Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Time to Come Clean About my other Blog



(FYI, see the same post at Roboseyo here.)

OK, readers. It's time to be a bit more honest over here.

It all started with a bit of an experiment, playing around with anonymity on the Internet... but I really feel like the lie has gotten too big.

See, it started back in 2008, when The Korean from Ask A Korean! (now, with a festive exclamation point!) and I got together to do the "Why Do Expats Complain" series that really put Roboseyo on the map, back when nobody read my blog.

Well, that went so well, that The Korean and I (I even know his real name) have become quite good friends through e-mail correspondence, Skype, and stuff. I even chat online with The Korean Fiance when he's out. (She's really sweet, and hella smart.)

But here's the interesting thing... during the "Expats Complain" thing, one person e-mailed us and said that it seemed like there was an echo going on -- that our writing styles were so similar he suspected we were the same writer. That was amusing to us both, but you know, it's the internet... anything's possible.

So TK and I played around with that idea for a while: it became a running joke between us, and I'd put a phrase into a post that he'd recognize as similar to his style, or he'd do the same to me; nobody else would have noticed if they weren't looking for it, like we were. But then, in December, he asked me if I'd be interested in submitting a post for his site, and seeing if anybody'd spot that it wasn't him writing. So I wrote "Fan Death is Real" in January '09 -- I've always been a fan death believer myself, though deeply closeted, for the sake of the scorn people pour on believers, but I figured everybody's be shaking their heads so much with the "typical of a Korean" prejudice that nobody'd notice it wasn't The Korean's usual writing style.

Well, nobody even noticed a bit -- they just got into the back and forth on the comments, and barely paid attention to the different choice in adjectives.

Emboldened, TK sent me another shocker of a headline: you might not have noticed, but the "I want to Kill the President" post that went up on Roboseyo in March 2009, and discussed free speech in Korea, wasn't written by me at all. Did you notice? I don't know that anybody did.

So it worked... nothing else came of it, and things went on as normal, until a few months ago.

As you know, The Korean got engaged a little while ago, which, along with a promotion at work, left him with no free time to maintain Ask A Korean! at the standard he preferred. So he asked me to step in...

At first I was nervous about taking the extra work on, but honestly, the challenge of writing from a different perspective was so refreshing, I feel like it's been polishing my craft as a writer, so I've been writing both Ask A Korean! and Roboseyo since late January (switching from hotmail to gmail was so that I could manage the mail on an account separate from a few of The Korean's other important, connected online accounts), on the understanding that later, when I'm getting ready for my wedding, he'll take over Roboseyo for a little while.

However, the wheel of fate would turn yet again. Turns out The Korean's promotion led to another, bigger promotion (good for him, I suppose) and this means that, while he has enough time to keep commenting on The Marmot's Hole (that was never me), he's ready to set blogging aside for good.

Given that Ask A Korean! is more popular than Roboseyo ever was by an order of magnitude, and that the question and answer format is so simple the posts practically write themselves, and maintaining two popular, individual blogs is just a little too much, especially now that Hub of Sparkle's back online, I've decided to quit Roboseyo, and devote all my blogging time to Ask A Korean!.

I hope you don't mind, readers: I've really enjoyed doing the Roboseyo blog, and there might still be posts here, more aimed at my close friends and family (more stuff about the rash on my knee than the rash of celebrity suicides: personal, not social commentary), but you'll be happy to know that I'll still be blogging, if you just take the time to switch your bookmarks to Ask A Korean!. To avoid too much confusion, I'll change my own moniker to "The New Korean," to avoid being mistaken with the old Korean. And still feel free to send in translation requests: I have some friends I can farm it out to.

Finally: it's been a great ride. I'm grateful to my readers and especially all the people who left comments and wrote e-mails. I hope for your support at Ask A Korean! as well: Korea remains an inexhaustible topic, and Koreans are an inexhaustibly fascinating people, and i look forward to keeping up the exploration.

All the best, dear readers.

Roboseyo (The New Korean)

p.s. Check out my new "About Me" section here at AAK!

-EDIT 4/2/2010- Hope everyone enjoyed the joke. And a massive thank you to Roboseyo, who played the part superbly.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Traditional Korean Hairdo for Women

Dear Korean,

Recently I watched two Korean TV series titled "Dae Jang Geum" and "Hwang Jin Yi". I would like to know about Korea’s traditional hairdo for women. Could you give some explanation about it? It seems very sophisticated.

Shinta


Dear Shinta,

There are many, many different variations to traditional Korean hairdo, especially considering that Korea has a long history and the trends changed more than a few times. Also, the producers of historical dramas often take the liberty to innovate the existing styles to make the visuals of the drama more interesting. So the Korean will discuss the most prominent archetypes.

Daeng'gi Meori (댕기머리)

Example of a bae'ssi deang'gi meori (Source)

For all of the hairstyles, you would notice that the word Meori being used a lot. Meori means "head", "hair on the head" (as opposed to hair on any other body parts), or "hairdo".

Daeng'gi Meori is one of the most classic hairdos, easily seen all the way into 1960s. With daeng'gi meori, long hair is braided into a single long braid, and accented with a bright colored- ribbon (called daeng'gi) at the end. Only unmarried women wore daeng'gi meori. Notable thing is that in traditional Korea, unmarried man also wore daeng'gi meori, only with a different colored daeng'gi. This was because Confucianism requires that you cannot cut your hair, as it is a part of your body given from your parents. (However, as you will see from the examples below, the requirement was fairly flexible.)

The model in the picture is wearing an additional daeng'gi on the top of her head, called bae'ssi daeng'gi. Bae'ssi (배씨) means "pit of a pear," from which the shape of the ornament came. This additional adornment is traditional, but was not very common.

Jjokjin Meori (쪽진 머리)

Example of jjokjin meori (Source)

Jjokjin meori is probably the most classic Korean hairdo, since the hairdo can be seen to this day. Jjokjin meori was for married women, formed by first parting and holding down the front part of the hair and then tying the hair into a bun in the back of the neck. 

