The Journal, page 2
A place to learn about hanbok and Korean celebrations, at your own pace.
Page 2 of 9.
- Hanbok Guides
What to Wear at Sixty
What hwangap is Sixty years is a full turn of the Korean zodiac. Ten stems, twelve animals, one closed circle. When a parent reaches 환갑, the family gathers…
- Hanbok Guides
The Quietest Hanbok in the Closet
What baji are The 바지 is the piece nobody talks about. It sits under a 저고리, under a vest, under the 두루마기. It is drafted wide at the hip, gathered at the ankle…
- Hanbok Guides
The Silk That Outlasted My Grandmother
Why hanbok care matters The silk 저고리 on the atelier form was cut in Seoul in 1978. It belonged to a customer's mother. The customer brought it in a garment bag…
- Hanbok Guides
Questions to Ask Before You Buy a Hanbok
A hanbok you plan to keep deserves a few questions before you buy. None of them depend on price, and none of them assume one fabric is better than another…
- Hanbok Guides
Before You Order a Hanbok: What to Gather
You do not need to know hanbok terms to start a conversation about one. A few details, gathered before you write, make the first reply far more useful. The…
- Recipes
The Cookbook Youngsook Would Write
The notebook lives on a shelf above the rice cooker. Its cover is soft from thirty years of being pulled down before dinner, and the pages inside carry arrows…
- Korean-American Life
Why the Second Generation Is Going Home
A cousin in Palo Alto took an F-4 visa in January and moved his family of four to Seongsu. He is not the only one. Three families we know have made the same…
- Korean Culture
The Songpyeon That Teaches the Kids
The glutinous rice dough sits on the counter, warm from the water. A four-year-old presses her thumb into the ball and asks why the shape has to be a half…
- Hanbok Guides
What Guests Will Notice at Doljanchi
Guests notice three things at a doljanchi. The baby's hanbok, the mother's hanbok, and whether the two look like they belong at the same party. The rest, the…
- Korean Culture
Three Generations, One Dinner Table
Three generations sit at one dinner table on Chuseok. The grandmother speaks Korean at native tempo. The son answers in a mix. The grandchild eats japchae…
- Hanbok Guides
From Joseon Court to Your Closet
A silk wonsam from a Joseon court archive and a linen daily jeogori cut in Seoul last spring share the same silhouette. Short jacket, wide skirt or trouser…
- Korean-American Life
The Heritage Essay Without the Cliché
This article is being revised.
- Korean Culture
What Korean American Means Now
A cousin who grew up in Palo Alto took a job in Seoul in 2024. Two summers later she still cannot decide which city she lives in. Her mother, born in Busan…
- Recipes
Ten Jars Every Korean Kitchen Holds
Mrs. Lee opens the pantry in San Mateo on a Tuesday evening. Gochujang in a small tub. Doenjang beside it. Guk-ganjang on the door of the refrigerator, sesame…
- Korean-American Life
Raising Kids Who Speak Korean
Our older son said his first full Korean sentence to his 할머니 at three, on a video call, asking for 잡채. She cried. We had spent two years on the OPOL rule and…
- Hanbok Guides
Five Wedding Hanbok Variations That Work
Korean American weddings in 2026 are hybrid by default. Western vows, paebaek for the family ritual, sometimes a Korean reception layered on top. The question…
- Recipes
Youngsook's Soondubu, the Way She Makes It
Youngsook sets the 뚝배기 on high heat before anything else goes in. The earthenware has to be blazing when the anchovy stock hits it. That first hiss tells her…
- Bay Area
A Korean Event in the Bay Area
Decide what kind of event you are actually planning A Palo Alto living room at five on a Friday. A corporate event planner has a spreadsheet open. The client…
- Bay Area
Two Cultures, One San Mateo Childhood
The mixed identity experience A San Mateo kitchen at nine on a Sunday. 김치 in a jar on the counter. A Stanford acceptance letter on the fridge. Eomma is on the…
- Korean Culture
Ten Gifts a Korean American Will Keep
A friend called last month asking what to bring to her boyfriend's mother, a Korean grandmother she was meeting for the first time. She wanted something better…
- Bay Area
How We Hold Chuseok in California
Why Korean holidays feel different in the Bay Area Chuseok 2026 falls on a Wednesday. The kids have school. The adults have work. The country does not slow…
- Korean Culture
Six Cushions, One Bow
The Western part is over. Guests are eating cake, cousins are queuing for photos, and the couple has slipped into a side room to change into hanbok. What…
- Bay Area
Where Korea Lives in San Francisco
Where San Francisco’s Korean life clusters There is no real Koreatown in San Francisco. There is a stretch of Geary Boulevard between 18th and 6th…
- Hanbok Guides
Hanbok for the Days Between Ceremonies
A weeknight in San Mateo. A linen 저고리 over a straight-leg jean, cuffs rolled, hair pulled back. The hostess at the sushi counter notices the collar before she…