BoraInKorea

Shortly after our arrival at JeJu Island, we went off to taste the traditional food.
On the left is hard boiled mackerel. It is quite spicy.
And on the right is also boiled pork. Since the women of Je Ju had to work as well as men, the boild pork is their common dish.

Koreans have been eating meat with vegetables and mainly they consume lettuce with pork, some rice and special sauce called "doenjang". This food is called "Ssam" which most Koreans love. "Ssam" is very healthy eating since we not only eat meat but also fresh greens:)



Now, my friend Sora is eating the "Ssam". It looks like her mouth cannot bear such big full Ssam!

What is JeJu Island, you might ask.
JeJu Island is located at the very north of South Korea.
However, since it is a island and there was not enough cultural interaction between the JeJu
and South Korea, many differences can be found which is very interesting!!


Over 20 people including me and other VANK memebers and VANK staffs went aboard airplane at 10:25 to explore the mysterious island:)

However, Jikji is not mentioned as the world's first ever matalloid type in many of foreign websites. Some even states that Gutenberg's Bible was the first ever made matalloid type. Yet, this Jikji was devised 78 years before Gutenberg's invention.
So, VANK, a voluntary organization where students carry out missions to correctify wrong information about korea and make Korea better knonwn to the world, is also doing its best to correctify those incorrect historical records. Frankly, I didn't know much about Jikji either before participating in this campaign.

However, after I read the whole website about our Jikji, I figured that this invaluable invention of Korea should not only be known to korea but also to the whole world. Due to the movable metal type printing technique, it helped people to publish several books in one time. With this technique, it became probable to lower the high book price and spread thoughts and knowledges through the books to many people.

Yet, our Jikji is currently not in the right place. It is secured in France. Many Koreans were taught that French stole it from Korea during France's invasion in Choseon Dynasty. However this is not correct. One Frencheman collected this Jikji as a antiques and took it back to his country. Nevertheless I and Koreans strongly believe that Jikji should be returned to its rightful place.

Last year, a historic and historical drama called "TaeWangSaShinGi" was broadcasted in success.
The drama called Legend, gained a great deal of popularity over both Korea and Japan. First, it starred the internationally famous star Bae Yong Joon.
Korea's famous star "Bae Yong Joon" starred in this drama as the main character who later becomes Great King Kwanggaeto, who drew a significant line to Goguryeo's history.
Besides, the other characters acted so well and lively that the drama seemed so real and funny.
Every scene is incredible for they put a lot of money into it, the drama looks so real.

The plot is based on the life of the Great King Kwanggaeto, who expanded Korean territory to the far North, to where it is now China. He is also known as Damduk.
Damduk, who never would have imagined he would later become king, lived happily with his father. Then, oneday, four gaurdians of King woke up and both the good side and the bad side began to search for the 4 sacred objects.


In his teenage, Damduk becomes the king of Koguryo and depite many attacks from his enemies, he finds his way through such tough times with the help of his friends. With his intelligenece, Kwanggaeto king rules his nation so well and expands the territory to the extent of the South of China. He and his enemies from the North fought to obtain the 4 sacred objects because according to a legend a king who possesses the 4 objects will have the complete power to rule the world.

During Damduk's life he met "Sujini" and "Giah", the two sisters. He fell for "Giah" first and she gave birth to Damduk's son who will later become the king JangSoo. Then, when "Giah" had turned her back on Daumduk because she thought that he abandoned her, Damduk meets this "Sujini" who later finds out that she was the younger sister of "Giah". Those two women share the power of Fire. And the two women and other three men called "HyunGo" who possesses the power of Water, "Jumuchi" the guardian of Wind and "Cheoro" the gurdian of Rain are the guardians of king. They fight for Dumduk sacrificing themselves to protect him.


The handsome Great King Kwanggaeto in his youth(teenage)


Bae Yong Joon, acting 10's in his 30's...






Sujini. Who later falls in love with King Kwanggaeto. Her parents were killed by the HwaChun. She was raised by "HyunMu". He was her guru. She is very funny, easy going and quite... alcoholic. Yet, she fights well along with other male fighters and contributes a lot to Damduk's plan.









Giah. Damduk's first ever crush. She is the sister of Sujini but she doesn't know the fact until her very end. She turns to bad side after she thinks that her lover Kwanggaeto abandoned her.




