The Day All Schools Stopped
Four teachers took their lives in two months
안녕! It's Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder 🎉 Today’s newsletter is about a frozen kimbap recipe, why teachers are dying, and how to read a Korean news title. Let’s start!
How to Reheat Frozen Kimbap Like a Pro
Recent news reports say that frozen kimbaps, or gimbaps, are so popular that they are struggling to stay in stock at Trader Joe’s, an American grocery store chain. I found it interesting that the U.S. has frozen kimbaps when South Korea, the food's country of origin, doesn’t. This might be because, in my country, there are so many places that offer fresh kimbaps at cheap prices, around 3-4 USD, that there’s no demand for frozen ones.
Although Trader Joe’s frozen kimbap takes only 2 mins in the microwave to prepare, if you spend an extra 10 mins cooking, you can turn frozen kimbaps into a decent meal like the above pic. 👆 This recipe is vegetarian and popular among Koreans who enjoy leftover kimbaps stored in the freezer. Check it out below!
For one serving or one row of frozen gimbap,
Seperate all kimbap pieces.
Mix 1/2 cup of frying power and 1/2 cup of cold water in a bowl.
Put some cooking oil in a pan and heat it.
Dip the kimbap pieces in the frying powder mix and fry them in the pan until they are cooked.
Put the kimbaps on an oil-absorbing paper to make them crispier, and bon appétit!
Dip the fried kimbap in tteokbokki sauce or soy sauce and thank me later! 😋
The Day All Schools Stopped
Last Saturday, about 300,000 people dressed in black gathered in front of the National Assembly in Seoul. Over 600 buses and even a plane transported saddened and angry teachers from all over the country to the rally that mourned the death of a young primary school teacher and demanded the justice for her. In July, the 23-year-old teacher was found dead at the school she had worked for a little over a year, having taken her own life. Her diaries revealed that she had suffered greatly from parent bullying, which has become widespread in the country over the past decade.
In South Korea, where academic success is seen as a determinant of life success, parents are obsessed with maintaining their children's school records as clean and perfect. Since school violence records started being included in the school records of bullying students in 2012, the parents of these students have harassed teachers, threatening them not to include these records. They send messages and call the teacher's personal phone day and night. Some rich or legal professional parents even file lawsuits, leading to teachers being suspended. Consequently, teachers are under severe stress, and some have even taken their own lives.
On Monday, despite warnings from the government of potential firings, hundreds of thousands of teachers took a one-day leave nationwide to commemorate the 49th day since the young school teacher's death (a Korean mourning ritual) and to demand a safe working environment. On this day, known as "the day all schools stop," a high school teacher was found dead, having also taken his life, once again due to parent bullying. This marked the fourth teacher suicide since July.
Mini Korean Lesson: Thank You, President
I was running out of my lesson ideas when I saw this news article 👆 that saved me. Today, let’s read a Korean news title with me! It’s easier than you think. The above article was published when the South Korean government announced a one-tenth reduction 😱 in next year's budgets for libraries and the printing industry. With a photo of the president reading a bunch of papers that seem to be totally blank, the article’s title says,
“안 읽었을 것 같아”
It means, “I don’t think he read.” The first letter, “안 /ahn/,” meaning “not” is placed in front of a verb or adjective you want to give a negative meaning to. In this case, it came before the verb, “읽었다,” meaning “read (past tense).” So the title implies that the president in the picture doesn’t seem to be reading anything and also the president is not a reader in reality given the fact that the president office didn’t spend a dime on buying books for about a year after taking office.
Placing “안” in front of a verb or adjective is the simplest way of making a negation. Check out the examples below,
예쁘다 (to be pretty) 👉 안 예쁘다 (not to be pretty)
가다 (to go) 👉 안 가다 (not to go)
사다 (to buy) 👉 안 사다 (not to buy)
💎 This week’s extra lesson (member-only)
Let’s Master “안” in 3 Mins! (Mini Test Included)
Thanks for reading! If you liked my newsletter, ☕️ buy me a coffee ☕️ or ❤️ join Annyeong Ari membership ❤️ to support my work and unlock the above extra Korean lesson. It’ll help me keep writing! I’ll be back next week. 안녕!