BOM, BAM, KKOT 봄, 밤, 꽃

It's beautiful time to enjoy "BOM" 봄 [bom], "BAM" 밤 [bam],  and "KKOT" 꽃 [kkot] in Seoul now.

"BOM" 봄 [bom] - spring

"BAM" 밤 [bam] - night

"KKOT" 꽃 [kkot] - flower
For the correct pronunciation of  the "꽃", please ask Korean speakers or refer to the google translation.

BOM 봄

"BOM" 봄 [bom]  is coming around in Seoul.


Still cold in the morning and evening, but the air is definitely different from the winter.

When talking about Korean weather, it would be the last characteristic of Korean weather that Korea has four distinctive seasons, which are spring, summer, fall, and winter.
It's cold "SA GYE JEOL" 사계절 [sa gie j∧l], meaning four seasons.

"SA GYE JOEL" is one of the many things that Korans love about Korea.
In fact, some Taiwanese and Southeast Asians visit Korea to see snow during winter time.

BOM 봄 - spring

SA 사 - four, GYE JEOL 계절 - four seasons

KIM WHANKI 김환기

Korean abstract artist from 1913 to 1974

Feb. 27, 2013 is his 100^th birthday.

ONLINE EXHIBITION BY NAVER 네이버 [ne i v∧]

http://artssearch.naver.com/search.naver?rev=6&where=arts_arts_list_viewer_theme&themeId=259&flash_idx=0

WHANKI MUSEUM 환기미술관 [hoan gi mi sul goan]

http://whankimuseum.org/eng/

TAEGEUKI, SAMILJEOL, AND INAUGURATION OF PRESIDENT 태극기, 삼일절, 그리고 대통령 취임식

Found the Korean flag, called the “TAEGEUKGI” [te gk gi] 태극기, was put up along the street.

Not sure the Taegeukgi has been there always, but it reminds me the “SAMILJEOL” [sam il j∧l] 삼일절 and inauguration of Korea’s first female president “Park Geun-hye” [bak gn he] 박근혜 at the same time.

“SAMILJEOL” is the day (March 1^st, 1919) commemorating nationwide civil protest and declaration of independence against Japanese colonial rule.

SAM-literally 3, here means March

IL-literally 1, here day 1^st

JOEL-national celebration day

There was the inauguration of the president Park Geun-hye on Feb. 26^th, 2013.

She is the first woman to be elected as the president in Korea and her father was also the president from 1963 to 1979.

DIGITAL DANJI 디지털 단지

There are two areas in Seoul, in which "Digital" is included as a part of its area name.

가산디지털단지 GASAN DIGITAL COMPLEX

구로디지털단지 GURO DIGITAL COMPLEX

These areas were originally established to focus on developing export industry started from 1960s.

At that time, most of the Korean export products made in "GURO GONG DAN [gu ro gong dan] 구로공단 (previous name of GURO DIGITAL COMPLEX 구로디지털단지) " were clothes and textiles, which were typical labor intensive and low costed products.

As Korean industrial structures have been changed, these two areas could get new name with "Digital" showing strong intention of IT Korea.

But, these areas are old, still some places don't look like 디지털.

In picture, the road sign; "DIGITAL RO [di gi t∧l ro] 디지털로"

DIGITAL-digital

RO-road

HO GAM 호감

In the book “내 이름은 욤비 (한국에서 난민으로 살아가기)” (meaning ‘My name is Yiombi (living as a refugee in Korea)’), YIOMBI THONA, who worked as a secret agent of the ANR in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fled from it, and now is living in South Korea with a refugee status, says that Koreans start having “HO GAM [ho gam] 호감” to foreigners who can eat “KIMCHI [gim chi] 김치”.

Literally, HO GAM 호감 means good feeling. HO-good, GAM-feeling

Generally, HO GAM 호감 is friendly and favorable attitude or consideration toward someone.

Do really Koreans show “HO GAM 호감” to foreigners who eat “KIMCHI 김치” as Mr. Thona indicates in his book?

Yes, they do. Give it a try.

SAM HAN SA ON 삼한사온

Winter of Korea is very cold and has many snow. It's a real winter.
But, this winter is exceptionally cold and it seems that everyday is setting a new record of its lowest temperature. Not just endless freezing temp, but heavy snowfalls, some are even like blizzard, are frequent this winter. 

There is a saying “SAM HAN SA ON [sam han sa on] 삼한사온” in Korea referring climate pattern during winter time.

SAM HAN SA ON 삼한사온 means 3 days are cold and after 4 days are relatively less cold.; SAM-3, HAN-cold, SA-4, ON-warm

It looks like SAM HAN SA ON does not apply to this winter so far.

DASAN 120 SEOUL CALL CENTER 120 다산콜센터

Foreign language service for interpretation, public transportation, reservation, and everyday life information.

Such as

When you need an interpreter in a taxi

When you leave something on public transportation

When you want to order a pizza over the phone

http://120dasan.seoul.go.kr/foreign/english.html

Tel: (02) 120 + Press 9 to select language, 1 for English 2 for Chinese, 3 for Japanese, 4 for Vietnamese or 5 for Mongolian

Call Center Hours: 09:00~22:00

SEOUL MUSEUM OF HISTORY 서울역사박물관

Location: 55 Saemunan-ro (sinmunno 2-ga), Jongno-gu, Seoul
Map Info: http://www.museum.seoul.kr/eng_new/vis/location.jsp
Tel: +82-2-724-0274
www.museum.seoul.kr

Either to understand full history and culture of Seoul from Joseon Dynasty to the present or to get a glimpse of idea of how Seoul has become current Seoul, 'Seoul Museum of History' is the place definitely need to visit.