Aka Aurora's Tales

I've been wanting teaching Korean since years ago and suddenly I got a chance through a 4-day holiday program that my previous office held to teach group of K-Pop and K-drama lovers who are so curious about learning Korean and reading hangeul ( Korean characters ), not only simple annyeong haseyo ( Hello! ) or kamsahamnida ( Thank you ). I graduated two years ago from a reputable university in South Korea and I got used to communicate in Korean and interact with the local people. That's why I really want to try to distribute the knowledge to other people who are interested in it.

As I guessed, my students couldn't read hangeul, but they surprisingly knew some phrases in Korean that they admitted they heard it from K-Pop songs or K- dramas dialogue. Our class was started at 1PM. I came a bit early and headed right away to the class room after preparing some handouts.I saw a mid-aged woman who sat on the bench. She mustn't be one of my students. But then, she was! I was quite surprised! Wow, I wondered why she took a Korean class. She told me that she's a fan of Korean dramas for a long time. That's why she wills to learn Korean. Her name is Mrs.Ina. She's a fast learner and always has a lot of questions to ask.

Other students are Zahira, Mira, and Vrasya. Three teenagers who adore EXO so much brightened  the classroom up with their jokes. Our first lesson was self-introduction and greeting phrases. I played a video that was taken from KBS World's Dugeun Dugeun Hangugeo, a TV program in KBS World that provides free Korean lesson weekly. My students were so thrilled when they knew that they were going to learn from a popular drama, Dream High. Kim Soo Hyun, Suzy, and Ok Taecyeon were the leads of this drama. My students learned how to introduce themselves in several versions, both formal and informal.

Our second day was still filled with learning simple phrases. But then I told them some stories that I experienced during my stay in South Korea. They were amused with my stories. I told them about Korean cultures as well. In the end of the lesson, I promised them to talk about shopping in South Korea on the next meeting. Yes, I know what they would talk about first, shopping for Korean boybands and girlbands' CDs. Heol ... hahaha

On the next day, I prepared stacks of fake money. I planned to have a 'shopping session' with my students. But before that, I told them about popular shopping spots in Seoul, such as Myeongdong, Dongdaemun, Namdaemun, Insadong, Ewha University, Hongdae, etc., and also about phrases that we use for shopping. I also showed them Korean Won cash that I have in my wallet. After that, I asked them to 'sell' their stuffs, such as pencil cases, stationery, books,etc. They took turn becoming customers and sellers. They were laughing when they called their friends as 'ahjumma' who sell the stuffs. It was so fun!

Our last day was wrapped by learning numbers in Korean  and reviewing lessons we had learned. We took a lot of pictures, too. It was such a great success for me ! Even though there were a lot of mistakes here and there, but I salute my students' effort to learn Korean language in 4 days. Hope that I can get more chances to learn and teach Korean in the future. Annyeong!

As an Ibuzz Korea members, I always get a newsletter from Ibuzz Korea about events which are going to be held. This time, I got an invitation to attend 2013 Ibuzz Korea Award in Seoul on November 20th, 2013 in Fradia Convention Hall, Jamwon, Seoul. It was a special invitation, so only 300 members got the invitation. The aim of this event is appreciating all of the bloggers and videologgers who shared their writing / video about Korea in the Ibuzz Korea page. Since they spread about Korean cultures widely to the entire world, so they are worth for this kind of award. Beside the awarding event, there were live stage performances from ZE:A and Dalshabet. There was a lucky draw and games too.

Well, let's start from the beginning of the story !

The event venue was at the Fradia Convention Hall, Jamwon, Seoul. I headed from Myeongdong station to Jamwon station. I went out of the Exit 1 and I found a standing banner of Ibuzz Korea which led me to an Ibuzz Korea shuttle bus. This shuttle bus run every 10 minutes to pick the lucky members up and drive them to the event venue. In the bus, I didn't only meet Korean, but also a lot of foreigners. Around 5 minutes, I arrived at Fradia.

2013 Ibuzz Korea Award Banner

We walked at the red carpet like celebrities do and got our photo taken by a photographer who was standby in front of the main door. Once I got into the lobby, one of the staff asked my email address and she checked it on her computer. Then I got my hand band and a light stick.

The  hand band

The light stick

Then she told me that I could go around of the venue. First, I visited a room with a big 3D screen. They played a video about Korean cultures. I borrow eda 3D glasses to watch the video. After watching the videos, I took a picture of myself with Buzz Korea banner as my background.

The big 3D Screen which plays Korean cultures video

2013 Ibuzz Korea Award banner

I headed to the 2nd floor to see other things which were available at the venue. On the 2nd floor, there were some Korea zones, sucs as Korean Foods Zone, K-Pop Zone, Korean Games Zone, etc. I passed by the Welcome Drink Zone where people could drink water, juice, soft drinks, even wine ! I got my orange juice and definitely headed to the Korean Foods zone. I was hungry, though. Hahaha. My eyes and myself couldn't believe that the foods were sooooooo many. I queued and took some of my favorite Korean foods. I took Bibimbab ( sponsored by Bibigo ), bulgogi ( Korean beef dish ), Haemul Pajeon ( Seafood pancake ), Chicken Gangjong ( Sweet and Hot Chicken ), and vegetables salad with olive oil. Those foods were soooooo good !!! Unfortunately I couldn't take the dessert, I was too full. But I could see there were assorted cakes, such as red velvet cake, chocolate cake, cheese cake , then puddings, cookies, and even macaroons.

