Falling In Love with Korea Contest cohost by KOICS & KBS

Hi yalll...

So what is this Falling In Love with Korea Contest co-host by KOICS & KBS??..

 



The First Round of Annual Event

‘Korea, My Love’ Contest – Video, Photo, Webtoon

Do you love Korea? What made you fall in love with korea?
This event allows global participants to express why and when they fall in love with Korea and how they promote Korea’s cultural preachers who love korea by making their own contents.
- Multiple entries are accepted, but no duplicate entries.
- You can choose to participate in one or more missions.

Event Concept

Participants can produce promoting contents about anything they love about Korea such as Images of why and when they fall in love with Korea. The Korean People’s warm heart and beautiful mind, Korean culture including K-pop/K-drama/Food/Language or Special venues.

 

Mission 1 Video Contest [Korea, My Love]

 Imagine you are a promoter for Korea!
Make a video to promote how much and why you love Korea to promote Korea’s beauty to the world! (Language: English or Korean)
- How to Enter: Make a video, upload it to YouTube and submit the URL to the Korea.net website (video length:1-5 minutes, The title should be included.)
- YouTube Video Title Format : [Korea, My Love] Your Title

Mission 2 Photo Contest [What I love about Korea]

Take photos of what you love about Korea! What has impressed you and what you would like to introduce to others.
- How to Enter: Take 1 to 4 photos in a series, submit your work to the Korea.net website(The title should be included.)
- High-resolution photos preferred (Maximum 6mb)

Mission 3 Webtoon Contest [Crush on Korea]

 How did you get to know about Korea and Korean culture? Create a 1 to 4 cuts of a webtoon about your thoughts, experience or impression of Korea! (We also welcome your imagination if it is related to the topic.)
- How to Enter: Complete a webtoon piece and submit the work to the Korea.net website (The title should be included.)
- High-resolution images preferred (Maximum 6mb)


Where to Submit : The Korean Culture and Information Service (http://www.korea.net)
Submission Period: July 21, 2014 (Mon) ~ August 20, 2014 (Wed)

Prizes
- 1st Place : Event Winners will be invited to Seoul (Airfare&Accommodation incl.) and have a chance to watch KBS Year-end Special including ‘KBS Song Festival’ or ‘KBS Drama Awards’. ‘Special Experiences’ about Hallyu, Traditional Culture & History, Korean Food will be provided.  * The Winners’ Special Experiences in Seoul will be broadcast on KBS World. (Video : 1 winner, Photo : 1 winner, Webtoon : 1 winner)
- 2nd place : K-pop star’s autographed CD, USB, KBS World T-shirt(Video:15 winners, Photo:10 winners, Webtoon:5 winners)
- 3rd place : USB, KBS World T-shirt(Video:25winners, Photo:15winners, Webtoon:10winners)

Important Notice
- KBS World and KOCIS reserve the permanent rights to use the event winners’ names and works. The winners grant and exclusive license(permission) for the promoters to use or edit the entry photos, videos and webtoons.
- KBS World and KOCIS reserve the rights to withhold the distribution of prizes if the winner’s work has been awarded prizes from any other previous events of if the content is found to be plagiarized.
- Participants shall be liable or responsible for any legal dispute including the violation of portrait right of copyright arising from the submitted works.

Winner Announcement
- Date : September 1, 2014 (Monday)
- Available on the website of the Korean Culture and Information Service (http://www.korea.net) and KBS World website (http://www.kbsworld.co.kr)

You should join!!!

I've already join... Checkout my video above!.. I don't expect to win the grand prize but still 2nd & 3rd place prizes are not bad. :)

How to book your flight online (Gimpo to Jeju) : T'way Air...

Like I mention in the previous entry, for most airlines you need to register as a member before you can book a flight via online. So before I show you step by step guide on how to purchase flight ticket through T'way Air website, I will first show you how to register as a member...
I will try to go thru the step by step as simple and understandable as I can :) you ready?


 Guide for membership registration for T'way Air....

1. Step one you need to go to www.twayair.com of course.. its the website for t'way airlines.
2. On the top right you can find the link to 'log-in' written in hangul as '로그인'. After that you will be forwarded to the next webpage as per screenshot below.

3. On this page you need to click '회원가입' which means 'Register'.

4.  After that, you will view this webpage where you need to tick on the box written '해외거주자/외국인' which means Overseas resident / foreigner then fill in your particulars and click '확인' which means 'confirm'.

If you are curious to what the other ooptions are...

• 휴대전화 인증 가입 (1st option) = Mobile phone authentication registeration.
• 아이핀 가입   (2nd option) = I-Pin Registration.

Both option are for Korean.. as foreigner you just need to click on the last box.

