[Fourteen] Teddy Bear Museum (Jeju Island Part II)

Dear readers,

I hope that you're having a great day, wherever you may be. 그리고, 좀 있으면 벌써 2011년이네요!

모두들 새해 복 많이 받으세요! The new year is just around the corner! I wish you many blessings for 2011!

I never had the chance to do a part II for my blog entry on Jeju Island, so I thought that I would share some pictures that I took at the Teddy Bear Museum there. It's an amazing place, if you like teddy bears. :)

So, apparently, this  teddy bear museum is one of a kind in Korea

This place was really fun to go to. And, don't worry, it wasn't just for kids. I think I saw more adults in there actually :) don't we all love our teddy bears?

When you first enter the museum, you are introduced to the history of teddy bears. Did you know that "teddy" got its name from the US President Theodore Roosevelt?

You are looking at how some of the earliest teddy bears looked like!

After some history, it's just teddy bear madness. Basically, teddy bears in every setting and scenary that you can imagine :)

at picnic

LV bears

Korean (?) teddy bears getting married haha

and... no way... it's that famous painting by Michaelangelo!

Yes, recreated with bears!

*

They also showcase famous bears such as the one pictured below.

Do you remember this little fellow?

He was featured in the drama "Princess Hours" (Goong/ MBC 드라마 궁)

Ta-da! Isn't he adorable?

*

The really cool part of this museum is that, after going to the gift shop, there's even more to see outdoors.

Outdoors, there are various fountains, statues, etc. featuring (what else?) bears! The fountain pictured above was interesting because at every hour bears come out of it and give a mini performance. It's kind of like those cuckoo clocks.

polar bears!

I hope that you'll have a chance to visit the museum one day :) I had a great time there with my family!



Once again, happy new year to you and I will meet you once again through another post!

Yours truly,

Sunflowerchocolate

-sunflowerchocolate-

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[Thirteen] Jeju Island Part I

 Dear readers,

Today I will begin introducing you to some of the beautiful places I visited in Korea. For this entry, I will focus on one place I visited while I was in Jeju Island.

Jeju Island is the biggest island in South Korea located at the Southern tip of the penninsula. The Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes was designated as a UNESCO heritage site in 2007. (Don't worry folks; although the island is covered by dark-brown volcanic rock and volcanic soil, the volcano is dormant)

A couple interesting facts about Jeju:

1) Many couples go to this island for their honeymoon

2) Jeju is well-known for its 감귤 (gam-gyul) tangerine

3) If you go to Jeju, you have to go see a 하루방 (ha-roo-bang) In Jeju-island dialect, 하루방 means 할아버지 (ha-ra-bur-jee) grandfather. You can see statues of 하루방 and souvenirs all over Jeju!

**Important Note about the pictures: These are all pictures I took while I was at Jeju! I don't mind if you save them for your own private use. But, if you would like to re-post the photos or copy it, please cite your sources! You got these photos from http://www.chomsongdae.blogspot.com/ Or, you can ask me for the photos!

4) There is an old saying: 사람은 서울로, 말은 제주도로 보내라 translated, this means, "Send people to Seoul, and send horses to Jeju island". Basically, this saying represents the fact that there are many horses in Jeju Island and how the island is an ideal place to raise (사육) horses.

So, specifically, what can you do at Jeju Island?

Well, in this entry, I would like to recommend for all of you who love moderate hiking to visit 선상일출봉 Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak. (Please click here if you would like more information in English about this Peak and how to get there)

This Peak has also been designated as a UNESCO heritage site. (separate from Jeju island's recognition by UNESCO)

 I was too tired to hike up the peak. But, from what I heard, its only a 40 minute hike. There is a small entry fee, but for the view you'll see up on the peak, it's worth it! I only went to the entrance of the peak, but even going there was really nice. The ocean. The peak. Green grass. Horses. Mmm...nature! I loved it!

Make sure you go there on a sunny day to get the best view. But, even on a cloudy day, 선상일출봉 Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak is a beauty.

Stay tuned for Part II on Jeju Island!!

Until then,

Yours,

sunflowerchocolate

[Twelve] Soccer in Korea :)

Dear readers,

Sorry it's been so long! I have been caught up in traveling, working and hanging out with family and friends in Korea! It's been amazing. I can't share all of my experiences, but let me share with you some of the highlights. The first highlight was going to a FC Seoul (FC 서울) soccer game.

