The Real Meaning of Korean Greeting “ANNYEONGHASEYO” (안녕하세요)

“ANNYEONGHASEYO” or 안녕하세요 in Hangeul, is unarguably the first word you would probably encounter when you enter the world of Korean. Whether you live in Korea, or you visited Korean once in your lifetime, or you’re one of those crazy Hallyu Wave fans fangirling over oppas and going gaga over Kdrama, you would probably know by now how to say Annyeonghaseyo and when do you usually say that.

If you say that Annyeonghaseyo means hello or hi, yes you are correct!

If you think it means Good morning, Good afternoon, Good noon or Good evening, well, guess what? You are right!

So you see, Annyeong haseyo could actually mean any kind of greeting when you meet somebody in some random places. That’s how versatile it is.

In an informal setup, you can simply say “Annyeong” which basically conveys the same meaning as “Annyeonghaseyo” but less polite. Also, Annyeong can also mean Goodbye as an additional meaning.

But do you actually know the actual meaning of “Annyeong haseyo”?

This word actually is composed of two words “Annyeong” and “Haseyo”. Haseyo is a standard ending for words in korea to mean “to do” or “to be”. So basically, it means “to do Annyeong” or “To be Annyeong”.

The word “Annyeong” means “peace”. So if we have to literally translate it, when you say annyeonghaseyo, it’s actually wishing well to somebody “to be at peace”. If you say it with question mark, it means you are asking somebody “are you at peace?”

So there you go. I hope I explained it well. Next time you say that greeting, you know the real meaning of that.

Annyeong!

Seoul Based Pinoy Develops Online Platform for Filipino Cloudworkers

The COVID19 pandemic is causing millions of Filipinos lost their jobs.  In order to augment income to feed their family, Filipinos are looking for alternatives to earn money in this trying time. One of the many ways to become productive while on quarantine is to get an online job. There are a lot of platforms available online to apply for homebased setup jobs and one of these is the newly published platform called Cloudworkers.ph.

Nash Ang, a Filipino based in Seoul, South Korea, led the development of this platform. The intention is to provide a venue for Filipino Freelancers to showcase their portfolio and apply for various jobs posted in the website. It’s like a medium where employers and employees could meet to find the perfect fit for the position available.

Cloudworkers is derived from the term “Cloud Work” which is also known as remote or online work. This is an environment where people work at the comfort of their own home. This is not a traditional office setup where workers have to commute to work everyday. Tasks may vary depending on the requirement of the employers who wish to participate in this setup.

You can signup for an account at cloudworkers.ph. Signing up is so easy, you just need to fill up the form with your basic details and confirm your account. Once your account is setup, you can post your portfolio by going into the Profile Settings. You can enter more details about you including your work experience, skills and education. After you do this, your profile will be posted in the roster of Freelancers where employers can check, view and save your profile for future references.

If you don’t want to wait to be discovered by employers, you can browse through the job adboard or the list of Employers who registered in the website to view their current job offering. You can choose the available jobs that best suit your skills and experience.

You can also search for jobs based on categories, locations, skills and Project Length. The search function could definitely provide you the details of the jobs based on the parameters you setup. You don’t need to go through each job one by one because of this feature.

However, the site is still new and there’s not much opportunity posted yet in the website as of this writing. As they populate the website in the coming days, you might want to register now and post your profile so that when there are already a lot of job choices in the website, you can easily apply.

For those who want to signup, you can go to cloudworkers.ph and start uploading your profile.

The Voices that Matter in the KDrama “The World of the Married” (부부의 세계)

Another Korean Drama that tackles the issue of infidelity is making its way to the list of the most watched series in the history of Korean Television. Unlike any other infidelity themed drama, “The World of the Married” is different because the story is not just about infidelity but about what happened after the divorce. Just because the married couple has decided to settle through the divorce doesn’t mean the issue is over. The series shows the effect of cheating in a relationship not only to the couple but to all the people around.

The premise of the show is all about an established doctor Ji Sun-woo who looks successful in any aspect of life, i.e. family, career, etc., but things has changed when she found out that her husband Lee Tae Oh is having an affair with a younger woman. At first, it’s like any other cheating story, but wait, there’s more. Things started to become even more complicated when she found out that everybody knows, including her trusted friends and colleagues, about the affair of her husband. What happened next is a series of adrenaline rush triggering events that could capture the attention of the viewers and would make them want to see more of the show. I guess that’s the reason why the show keeps getting high ratings every episode.