 

 Tick the boxes to agree upon the terms and conditions and press '회원가입 계속 진행' to progress to the next page.

Here you have to key in your details following the steps below:
1. No need to fill up. Your last name will automatically appear.
2. No need to fill up. Your first name will automatically appear.
3. Choose your own ID and press the button next to it. You will be prompted with this dialog box.

4. Press the red button '아이디사용' which means, you can use the id.
5. Key in your password and reconfirm.
6. No need to fill up. Your date of birth will automatically appear.
7. Key in your email address
8. Key in your address
9. Key in your mobile number. If you can't find your initial number eg 012, just choose anything.
10. Press the button '회원가입 하기' to progress to the next page.

Finally, your membership registration is completed!! Press '회원 로그인' to login immediately and start your booking. ^^

How to get around Seoul by Subway? Tips. Do's & Dont's

What is the Best way to get around in Seoul?????
To get the best answer from the question, you really have to know :-
- How you like travel? do you like to travel light?
- How much you budget for transportations?
- Are you the backpacker type like me? like to mingle with the locals to get the best experience with their lifestyle & culture?..

In Seoul you have many transportation options.. you can get around by bus, or train or if you don't care about budget and you would like to travel with comfort you can either rent a taxi or rent a car...
But if you are a backpacker like me, you might want to travel by subway. Its cheap, its easy to figure out (might be a bit hard if they have a construction work going on).. and you'll love it not only because of the two former reasons but also because you get to mixed up with the locals.. For a day, I spent approximately about 8,000-10,000 won (that's about RM30?) using subway and that is cheap considering the many places I go in a day. Using Taxi from Incheon Airport to Seoul would be approx. 60,000 - 80,000 won a trip. Consider that!


Getting around by Subway/Underground train...

The Soul underground is very good, easy to use and on time.
They have a bi lingual language over both the speaker announcement and on the signs.
The only downside to the Metro is that they dont have a circle line like on the London undeground system, which would link more of the stations together, but thats a minor point.
They have 8 lines which are all colour coded and easy to navigate around the system.

Here's a tip about Seoul Subway Map : Make sure you get an updated one! Latest one! This thing happened to me, when you are in Seoul you can find the subway map almost everywhere, at the subway stations, from the internet and also from the tourist attractions brochures at your hotels for free. I got one of those! because it was easier for me to have it on my hand & navigate myself here and there. What I didn't check was the year the brochure was released so relying on the map in the brochure, instead of going to this place (don't remember what place it was) the fastest way we ended up using this old connection route (sometimes when using the subway you had to change trains to get to another coloured route, and we ended up using a longer coloured route instead of the fastest one lol). So check your map my friend!
All the stations and trains are clean every single day.
Even the free local paper (like the Metro paper in London) gets cleaned up during the day.
I love travelling by train and underground when I am abroad. You get to see how the locals are and learn a few things about how they behave and their culture (yes, even on a train. You'll be surprise how much you can learn just by observing people).
All Soul stations are wheel chair accessible and easy to navigate through. Seoul Sation and City Hall, the majority of the lines through these 2 stations, its very easy to get lost there.
I would recommend that you find out which station exit is the one that is closer to your destination otherwise you could walk out of the station a couple of miles away from where you wanted to be.
I would recommend people buy the underground travel card (T-Money), as it can save you allot of money. the travel card machine is very easy to use as its in English.

 

Important things to learn before you board the subway...

When you are traveling to other country you must respect the people culture & lifestyle because remember you are the foreign one. You must learn what to do or what not on a subway.
Here are the Do's & Dont's you might want to know...

1. Don’t Sit in the Priority Seating (Stank Eye Warning!)

So maybe you decided to go hiking at Bukhan Mountain and you’re on your way back. You’re sweaty, stinky and most of all tired, but all the seats are taken – all except for the priority seats at the end of the subway cars. You might be tempted to sit there, but you shouldn’t. Here’s a little secret… it’s a death trap! Well… culturally at least. Korean people really don’t like it when non-pregnant, non-elderly, uninjured people sit there. Even when the Seoul subways are extra full, people will avoid sitting there because they want to make sure that people who actually need those seats can sit down easily. Also, they are afraid of Korean stank eye. Scary!

