Why Korean Translations of English Words Suck Sometimes

8:00 am

Why Korean Translations of English Words Suck Sometimes

I feel almost nitpicky bringing this up.

It really bothered me, as a child, when my parents would say an English word but tacked on the end “eu” or “ee.”

For example, instead of “book,” it was “book-eu.” I don’t know about you, but I think adding the “eu” makes it more difficult to say.

For the longest time, I thought this was a weird habit unique to my parents. Or I thought it was a product of just bad translations. I figured they had native Korean speakers who taught them English. So, of course, the translations wouldn’t be very good.

Why isn’t it possible to just end the word??

[Read more…]

Dieting, Plastic Surgery, and Lookism in Korea

8:00 am

Dieting, Plastic Surgery, and Lookism in Korea

Are you about to go to Seoul? Did you know that lookism is a thing there?

For those who don’t know, “lookism” is the act of treating someone differently based on the way they look. It’s typically people being mean to unattractive people.

Yes, being mean sounds, well…mean, but the real problem is, who determines who is unattractive? [Read more…]

Once Upon a Time There was a Jar of Kimchi

8:00 am

Once Upon a Time There Was a Jar of Kimchi

Did you know that kimchi makes a sound? I never noticed until one fine Summer day.

I had gone to the Korean grocery store in the morning and dropped everything at home before heading back out to run more errands.

My sister had asked me to get the big jar of kimchi and to leave it out of the fridge so it could ripen more. I thought ‘sure, no problem – I won’t even have to take up refrigerator space for it.’

So I bought her kimchi, size extra large as requested, tightened the lid before transport (I can’t have kimchi juice spilling out in my car. Nothing would ever get that smell out!), and left it in the garage. [Read more…]

Cooking Time and Money Saver Tip – Premade Korean BBQ Meat Marinade

8:00 am

Cooking Time and Money Saver Tip – Premade Korean BBQ Meat Marinade

It’s Food Friday again. It’s going to be a busy weekend (kid’s Halloween parade and such going on) so I’m going to talk about what kind of Korean food you can make on the fly and on the cheap.

Let’s talk about Korean BBQ! Who doesn’t love Korean BBQ? 😋 Well, did you know that you can get the flavor in a jar? [Read more…]

The Rise of Korean Beauty (aka K-Beauty) Products

8:00 am

The Rise of Korean Beauty Products (aka K-Beauty)

What Is K-Beauty?

You’ve heard of k-beauty by now, right? I mean, it’s everywhere!

Well, don’t feel bad if you didn’t know. Even though it is everywhere, it’s not that obvious.

“K-beauty” refers to “Korean beauty.” Koreans are hard core about their skincare routines, which is why, I guess, they have a reputation for having great skin. I’ve even seen a Korean skin care routine that was 17 steps…17 STEPS! (Who has time for all that?? The price for beauty I suppose.)

Apparently, U.S. companies caught on to this and started coming out with their own versions of BB (blemish balm/beauty brightening/beauty balm) and CC (color correcting) creams. Yeah, those ideas came from Korean beauty lines. [Read more…]