The large pin that holds the bun together is called bi'nyeo (비녀). The material and the design for bi'nyeo significantly varied, and offered a point of style for traditional women. Bi'nyeo could be made with gold, silver, jade, wood, bamboo, animal bones, etc., and the design included symbols for phoenix, dragon, wild ducks, lotus flowers, etc. The size of the bi'nyeo can also vary significantly -- some of the decorative bi'nyeos were as long as two feet.

In addition to bi'nyeo, the bun can hold a number of other accessories. Most are purely decorative, but interestingly, some of the accessories are functional. For example, the buns could hold elaborate combs or long scoops for earwax removal -- almost like the way Marge Simpson holds a coin jar in her hair.

As with daeng'gi meori, accessories can be added on the front part of the hair.

Eon'jeun Meori (얹은 머리)

Example of Eon'jeun Meori (Source)

Also a popular option among married women in traditional Korea. Instead of the bun being on the back of the neck, it "rested" (eon'jeun) on the top of the head.

Notable thing about this hairdo -- and probably the reason why it did not survive as long as other hairdos did -- is that often, women used wigs to make their hair much more fuller. As you can imagine, they were heavy and very expensive. (Obviously, it takes human hair to make the wigs, and most people refused to cut their hair.) Because of that, there was a royal order in the mid-Joseon era prohibiting the use of wigs as they were deemed to be promoting wasteful spending as well as neck injury. Even today, the wigs are a significant enough burden for actresses who star in historical dramas such that some directors elect not to use the wigs although the drama might become historically inaccurate.

(As a bonus, here is an interesting story about the only shop in Korea that restores and makes those wigs, mostly for shooting movies and dramas.)

Eo'yeo Meori (어여머리)
Example of eo'yeo meori with tteoljam (Source)

Now we are moving on the hair worn by women in the palace. This hair is made almost exclusively with wigs. These are worn by queens, other kings' wives and queen mothers. Additional decoration (called tteoljam 떨잠) were added to create a more luxurious look.

Example of a traditional wig, called darae (다래) (Source)

Keun Meori (큰머리)

Empress Myeongseong, the last empress of Korea, with keun meori.

The mother of all traditional Korean hairdos. On top of the eo'yeo meori, a gigantic addition called tteoguji (떠구지) is affixed for, um, emphasis. Originally the addition used to be made with actual human hair (!), but after the prohibition on wigs, it was made with wood carved and painted in black in order to make it resemble human hair. Apparently the wooden addition was actually lighter than the addition made with human hair.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com
Jesus Christ, this really needs to stop. Actor Choi Jinyoung committed suicide yesterday. Choi Jinyoung was a brother of Choi Jinsil, who also killed herself a year and a half ago.

Choi Jinyoung was taking care of Choi Jinsil's children.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

How to Persuade Koreans - Take Two

Dear Korean,

Whenever my Korean wife and I have a factual disagreement, we often refer to the Internet to settle the dispute. Since I am American, I often refer to western resources like news organizations, Wikipedia and even the UN site first. She's fluent in English, so I can't fudge the facts on her either. However, even if my wonderfully Korean wife knows she has been proven wrong by a number sites and resources, she often defaults to a Korean source. No result can be proven, no argument won, unless she sees it reported from a Korean source. Of course, when she pulls up Naver, I can't understand all the details as my Korean is not as strong as her English.

I have encountered this same attitude with many of my Korean friends as well. All of them refuse to believe anything unless it is reported in Korean, BY a Korean. And sometimes I even hear the exclusionary statement, "He's probably Korean-American." What gives? Why does my wife do this? Do I have to become fluent in order to properly debate?

The Expat


Dear Expat,

First, kudos to your excellent and informative blog. The Korean wonders where you got the inspiration. :)

Onto your question. The Korean can first think of one possible explanation is that your wife may not be as fluent in English as you think. It may sound incredible, but it is actually very easy for a native speaker to overestimate a second language learner’s language proficiency, especially if the second language learner appears to have a good handle on pronunciation or grammar.

The Korean’s situation is somewhat of a mirror image of yours. The Korean Fiancée immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 12, which means her Korean language development more or less stopped at around 6th grade level. The Korean Fiancée has very good Korean pronunciation and perfect grammar, which normally makes her 6th grade level Korean language skills undetectable.

But when the Korean Fiancée enters into a situation where she needs to speak at a higher level Korean, her limitations in Korean become very obvious. (This is usually when the Korean Mother is speaking to the Korean Fiancée.) Although the Korean Fiancée speaks grammatically correct Korean with nearly imperceptible accent, she simply does not know easy Korean words that, say, a Korean 8th grader would know. It would be fair to say that it would take her a significant struggle to read Korean newspapers.

It is only natural for native speakers to be somewhat ignorant about the subtle struggles of a second language learner. In our day-to-day lives, we rarely reflect on when we learned a particular word. (Did we learn the word “embark” during elementary school, or in high school?) It takes an even rarer reflection to think about someone else’s level of vocabulary. Once we hear someone speaking in correct grammar and pronunciation with sentences that make sense, we hardly think about the level of vocabulary with which the person is comfortable.

This is a real possibility – the Expat Wife may appear fluent, but she may have a hard time understanding any high-level English. And because of that, she just does not feel comfortable with the sources to which you point since she does not understand everything in those sources. That could be why she resorts to a Korean source so that she can feel more comfortable with what she does understand.

But then again, the Korean does not know the level of English fluency that the Expat Wife has. For all he knows, she could be an accomplished professor in English literature who can explain the intricacies of 9th century English expressed in Beowulf. If that’s the case, the Korean takes back everything he said up to this point.


Let's just make one rule clear:  if there is any remote reason to
put up a shapely picture of Angelina Jolie 
(like the fact that she was animated like this picture in the movie Beowulf,) 
the Korean will put it up. Ok? Ok.

