안녕하세요
Hi, I’m the Chopstick Noodle aka Lee Chin Sun and I am obsessed with learning Korean. I’m a cat loving, noodle slurping, K-Drama binging artist. And this is my little study buddy
For the past year my mind has been filled with mainly three things. Drawing, studying Korean and watching K Dramas. Oh and Lee Jong Suk ^_^
And it’s all because I innocently stumbled across my first ever K-Drama. Strong Woman Do Bong Soon last July. I’d never seen anything like it. Everything from the people to the language, the plot and the romance. I was entranced. You’ll soon realise I get super passionate about everything I like but this was different, I was swept away on the Korean wave and dragged (quite happily) deep beneath the surface. And so were my family. Mum is as big a fan as me.
That day, my life was transformed, after a few episodes I decided to learn Korean. I’ve been studying pretty much every day for eleven months now. The moment I wake up I’m straight into the kitchen to study for forty minutes. And all day in between drawing, I’m pouring over books, watching dramas and confusing my family by accidentally responding in Korean. I even secretly read flashcards with a torch at night. Haha yes you can guess I’m obsessed.
Ever since joining this new and exciting world, I’ve met so many wonderful people from around the world who all share a passion for learning languages, Korea and of course K-Dramas. You guys inspire me so much!
The more students I meet the more I realise not everyone understands this passion. I hear the same story from so many people, ‘My family don’t understand my love of Korean.” “They say I’m wasting my time.” “My friends have dumped me because I like K-Pop.”
This is so sad!
Surely it is the greatest gift in life to find the thing that you are passionate about. The Japanese have a word for this Ikigai (生き甲斐) It’s basically your reason for being. The thing that makes you jump out of bed in the morning, the thing that makes your life brighter!
For me my Ikigai is my love of learning and drawing. And my dream is for everyone to find their Ikigai. And that is another reason why I decided to create this blog. To hopefully inspire you to learn a new language, or maybe just to follow your dreams no matter what anyone says.
Hold tight to the things you love, even though people try and make you let go. Even if they think what you love is stupid. If it makes you happy then that’s all that matters. This is your life. Fill it with the things you love.
I’m excited to fill my blog with everything from crazy study hacks, diary entries, fascinating facts I learn about East Asian culture, fan art and who knows what. Whilst it will be predominantly about Korean studies I hope my study tips can help whatever you are learning. I have some crazy tips, but they do work.
I feel I’ve always been destined to learn Korean because the moment I started I felt like I’d put my foot on a path that I was always meant to take. Where will it lead us to? Join me on the adventure and let’s find out.
ChinSun –
Thank you for reading my blog. I’d love to get to know you 🙂 Are you a fellow language learner? Or K-Drama lover? 🙂
What is your Ikigai? What inspires you to get out of bed every morning?
The Chopstick Noodle 