KOREA FOUNDATION

The Korean Culture Class, which is noted for the diversity of its participants, visited Yangpyeong Boritgogae Village in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do on the first leg of its year-long program. In Boritgogae Village (also known as “Slow Food Village”), participants picked strawberries and made Korean food such as tofu, traditional rice crackers (gangjeong), and dumplings. The most popular event was the time-consuming process of making tofu, which involved grinding soy beans by using traditional millstones. The class learned that much time and energy was needed to produce even one block of tofu. Participants also learned the interesting story behind the Korean phrase oecheoguni oepda, an idiom used to express the ridiculousness of something. The idiom is derived from the millstone; oecheoguni refers to the millstone’s handle, while oepda means “does not exist.”
  In the evening, the participants practiced the traditional custom of making a wish while burning dalj ip, a hut-shaped bonfire made with branches, and had fun playing jwibullori, a children’s game that entails burning the grass on paddies and fields and spinning cans of fire. Ekaterina Babak of Russia said she become more familiar with Korean culture owing to the day’s experiences and hopes to take part in the class again in the future.

KFVN Reporter Jinwoo Choi