔 (jjajan), the next one is this 배 (bae), 배, 배. Isn’t it sounds similar to pear. 배. 배.
And Korean pear looks very different from the Western pear. Western pears look like a bell. But Korea, it looks like apple circle round. So it's 배, 배. And it's very sweet.
The taste is different. So check it out. Try it if you want to know how amazing it is.
And next thing is this. Oyster. 굴 (gul), 굴. And I know 굴 is popular in your countries too. But the thing is 굴 (gul) is very cheap in Korea. And when I traveled in European countries, I was shocked. They eat only a few oysters at a time because they said it's expensive.
But for us, we like ten of oysters at once because it's not that expensive. So try 굴, 굴 in Korea. And autumn is the best season for 굴, 굴. And do you eat 게 (ge), 게? Crab? I noticed. I mean I heard crab 게, 게 is not very popular in other countries as a seafood. Of course, it depends on the country. But in Korea, 게 is super duper popular so it's expensive. And also in Korea, we have lots of dishes using 게 and I love it. If you want to know why Korean people love 게 so much, why don't you try some Korean 게 요리 (ge yori). 요리 (yori) means dishes or cooking stuff. So try it.
It says cockle, cockle. But do you know what it is? It's very popular in Korea. It has another name. Heart clam.
Because it looks like heart. But the thing is, well, it's not very very popular in other countries. It looks like it's not very popular. But in Korea, it's very common. Next is 배추 (baechu), 배추. Yes, it's napa cabbage. And you probably know why we need to use this a lot in the autumn. It's because of 김치 (gimchi), 김치. It’s, well, I don't have to explain what it is, right? 김치 is actually made usually in November and December.
Many people think we make 김치 every time we eat. But actually, that's not true. Traditionally, we make 김치 once a year and we make one year stock of 김치 and we eat it for a year.
So we use 배추 for 김치. 배추, 배추. There are lots of kinds of 김치. Not only napa cabbage, but well, napa cabbage 김치 is the most popular one. Next is 짜잔, 연근 (yeongeun), 연근.
연 (yeon) meaning lotus and 근 (geun) means root. So it literally means lotus root. And we eat this as a side dish, 반찬 (banchan), 반찬. So when you come to Korea, we sauce this 연근, 연근 and it looks brown and it's sweet. So try it. Even if you don't want, you might come across this 연근 반찬 when you go to Korean restaurants. Next is 유자차 (yujacha), 유자차, 유자차.
So 유자 (yuja), 유자 is kind of like citron and 차 (cha), 차 is tea. And we drink this in autumn and winter, especially when we feel like we will catch a cold soon or we don't feel very well because it contains lots of vitamins. So 유자차, 유자차 is actually one of the most popular souvenirs for foreigners too. So try this.
Here's the last question from Louis. Thank you, Louis.
Are there any holidays or events in the fall in Korea? Of course, there are many holidays and events in Korea. The first thing is 짠, 개강 (gaegang), 개강, 개강. So it's the start of class. And you probably say, it's the same as your countries.
But the thing is, it's not the start of the first semester, it's the start of the second semester in Korea. And 개강 is only used for the start of university classes, classes in university, not in high school or middle school. We use different words, which is 개학 (gaehak), 개학.
So university students, here you are. 개강, 개강. So I just mentioned second semester, right? Do you know how to say second semester in Korea? 짠, it’s 2학기 (ihakgi). 2 (i), 2, 2 means two and 학기 (hakgi) means semester. So two semester, second semester is 2학기, 2학기. Yes, second semester starts. 짠, this is one of the most important and biggest holidays in Korea. The name is 추석 (chuseok), 추석. So I would say this is Korean Thanksgiving day. And the date changes every year, because it's August 15th in the lunar calendar. So this year, obviously, I don't remember when it is, next year, I have no idea. So the date changes every year. So be careful.
When you come to Korea in 추석, there might be more events. So it's good for you. On the other hand, some places close. So you need to check out. You have to be very careful.
추석, 추석. And this image is 송편 (songpyeon), 송편, 송편. So all the family members and relatives gathers and we make 송편 traditionally. So this is Korean food for this special day.
And this is three days weekend. So a lot of Korean people actually travel too.
짠, the next day is 개천절 (Gaecheonjeol), 개천절, 개천절. So it's National Foundation Day. So Korea started long time ago. And it's November 3rd is National Foundation Day. 개천절, 개천절.
Does this day change every year? No, this is based on the solar calendar. So the date is the same every year. 짜잔, the next day is 한글날 (Hangeullal), 한글날, 한글날 is 한글 Proclamation Day. 한글날. It's October 9th in solar calendar. And as you can see, this is day for 한글 (Hangeul), 한글 is the Korean alphabet. And king 세종 (Sejong), great king 세종 made this 한글 himself. Isn't it great? So interestingly, I know in other countries, like people don't know who developed the letters. But in Korea, we clearly know that who made this alphabet.
And that's king 세종. And thanks to king 세종, now we write 한글 every day. So 한글날, 한글날, 한글 Proclamation Day.
Next is 단풍놀이 (danpungnori), 단풍놀이, 단풍놀이. What is 단풍 (danpung), 단풍, 단풍 is autumn leaves. And 놀이 (nori) literally means play. So autumn leaves play. But that doesn't mean that we actually play with autumn leaves. It's just an expression. So viewing autumn leaves, you go to the picnic in the mountain or park to enjoy the beautiful autumn leaves. And autumn is perfect, really, really perfect for picnic, in my opinion. Next is 수학여행 (suhagyeohaeng), 수학여행, 수학여행. 짠. This is school trip. And she seems so young, right? So she doesn't go 수학여행, but I just chose her because she's cute with autumn leaves. But usually it's for sixth grade, sixth grade, or if you are in 중학교 (junghagkyo), 중학교 means middle school, third grade, or if you're in high school, students will be probably second grade, you go 수학여행, 수학여행.
So autumn is actually the season for 수학여행, 수학여행. Next is 빼빼로데이 (Ppaeppaerodei), 빼빼로데이, 빼빼로데이. And 빼빼로데이 is on November 11th. Why? November 11. November 11. It looks like 빼빼로 (Ppaeppaero), right? So the 빼빼로 company did a great marketing and somehow it worked very successfully in Korea.
So many Korean people buy 빼빼로 for their family members or friends, classmates, colleagues.
So 빼빼로 day. If you visit Korea, you will see lots of different kinds of 빼빼로, 빼빼로.
This is 빼빼로. It's a kind of cookie covered with chocolate and there are many different kinds. Try 빼빼로. 짠! Next is 수능 (suneung), 수능. A shortened word of 수학능력시험 (suhakneungryeoksiheom), 수학능력시험.
The college scholastic ability test. And this is very important in Korea. I'm sure it is in other countries. But interesting fact is, it's too important. So if you take a plane to go to another country in Korea in this day, they don't even fly. I mean the flight stopped for an hour because if plane fly, then there is a noise. So when people take a test, that's a great bothersome, isn't it? So especially for English listening test, if there is a sound, well, it's kind of like very big bothersome. So they even stop. And some people, some students woke up late in the morning. In that case, even policemen, police car help them to go to the school to take this exam on time. It's that much important.
And a lot of Korean people think 수능, the result of 수능 changes your life. So it's a big thing in Korea. It's Thursday of November. So these are some interesting holidays and events in Korea that you can keep in mind when you visit in Korea. Visit Korea in autumn.
That's it for this lesson. Today I answered three questions about autumn culture in Korea.
다음 시간에 봐요 (Daeum sigane bwayo)!

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