The likelier possibility (that the Korean can think of) involves something more fundamental – namely, our understanding of persuasion. Particularly in Europe, North America and other Anglophone countries, there is a prevalent notion that “reason” is this free-floating entity that any “reasonable” person would be able to grasp. Under this theory, the identity of the speaker or the language employed by the speaker does not matter, as long as the speaker speaks with “reason,” which alone is enough to persuade other “reasonable” people.

More after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Hilarious history of Asian men dating non-Asian women. Here is a sample:
Philip Jaisohn and Muriel Armstrong

Real or Fake: Real
Couple: Philip Jaisohn (a.k.a. Seo Jae-pil) and Muriel Armstrong
When: 1893
Complex says: Philip was a man of many firsts: the first Korean to become a naturalized U.S. citizen and receive an American medical degree, first person to publish a Korean newspaper using the Korean alphabet (as opposed to Chinese)...and, most importantly, first Korean man to marry a Caucasian. And not just any white bitty: Muriel was the socialite daughter of the U.S. Post Master General and a relative of President Buchanan. The inscription on the statue above reads: "Homie got Game with a capital 'G.'"
Yellow Fever! The Definitive History of Asian Men Dating Outside Their Race (complex.com)

(Via KoreAm magazine)

Friday, March 26, 2010

A very nice story about a tribute band, playing mostly swing music, formed to remember the Japanese Internment Camps during World War II.
Its fans are mostly elderly. Portland's George Azumano, 92, said he already had been drafted into the U.S. Army when World War II began. Nonetheless, he was forced out of uniform after Pearl Harbor and interned. "Swing music was one of the few joys we had at Minidoka," he recalls.

Internment upended the lives of the Japanese-Americans. Many farmers had to sell their land for a pittance, and entire communities were dismantled, never to assemble again.

Nearly 10,000 Japanese-Americans were held in the camp in Minidoka, a tiny town northeast of Twin Falls, Idaho.

Swing dancing at Minidoka and nine other camps gave Nisei, or children born in the U.S. to Japanese immigrants, a way to assert their American-ness. A number of Japanese swing bands from the big cities of the West Coast reassembled in the internment camps, and some new ones formed there.
A Tribute Band Like No Other Swings to Remember Life Behind Barbed Wire: Music Honors Japanese-American Internees; 'Don't Fence Me In' and the Jive Bombers (Wall Street Journal)

One time the Korean and the Korean Fiancee were in Prague, and we were railing about how crappy it was have "gonichiwa!" hollered at us all the time. Then, as we were walking our way up to the Prague Castle, we ran into a big group of Asian old folks who were speaking perfect English. We thought about what kind of crap they must have received all their lives, and decided to keep quiet for the rest of the trip.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ask a Korean! News: English at LG Electronics

In response to the comment thread at The Korean's Guaranteed Best Method of Learning Foreign Language, Strayblog made this comment:
The end of the comments section begins to get into the difference between Korean and, let's say, Canadian culture. And that is, the value of discipline. It seems as though Koreans value discipline for discipline's sake. I remember reading in a book that Grammar Translation method (translating entire textbooks from English to Korean) was valuable on some kind of spiritual level. If you go to a typical Korean English classroom, you'll see a lot of discipline, but you'll also see a lot of glazed over eyes and hear many a droning, monotonous teacher. Where's the passion? My students are very diligent in rote memorizing, but outside of class the majority profess to HATE English. The idea that school must be horrendously boring, but long, to create disciplined people that have the ability to put up with endless boring work days, actually scares me quite a bit. That's life? What is the value of discipline if it is not accompanied by passion? I'd be interested to see some stats on the levels of job-satisfaction that Koreans feel relative to people in other countries. I get the feeling that Korean high school students, as a whole, are remarkably disciplined, but wholly unsatisfied. I wonder if this translates into the work world.
 The Korean had this comment in mind when he encountered this article, which perfectly illustrated the value of discipline.

Case Study: LG Electronic's English-as-Official Language Policy

Every weekday at 9:30 a.m., the underground parking lot at LG Twin Towers in Seoul Yeo'uido-dong livens up, as the twenty-five chauffeurs for LG executives begin studying conversational English. They open their books and learn such English expressions as: "Welcome to LG Electronics," "I will be your driver during your stay in Korea." Instead of business English, they are learning "driver" English.

It has become a rare sight for LG Electronics to send an interpreter to accompany a driver simply to welcome a buyer from abroad. This is one of the changes caused by LG Electronic's "English as Official Language" (EOL) policy, implemented two years ago.

The First Attempt at English as Official Language in Korea

LG Electronics received attention by becoming the first Korean corporation to declare 2008 as the "Year One for English as Official Language" While there were many companies that emphasized the importance of utilizing English in everyday business, LG Electronics was the first company that actually implemented the EOL policy. Starting 2008, strategy meetings were conducted in English, and the email sent abroad had to be written in English as well. Various paperwork other than email had to be written in English also. Electronic systems regarding human resources, accounting, production and sales also changed into English. Some said the policy cannot last for long. The employees criticized it as "inefficient," and were subject to significant stress.

Two years passed since. The most notable change is that there are increasing number of employees who create and translate English paperwork on their own. Kim Nami, head of English Communication Center that supports the in-house translation, said: "There were many requests for translating paperwork in English two or three years ago, but now the majority of the request is speech interpretation," and added "Even the speech interpretation requests are usually from non-Korean employees who have active external business."

Speech ability improved as well. At the seminar held by Global Education Forum in November of last year, LG Electronics' Gyeongnam Changwon Consumer Electronics Headquarters -- considered the gold standard for implementing the EOL policy -- announced, "The scores for spoken English test (SEPT) went from Level 3.3 in 2006 to Level 5.2 in 2009."

Hong Jeom-Pyo, manager for HE Business Headquarters, said, "English feels a lot closer since the EOL started" because there were many more opportunities to face English in such places as the CEO's message, various reports and the company newsletter. Since the EOL policy began, the "English infrastructure" such as conversational English study groups rapidly spread within the company.

