Jumat, 25 Juli 2014

Eating on a Train

Dear Korean,Why do Korean eat hard boiled eggs in trains? Every time I took a train with my Korean wife, she always says that we should eat hard boiled eggs. But why? What is it with trains and hard boiled eggs?Damien G.Boiled eggs on a train is a tradition of sorts. Korea operated its first train line in 1899, and train has...

Minggu, 20 Juli 2014

Things TK Noticed in Korea

As some of you may have noticed, TK has been in Korea for the last couple of weeks. One of the pleasures of visiting Korea is to observe the changes. Because Korea is such a fast-changing society, even one year in between the visits (as was the case with TK's) is enough to produce noticeable, interesting changes. Here are three things that TK noticed in his visit:(1) Beer.   Good beer is...

Minggu, 13 Juli 2014

Book giveaway winners!

First, the answers to the trivia:1.  SM Entertainment is the management company of the pioneering female idol star, BoA.2.  Shin Dae-cheol is the guitarist for the band Sinawi, whose bassist at one point was the legendary Seo Taiji.3.  Kim Min-gi is the artist whose best known song is the Morning Dew.Somehow, Question 2 tripped up a big number of entrants. The question asked for the...

Kamis, 03 Juli 2014

Book Giveaway Trivia Time!

Dear readers,The good folks at Tuttle Publishing, one of the best publishers of books on Asia, have sponsored an exclusive book giveaway event for Ask a Korean! readers. The prize? K-Pop Now! by Mark James Russell, which the Korean previously reviewed here. For anyone who needs an introductory overview of the current K-pop phenomenon, it is a great introduction.For the give away, TK has put together...