안녕! It’s Ari, your talkative Korean friend and weekend reminder 🎉 Today’s newsletter is about a holiday food that I enjoyed on Seollal, the rise of no marriage believers, and a news report about a K-Pop girl group.
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Meet Korean Style Meatball
Last weekend was the Seollal holiday where families gather and have delicious foods together in my country. I want to introduce the holiday food that I enjoyed during this Seollal: 동그랑땡 or donggeurangttang. 동그란 means ‘round’ in Korean. It’s a Korean style meatball made with chopped pork, tofu, and vegetables. My mom made spicy 동그랑땡 by adding chopped hot peppers which I really love. It takes some time to make this food, but it’ll be totally worth it! Watch the cooking video and try it for yourself. And don’t forget to have it with ketchup :D
If you’re a vegetarian, skip pork and add more tofu and vegetables!
The Rise of No Marriage Believers
South Korea’s marriage rate have sunk to all-time lows in 2021 with 193,000. It’s a steep decrease from about 329,000 in 2011. 😱 The “비혼 (bihon)” trend is sweeping the nation, especially among people in their 20s and 30s. “비혼” literally means “no marriage” and the trend has given birth to many young "비혼주의자" or "no marriage believers" who have no plans to get married in their life. In the past, Koreans believed marriage is a must. Up until 1980s, singles who had never married by the age of 30 were considered misfits or weirdos because there were so few of them, while so many people were getting married and having kids.
But now this has completely changed. Young Koreans don’t believe in marriage anymore. According to a recent survey, only 4.7% of single women and 12.1% of single men aged between 20 to 44 agreed that marriage is a must. Countless articles have talked about the reasons behind this trend including high real estate prices and a patriarchal society. But as a young Korean myself, and from what I’ve observed from everyday online debates about the topic, I see that there’s a collective shift of mindset. South Korea is an overly family-oriented and community-first society. Kids never really become independent financially and mentally from their parents, even after they get married and have their own family. Many workers are forced to participate in “team-building” dinners or drink parties after work. Tired of all the people and relationships around them, young Koreans seek extreme independence of being alone. On the internet, many say, “I don’t want to get married because I don’t want anyone else in my house,” or “I want my private, all-alone time, so I’m not suitable for marriage.” The "bihon" trend may be a byproduct of South Korea's community-centric society and also a signal of change toward an individual-centric society.
🎧 New K-Pop Girl Group On Billboard Hot 100
Listen to the following news report about a K-Pop girl group hitting the Billboard Hot 100 in Korean and learn 3 expressions (in bold) with me on this week’s podcast. At the end of the lesson, you’ll be able to say “I had the worst day,” and “I can’t believe it’s already Monday” in Korean. Prepare the study notes of the lesson before tuning in to make the lesson more helpful. You can download it for a ☕ price below. The coffee price you pay will help me keep creating the lessons and newsletter :D
South Korean K-Pop girl group NewJeans hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the first time since their debut. According to the chart dated January 17th, NewJeans's song "Ditto" was ranked 96th. NewJeans is a rookie group that has only debuted for about six months and they set a record of being on the Hot 100 chart in the shortest period of time since debut in K-Pop history. A member of the group, Daniel, said, "It's been a dream of mine since I was young to be on the Billboard Hot 100," and "It's truly an honor and I can't believe it! Thank you!"
One last thing to share is a viral video clip from the reality dating show, "Love Alarm Clap! Clap! Clap!" The show is based on the popular webtoon and Korean drama "Love Alarm", set in a world where a dating app called "Love Alarm" has been developed that alerts users if someone within 10 meters has romantic feelings for them. The contestants did not initially reveal their sexual orientations. Later, a female contestant indirectly revealed that she is a lesbian by expressing her attraction to another female contestant to a male contestant. To clarify, he asks her, “니 엘지비티가?” meaning “Are you (one of) LGBT?” This question went viral for his Busan dialect and how he carefully chose the indirect or broad word “LGBT” instead of the more direct “lesbian.” It’s great to see reality dating shows have LGBT contestants! 🏳️🌈
Thanks for reading! If you liked my newsletter, like ❤️, leave a comment, or share with your friends. It’ll make my day! See you next week, 안녕!
하나 더요! 저 (진~짜 마지막으로) 한국어 이름을 다시 바꿨어요 🙈 제 본명이랑 되게 비슷한 걸로. 이제 여은호는 안녕 ㅎㅎㅎ
3년을 걸렸어요. 이름 하나 짓는다고 ㅎ
Okay, show swooning aside, I would love to try those meatballs! I don’t know if I can make it myself but they look so gooood!! I used to think I just liked Korean food but I found out I just like food. I made some 김치찌개 with 닭가슴살 and sardines (한국어로 뭐라고 불러요?) It came out so well and is the perfect mix of spicy and savory. I’ve eaten so much rice because of it 😅 정말 밥 도둑 따로 없네 ㅎㅎ I wish I could post a picture of it here. I don’t know if it tastes like traditional kimchi stew because I’ve never had some. I hope it’s good enough for a Korean too 🙈.
Anyway, Today’s newsletter got me really excited because of the food and a good show, my two favorite things haha. Thanks for the news 아리님!