The HR policy also changed to become more English-focused such that without English skills, being hired or promoted has become more difficult. As a condition for a promotion, LG Electronics adopted TOEIC Speaking Exam that focuses more on conversational abilities instead of regular TOEIC examination. One-on-one English interview is also heavily considered for new hires. The company explains that such change was only possible because the policy was not simply to use Korean and English together, but to accept English as the official language.

More Power to the Overseas Branch

Overseas branches of LG Electronics are welcoming the global headquarter's EOL policy. There are increasing examples of the overseas branch taking the lead on creating high-quality "premium products." Previously, overseas branches mostly focused on middle- to low-level products because the language barrier made difficult the information exchange between the branch and the headquarters -- a crucial requirement for developing a premium product. But as the business cooperation increased in English, the research-and-development capacity for local subsidiaries is improving.

Because of the improved image that English is welcome even though LG Electronics is a Korean company, local candidates are more receptive to working for LG Electronics as well. LG Electronics representative said, "The number of applicants for overseas branch increased by two or three times because of LG Electronics' image as a global corporation rather than a Korean one."

The business exchanges between the overseas branch and the headquarter have become faster as well. In the past, the successive interpretation doubled the meeting time; now most items are simply discussed in English. The employees for overseas branch became more active and confident in cooperating with the headquarters. When a Korean document is sent via email to an overseas branch, non-Korean employees now feel more comfortable asking for an English translation.

Not a Choice, but a Requirement

There are still many voices of skepticism. One employee said, "I just feel embarrassed of myself when it takes me two hours of strenuous effort in English for a paperwork that I could have written in thirty minutes." Another employee explain, "It's fine most of the time, but it drives me crazy when I have to persuade someone in a meeting." These are the inefficiencies that LG Electronics must overcome.

There is also concern of overestimating the English ability when English is no more than a tool. The stress from considering English only as a condition for promotion instead of practically using the language may be excessive for the employees.

However, the greatest change in the recent times is that, regardless of English level, there is an atmosphere in the company that the employees are taking the EOL policy seriously. One LG Electronics executive said, "The employees who thought 'This can't last long' have given up and began to buy into it."

Prof. Mo Jong-Lin, a professor at Yonsei University Graduate School of Globalization who researches the EOL policy for corporations, said: "In order to attract the best non-Korean talent and succeed as a global corporation, the EOL policy is not a choice -- it is a requirement." A fitting message for LG Electronics, already a global corporation with 50,000 non-Korean employees out of the total 80,000 employees.

LG전자의 영어공용화 케이스스터디 (Dong-A Ilbo)

The Korean's thoughts about the value of discipline reflected in this article, after the jump.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.


Monday, March 22, 2010

Great Thomas Friedman column on how Asian immigrants high school students are making up the majority of Intel Science Talent Search.

The money shot:
[K]eeping a constant flow of legal immigrants into our country — whether they wear blue collars or lab coats — is the key to keeping us ahead of China. Because when you mix all of these energetic, high-aspiring people with a democratic system and free markets, magic happens. If we hope to keep that magic, we need immigration reform that guarantees that we will always attract and retain, in an orderly fashion, the world’s first-round aspirational and intellectual draft choices.
America’s Real Dream Team (New York Times)

AAK! Music: Rainy Apgujeong by Brown Eyes (2002)

It's raining in New York. Here is a song for the rain, for the Korean's hometown. Today's selection is Rainy Apgujeong (비오는 압구정) by Brown Eyes.


비오는 압구정
Rainy Apgujeong

비오는 압구정 골목길에서 그댈 기다리다가 나 혼자 술에 취한 밤
Rainy Apgujeong night when, while waiting for you in the alley, I got drunk by myself
혹시나 그댈 마주칠까봐 두시간 지나도록 마냥 기다리네
 Just in case I run into you, for over two hours, I just keep waiting
Oh rainy day 어쩌면 이젠 못볼지도 몰라
Oh rainy day. We may never see each other now
일부러 니가 다시 날 찾기전엔
Unless you purposefully look for me again
Oh rainy day tonight
Oh rainy day tonight
너와 나의 인연이 여기까지일까
Is this it for the tie between you and I
며칠전까진 여기서 널 보곤 했는데
 Just a few days ago I used to meet you here
오늘은 전화도 꺼놨나봐
Today, looks like you turned off your phone too
그대 목소릴 닮은 서운한 비만 오네
Only the rain, apathetic like your voice

Oh rainy day tonight
Oh rainy day tonight
너와 나의 인연이 여기까지일까
Is this it for the tie between you and I
며칠전까진 여기서 널 보곤 했는데
 Just a few days ago I used to meet you here
오늘은 전화도 꺼놨나봐
Today, looks like you turned off your phone too
그댈 기다리다가 나혼자 술에 취한 밤
The night when, while waiting for you, I got drunk by myself
혹시나 그댈 마주칠까봐 두시간 지나도록 마냥 기다리네
 Just in case I run into you, for over two hours, I just keep waiting
Oh rainy day
Oh rainy day
어쩌면 이젠 못볼지도 몰라
We may never see each other now 
일부러 니가 다시 날 찾기까전엔
Unless you purposefully look for me again 
Oh rainy day tonight
Oh rainy day tonight
너와 나의 인연이 여기까지일까
Is this it for the tie between you and I 
그대 목소릴 닮은 비만 오네
Only the rain, like your voice


Briefly about Brown Eyes:  Brown Eyes is an R&B band made up of Yoon Geon (real name: Yang Chang-Ik) and Na-Eol (real name: Yoo Na-Eol). The band released its first album in 2001, and has released three albums so far. Their eponymous first album sold 700,000 albums without the band holding a single concert, which has to be a record of some sort. The band had a long hiatus in 2002 after the second album's release, during which Na-Eol performed as a part of a different band called Brown Eyed Soul while Yoon Geon went solo. The two released the third album under the Brown Eyes name in 2009; Yoon Geon said that both Na-Eol and Yoon Geon will by and large pursue solo careers, but will release music under Brown Eyes name from time to time, pending Na-Eol's completion of his military duties. The entire proceeds from the third album was donated to World Vision, a Christian charity.

