Emese, Yang and I met for the first time at The Waffle Cafe. I thought waffles only came in sweet flavors, but they had savory options too. This was unusual in Korea, so I was surprised. I considered trying a savory one but ended up choosing a waffle with ice cream instead.
We introduced ourselves again. Yang is Korean and studies Media and Arts at Tamk. Though Yang and I attend the same home university, we only met here in Finland. Emese is German with Hungarian roots. She is interested in Korean culture, especially K-pop and dramas. She mentioned that she’s learned a few Korean words from watching K-dramas, which made me happy to hear that our culture is popular abroad.
We also taught each other how to introduce ourselves in our respective languages:
1. My name is Minju
(DE) “Mein Name ist Minju” / “Ich heiße Minju”
(KR) “내 이름은 민주입니다”
2. I am 22 years old
(DE) “Ich bin zweiundzwanzig Jahre alt”
(KR) “저는 스물두 살입니다”
3. I am from South Korea, I am Korean
(DE) “Ich komme aus SüdKorea, ich bin Koreanerin”
(KR) “저는 한국에서 왔습니다.한국 사람이에요”
After our meeting, Melina contacted me, expressing her interest in joining our group. Melina is French and shares an interest in Korean culture as well. Since I’m also interested in French culture, we happily welcomed her. With her addition, our group was finally formed. We met at Espresso House to discuss our preliminary plans.
We also taught each other some basic phrases in our respective languages:
1. Hello
(FR) “Bonjour” / “Salut”
(DE) “Hallo”
(KR) “안녕하세요” / “안녕”
2. How are you? / I am good
(FR) “Comment ça va?” / “Tu vas bien?” / “Ça va”
(DE) “Wie geht es dir?” / “Mir geht es gut”
(KR) “잘 지냈어요?” / “잘 지내요”
3. Yes / No
(FR) “Oui” / “Non”
(DE) “Ja” / “Nein”
(KR) “네” / “아니요”
Everyone is excited to share their own country’s culture, so I feel fortunate to have found such great team members. I’m really looking forward to our future meeting!
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