Korean soccer fans sure know how to cheer!

It was raining that day--as you can see not many Jeon-Nam 전남(Yellowz) fans came out that day

Several times during the match, a professional cheering squad came out and led the cheers. I don't if you can see them!

Lee Chung Yong (이청용) who was part of the Korean national football team this year came for a visit to the FC Seoul match. Lee is currently part of the Bolton Wanderers Football Club

There he is under the umbrella

He gave out soccer balls to fans :)

모두들 건강하세요~

Take care everyone!

Stay tuned for the next blog entry about Korea :)

-sunflowerchocolate-

[Eight] Sweet Rain

Hello readers,

Sorry it's been so long! I wanted to share with you information about Seollal (설날) which is the Korean name for Lunar New Year that starts in about two days (depending on where you are in the world). However, before that, I have to use my blog to talk about an issue that has been headline news for the last couple of weeks because it's an issue that's also been tugging at my heart.

It's been released that the death toll after Haiti's massive earthquake is 230,000 and counting. According to the BBC's recent report, 700,000 people are living outdoors in make-shift shelters. There is a lack of food, water, shelters, medical supplies, and a need to rebuild almost everything. The current situation over there is really chaotic and there is a horrific smell hanging over the nation of human waste and decaying bodies. There is chaos as people are looking for ways to survive in whatever way they can-whether that is through legal or illegal means.They really do need help over there.

The world has reacted to the disaster. The UN, NGOs, churches, and individuals have responded to the cry for help.

It's really a heart-breaking situation. Although it may not be headline news anymore, I am writing this blog entry, because I understand that the situation is really grave and we must not forget Haiti and help in whatever way that we can.

In June, hopefully development becomes a one of the top priorities for the G-8 and G-20 Summit meetings. Recently the G-7 decided to cancel Haiti's debt. I am not sure to what extent this will help Haiti-now that they are facing enormous new costs to deal with problems arising from the aftermath of the earthquake. However, debt relief cannot hurt!

The Republic of Korea is the first non-G8 nation to hold the presidency seat for the G-20 meetings that are happening this year. President Lee Myung-bak, in his interview with the BBC released on January 28, 2010 said,

"We are a country that experienced a devastating war about 50,60 years ago. 50 and 60 years ago, Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world, but today, we are a member of the OECD, and also more than that, we are a country-the only country in the world to be a recepient of donations, but now we are a donor ourselves, providing help and assistance to those who need our help and assistance..." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/davos/8486343.stm

I think that it's great that Korea is a country that can act as the bridge between developed countries and developing countries since it can relate to both positions. I hope that in 2010, Korea could really shine light on the issue of development because it is so often neglected and forgotten. We need long-term and concrete goals for countries like Haiti and other developing countries in need.

If you're interested in development, you might like this Korean show called "Dan Bi" (단비). It's a show where Korean celebrities get together to help out people in need. In the episode that I watched, "Han Ji Min" was one of the guest and comedians such as "Kim Yong Man" and "Tak Jae Hoon" were also there.

The small group travelled all the way to Zambia to create a clean water well for a community of several hundred people. Only 50% of the Zambian population has access to clean water-meaning that there are many people who die of diseases that are related to using unclean water. The average lifespan in Zambia is 38 years. It's so hard to imagine that a water well can change the lives of hundreds of people, but it truly can. After the "Dan Bi" cast successfully built the well, the villagers went from collecting water from a dirty and disease-infected pond that is several miles away for many to a clean and healthy water well.

"Dan Bi" does not only go to African nations or build wells. The week after, the group went to Sri Lanka to give artificial limbs to two boys who could not walk. Another week, they helped a couple in Korea to hold a wedding that was long postponed because of financial and health reasons.


"Dan Bi" literally translates into sweet rain. I think the show is doing a great job of pouring down sweet rain to so many places.

We all have questions about whether or not we need to help poor countries, how to best provide aid, why some governments neglect their population and how it can be made better.

We might not know exactly what might be the best way to help developing countries; however, we can all start somewhere.

