Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Konglish

What is "A/S?" Ever heard of "burberry." How about "englishee?"

All over the world, there are people who speak some form of English. Most of the time it's a form that can only be understood in that non-English speaking country. When I was in St. Vincent on a high school trip, I was exposed to my first English mixed form called Pidgin English. (I just learned on a google search that "Pidgin" originated in China but the term later evolved into the name of any English mix.) In Guam we heard a lot of interesting versions of English words but the island wasn't exactly big enough to earn its dialect a name of its own, that I know of anyway.

In India, they are holding strong to their version. Even going so far as to refuse correction from English speakers. Thailand has one. Ever heard of Singlish? That's Singapore's version, not karaoke.

Since moving to Korea, we've come to learn a whole new and crazy version of Pidgin called "Konglish" (KO-rean and e-NGLISH). While it's hard to catch onto most of the time, it's usually funny. Sometimes you can see where it comes from; sometimes it seems like they've taken an English word and totally twisted its meaning (like Burberry). Anyway, we're gonna put a little quiz on the side of the page here. You can see it at the top of the right side. Each week I'll (try to) put up a Konglish word and see if you can guess what it means. Vote once, vote often, I don't mind. It's all good.

(By the way, the definitions for the words at the beginning of this post are: warranty service [after service], a raincoat, and English.)

Saturday, October 18, 2008

New Zealand Days 1, 2 & 3a

The first day in New Zealand we barely got to our hostel by sundown. On the bus from the airport to the hostel, we passed a Wendy's, a cookie shop, and a McDonald's with a dollar menu. All three were very beautiful sights for sore eyes and empty wallets! While the exchange rate was good in Australia, the dollar just didn't buy very much.

Anyhow, the second day (first full day) in New Zealand we were lucky enough to rent a campervan without actually having a driver's license with us. So we set off on our next adventure. The weather was crisp, the grass green, and God even sent a rainbow to welcome us to the most beautiful country in the world.


They drive on the wrong (lol) side of the road over there, I was just glad I didn't have a standard transmission.


(Keep in mind that this is the middle of winter in NZ. August in NZ is like February in the North Hemisphere.)

We drove from Auckland (about 3/4 of the way up the north island) to Mt. Ruapehu and nearby Whackapapa Village, a dormant volcano that boasts excellent skiing and tons of snow in the wintertime. We needed to find a place to sleep and decided that the snow-covered parking lot at the visitor's center would be ideal! Here is the view out the windshield when we woke up. We were blanketed with about 2 1/2 inches of snow overnight. We opened our eyes to icicles on the roof of our van.

Two miles down the road? The snow was nowhere to be seen and the river at Tawhai Falls was flowing free. Jen went for a swim but I said "NO WAY!" (Do you believe me?)


Just a bit further down and on the other side of the road was a walking trail through the Volcanic Mounds. This field is full of volcanic debris from eruptions thousands of years ago.

To finish the day, we drove down the West Coast of the North Island, stopping here and there to enjoy the majesty of untouched wilderness and enjoy the surf.


Saturday, October 11, 2008

Back to Summer Vacation


We never have finished sharing our pics and stories from the summer, and it's just too good. We've gotta share!

We spent a few days in Sydney before leaving Australia. On Sunday we visited Hillsong Church and spent the afternoon checking out the city. Here are a few pics Cory took.


The next day was Cory's 28th birthday. We went to an IMAX theater at the harbor and had a great time exploring the city.

What nerds! :)

Darling Harbor

The Harbor Bridge

A historical part of the city

Before we left Sydney we were able to go to the Taronga Zoo.

view from the zoo

Cory posing as a monkey

These mountain goats were super interested in DINNER!

We also had the awesome opportunity to watch a show at the famous Sydney Opera House! It was an Alfred Hitchcock play, "The 39 Steps." It was so cool!

The Opera House (beautiful both day and night)

Yet another shot of the Harbor Bridge

Saturday, October 4, 2008

Have you heard?

Picture taken by my aunt, Anita McLellan, in the little town of Felton, PA: