Welcome to "A Korean Destiny" blog: Introduction

 

Hello, my name is Karen and I’m a Chinese-American who married a Korean. I started this blog in order to expose non-Koreans to the culture and language of Korea from a non-Korean perspective. Through this blog, you will learn what I learned and hopefully you will pick up bits and pieces and appreciate the Korean way of life.

I believe it is my destiny to marry a Korean and immerse myself into their culture. Before I met my husband, I had no idea about anything Korean including the language, the people, and I was definitely fuzzy about North and South Korean relations. The first thing that entered my mind when my husband, then boyfriend, asked me out was whether he would date me and then leave me in the United States while he goes back to Korea after college. I was wondering if our relationship was a fling, but my boyfriend convinced me that he would get a job in the United States and not leave my side.

My boyfriend began to teach me hangul, the Korean alphabet, and I learned how to read and pronounce it within a day. Afterwards, however, my husband stopped teaching me probably because he lost the passion for it. I was curious about Korea and its language with many questions, but my husband would rather learn English instead.

I especially did not watch Korean entertainment until one day my mom let me borrow the Korean drama, “Full House” on VHS tapes with Cantonese dubbing. I loved the romantic comedy drama so much that I wanted more dramas to watch. I bought the Full House DVD afterwards and watched it a few more times though I couldn’t find a copy with that specific Cantonese dubbing. It was at this time where I realized how similar the Chinese and Korean language could be to each other.

After I married my husband, I began picking up pieces of Korean culture and language bit by bit though I wasn’t too interested in learning.

In 2009, I had my first experience with K-Pop music. I was watching Girls Generation on TV and was annoyed at first since Girls Generation is a nine-member group. I thought that anything with quantity lacked quality. Eventually, I listened to their addictive single, “Gee,” so many times on Youtube, that I became obsessed. From there, my interest in Korean entertainment and culture blossomed and I yearned for more.

Through this experience, I tried to learn Korean by myself through TV subtitles, Pimsleur CDs, and through watching Korean videos through Youtube with subtitles. I think I know a lot more of the Korean language now. Eventually, my favorite language school, ALESN, offered introductory Korean lessons and I formally began my Korean lessons. I also learn K-pop dances on the side, but I’ll save all the entertainment introductions for my Asian entertainment blog, Wehaiyo!.

So, that introduction is my Korean history in a nutshell. I will concentrate most of my energy into learning the language and include a bit of culture, but even then, there is so much I do not understand or comprehend. Luckily, I have a husband who can verify everything for me. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you can learn something from my experience.