[Zoom In Other Branches: Gang-won, Korea] Interesting Articles and Information about Korean Culture!

여러분, 안녕하세요 (An-nyeong-ha-se-yo) ?

Korean people use that phrase when greeting each other, like 'how are you?' 

A word 'An-nyeong,' which is combination of two characters, '安' and '寧,' means health of body as well as peace of mind. All people who live in or visited Korea have heard that phrase at least once. But, do you know that phrase is related to 'war'?

These days, I enjoy reading the blog of Gang-won branch and sometimes the articles about Korean vocabularies and culture make me surprised because I didn't know or think of it before. And, the meaning of Korean greeting was also new to me. 

In fact, these Koran greetings are related to war. In the past, there were so many wars in Korea that it was not easy for people to spend every day peacefully or safely. Nobody knew what would happen in the next minute. People might have to unexpectedly leave their homes, suddenly guard against the enemy, or unfortunately lose their lives. Therefore, when Korean people spent a night and got up the next morning, the first greeting they ask was “An-nyeong-ha-se-yo?” — “Have you spent a peaceful or safe night?” 

-From 'Let’s Make An “An-nyeong-han (Peaceful)” World Together!' Retrieved from mannamgw.blogspot.com

Isn't it amazing? There are many articles that explain the meaning of Korean expressions and interesting stories related to Korean culture. I am sure that if you are interested in Korean language and culture, you will definitely love them!!! It provides us with a fresh perspective to see the culture of Korea :) Get fresh information here: mannamgw.blogspot.com

[Zoom In Other Branches: Jeonju, Korea] Amazing MANNAM !

These days, as I am running my blog about MANNAM volunteer association and its programs, especially our branch's <더 PEACE>, reading other branches' blogs and contacting with them helps me to run blogs as well as the programs. 

One of branches, Jeon-ju is also doing many activities and its blog offers many interesting information for all members of Jeonju branch but also for all MANNAM-ers all over the world! 

The title of blog is AMAZING MANNAM. Jeonju is one of the big cities of Korea and it has many cultural heritage and if you taste the best BIBIMBAP, you should come once and taste Jeonju Bibimbap. Even you can find  Samgak-Kimbap (Onigiri) of which name is the name 'Jeonju Bibimbap' in convenience stores. And in Jeonju, there is a Han-Ok village!

Jeonju has Hanok mauel which is a famous Korean traditional style house village. There are numerous of traditional houses huddled together. …This village was started to build around 1930. There is a gate called Pungnam Mun near the village. It was the entrance into the castle but it was pulled down because of Japanese merchanters. They had broken into the castle and constructed their houses their way. So, the ancestors started to build the houses in traditional way to resist them and maintain our own culture. The village has the spirit of people who had lived that in that time.  

Above this, you can enjoy and learn Korean traditional culture in Jeonju. And in the blog, useful information about Jeonju you can get! 
Like JEONJU, its richness of traditional culture, MANNAM Jeonju branch also is volunteering as the light of society. I recommend to visit the blog, not only for people who are interested in Jeonju or joining Jeonju branch, but also I want to introduce members in Busan and other branches because there are other information and many articles about our association.

On the other hand, if you are living in Jeonju, how about joining the volunteering activities or culture classes of MANNAM Jeonju? They visited orphanages and did meaningful programs with kids, and the volunteers gave hope to them practicing the culture of peace and love. You can see pictures and schedule and get contact information: amazingmannam.blogspot.com !!!

[Zoom In Other Branches: Seoul, Korea] MANNAM IMPACT

When first MANNAM Busan North branch was planning to make the global campaign/program of world peace, we saw the project of Seoul area on mannamimpact.wordpress.com.

This is a developing program, started by the Mannam International Volunteer Association , in support of The World Peace Initiative. It aims to share and cultivate the richest, most interesting and misunderstood aspects of humanity – our cultures. We hope to play a small role in bridging the gap between this worlds many nations, leading all people, regardless of our vast differences to a united culture of peace, love and respect.

As you see, its purpose is to share and cultivate our cultures. Group members who want to share their culture with people can make a presentation. What's more, it is not just a presentation, it includes the opportunities to experience the culture through eating their foods, learning art activities, and seeing many craft items, etc..

IMPACT consists of cultural exchange, cultural acceptance, and cultural appreciation to make space for co-existence, understanding others truly. And it contributes to establish World Peace among us.

After the 2nd talk concert with the theme 'Equality and Discrimination' all groups which discussed and made the pledge to end discrimination, suggested first 'understanding differences between others' as a solution and the first step to keep human rights and equality.

Acceptance comes from a place of understanding, and understanding from a place of learning… learning comes from a place of interest, and interest is a little portion of love.

The quote is from introduction of Impact program.
How do you think about it? It has one important point. If we do not communicate, and we do not learn about each other, we can never understand others.
That's why the Busan North branch made up mind to communicate with each other to reach 더 PEACE.

How much do you understand yourself, them, and us?