Korean foods at the Korean Foods Zone

While eating and chitchatting, people could listen to their favorite K-pop songs in the K-Pop Zone. There were some tables with 4-5 headphones and iPods each. Well I tried it, of course.

K-Pop Zone

At 5:30PM, the event was started. Ricky Kim, as an MC, went on the stage then greeted all of the audiences. I couldn't see his face because my table was quite far from the stage and the lighting against my view. Ricky asked the Korean Tourism Organization leader to give a speech as a welcoming speech for all of the audiences who came. He delivered his speech in English so everybody could understand what he said well.



And here's the full rundown for 2013 Ibuzz Korea Award event :


After the speech, this is what people waited for. Yup, stage live performance of Dalshabet, one of the most famous Korean girlband ! I am familiar with some of their songs since I'm an ultimate viewer of Inkigayo or M Countdown hahahaha

After the performances, Dalshabet had some giveaways for the lucky participants. So they picked 3 message cards which were written by all of the participants before the event was started. Unfortunately, I'm never lucky enough. They gave 3 signed CDs and also a chance to take a picture together and shake hands. After Dalshabet's performances, here the awarding event began. There are some categories, such as Blog of The Year, Video of The Year, Buzz of The Year, and K-Spot of The Year. All of the prizes were handed in by the Korean Tourism Organization President. Congratulations for all of the winners!










Surprisingly, there was a lucky draw event too! And the prizes were so tempting. The main prize was a jacket which was a private collection of one of the ZE:A members. The lucky participant who got it was a girl next to my table. Ah, really I was not lucky~~~ :(  Then, it's time for ZE:A ! ZE:a minus Kwanghee performed 4 of their numbers and they were quite interactive o the audiences. Most of the members can speak English well too. What a surprise! ^^ People were cheering on them and even hysterically screaming to them.

ZE:A

Directions

Dongguk Univ. Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 5. Go 110m forward, and go past the Jangchung Gym (장충체육관). Turn right, and go 60m forward to arrive at the Shilla Duty Free Shop

Hallyu or Korean Wave is now spreading to all over the world. From the culture, foods, arts, entertainments, fashion, etc., those are making the world look into Korea, especially South Korea. Because of those aspects, many people want to learn Korean language and its culture.
But do you want to enrich your knowledge about Korea ? Start to visit Touch Korea and also iBuzz Korea ! They are providing you everything about Korea with an interesting ways.
I will tell you more about them. Let's check them out!

iBuzz Korea is such a campaign to promote Korea through social media, like Facebook, Twitter, etc. It shares everything about Korea and also you can share everything about your experience in Korea with global users. Besides that, iBuzz Korea is also held some interesting events that you can join. The purpose is to promote more about Korea. The things that you must know about iBuzz Korea, There are 4C OF IBUZZ KOREA, those are :

So keep visiting iBuzz Korea to know more about Korea and you can enrich your knowledge about Korea. Don't forget also to join interesting events in iBuzz Korea, because many interesting prizes wait for you.You can keep in touch with iBuzz Korea by following them on Twitter : @KoreanTravel or Like them on Facebook : Korea Tourism Organization .

Next, about Touch Korea. Touch Korea is still a part of iBuzz Korea. You can learn everything about Korea in this site Touch Korea . There are many interesting menus there and you can choose everything you want to know. This is the appearance of Touch Korea :

How well do you know Korea? Come and meet the charms of Korea at Touch Korea! You are warmly invited!


How well do you know Korea? Come and meet the charms of Korea at Touch Korea! You are warmly invited!


How well do you know Korea? Come and meet the charms of Korea at Touch Korea! You are warmly invited!




See that ? Enrich your knowledge about Korea is all fun! By iBuzz Korea and Touch Korea, you will be brought into the dream land of Korea. Welcome to Korea! 감사합니다 :)

Guys, have you ever heard about Korea is a romantic country ? If yes, do you know why ?

Yeah, I already guess that you can see it from most of Korean drama that you have been watched before right ? Hahaha.

But actually that is true! And you know what, Korea is providing some romantic places for you and your couple, like in Bukcheon Hanok Village ( " Personal Taste " drama was taken the shoot location here ), then Jeodongjin Beach, Namiseom Island, Cheong Gye Cheon, or maybe Namsan Tower.

So you will never regret if you bring your copule to Korea and start to enjoy the romance in Korea.

Watch this video to make you sure :



How well do you know Korea? Come and meet the charms of Korea at Touch Korea! You are warmly invited!