I hope this blog entry will inspire you to spread sweet rain to people in need in your neighbourhood and elsewhere :) 

Sunflowerchocolate
Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/sunflowerchoco

[Seven] 힘내세요! ^^

Hello readers,

How are you doing today? I hope you’re getting together with your families and friends and are enjoying great time together during the holidays. For those of you who are still working, I say to you hwa-ee-ting 화이팅 and him-nae-sae-yo힘내세요 (the equivalent to 加油 “add oil” in Chinese ^^ and げんきだしてください or がんばって下さい in Japanese ). If you translated 힘내세요 into English, its meaning is probably closest to “be strong”.  ^^

In the spirit of giving this season, in today’s blog entry, I would like to share with you a song that I like to listen to be encouraged these days. The music video for the song makes me want to go back to Korea this winter. Haha next year!

If you follow me on twitter (click here to follow), you may have noticed how my favourite song at the moment is “S.E.O.U.L” by 소녀시대 (Girls’ Generation, aka SNSD) & 슈퍼주니어 (Super Junior, aka Suju). For those of you who may not be familiar, 소녀시대 and 슈퍼주니어 are two of the most popular Korean pop artists. 소녀시대 is a girl group with nine girls-yes n-i-ne. That’s nothing though…슈퍼주니어 has 13 guys.

Girls' Generation

Super Junior

Anyways, I hope the song will encourage you, especially if you are working this winter and I hope you’ll be inspired to learn more about Korea and visit soon :)

Below are the lyrics with my attempted translation of the song :) (It's not a word-per-word translation. I was focusing on the meaning ^^)

Click here to watch the M/V on youtube

어느새 하루가 또 지나고 집으로 향한 나의 발걸음

A day has already passed and I am heading home

부푼 가슴에 첨 시작했던 그 맘 그대로

I am tired, but I am trying to remember why I was so excited in the beginning.

가끔은 피곤한 일상 속에 지쳐버린 내 몸을 이끌고

Even when I am tired, I can still walk

길을 따라서 숨쉬고 있는 나의 자유

and breath. I feel so free!

 

Yes 느껴봐 희망 가득한 세상

Yes-feel it, a world full of hope.

Yes 저기 높은 미랠 향해서

Yes-look to our bright future.

S.E.O.U.L함께 불러봐요 꿈이 이뤄질 아름다운 세상

S.E.O.U.L, let's sing it together for a world where dreams come true.

어디서나 즐거운 일이 넘치는 곳 사랑해

I love it here where there is always something fun happening.

S.E.O.U.L함께 외쳐봐요 어디서라도 웃을 수 있는

S.E.O.U.L, let's shout it out together-for a world where we can smile and 

행복 모두가 하나되는 세상

be full of happiness and be united.

어느새 커져버린 내 모습 후회 없이 살진 않았는지

Time goes by so quickly.I am all grown up. I wonder if I have any regrets.

부푼 희망에 첨 설레었던 그 맘 그대로

It doesn't matter. I want to go back to the time when I was excited for the future.

알 수 없는 내일이 궁금해 어렵고 험한 일이 생겨도

I don't know what's going to happen tommorow. Even if there are storms ahead,

견딜 수 있어 내게 부끄럽지 않도록

I can get through it.

Yes 느껴봐 희망 가득한 세상

Yes-feel it, a world full of hope.

Yes 저기 높은 미랠 향해서

Yes-look to our bright future.

S.E.O.U.L함께 불러봐요 꿈이 이뤄질 아름다운 세상
S.E.O.U.L, let's sing it together for a world where dreams come true.

어디서나 즐거운 일이 넘치는 곳 사랑해

I love it here where there is always something fun happening.

S.E.O.U.L함께 외쳐봐요 어디서라도 웃을 수 있는

S.E.O.U.L, let's shout it out together-for a world where we can smile and

행복 모두가 하나되는 세상 만들어요.

be full of happiness and be united.

두려운 날도 때론 힘이 들 때도 모두가 힘을 모아 꿈의 날갤 펼쳐요

In days when we are afraid or when we feel tired, we need to come together.

S.E.O.U.L 함께 불러봐요 꿈이 이뤄질 아름다운 세상

S.E.O.U.L, let's it sing together for a world where dreams come true

어디서나 즐거운 일이 넘치는 곳 사랑해

I love it here where there is always something fun happening.

S.E.O.U.L함께 외쳐봐요 어디서라도 웃을 수 있는

S.E.O.U.L, let's shout it together-for a world where we can smile

행복 모두가 하나되는 세상 만들어요.

and be full of happiness.

Bonus: pictures of Seoul, Korea ^^

(source: http://english.seoul.go.kr/gtk/about/ngc_list.php)

 

힘내세요!!

-Sunflowerchocolate-