About this song:  Rainy Apgujeong was listed on Brown Eyes' second album, titled "Reason 4 Breathing?"

Translation notes:  The lyrics that were originally in English are highlighted in blue.

- Apgujeong is a nouveau riche district in Seoul that is known for chic fashion boutiques as well as upscale shopping, restaurants and bars.

- 인연 and 서운한 were very difficult to translate. They turned out very inelegant. The Korean hates these moments.

- The first line of the song was also very inelegant -- even more so because the underlying message of what it means to be hanging out at Apgujeong is entirely lost.

The Korean on Brown Eyes:  Although sometimes slips into the banal Korea-friendly soft rock, overall very good R&B, and very good voice. Considering the two's success with their later efforts, had a potential to dominate the K-pop scene for a long time if they stayed together.

Significance in K-Pop History:  (1 = instantly forgettable; 5 = popular at the time, ultimately forgettable; 10 = transcendental history-maker)  5.5 out of 10.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Friday, March 19, 2010

A 64-year-old Korean American man from Queens will run from Los Angeles to New York by running 30 miles a day. He is doing this to raise awareness for diabetes which nearly took his life several years ago.

The Korean should probably go about getting in shape as well...

Thank you Ed K. for the tip.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Ask a Korean! News: Why "Yu-Na Kim"?

Korean figure skating sensation 김연아 is known as "Yu-Na Kim" to English-speaking countries, although the proper Romanization of her name should be "Yeon-A Kim". The Korean had previously heard that Kim deliberately chose the wrong Romanization for the ease of pronunciation for anglophones, but he wanted a confirmation. While searching the Internet for the confirmation, the Korean ran into an interesting article on Chosun Ilbo, written about a week ago. Translation is below.

[Op-Ed] Why Call "Kim Yeon-A" as "Yuna Kim"?

I turned on the TV at my hotel in Vancouver, and I heard the announcer say:

"Yu-Na Kim is well known in Canada as well. Yu-na has been training in Toronto. Right now the screen in the rink shows 'Kim Yu-Na,' but the reason why we call her 'Yu-Na Kim' is..."

It was right before the figure skating short program. CTV, Canadian broadcasting company that was exclusively showing the Winter Olympics, was introducing Kim Yeon-A as a likely candidate for the gold medal. The program was showing the stock photo of Kim Yeon-A as a child wearing colorful Korean traditional clothes. The announcer continued:

"In Korea, Yu-Na Kim is called 'Kim Yeon-A.' The family name comes first. But the reason why we call her 'Yu-Na Kim' is not because we changed it into what we are used to, but because she introduced herself as 'Yu-Na Kim' when she first came to Canada."

As the program went on, the announcer repeated this explanation three times, that calling Kim Yeon-A as Yu-Na Kim was not at all meant to ignore another country's customs and apply the Canadian standard. That day CTV only showed this introduction but did not broadcast the game in which Kim participated; instead, it showed Canada-Germany hockey game that showed at the same time. [TK Note: The reporter apparently did not know that the figure skating actually showed after the hockey game.] While it was a little disappointing, it was natural given that hockey is Canada's favorite sport.

Although I could not see Kim's performance live, the small explanation from the announcer was the most unforgettable thing in my one week stay in Vancouver. It was about how to be respectful and considerate to those who are different from us, how to live together in a mixed manner. I brought this up at a dinner with local Korean Canadians, and a Korean Canadian who worked at a school district office added:

"One time, there was a fight between two Korean students at an elementary school in Vancouver. The parent went to the student who fought with her son and told him, 'You shouldn't fight like that, because Koreans have to stick together.' The school heard of this, and called the parent. 'Why did you call him a Korean student? There are no Korean students, Chinese students, Canadian students at our schools. They are all just students.' When I read this report, I thought the ideas of 'one people' and 'patriotism' that we are used to may be seen as 'exclusionary' and 'totalitarian' to others."

Of course, there were cars in Vancouver draped in the Red Maple Leaf Flag during the Winter Olympics. There were people who were chanting "Canada, Canada" while wearing a hat and a cape made with a Canadian flag. But the majority of Vancouverites seemed to find these scenes -- in which "the people stuck together" -- unfamiliar, although they are nothing more than cute little gatherings compared to Korea where the heart of Seoul would be totally filled.

Vancouver is a multiethnic, multicultural city. Other than Canadians, there are Chinese, Indians, Iranians, Filipinos, Vietnamese live mixed into the city. There are also about 70,000 Koreans, including study abroad students. But this city has rarely seen discrimination based on skin color and language emerging as a problem. There is a separate court for human rights, and a lawsuit is filed immediately if such an insult has been felt. Regardless of the result of the suit, the fact that one was sued is enough to cause embarrassment.

For us who have lived while holding "one people" as a point of pride, such "bouquet society" would likely be impossible. Regardless, we have no choice but to live mixed in with people who are different from us. There are more than a million foreigners in Korea. Korean-Chinese build the apartments in which we will live, young Filipino men run the machines in Ansan industrial complex and Sri Lankans ride the boats on the East Sea. Above all, the Southeastern Asian women who do not even know our language are giving birth to our children in rural areas. Those children probably will not know why their face is different from their friends' at first.

How are we receiving these people who have entered our society? In treating these people as "different," do we not have a sense of superiority hiding in our minds? Past the Vancouver Koreatown, there was a cheap restaurant on the roadside that had a sign saying "$5.99 Lunch Special." The owners were a Korean-Chinese couple who previously worked in Korea. "My co-workers used to look down on me because I was a Korean-Chinese, and my wife was being shunned by other employees at the restaurant in which she worked. You could say the discrimination we experienced in Korea turned into our benefit, because it made us decide to come here."

The world is relative. We, while behaving like this, become upset at small discrimination experienced by our family who immigrated, and surprised when Korean study-abroad students are attacked in Russia.

