(My homework about Korea)
Hi, my name is Darío.
You caught me doing my homework.
This week at school I was assigned
to do a project about Korea.
I have to confess
that I didn't know much about this country.
Well, actually I do know something,
the K-pop music stuff.
What was that?
Well, never mind.
The point is that to learn more about Korea
I went to the library.
And I also searched on the internet.
Now I can say that I know a lot about Korea
and I really liked
getting to know such a beautiful country
with so many interesting things.
If you stay a moment, I'll tell you.
There is a chair there,
if it's enough for everyone, that's great for me.
Korea has thousands of years of history.
Much older than the castles
and stories of knights.
Koreans have always been a
proud and combative people,
fighting many wars to defend themselves.
They say they even invented ships
that looked like turtles.
Korea is a peninsula like Spain,
well, like the Iberian Peninsula
where Portugal is too.
Actually, Korea is not just one country,
but two,
North Korea and South Korea.
And it has incredible nature, there's everything:
national parks, very high mountains,
snow, ski resorts
and even beaches for summer.
But it's also a very modern country
with the most top technology.
With the most futuristic buildings and the fastest transport.
But let's take it one step at a time.
With what I've been working on,
I've discovered some interesting things about Korea.
On Jeju Island there are some amazing female divers
who hold their breath a long time
to search for mollusks underwater.
In Boryeong they celebrate every year
a mud festival.
Thousands of people go just to get dirty and have a great time.
They also have a lake on top of a mountain
inside a crater.
Their traditional villages, the Hanok
are super beautiful
with wooden houses and very cool roofs.
In Seoul they have an ancient palace with a great name,
the Palace of Shining Happiness.
But now we have to talk
about a very important matter regarding Korea.
We can't hide it anymore.
The kimchi!
Kimchi is a traditional Korean dish.
It's made by fermenting vegetables like cabbage
seasoned with spices.
It's a delicious and healthy dish.
Kimchi is a very important part
of Korean culture.
In fact, it's so important
that to smile in photos,
instead of cheese,
they say kimchiiii!
And do you know which is the most common surname?
Kim!
Everything is full of Kims, Kims here, Kims there.
In Korea I would be called Darío Kim.
Well, Kim Darío,
since names are reversed.
I've discovered that Koreans are,
on one hand, hospitable and optimistic.
Cheerful, kind and calm people.
But on the other hand, it seems they don't think
too much about happiness
and that in their jobs they obsess
over being super competitive.
Koreans love eating out.
They have a lot of markets with stalls
selling delicious things to snack on.
The capital of South Korea, Seoul, is amazing.
It looks like a city from the future
with skyscrapers that get lost in the clouds
and streets full of lights.
Busan is a coastal city with huge beaches
and an incredible neighborhood
with all its colorful houses climbing up the mountain.
And this is a secret,
but I think that on the train to Busan...
there are zombies!
In the end, the more I researched,
the more I liked Korea,
its nature, its technology,
the people, its traditions.
It's an amazing country!
Anyway, with this school project I've become a super fan.
I hope I can visit Korea someday.
And well, to convince my parents to go to Korea,
imagine what I've prepared for them.
Yes, indeed.
Kimchiiii!