The Guardians of King.

On the left is Sujini, the second to left is "Cheoro"


On the left is "HyunGo" and to his next is "Jumuchi" who nearly died for saving Damduk.








This men is the enemy of Damduk. Because he thinks that Damduk killed her mother with a poison, he hates Damduk so much and intends to kill him. His name is "Yeon Ho gae". Then, he finds that he loves "Giah" and feel anger for he also notices that "Giah" loves Damduk.






On the left is HwaChun's leader who controls Giah 'til the very end.
Hwachun is a secret, dark organization who have waited for the 4 guardians to wake up and get hold of the 4 objects in order to take the power to rule the world.
With his dark intelligence and magic, he tries to stop Damduk obtaining the objects and guardians.
He also separates Giah from Damduk .

This is "YeonGaRyo" the father of "YeonHoGae".

"YeonGaRyo" who is the noted noble of Goguryeo, abondons his country and king to make his son become the king. Because of his guilt, he poisons himself and dies.



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This drama is one of the best damas I've ever seen. It still is in my mind even a year have passed since its last broadcast. I think that many Koreans and Japanese enjoyed the drama because the drama covers the Great King Kwanggaeto we've never that well known before. Also, this drama not only focuses on his accomplishments but also his humanity.

I really hope that a leader just like Damduk, who knows how to rule the country well, has a strong leadership and tenderness in him at the same time. Who listens to other people's opinions and tries to help his opponents if his people are in danger.

In the time when the cyber democracy is very active and the current president being attacked for every little bits of mistake, we need a strong, but considerate ruler and also very helpful and understanding companies and citizens around him.

Living in Ilsan for 10 years now, I want to introduce Ilsan to the world for its features and culture. Ilsan is the disctrict of Goyang, the satellite city of Seoul. In Korean, Il means "one" and san means a "mountain" so all together, Ilsan means "a mountain" and this is because there really is a only one mountain in Ilsan which is called "JungBal Mountain"! Ilsan was established in 1996 as a environmental friendly area. The Lake Park below, is an institution of Ilsan. It was man-made, and it has such a grand, peaceful lake and round park around it so people can walk around the lake through the parkway.

Besides Marine Boy Park Tae Hwan, there is the princess Fiona in Wight Lifting
and her name is Jang Mi Ran!!!

She won a lot of national and international weight lifting contests, but unfortunately she never won any medals until this 2008 Beijing Olympics!!!

She not only won a gold medal but also set the world record!

Jang Mi Ran, who started Weight Lifting since her childhood, didn't want to devote her life to doing sports at all at first.
Her father, former weight lifting athlete, forced her and her little sister. From then on, Jang Mi Ran has dedicated herself to weight lifting, winning many contests.

Jang Mi Ran said in her interview that her nickname is Princess Fiona, the character in movie Shrek. She may look fat and ugly outside, but inside her she has great personality and persistence.












These are the pictures taken in the Beijing Olympics when she set the world record and granted the gold medals!!!

plus, she was selected as one of the 5 good- body-shaped athletes by the famous magazine, NewYork Times!!! I think she deserves such claims and applause from people for she put her effort in weight lifting and did not give up. She not only brought national pride to Korea but also touched many Koreans' heart.

Gold Medals, Atheletic glory, national pride...Just a month ago, There was a Beijing Olympics held in China!
There were many heroes

Welcome to Bronze Age! At this time, people used this round bronze metal as a mirror. But actually the leaders of this time utilized this metal to show their authority. Until the New Stone age, the distribution of food was fair but since Bronze Age, with the weapons made, there were a lot of wars between tribes and then, the winners took a large proportion of the profits so the
hierarchical society took place.


The most important remnants in introducing the Bronze Age, I must say, is the dolmen! In korea there are hundreds of dolmens.

The potteries above are made during the New Stone Age. The first and second earthenware are called "dutmooni earthenware". It means that there are added feature in the potteries and in this case the added feature are the rope-shape that's attached to the earthenware. The third one is called "bitsalmooni earthenware". It means that the earthenware has lined-pattern on it. Bitsal means the teeth of a comb so the earthenware looks like the teeth of a comb had run through it, making the line pattern.

The picture on left is called "Garakbakki". It is used as a tool to make clothes and nets. There's a hole in the "Garakbakki" where the strings will go in.