[최보식 칼럼] '김연아'를 '유나킴'으로 부르는 것은 (Chosun Ilbo)

 Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.
Happy birthday to me.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Ask a Korean! Wiki: How to Tease a Korean Woman

Dear Korean,

I'm a white boy dating a fabulous Korean girl. She calls me "Oppa" in a exaggerated whiny voice when she wants to annoy me. I need to get her back... any advice on how to annoy this girl? Nothing seems to work.

White Men Can't Tease Korean Girls


Dear WMCTKG,

Tell her you will call her parents and tell them she is dating a white guy. That'll straighten her up real fast.

Readers, any other ideas? Please be funny, not offensive.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Ask a Korean! Wiki: Korean American Job Sites?

Dear Korean,

I've currently been unemployed in NYC for the past 8 months, and was wondering if there were any jobsites or groups I can join within the KA community to get my foot in the door. I graduated from UCSD with a sociology degree then went on to Parsons in NYC, for fashion studies. I graduated at the worst economic times and I'm just so worn out but randomly sending out my resume online and not getting any responses. I'm also tired of eating ramen everyday. I was just thinking that since there are so many Korean American professionals in NYC, that maybe this type of networking events exists, and I have no knowledge of it. So, can you find out if there are any such networking events or organizations that I can join?

Joanne K.


Dear Joanne,

The Korean knows for certain that for the Korean's profession, there is an active Korean American community that holds monthly dinners, email distributions, and so on. But unfortunately, the Korean is not a fashion designer.

Readers, do you know of any Korean American trade groups?

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

For Crying Out Loud, Grow a Sense of Humor

[NOTE: Sorry readers, Blogger is acting up again. Click the title of the post to pull up this post only in order to watch the hilarious videos of Joe Wong.]

KoreAm magazine blog recently carried a post by Emil Guillermo, discussing a rising stand-up comic named Joe Wong. Here is Joe on the Late Show with Davie Letterman.


The Korean laughed. Laughed really, really hard. The Korean is an immigrant himself, and everything that Wong did was spot-on. The Korean showed the clip to the Korean Fiancee (also a first generation immigrant,) and she also laughed really, really hard. The Korean went on Youtube to find more clips, and Wong did not disappoint. Here is another clip:


Then the Korean read the post below it, and was disappointed. Unlike the Korean, Guillermo did not find Wong to be funny at all. After lobbing a few unnecessary low blows toward Letterman, Guillermo takes aim at Wong:
Blacks certainly wouldn’t welcome a modern reprise of racist pick-a-ninny jokes nor the second coming of Stepin’ Fetchit-type humor. So why should Asian Americans? That’s the trouble with Letterman selling Joe Wong as the face of Asian American comedy.
If Joe Wong taps into some universal truth, it’s stupidity. But when you’re barely represented in the media and stupid is all people see, an image problem is created. No one thinks all white people are like the Simpsons. Besides, they’re cartoons drawn in Korea. But for many, the only Asian they might see could be Joe Wong. When people laugh at Wong, an Asian immigrant lost in American society, they are laughing at and glorifying the everyday examples of racism.
To be fair, Guillermo sees value in self-deprecating jokes. But he thinks that such jokes do not suit Joe:
Certainly, self-effacing, self-deprecating humor can be useful. For Congressman Norm Mineta, it was standard to open every speech with a self-deprecating joke. But when you’re one of the most influential Asian Americans in Washington, you can afford the self-deprecation. Besides, the audience always saw it as charming.

But when you’re lowly Joe Wong, the self-deprecation is merely a re-affirmation of your lowliness. And Wong takes every Asian American down with him. With this everyman, we’re all the butt of the joke.
Guillermo closes with a reflection on Asian American comedy, and by essentially branding Joe as a traitor to his race:
Lately, I’ve come to appreciate the gifts of comedienne Margaret Cho. The comic genius continues to boldly shock and challenge cultural assumptions. Another Korean American, Tina Kim, never stoops to the stupid accent.
The correspondents’ dinner in Washington should represent quite a contrast. The Obama administration has done much to raise the Asian American profile. But all it takes is one Joe Wong in such a high-profile venue to imprint a new negative image within American pop culture. We no longer have to worry about white shock jocks doing accented ching-chong comedy bits anymore. (Hey, that’s racist.) Now, we have one of our own all too willing to debase us.
Authentic? No, just pathetic.
Strong words they are. The Korean does not shy away from strong words either. So here is the Korean's message to Emil Guillermo: "Get a fucking grip man, and grow a sense of humor."

First of all, Guillermo simply does not get Joe's jokes, and why they are funny. Take the joke about washing hands that Guillermo cited his post. The joke works in two stages -- the "inspiration" part, and the "children" part. The inspiration part is very clever. It focuses on a part of the commonplace language on which we rarely focus, and exposes a possible incongruence between the language and the purpose of the language. Then the joke proceeds by bridging the incongruence in a deliberately false manner.

Overall, that joke works a lot like Mitch Hedberg's "Yoplait" joke, which goes like this:
I opened-up a yogurt, underneath the lid it said, "Please try again." because they were having a contest that I was unaware of. I thought maybe I opened the yogurt wrong. Or maybe Yoplait was trying to inspire me. "Come on Mitchell, don't give up! PLEASE TRY AGAIN!! An inspirational message from your friends at Yoplait." Fruit on the bottom, hope on top.


(The Korean could not find the video of this joke for the life of him. Too bad, because Hedberg's delivery takes it to another level.)

(-EDIT 3/16/2010- Thank you, commenters Marten and Sungik. The Yoplait joke is at the 1 minute mark of the updated video.)

But Wong takes his joke one more step, in a pitch-perfect manner: “I wash my hands every time I use the bathroom, so my children don’t have to.” Now this joke is not only clever, but also has an element of sweetness to it. The joke now exploits the deliberate false cognition at full speed, and brings in a stereotypically Asian and immigrant concern for children. Many different things are at play here. The deliberate false cognition is funny. Father's concern for his child is sweet, but funny when it veers into something that does not seem to deserve that concern. (This is a huge appeal of Stuff Korean Moms Like, for example.) This concern packs an additional punch due to Wong's sincere delivery, made believable by the stereotype about Asians/immigrants and their concern for their children's future.

