I've been going to Handel and Haydn Society's Messiah performance every year since 2004 except this year. The schedule just didn't work out. Instead, I was listening to it at my office.
I used to go to church every Sunday till high school. We went to a small, rather quiet Presbyterian church (than most Korean churches), which had a small, humble and not-so-professional choir.
Maybe not every year, but they used to perform Hallelujah, translated into Korean and accompanied by piano, after rehearsing for weeks, for the Christmas service. I suddenly wanted to hear this song close to their modest performance, and found something similar online. Even though I am not religious now, it's emotional to listen to something that brings back holiday memories from childhood.
I warned you that my church choir was not so professional. ;) I actually love how they struggle so much at "King of Kings and Lord of Lords (왕의 왕, 또 주의 주)".
I used to go to church every Sunday till high school. We went to a small, rather quiet Presbyterian church (than most Korean churches), which had a small, humble and not-so-professional choir.
Maybe not every year, but they used to perform Hallelujah, translated into Korean and accompanied by piano, after rehearsing for weeks, for the Christmas service. I suddenly wanted to hear this song close to their modest performance, and found something similar online. Even though I am not religious now, it's emotional to listen to something that brings back holiday memories from childhood.
I warned you that my church choir was not so professional. ;) I actually love how they struggle so much at "King of Kings and Lord of Lords (왕의 왕, 또 주의 주)".
이올린에 북마크하기
From 千字文: thousand character poem
索居閒處 沈默寂寥 求古尋論 散慮逍遙
삭거한처 침묵적료 구고심론 산려소요
한가롭게 살며 조용히 거처하고, 말 없는 가운데 고요히 지낸다.
옛것을 구하여 찾아 논하며, 잡된 생각을 흩어버리고 유유자적한다.
Another poem I remember from middle school Chinese class.
松下問童子 言師採藥去 只在此山中 雲深不知處
송하문동자 언사채약거 지재차산중 운심부지처
Blogging has been slow, while mom was visiting and I was getting out of city on weekends to enjoy the New England fall. Walden pond, Mt. Monadnock, and World's End were all nice. And I registered for next semester.
http://www.minjinlee.com
I just finished reading "Free Food for Millionaires" by Min Jin Lee. I read all three of Chang-rae Lee's novels earlier this year and came across with another Korean-American Yale graduate writer. MJ's style is not as manicured as CR and I couldn't relate too much to the ungrateful shopaholic heroine "Casey Han" but I was still absorbed in the book. I rushed through the second half last night, just to know what happens and be able to put it away till next weekend, telling myself that scanning 200 pages of a novel somehow may have helped my English reading skills.
What's up with these KA Yalies with unlikable characters?
http://www.minjinlee.com
I just finished reading "Free Food for Millionaires" by Min Jin Lee. I read all three of Chang-rae Lee's novels earlier this year and came across with another Korean-American Yale graduate writer. MJ's style is not as manicured as CR and I couldn't relate too much to the ungrateful shopaholic heroine "Casey Han" but I was still absorbed in the book. I rushed through the second half last night, just to know what happens and be able to put it away till next weekend, telling myself that scanning 200 pages of a novel somehow may have helped my English reading skills.
What's up with these KA Yalies with unlikable characters?
I am studying English with this. Transcript and video sync.
민주당 전당 대회 오바마 후보 수락 연설 전문. 동영상이랑 스크립트가 같이 떠서 영어공부하기 좋네요.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/20080828_OBAMA_SPEECH.html
민주당 전당 대회 오바마 후보 수락 연설 전문. 동영상이랑 스크립트가 같이 떠서 영어공부하기 좋네요.
http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/conventions/videos/20080828_OBAMA_SPEECH.html
I was chatting with a friend about cultural "heritage" from a FOB point of view and wanted to talk more about it.
I said I think cultural "heritage" is over emphasized in the US. Or misunderstood. As a person raised in urbanized Korea in the 80-90s, it seems like what people think as "Korean" is not quite what I experienced anymore. I don't eat Korean food for breakfast, and I am not the only one in my age who prefers western food in early morning. There are countless more examples, things "we don't do anymore".
It seems like generation gap issue like this is pretty common, even when you're raised in the home country, yet it is considered assimilation or lost of heritage for immigrants. And is it necessarily a bad thing?
This actually reminds me of my experience as a college freshman in Seoul. My hometown Daegu used to be famous for apples. Everyone, seriosly everyone I met in Seoul who was not from the area had to mention Dague apple. No, no one in my family owns an apple orchard. In fact, apples aren't produced in the city of Dague that much anymore. Are we losing our color? Maybe.
I often hear phrases like "the way people lived for thousands of years before ...". Is there really such a thing? After all, spicy red Kimchi is a south American fusion food, only appeared after red chili pepper was introduced to East Asia by the Portuguese. There were influences like this throughout the human history.
It is probably easy for a person like me to say I reject this and that of my culture for a certain reason, than someone who may feel guilty about self-denying. But is it really self-denying?
Personally, I can read for pleasure in two languages. It wasn't easy to get here, even after being exposed to two languages as a child. I am not saying this to brag off but want to testify that, although there is a joy in being (nearly) bilingual, I am not sure it is worth the effort to everyone and I don't think anyone should be forced to it. I think people make comments about being or not being able to "speak the language" too easy. I can tell you that it is very hard to "speak a language" other than the one you received your official education in.
