Exploring Korean-American Heritage & Interculturalism
Romantic Korean Movies for Valentine’s Day!Valentine’s Day is today and you’ve got nothing planned?? No worries! Here’s a list of romantic Korean movies to pair with a candlelit home cooked meal (or food ordered and lovingly placed on plates 😉).
These are perfect for snuggling up with your sweetheart…or by yourself and a glass of wine! And don’t forget a box of tissues because any of these will have you in tears! [Read more…]
No Bake Korean Sesame Seed CookiesThey’re incredibly easy to make and quick to boot!
These Korean sesame seed cookies are called “tasik” or “dasik” (다식). And they’re traditionally served during Seollal (Korean New Year’s). Back in the dynastic period, only nobility ate these cookies. Despite being easy to make, they look elegant and are essentially a tea cookie. So be sure to eat them with your pinky raised! 😉 [Read more…]
Korean New Year is NOT the same as Chinese New Year….But it is similar. And everyone has a tendency to refer to the Lunar New Year as Chinese New Year. Although, it’s no wonder because China has the world’s largest population!
Not to mention that the traditions of Chinese New Year are just fun with dragon dances, fireworks, and the like!
However, it is not entirely correct to refer to the Lunar New Year as Chinese New Year, because many other countries also celebrate the Lunar New Year. And one of those countries is the Republic of Korea! [Read more…]
Seollal 설날 (Korean New Year) is Next Week!That means it’s time for tteokguk 떡국! Tteokguk is the yummy traditional rice cake soup that’s eaten on New Year’s Day. The round shape of the rice cakes symbolizes money, because the roundness are like coins. And the white color of the rice cakes symbolizes purity, as in starting fresh for the new year.
It’s also a tradition to eat it to symbolize turning a year older since everyone simultaneously ages a year on New Year’s Day, according to how Koreans calculate age. (I know that’s kind-of confusing, so I cleared it up here.) So often, you’ll hear people asking if you’ve eaten tteokguk, because you’re not officially a year older until you have. But if you ask me, that’s a reason for me to never eat tteokguk ever again! Forever young! …But tteokguk is so tasty…. Meh, what’s in a number?! Enjoy the soup! 😉 [Read more…]
The 2018 Winter Olympics Start Tomorrow!This time it’s in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea! And it’s about 80 miles east of Seoul. I’m told it’s a beautiful mountainous area and cold…frigidly cold!
This Winter Olympics seemed kind-of shaky with everything that’s going on with North Korea. There was talk of countries pulling out if North Korea was going to participate. And North Korea seemed iffy about letting their athletes participate. So it was a whole thing! [Read more…]
