#yonseikli

I'm halfway through my short-term Korean language course at Yonsei KLI (Korean Language Institute), and I'm actually really enjoying being a student again. It feels fantastic to wear a backpack, ride the bus to school, and trek up a great big hill to sit in class learning from teachers who love what they do. My mind is being stuffed with so much grammar and vocabulary each day, I can tell my Korean is dramatically improving! And Korean language is not the only thing I've been learning: this week, through the KLI program, I got to take classes in 한국요리 (Korean cooking) and 사물놀이 ('samulnori,' traditional Korean percussion).

In cooking class, we learned how to cook 닭강정 (crispy chicken w/ spicy sauce) and 도토리묵 무침 (acorn jelly w/ spicy dressing). Our final masterpiece was mouthwateringly delectable, wouldn't you say?

In samulnori class, we learned about the four main instruments of traditional Korean percussion:

장구 - 'janggu,' hourglass-shaped drum struck w/ a round-headed mallet in left hand and a thin bamboo stick in right

꽹과리 - 'kwanggwari,' small brass cymbal struck w/ a wooden mallet

징 - 'jing,' large gong struck w/ a padded stick

북 - 'buk,' barrel-like bass drum struck w/ a stick