AD-DA-SHEE
AD-DA-SHEE
The Korean word for "Mister" sounds something like "AD-DA-SHEE". Koreans call every man that they don't know by name, "AD-DA-SHEE". Koreans will tell you that this is an extremely friendly way of referring to the person. Most will say it translates to "UNCLE". This really is misleading because to us that implies a very close family or friend relationship. I quizzed my Korean friends further and found out that there is a completely different word for your parents siblings, and you would never call them "ad-da-shee". I don't know how Koreans came to translate AD-DA-SHEE into uncle.
Black Hole
Black Hole
It started out as a simple conversation about the big snow storm on the East Coast of the U.S., the “Blizzard of 96”. Ms. Pak, a friend in Taegu, and I were discussing the weather. Ms. Pak speaks some English, but not really enough to have an easy conversation. It's hard work for the both of us, but she is determined to learn English. Our method is very unstructured; just talk about whatever topic we can with whatever words she can find. Then, if I can figure out what she means, I try to show her a better way to say it.
Ka-bu-ki
Ka-bu-ki
I have taken up a new hobby. I was in a taxi late at night. My window was open enjoying the rush of air from the swerving, speeding, stop and go ride up and down the hills of TAEGU. The cab stopped at a red light. Two young women were standing on the sidewalk next to my window. They said "HELLO MISTER". I said "AN-YONG-HA-SAE-YO". They giggled, and we all had exhausted our language abilities; so they said "Hello MISTER", and I said "HELLO" again.
Hopefully I can write more in the future.