Hi. My name is Ayeon. I am a Korean American college student and I love history.
I want to share what I know about Korean culture, tradition, and history with you.
Where I am from:
I was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to the U.S. when I was young. New York City has been my new home ever since. I am currently attending college in Boston.
History to me:
I am very passionate about history. I think I’ve always loved history – being able to peer into the past or discovering stories of those who came before – what is there not to love?
I am interested in the great civilizations of antiquity (especially Egypt and Rome), Vikings, Mongols, WWII, and Korea.
Translation:
One of the biggest obstacles so far is the lack of primary sources translated into English. Other problem is the difficulty digesting or understanding the already-existing sources. Fortunately, I am fluent in Korean and I can understand and translate texts into English. However, even though I try my best to be accurate, I am not perfect. I was never trained professionally in the art of Korean-to-English translation.
I do not usually include the entire original Korean text in my posts because I assume that most of the readers are not fluent in Korean. However, if you wish to read the original texts yourself, you can check out the list of sources I cite on the bottom of every post, or you can simply contact me and I will gladly send you the documents, links, etc.
The spelling of some of the romanized Korean words or phrases may be slightly different but the overall pronunciation and meaning should be the same. (i.e. Joseon-wang-jo-sillok as compared to Josun Wangjoh Shillok but they both say 조선왕조실록 in Korean and in English means: the Annals of Joseon Dynasty.)
Unless I specifically point out the source of the Korean-to-English texts, all translation works are done by me. For my own works, naturally, all the mistranslation faults are mine and mine alone.
Furthermore, if you see any errors or would like to make suggestions for the improvement of my translated works, please let me know.
Purpose of this blog:
The purpose of this blog is for me to share what I have learned about Korea with the others, especially for the younger Korean Americans who may be interested in learning about the history of their native country but cannot find any good place to start.
This blog is also for anyone who is interested in learning about Korean history, traditions, culture, etc.
I will be writing about various topics, not necessarily in chronological order.
If you have any suggestions for topics you would like me to cover or if you have any questions, please let me know and I would be more than happy to help!
Format:
- For Korean terms, names, phrases, etc.:
Bolded and italicized romanized Korean pronunciation, followed by the actual term in Korean/Hangul and its meaning in English. The dashes in the term means the whole connected parts should be read in a continuous manner without a significant break in between.
Example: Horang-i (호랑이 – Tiger)
- For side notes and other commentaries:
An asterisk (*) to indicate that it will be further explained as a side note or it will be followed by comments later in the post.
Used to provide further explanation of the marked word(s), whether it be a person, place, or thing, without breaking the flow of the overall post too much.
Example: “… during the reign of Prince Gwanghae* (광해) … “
* More about Gwanghae (광해):
He was coronated and reigned as the 15th king of Joseon (조선) from 1608 – 1623 but was deposed, dishonorably demoted to a status of prince, and was never…
Interests and Hobbies:
I’m interested in so many things but just to name a few: text analysis, data visualization, going down the wikipedia rabbit hole, languages, marine biology, heraldry, and vexillology.
My hobbies include drawing, painting, playing various instruments (piano, guitar, banjo, ukulele, drums, ocarina, and harmonica), playing video games, woodworking, trips to museums and parks, cooking, writing letters to my pen pals, and stargazing.
I collect coins and banknotes from countries around the world and I also collect various inks for my fountain pens.
I like dogs, archery (traditional and recurve), tea, and winter.
My favorite TV shows are Game of Thrones, Vikings, and Parks and Recreation.
I am fluent in Korean and English. Я говорю по-русски (Russian) and currently learning Esperanto and Old Norse in my free time.
History of Korea 