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KCC: K-Culture Corner

15 Photos That Will Make You Want To Eat Pepero

October 26, 2015

Get your box of chocolate sticks ready! Pepero Day is approaching. Every November 11 in Korea, people give each other chocolate sticks. It's a commercial holiday begun by Lotte and is particularly celebrated among those with a sweet tooth. Get your box of Pepero at the Korean market or make your own at home! Warning: the following photos may cause drooling.

1. Ever wonder how a rainbow tastes like?

2. Whoever said, "A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down," never had a bite of these chocolate sticks. Sorry, Mary Poppins!

3. You know someone genuinely loves you when they make Pepero Cake for you.

4. Diabetes in fancy mode.

5. Packaged Pepero is awesome, but homemade chocolate sticks are even better!

6. Cake made of almond-flavored Pepero sticks topped off with pistachios. Drool. Eyegasm.

7. Sophisticatedly cute and neat. Perfect for the ladies prim and proper.

8. Mmmmm... Lettered Pepero sticks with pinches of rose petal chocolate shavings.

9. Cookies inspired by Yours Truly, Pepero.

10. Chocolate sticks gone nuts!

11. I want to cuddle with these guys.

12. Giant mama box of Pepero next to its baby.

13. Four hours at the gym to burn off. I still want it!

14. Rectangular biscuit sticks with a whole lotta crunch.

15. On a diet? Cuddle a Pepero pillow instead.

Lasts longer than the actual chocolate stick and doesn't melt on you! (Ameblo) — Lasts longer than the actual chocolate stick and doesn't melt on you! *(Ameblo)*

BONUS: Sugar-free Pepero. Everybody's favorite!

Korean 50,000 & 10,000 won bills rolled up. Approximately $180 USD! (Cuteinkorea) — Korean 50,000 & 10,000 won bills rolled up. Approximately $180 USD! *(Cuteinkorea)*

Tune in my YouTube channel this week for more on Pepero Day. Until then, happy responsible snacking! :)

Korean Emoticons & Text Expressions

October 20, 2015

Messaging apps such as Kakao and Facebook Messenger allow users to use colorful animated emojis. In the midst of these entertaining pixels, many still embrace writing keyboard-based emoticons and text expressions. In America we love LOL, WTF and :). How do Koreans laugh and communicate through texting? Scroll through the list and watch this week's episode of Korean Culture Corner (ㅋㅋㅋ) for more details!

Laughing
ㅋㅋㅋ = the Korean LOL, written as KKK yet pronounced as "keu-keu-keu" (크크크). Use as many ㅋ's the funnier something is!
ㅎㅎㅎ = the Korean hahaha, written as HHH yet pronounced as "hahaha" (하하하). Korean keyboard, use H consonant.
ㅍㅎㅎ = the Korean puhaha, written as PHH yet pronounced as "puhahaha" (프하하). Korean keyboard, use the P and H consonants.
ㅋㄷ = another Korean laugh, written as KD yet pronounced as "kee-deuk" (키득). Korean keyboard, use the K and D consonants.

Crying
ㅜㅜ = tears streaming down. Korean keyboard, use OOH vowel.
ㅜ.ㅜ / ㅜ_ㅜ = variations of the ㅜㅜ emoticon
ㅠㅠ = tears streaming down times two. Korean keyboard, use YU vowel.
ㅠ.ㅠ / ㅠ_ㅠ = variations of the ㅠㅠ emoticon
T.T = tears. American keyboard, type T consonant.
Y.Y = tears. American keyboard, type Y consonant.
OTL = person crying on the ground. American keyboard.
ㅇㅈㄴ = variation of OTL, but using the Korean keyboard.
요TL = person vomiting on the ground. American and Korean keyboard.

Smiling Faces
^^
^_^
^.^
^o^

Not-So-Smiley Faces
-_- = speechless, use after someone says something weird/dumb/offensive
-_-;; = sweating/embarrassed
;;;;;; = sweat marks. The more semi-colons, the more embarrassed you are!
ㅇㅁㅇ = shocked (Korean keyboard, use the silent consonant and M consonant)
^^a = head and finger scratching the head
@.@ = confused

Abbreviations
ㅇㅋ = the first consonants taken from these two characters 오키 (oh-kee). 오키 is the shortened version of 오케이 (oh-keh-ee), which is the Koreanization of the American word "okay."
ㅇㅇ = abbreviation of 응/으응, which means "yes" in Korean. It has a cutesy, aegyo vibe, so use it towards your sweetheart and friends.
ㄴ / ㄴㄴ = abbreviation of 노노 (no-no), which means "no" in Korean.
ㅂㅂ / ㅃ = abbreviation of 바이바이 (ba-ee-ba-ee), which is "bye-bye" in Korean. Korean keyboard, use the B consonant.
ㄱㅅ = abbreviation of 감사합니다 (gam-sa-hap-ni-da), which is "thank you" in Korean. Press the G and S consonant on the Korean keyboard.
ㄷㄷ / ㄸ = abbreviate of 덜덜 (duhl-duhl), which indicates shivering due to amazement or fear
ㄱㄱ / ㄲ = abbreviation of 고고 (go-go), which mean "let's go!"

Offensive. Please try not to use.
ㅗ = FU! Sticking up the middle finger. Korean keyboard, use the OH vowel.
ㅗㅗ = FUx2!! Sticking up two middle fingers. Korean keyboard, use two OH vowels.
ㄷㅊ = abbreviation of 닥쳐 (dak-chyeo), which means "shut up." Korean keyboard, use the D and CH consonant.

Bonus
~ = can be used after writing pretty much anything. Some people use this symbol after nearly every sentence. Others use it sparingly. It can have a cutesy, aegyo vibe. (ie: Hello~ How are you~ I'm doing awesome~ I miss you~ Where are you~ Let's hang out~ I'm hungry~ Let's eat kimchi jjigae~)

ㅇㅋ, hope you all enjoyed this post! ^.^ Don't forget to watch my YouTube channel! ㅂㅂ~

17 Korean Rice Cakes to Die For: The Prettiest Songpyeon Ever!

October 12, 2015

Korean women of each household traditionally would gather and handmake half-moon shaped songpyeon (Korean rice cakes). It was said those who made pretty songpyeon would have a beautiful daughter. These days songpyeon are sold at Korean markets, so no need to worry about making ugly songpyeon!

The average songpyeon looks decent, indicating that its creators will have semi-beautiful daughters...