Tip 1: These seats are also reserved for little children as well.
Tip 2: Koreans usually don’t sit there, and think “I’ll just get up when someone comes.” Leaving those seats empty is normal protocol. Try to do the same :)

2. Give Up Your Seat To Be Awesome!
If you’re sitting in the middle seats, you’re totally ok to just sit and watch that last episode of Gossip Girls on your smart phone. No one will say anything, and they shouldn’t! But… if you want to be an awesome Seoul subway rider, you should give up your seat for those that need it more than you do. That means pregnant women, the elderly, injured people, and in Korea… children! One of the awesome things about Korean culture is that it’s focused on helping each other, and the subways are really excellent places to see this in action. Help out a Korean that needs a seat, and the mayor of Seoul might just give you the totally unofficial “Seoul Awesome Subway Rider Award”! Yay!
Language tip: 앉으세요 (anjeuseyo) – Please sit.

I remember my experience giving up my seat to an elderly women, me & my friend were boarding the subway from Yeoido going to Jamsil and at our next stop there were 2 elderly women boarding the train. Like a good backpacker & foreigner we are :) without hesitating we standup and offer our seats to the women. At first the two women decline us with a smile but we politely insist, I told them it was okay for us to stand. ( 괜찮아요) So they accepted it. The two ladies were so nice & politely. They ask us where we stop and everything and when it was time for us to get off the train they even waved us goodbye. Can you imagine? waving us two foreigners goodbye when the train was packed with people??! I felt proud of my self :)

3. Be a Righty on the Escalators

Have you ever been frustrated by slow walkers? You know… those people that are always in your way and have no idea that you’re trying to get past them? Don’t be that person. Nothing’s more frustrating than congested foot traffic, and the escalators found at the Seoul subway stations are excellent places to be locked behind a Korean couple that have no idea that 32 people are waiting to walk ahead of them! If you’re not planning on walking up the escalators, stay to the right and let everyone walk past you on the left. Some people in Korea forget to do it, but keep in mind that it’s what you’re supposed to do. Also, you’re supposed to give a high five to everyone that passes you by! “Come’on ajumma, high-five!”

Tip: 잠시만요 (jamsimanyo) – excuse me

 

3. Be Cool with Pushing and Shoving

For whatever reason, a lot of Korean people don’t say excuse me on the subways. Maybe it’s their aversion of talking to strangers in Korea. But instead of a polite little “excuse me” from someone about to get off, you might just get a forearm shiver to your lower back. That’s mostly the older Korean people who are probably humming Ludacris’ Move B—- when they’re shoving people out the way. The younger people though, tend to be just as annoyed as you!

What can you do about it? Be cool homie! When you’re getting off, you can of course, say “excuse me” (see language tip below), and people will move away just the same. You have the option of shoving everyone right back too. But if you’re reading this… you’re cool! So stay cool, friends ;)

Language tip:
잠시만요 (jamsimanyo) – excuse me.
내릴게요 (naerilgeyo) – I’m getting off.

 

4. Seoul Subway Do’s and Don’ts – Stuff You Already Know (or Should!)

Sometimes, people can forget some common subway etiquette that is translatable nearly every where in the world (Koreans and foreigners alike!). But we’re going to play the common sense police just in case ;). Here are some common subway etiquettes for riding the subway in Korea:

 

1. Talk at normal decibel levels – that goes for phones and super hilarious jokes.
2. Sit on seats (wow, can’t believe we just wrote that!). Unless you want to make the Korean news like these guys.
3. There are plenty of trains. Try not to hold doors.
4. Seats are for people. Put your bags up on top.
5. Sleeping is ok, just don’t make the subway your bed ;)


 Happy traveling :)

 

Geureom (그럼)

I have been watching Korean drama lately.  I just finished watching 별에서 온 그대 (byeoleseo on kudae).  Although the English translated title of this drama is very popular, i still love breaking down the words of the title.  별 (byeol) means star with the place marker 에서  and 온 (on) is from the verb 오다 (oda) which means to come but since it’s in modifier form 온 actually denotes past event, this two words means came from star. 그대 means you which is typically used on songs and poems.  I am not sure if this is still being used in normal Korean conversation though.  So 별에서 온 그대 would mean You (who) came from stars :-)

Anyway, after watching this 21-episode drama in marathon, i came to realise that there is this word I often hear at the end of the conversation.  This word I am referring to is  그럼 (geureom).  I actually had double thoughts if I heard the word right.  From what I know 그럼 means ‘so’ or ‘by the way’ as such I don’t expect it to be said right at the end of a statement.  It was weird that in most cases where I hear this word from the drama, the scene is the person who just said 그럼 would leave the person he/she is talking to.

To end my curiosity, I asked two of my Korean friends if I am hearing this word right.  This is what I learned from my them,  other than the meaning I know this word is apparently used frequently at the end of Korean conversation.  It means to end discussion and would suggest that the speaker is about to leave or bid goodbye.

Such a little thing but to someone who is eager to learn Korean, this is worthy to know especially that I someday still dream of being conversant in this language.
이거 지금 친구에서 알았어요…그럼 ^^