Aside from the no dull moment on every episode of the show, “The World of the married” shows what really matters when it comes to relationship at least in the context of Korean Culture. In my opinion, the show reveals the sentiment of Koreans (and maybe other culture too), when problems like this arise in the family. Everybody has an opinion, everybody wants to speak, everybody wants to be heard, but here are the voices that really matter as depicted in this show.
 

1.    The voice of society

I must say that in Korea, whether in reality or in drama, society has a say. For them, the voice of the society is very important. That is why a lot of Koreans are so pressured because they have to keep up to the expectation of the society. In this drama, it was depicted for so many times.
What would the society say to a kid with divorced parent?
What would they say to a husband who has a wife more successful than him?
What would they say to a single middle aged woman?
What would they say if you are a son of a convicted murderer?

What would they say if you are a single mother?

All these and more are the questions pertaining to the perspective of the society, because whether we like it or not, their opinions weigh more than our own.

2.    The voice of money

Money talks, and yes it does. Although it’s not new anymore, if you have money you can be anything you want. You can control a criminal, you have a say in the society and everybody is after your approval. There are a lot of situations in this show that involve money and how it plays vital role in executing your plans. We need to say no more about this because I believe this is true not only in the context of Korea but all around the world.

3.    The voice of rumors

Let’s admit it, we love listening to rumors than inspirational speech, right? I mean, who does not love to listen to some juicy news? Regardless of your status in life, you are prone to listening to rumors because gossipers are all around the corner. In this show, the concept of rumor is inevitable because this is all about infidelity and the topic of a cheating husband is a treat to talk about. Regardless of how you ignore the rumors, it will always have a direct effect on you and your family.

4.     The voice of the mothers

The show also depicts how far the mother will go to protect its children. Things may get complicated and mistakes cant be reversed, but mothers will always be mother. When it comes to the love for their family, they will go an extra mile even at their own expense.

5.    The voice of the kids

The adults have all the say to everything and there’s no way for the kids to voice out their sentiments, so sometimes they speak through their actions and often result to rebellions. We may not see it at first, but in the long run, there will be psychological effect to them. 

What is good about this drama is that, the depiction is close to reality. There’s actually no real definition of antagonist and the protagonist, you judge based on your perspective. With its last two episodes looming this weekend, will there be any happy ending to the characters of this show? Or will there be more bloods to shed, tears to cry and life to destroy to fix what appears to be a chaotic society of Gosan.

How to Make Korean Dalgona(달고나) Cocoa

No doubt, Dalgona Coffee is the official quarantine drink of the world. I don’t know if it’s because of the boredom or people just want to go find something new to cook, but Dalgona coffee, just like Kdrama, is invading everybody’s kitchen in the world.

But do you know that Dalgona is actually a Korean Sponge Candy? It’s a crispy and light sweet candy made with Honeycomb Toffee, Sea Foam candy, sugar and baking soda. Through the element of heat, the ingredient is molded into different shapes until it is crispy and ready to eat.

For the love of coffee, Koreans integrated it with Dalgona and came up with a very refreshing beverage that is Dalgona Coffee (Korean: 달고나커피). From Korea’s streetfood corner, the beverage has traveled so far around the world with different version and style. From coffee, people started to develop a Dalgona Choco so that non coffee drinkers could participate.

As for me, I tried making a different version and I called it Dalgona Cocoa. Here are the ingredients:

    ·  2 tbsp Milk Powder or Fresh Milk
    ·  2 tbsp Cocoa
    ·  4 tbsp white sugar
    ·  1 egg (white only)
    ·  1/2 cup hot water

 

PROCEDURE:

COCOA MIXTURE:

    1. Mix 2 tbsp (or more) cocoa with 2 tbsp white sugar.
    2. Add ½ cup hot water
    3. Stir well until the mixture is smooth and fine
    4. Set aside

MERINGUE MIXTURE:

1. Add 1 tbsp sugar to egg white
2. Use a mixer to make a meringue
3. Set aside

MILK MIXTURE:

1. Mix the remaining 1 tbsp sugar with the 2 tbsp milk

2. Add small amount (probably ¼ glass) of hot water to dissolve the powder
3. Add cold water up to ½ of the glass only

4. Set Aside

TOPPINGS MIXTURE:

1. Now, add your cocoa mixture to meringue
2. Mix well

1. 

3. Pour the mixture on top of ½ glass of milk
4. Add more ice

 

 How about you? Have you tried making your own version of Dalgona Beverage?