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 "생선" refers to cooked fish. "구이" means grill.
Anyone who has been to Korea will attest to its barbecue/grill loving culture. 구이 means grill. See it on a sign, and more often that not the restaurant will enable customers [...]
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 During the time I lived in Japan, on repeated occasions Japanese commented that Koreans had such good skin. It does seem that Koreans take extra-special care of their skin. As I wander through Korean towns, the word 피부 (pibu – [...]
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 In Canada where I am from, I was never asked what my blood type is, except perhaps on a medical questionnaire. After coming to Korea, I would be occasionally asked what my blood type was, and many were surprised that [...]
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 I don’t think fortune teller is an ideal translation for 철학관, but I cannot think of a better one. Here and there, in Seoul and in the countryside, you’ll see 철학관. I have noticed there are more 철학관 in older [...]
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 떡 means rice cake. As a food, 떡 has great cultural significance in Korea. It is part of the menu on a child’s first birthday and part of a soup on New Years Day. It is also used in a [...]
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 Perhaps because it is a small country with many people, it seems that Koreans are very competitive. The signs seem to confirm this, as it seems everywhere I look a certain business has named itself: ‘The Best _________’ (insert business [...]
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 사랑 is the Korean word for love, and according to the signs there is plenty of love to go around.
If you love 떡 (rice cakes), then this is the place for you.
떡 means rice cake.
If you love [...]
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 Neon crosses are everywhere in the Seoul nigh sky.
Visitors to Korea cannot fail to notice the red (occasionally white) neon crosses in the night skyline. They are everywhere on top of buildings. Many churches (called 교회 in Korean) in [...]
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 If you want to speak to a taxi driver in Korea, a polite way to call them is 기사님. 기사 means driver, while 님 is a polite suffix used when addressing people. Taxis are everywhere in Korea, and taxi drivers [...]
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 Just like many countries where Chinese restaurants are abundant, Chinese food (중화요리) in Korea is very much tailored to Korean tastes. The most famous example of a made-in-Korea Chinese dish is 짜장면 (ja-jang-myun), a black bean noodle concoction. There are [...]
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 It has been more than a hundred years since Korea has had royalty, but the word for king, 왕, frequently appears in signs. Incidentally, the word for queen is 여왕 (the 여 prefix indicates female). Below is a selection of [...]
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 In a small country such as country, 땅 (land) is of great importance. I have noticed that real estate offices in Seoul rarely advertise 땅 for sale, since there is probably little available, but outside of Seoul, the word 땅 [...]
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 천막 means tarp.
There is a shop in almost every neighborhood that specializes in custom-made tarps called 천막 (天幕 in Chinese characters). Various colors and patterns of tarp are available, and the shop will cut it to the size that [...]
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 When you read 국내산 (in Chinese characters: 國內産) on a sign or label, it essentially means “Made in Korea.” In this context, 국내 means domestic, while 산 means produce. In an age when made-in-China kimchi or America-produced beef are regarded [...]
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 On a lot of signs, you might see the letter 주 in brackets on the sign. 주 is short for 주식회사 (株式會社). This word means corporation. In other words, if you see 주 on the sign, it means that the [...]
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 Nobody makes tastier noodles than my 엄마 (Mom)!
There’s probably 1000s of poems or cafes in America that sing the praises of Mom’s cookies, or in Italy of Mom’s pasta. Well, of course, every good Korean loves the instant noodles [...]
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 It is a truly an unruly, wild and vast 우주 (universe) we live in.
This storefront is a real gem, I think. The name of this construction company is 우주 (宇宙 in Chinese characters), which is the Korean word for [...]
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 This is where the 부자 (rich people) shop.
A 부자 is a rich person. In Chinese characters (한자), 부자 is written as 富者. The left character means rich or abundant, while the left refers to a person. Judging by [...]
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 구두 means shoes. 신발 also means shoes. I am not certain of this, but my impression is that I hear the word 신발 in conversation more, while I see the word 구두 on signs more. Perhaps, a certain kind of [...]
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 냉 is a word frequently occurring on signs. It means ‘cool’. Its Chinese character is also frequently used instead of the hangul 冷. This post will list some example usages of 냉.
First, the sign below indicates that this restaurant has [...]
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