And the Korean language I speak and write is quite different from what I grandparents spoke. We were taught to "protect" our language in school in Korea, but is it even possible?
One uncomfortable thing for me is the often romantisized way in which heritage is talked about. Some people say they are jealous of more recent immigrants who have a certain heritage. I guess what they are referring to is food or traditional clothing, or something soft, fluffy, "world show case" kind of stuff. Not something putting (often unfair) restrictions on their lives.
Picture is Pye-baek, part of Korean wedding, still practiced these days. Technically, it is not a part of the wedding, which used to be at the bride's place, but when the bride is officially introduced to the groom's family when she moves some time after the wedding.
This is when the bride becomes part the groom's family. She offers dates and chestnuts to the parents-in-law and they throw them back to the bride, which she has to catch with the cloth as in the picture. Meaning of it is to bear a son (or sons) and serve the ancestors (we don't have to clarify whose ancestors we're talking about here). She also has to bow to groom's entire family.
These days, it happens right after the "western" part of the wedding and bride's parents get to receive the bow. But only parents. Not everyone like for the man's family. It is still an important part of the wedding, privately held only for the family (and a few close friends of the bride) in a separate room, and still an intimidating part for the bride (as I hear from a very recent wedding I attended).
I know a Korean-American woman who did this at her wedding at the reception. I wonder if she knew that she was basically being told to bear a son and serve the ancestors for her husband's family. In one hand, I am almost jealous, that it is an "option" for her, that she doesn't have to worry too much about what it means (well, maybe that's not what her Korean parents-in-law were thinking). One the other hand, I want to say something, that it's not just "dressing up in a pretty costume", it has a meaning, that some people don't necessarily accept, or moreover, some people fought hard to overcome.
Interesting follow-up story on the Daegu apple is that Daegu apple is actually Missouri apple. Daegu only became famous for apples when an American missionary decided to plant some apples from his hometown in late 1800s.
Culture is fluid. What seems pretty old can be a fairly recent thing in reality. But it can also have more meaning than it looks from outside.
I said I think cultural "heritage" is over emphasized in the US. Or misunderstood. As a person raised in urbanized Korea in the 80-90s, it seems like what people think as "Korean" is not quite what I experienced anymore. I don't eat Korean food for breakfast, and I am not the only one in my age who prefers western food in early morning. There are countless more examples, things "we don't do anymore".
It seems like generation gap issue like this is pretty common, even when you're raised in the home country, yet it is considered assimilation or lost of heritage for immigrants. And is it necessarily a bad thing?
This actually reminds me of my experience as a college freshman in Seoul. My hometown Daegu used to be famous for apples. Everyone, seriosly everyone I met in Seoul who was not from the area had to mention Dague apple. No, no one in my family owns an apple orchard. In fact, apples aren't produced in the city of Dague that much anymore. Are we losing our color? Maybe.
I often hear phrases like "the way people lived for thousands of years before ...". Is there really such a thing? After all, spicy red Kimchi is a south American fusion food, only appeared after red chili pepper was introduced to East Asia by the Portuguese. There were influences like this throughout the human history.
It is probably easy for a person like me to say I reject this and that of my culture for a certain reason, than someone who may feel guilty about self-denying. But is it really self-denying?
Personally, I can read for pleasure in two languages. It wasn't easy to get here, even after being exposed to two languages as a child. I am not saying this to brag off but want to testify that, although there is a joy in being (nearly) bilingual, I am not sure it is worth the effort to everyone and I don't think anyone should be forced to it. I think people make comments about being or not being able to "speak the language" too easy. I can tell you that it is very hard to "speak a language" other than the one you received your official education in.
And the Korean language I speak and write is quite different from what I grandparents spoke. We were taught to "protect" our language in school in Korea, but is it even possible?
One uncomfortable thing for me is the often romantisized way in which heritage is talked about. Some people say they are jealous of more recent immigrants who have a certain heritage. I guess what they are referring to is food or traditional clothing, or something soft, fluffy, "world show case" kind of stuff. Not something putting (often unfair) restrictions on their lives.
This is when the bride becomes part the groom's family. She offers dates and chestnuts to the parents-in-law and they throw them back to the bride, which she has to catch with the cloth as in the picture. Meaning of it is to bear a son (or sons) and serve the ancestors (we don't have to clarify whose ancestors we're talking about here). She also has to bow to groom's entire family.
These days, it happens right after the "western" part of the wedding and bride's parents get to receive the bow. But only parents. Not everyone like for the man's family. It is still an important part of the wedding, privately held only for the family (and a few close friends of the bride) in a separate room, and still an intimidating part for the bride (as I hear from a very recent wedding I attended).
I know a Korean-American woman who did this at her wedding at the reception. I wonder if she knew that she was basically being told to bear a son and serve the ancestors for her husband's family. In one hand, I am almost jealous, that it is an "option" for her, that she doesn't have to worry too much about what it means (well, maybe that's not what her Korean parents-in-law were thinking). One the other hand, I want to say something, that it's not just "dressing up in a pretty costume", it has a meaning, that some people don't necessarily accept, or moreover, some people fought hard to overcome.
Interesting follow-up story on the Daegu apple is that Daegu apple is actually Missouri apple. Daegu only became famous for apples when an American missionary decided to plant some apples from his hometown in late 1800s.
Culture is fluid. What seems pretty old can be a fairly recent thing in reality. But it can also have more meaning than it looks from outside.
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