Guillermo does not understand any of this. Instead, he chalks up the reason for the laughter to such canard like the laughers' "need to feel superior" or Wong's "stupidity," playing the part of "the dumb Asian immigrant." Please! There is not a single dumb joke in Wong's bits shown on his two appearances on Letterman. All of Wong's jokes are incomparably better than the crude and unfunny ching-chong jokes. In fact, a good portion of Wong's jokes are not even about being an Asian immigrant. (For example, the "parallel parking" joke, the "blueberry vs. strawberry" joke, "baby on board" joke.)


In fact, Guillermo belies that it's not just Joe Wong that he does not get -- Guillermo does not get stand-up comedy as a whole. "Blacks certainly wouldn't welcome a modern reprise of racist pick-a-ninny jokes"? Really? Then how does Guillermo explain one of the most iconic black comedians giving this bit?
Fat, black women don't give a fuck what you think. She's going out on Friday night. She got an outfit on. That shit match. She got the pumps on, and the pump fat coming out the pump. That's right. It looks like they baking bread in her shoe.

"Baby, your foot ready yet?" "I'll just sprinkle some cinnamon on it!"

That's right. She got an anklet on, and that anklet's holding on for dear life. Black women don't give a fuck. She's like, "I'm sexy. I am sexy, yes, I am! I am the sexiest motherfucker here tonight! Yeah, I got a gut. There's some good pussy under this gut! That's right. You want some of this so you can "livin' la vida loca!"
Was the thunderous laughter for Chris Rock only came from the white people sitting in the Apollo Theater?

It is actually funny that Guillermo cites approvingly of Margaret Cho. Mind you, the Korean LOVES Margaret Cho. But we are talking about a woman who launched her career by (and drew a lot of flak for) talking about how her mother, complete with Korean accent, would call her daughter "moron" in a screaming manner. What about that routine "boldly shock[s] and challenge[s] cultural assumptions," as Guillermo puts it?

But the problem is not simply that Guillermo does not have a sense of humor. The larger problem is that Guillermo represents a certain mindset that is downright harmful to Asian Americans.

(More after the jump.)

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Saturday, March 13, 2010

Ask a Korean! News: Google Translate Still Sucks

New York Times article about Google Translate:
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In a meeting at Google in 2004, the discussion turned to an e-mail message the company had received from a fan in South Korea. Sergey Brin, a Google founder, ran the message through an automatic translation service that the company had licensed.

The message said Google was a favorite search engine, but the result read: “The sliced raw fish shoes it wishes. Google green onion thing!”
Google’s Computing Power Refines Translation Tool (New York Times)

Well Mr. Brin, the Korean is sorry to tell you that your translation tool still sucks with respect to Korean, even in 2010. Here is a small segment of Mr. Joo Seong-Ha's most recent article:
놀라운 점은 한국에는 정말 쓰레기가 많이도 나온다는 것이다. 많지도 않은 세대수에 한 주 동안 저렇게 많은 쓰레기가 나오다니 하면서 입을 벌릴 때가 많다. 북한 같으면 매주 쓰레기를 버리라고 하면 저것의 10분의 1도 안나올 것이다. 하긴 박스니 신문이니 할 것 없이 뭐가 있어야 버릴 것도 있는 것 아닌가.
Punched into Google Translate, this is what comes out:
South Korea is surprising that so much waste will be out. That many households did not like that much garbage in one weeks wear out while you're havin 'a lot of time. North Korea said if you get rid of trash every tenth of that will probably not. Are you going to the newspaper without bakseuni boy gonna be something that would also simple.
If anyone can make sense of that gibberish, s/he should be immediately appointed as an army officer decoding scrambled signals exchanged by Al-Qaeda. This is the correct translation of a segment that is really not that difficult.
The amazing thing is that a lot of garbage is produced in Korea. There are many times when I gape in incredulity, thinking "That much trash comes out from this small number of families in a week?" If North Koreans were told to put out their garbage every week, there would be less than one-tenth of that garbage. When you think about it, be they boxes or newspapers, people need to have something in order to throw away something.
To be fair, the article does say that Google Translate is not going to make human translation any time soon. The lesson here: if you want to understand about foreign culture, learn foreign language. Simple as that.

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Korean Language Series - Sino-Korean, Numbers, Counters, Telling Time in Korean

See the index for Korean Language Series here. Please read the previous series before reading this post, because the Korean is writing the series with the assumption that you already know what the Korean provided previously.


WARNING: You should be able to see typed Korean language in order to fully read this post. If you are a Windows user, you can go to Microsoft's website and download the "East Asian Language Support". Ask your local computer nerd; entice him with a woman and it will be easy. If you are a Mac user, enjoy your cute commercials.

MORE WARNING:
The Korean never received formal education as to how to teach Korean to non-Korean speakers. Therefore, all the technical terminology that the Korean uses in this post (as well as in other Korean Language Series) are made up by the Korean. Additionally, the Korean will often be wrong about things. But hey, that’s the price you pay if you try to learn a foreign language from an amateur off a blog.

Dear Korean,

I saw in your earlier posts that you had given a quick overview of the Korean language, however I didn't see any posts about the Korean number system.  I know that there are two ways to count in Korean, Sino-Korean and, I guess you'd call it pure Korean, but how do you know when to use which?  Also, how do you tell time in Korean with these two number systems?

Marisa L.



Dear Korean,

If I am going to learn Korean, should I learn native Korean or Sino-Korean?

Jamie F.


