Day: September 3, 2010

Caveat: Somewhere Else, It’s Fall

Banalities & Journaling / Life in Korea

Not here.  Hot and muggy, per usual, when it's not actually raining.  But on Minnesota Public Radio, I hear that it's 57 degrees F on the State Fairgrounds in Saint Paul, at 4 in the afternoon.   I love how fall comes so early in Minnesota.  It's possibly the single thing I miss most about "home."

Here in Korea… summer-like weather will persist well into October, although Koreans will obstinately call it fall.  Seasons are defined solely by the calendar, here, and not by actual experiential conditions.  And, in general, I would say weather in Korea is more predictable on a calendar basis than in the midwest of US.

Caveat: It’s really cute

Banalities & Journaling / 한국말을 배움 (Failing to Learn Korean)

What do you suppose that above quote is referring to?  A coworker said "it's really cute."  What was she talking about?  Lo and behold:  she was referring to the way that  I sound when I try to speak Korean.  This is so much more positive and pleasant than the occasional mockings and put-downs that I have to tolerate in my efforts to learn the language.

I won't go so far as to read anything into it except just that it probably does sound quite novel and entertaining to hear a foreigner trying to speak the language – it's something even more rare, in most Koreans' day-to-day experiences, than hearing English or seeing foreigners at all.   In any event, the semantic range of "cute" (귀엽다) is much wider in Korean, and generally speaking less ironic and/or flirtatious in the way it's deployed by adults.

Anyway, a little bit of positive (or at least non-negative) feedback can go a long way, in my soul (or whatever it is that I have that passes for a soul).  I'm feeling pretty happy about my language-learning efforts, for once.

We'll see how things go, over the weekend – I'm committed to spending the whole weekend with Mr Kim, in a little odyssey to Ulsan.  I may not be updating my blog until Monday morning.

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