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Sunday, June 24, 2012

Jean Youn: The feel of summer

By chance, have you ever dipped your feet in a small creek in the mountains? Korea, where I grew up, has a lot of small mountains all over its land. During hot summer days, people frequently go up to the mountains and counter the heat by dipping their feet in the creeks. Not just the clear and cold water of […]
Thursday, June 21, 2012

Jean Youn: the Korean War and pop singer Insoony

A certain day or month reminds us of something special. Of course, everybody may have different things in mind. In June, what comes first to your mind? In June, most of the Korean people, maybe except the very young generation, think about “the Korean War,” which has another name, “the Forgotten War.” The war broke out on June 25, 1950. A […]
Monday, June 4, 2012

Jean Youn: Roses, morning glory, and June

It’s June now. A variety of flowers will be in full blossom. When you realize that it is June, what flower comes first to your mind? For me, it is a rose. That’s not because of my personal experience or memory, but because of education. As I learned in class that roses bloom in June, I had to memorize it […]
Saturday, May 12, 2012

Jean Youn: Happy Mother’s Day!

Have you ever seen broken branches on a gusty day? And then, have you seen a bird nest hanging on that branch? Yes, that’s really amazing. Though branches may be broken by strong wind, bird nests won’t be broken. However, every nest is not always like that. If a nest is built on a windy day, it won’t be broken […]
Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Jean Youn: Is it May or March again?

February this year has 29 days, instead of 28, because it is a leap year which comes every four years. Now, the solar calendar is the one which most of the countries on the globe use. However, there are some countries which use both the solar and the lunar calendar, especially in the Orient. China and Korea are representative among them. The […]
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Jean Youn: A bowl of spring

A plate or a bowl where food is put is called as a “Geu-reut” in Korean. “Geu-reut” has a variety of names. For example, we call it as “Bab (steamed rice) Geu-reut” if a bowl contains steamed rice which is the main staple for Koreans. If it holds soup (“Kook” in Korean), it is called as “Kook-Geu-reut.” Likewise, if bread (“Bbang” […]
Thursday, March 22, 2012

Jean Youn: Music and the sweet sounds of spring

What kind of music do you like? What are your favorite songs? Different people like to listen to different kinds of music. However, there are some songs that many people, across cultures, generations and gender all seem to enjoy.There are certain things that touch sensitivities universally. I think a good example of such a song is Nella Fantasia, it is […]
Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Jean Youn: Electricity, power outages, and spring

Have you ever experienced a sudden power outage? It’s a very frustrating ordeal because it prevents you from cooking, having air conditioning when it’s hot, heating when it’s cold, and these days we might feel helpless without a working computer. Just about everything that operates on electricity would not be working during a power outage. It’s also impossible to do […]