Dear Marisa and Jamie,

Let us answer Jamie’s question first, because it touches upon an important concept in Korean language. Since Korea spent its entire history next to China, a giant of world culture, much of Korean culture – including language – has elements of Chinese influence. This was much more true in the old days (up to 18th century or so,) when the educated class of Korea wrote in Chinese although they spoke in Korean. This influence survives in Korean language today as Sino-Korean vocabularies, which is just a fancy term that means “Korean words that originated from Chinese.” Currently, around 60 percent of Korean vocabularies are Sino-Korean.

Native Korean and Sino-Korean

The relationship is much like Latin-based English vocabularies – while Latin and English have significantly different grammar structures, English borrowed a lot of words from Latin. The same with Korean and Chinese. So, to answer Jamie’s question – Sino-Korean is native Korean. More accurately, Sino-Korean is an inseparable part of Korean language. If one wishes to learn Korean, one has to learn Sino-Korean. In fact, knowledge of Sino-Chinese is crucial not simply because it is an integral part of Korean, but also because Sino-Chinese is disproportionately represented in high-level Korean vocabularies. (This is again parallel to Latin-based English vocabularies.)

The existence of Sino-Korean vocabularies makes it seem like knowing Chinese would be helpful toward learning Korean. That could be true, but the actual use of Sino-Korean words in Korean actually may lead to confuse Chinese speakers. There are at least two possible points of confusion.

First, Sino-Korean words can be expressed in Chinese characters, but the pronunciation is different in Chinese and in Korean. For example, the word for “society” is 社會 in Mandarin Chinese, which is pronounced “she-hui”. Korean word for “society” is Sino-Korean that uses the same characters. But when Koreans see 社會, they read it as: “sa-hwae.” (The Korean only knows Mandarin Chinese, but he is told that Korean pronunciation of Chinese characters is actually closer to Cantonese Chinese.)

Second, while Sino-Korean words can be expressed in Chinese, the two languages may differ in their uses of the Chinese characters because the two languages evolved separately. For example, in Chinese means “wine”, and means “store”. Put together, Koreans understand 酒店  (written and pronounced as 주점 in Korean) as meaning “bar”. But Chinese understand 酒店 (pronounced as “jiu dian” in Mandarin) as meaning “hotel”.

Sometimes, this divergence between Chinese and Sino-Korean happened because Koreans came to adopt a Sino-Japanese word and pronounce the word in Korean. For example, the word for an automobile is 自動車 in Sino-Japanese (“jidousha,” or “self-moving cart”) and 汽車 in Chinese (“qi-che” or “steam-cart”). Koreans ended up adopting 自動車, but pronounce the word as 자동차 (“ja-dong-cha”) because that’s how Koreans pronounced those three Chinese characters.

The new Hyundai Sonata, a 자동차 that is poised to take the 2010-11 market by storm.


Numbers, in Native and Sino-Korean

Now, let us turn to Marisa’s question. As Marisa pointed out, there are some cases in which native Korean words and Sino-Korean words co-exist for the same meaning. Numbers are the most representative case. Without further ado, here is how to count in native Korean and Sino-Korean. (The chart below shows cardinal numbers only. For ordinal numbers, see “Advanced Stuff” below.)

Number
Native
Sino (with Chinese characters)
1
하나/
2
/
3
/
4
/
5
다섯
6
여섯
7
일곱
8
여덟
9
아홉
10
11
열하나 (“ten-one”)
십일 十一(“ten-one”)
20
스물
이십 二十 (“two-ten”)
21
스물하나 (“twenty-one”)
이십일 二十一(“twenty-one”)
30
서른
삼십 三十 (“three-ten”)
40
마흔
사십 四十
50
오십 五十
60
예순
육십 六十
70
일흔
칠십 七十
80
여든
팔십 八十
90
아흔
구십 九十
100
(rarely used)
1000
즈믄 (rarely used)
1,0000
(rarely used)
10,0000

십만 十萬 (“ten ten thousand”)
100,0000

백만 百萬 (“hundred ten thousand”)
1000,0000

천만 千萬 (“thousand ten thousand”)
1,0000,0000

1,0000,0000,0000

1,0000,0000,0000,0000


Based on the chart, you can see a few patterns.

First, larger numbers are formed logically by combining smaller numbers. For example, “thirteen” is either “열셋” or “십삼”, both literally meaning “ten-three”. Sino-Korean is better at forming large numbers, because the larger numbers progress more logically. For example, “fifty” is in native Korean, which is a stand-alone vocabulary that cannot be broken down further. However, “fifty” is 오십 in Sino-Korean, which can be broken down as “five-ten”. (Many hypothesized that this characteristic contributed to Asians being better at math.)

Second, you may have noticed that the Korean broke down large numbers with four zeros between commas instead of three. The Korean did that for your convenience. Large numbers are broken down with three numbers because in English and most European languages, the unit “jumps” at every thousand. (For example, a “thousand thousand” is a “million”, and a “thousand million” is a “billion”.) But in Chinese and Korean, the unit jumps at every ten thousand. So for example, the unit (=108) goes all the way up to 천억 (“thousand ”, i.e. thousand 108) before it jumps to . In other words, 만억 (“ten thousand ”) or 십천 (“ten thousand”) are incorrect in Korean.

It's all about the 신사임당, baby.
(Notice how KRW 50,000 is spelled 오만원)

(However, it must be noted that in Korea, the numbers are still broken out by three digits although there is no real reason why they should be broken out that way.)

Third, notice that in the native Korean, there are two entries for numbers 1 through 4. The first one is when the number is used as a noun. The second is when the number is used as an adjective. So, for example, if someone is exercising and simply narrating “one, two, three, four” for the sake of rhythm, s/he would say “하나, , , ” and not “, , , ” because the numbers are nouns in that context. But if someone is talking about “two people”, s/he would say “ 사람” instead of “ 사람”, because “two” as an adjective modifies the noun “people” in that phrase.

Then the big question is – when do you use the native counting system versus the Sino-Korean counting system? But before we can get to that, we have to address another concept in Korean that is crucially related to numbers – “counters”. 

More about counters, how to count in Korean, how to tell time in Korean and advanced materials, after the jump. 

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@gmail.com.



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