Yesterday morning I finished reading The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies (revised and updated) by Michael Breen.
Hands down, the funniest line in the book:
...I had a revelation: Americans are from Mars, Koreans are from Venus. After years of trying to figure Korea out, I realized that my approach had been wrong. These two countries need a therapist, not policy wonks. (pages 253-254)
I’d forgotten how emotionally satisfying it can be to speak Korean to a Korean. All that “You speak Korean so well!” can go to your head like cheap champagne (not that I’ve ever had any, but I read it in a book somewhere). If you’re not careful (and many expats I know weren’t), you can get stuck in a kind of 안녕하세요? Hotel California limbo: You can check out anytime you like but it gets to be so comfortable you never leave.
Thus went last night’s lesson with 인선. She gave me an A- for the evening. There are tests, and she expects me to study, a result of a previous unhappy experience with a student she tutored. Getting me to study is her smallest problem. Getting me to speak is the bigger one.
The lateness of last night’s lesson meant that I forgot about the early morning peak of the Perseid 유성우.
재혁: 어머니 아까 기분이 좀 안 좋으셔서 일찍 퇴근하셨거든.
퇴근하다: leave the office; finish one’s work (for the day) and leave; get off and go home from work
재혁: A little while ago, Mother wasn’t in a good mood, so she left work and went home early.
I went on hiatus from my Korean studies recently to take a vacation with my family. The trip can be described in three parts.
• We visited a 동굴, Diamond Caverns on the way to the family vacation. I’m a fan of caves, and predict that the little-known hobby of show caving will take off in a few years (currently, the less I explain that one, the better).
• We went to family camp (not to be confused with actual camping), which is best described as cabins with 에어컨 (냉난방 may be the more formal word), private baths, someone else cooking the food, a 호수, and a 모터보트. Throw in a pile of family members, and you have all the fun of a family reunion without any of the work.
• A visit to a 폭포수 rounded out a relaxing week. Burgess Falls is accessible by either 모터보트 or by 하이킹 (it’s hard to believe that loan word was necesary). This year I opted for the hike. One can swim at the bottom of the falls and even climb up a slippery bit.
From Junhee (June) Kim in the July 31, 2004 issue of Seoul Weekly (hangulization mine):
Korean businesses and consumers deem sseo-bi-seu [service: products offered as gifts 서비스] as a given in our shopping and restaurant culture. Chinese restaurants are expected to provide a “surprise” dish of dumplings with orders over about 10,000 to 15,000 won. In restaurants that specialize in anju [side dish for alcoholic beverages], generous spending or a happy owner will produce a sseo-bi-seu anju. Neighborhood cosmetic stores are able to maintain a loyal customer base through sseo-bi-seu cosmetic samples, cotton pads, and other beauty products. Noraebangs [노래방 karaoke rooms] frequently offer an extra few minutes of crooning time, and in rare instances, even as much as a half hour to an hour. Gas stations in Korea spare no pomp, scantily dressed gas attendants, loud music, and sseo-bi-seu when it comes to attracting customers. A trip to the gas station means additional customer points toward winning everyday household goods such as toilet paper and detergent in addition to a sseo-bi-seu item or two of key chains, bottle openers, or pocket tissues. While you are never to look at a gift horse in the mouth, it is okay in Korea to ask for your gift horse, so to speak; with your best smile, always ask, “Sseo-bi-seu jal hae ju-se-yo [서비스 잘 해 주세요 Please give me good sseo-bi-seu].”
I recall 서비스 fondly, mostly in the form of free drinks from 암스테르담, my favorite coffee shop. Cosmetic samples were another favorite.
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강미 | learning korean