This Week in Dramas

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Japan, Korea, This Week in Dramas，
07 June 2013
0

Culture this week:
- How to say No in Korean at a meal (though most of you won’t need this)
- And A better version of Tatemae, Honne and Wa explanation (’cause I still feel I botched it.)
- Oh and I can’t really do Chinese culture… still don’t have enough data on the range. And the range is vast. If you think it’s a long way to the chemist…

Dramas

The only one that finished this week was All About my Romance, which firmly stayed on back burner for me.

The only other one I watched was Cyrano… which I’ve voiced enough of the negatives about taking agency away from the woman and putting it all into the men.

I haven’t changed up much this week. I need to catch up with Tsuma wa Kunoichi, but I need the right mood to watch that.

I’m still waiting for the crackfest drama that will knock me over from laughing…. I’m hoping Heirs or Masters Sun will do that.

How to say no in Korea at a meal. (I had a better version of this post stored somewhere, but I can’t find it… it has the specific words one used and the order. Remembering it backwards is harder since it’s just all no in translation…. If I find it, I’ll post it.)

If you have issues saying no and have Korean relatives, well, look no further than Korea. Of course they won’t do this to people they aren’t close with.

My brother once observed, “There are so many ways to say no in Korean.” And I thought he was kidding. But there are and I know why, just for this event alone. (I joke…) This is one thing dramas don’t alert you to.

How to start the meal:
You say, “I’m hungry.”

Then you go to eat.

Then you are sitting down.

Then you start by declaring loudly how full you are.

“Ah, I’m getting full.” This is a lie. Someone did this in English and I didn’t understand why until I had Korean relatives push food on me.

Then the other people will start adding food, “Try this.” This is a road to indigestion, upset stomach and feeling dead, because remember, you have to walk a mile afterwards. They add the guilt trip, “But you’re so skinny… have you been eating only Ramyeon? You should eat rice.” (You know the meat and potatoes of the West.)

Then you start saying soft nos to people pushing food onto your plate/bowl. anniyo. anni ya. anni. (Getting more and more informal as you’re losing your patience with the food pushing.

Now your bowl is becoming empty. OMG. More food. And if you’re American, you’re having this voice like, “I have to finish this.”

So halfway you’re dying already, and now, you have to start announcing loudly no and stop it. Keumanhae is the final no. Means stop. And then you start protecting your food bowl with your life. You have to loudly announce also that your stomach hurts because you ate so much.

And then afterwards you’re like rolling, but then your relatives tell you that if you don’t want to get fat you have to walk off the sleepiness. And then the bathroom trip. *cough* Korean dramas don’t lie on that one. Only in Korea. That’s why the bathroom humor works so well.

Then you find out LATER that your relatives say, “You eat so much.” and then say things like how you eat.

–;; So in another words, “You are so skinny….” is a kind of hospitality… as in I can feed you more if you need it.

Japanese communication: Honne, Tatemae, Wa

‘Cause I think I botched it and I think if I explain it correctly, some of the conventions in Japanese dramas will make a lot more sense.

Note American in this case refers to SAE… which is mostly White Middle Class American. I’m not covering sub groups. Too hard and too long.

Japanese is a conceptual, communal language. (As supposed to English which is precise, and individualistic.)

Japanese women teach this children language in groups of mothers. So a bunch of mothers might hang out together and have their children play together. In order to correct their child, they will do two things:

1. Dame yo!

Which roughly translates as “No good.” Or more conceptually, “The action you are taking is no good.”

2. Talk about the emotions of the people or object that the child has not acted upon correctly.

So for example, if a child tries to rip the teddy’s arm. The mother will sit with the child and talk for the teddy bear and talk about the teddy bear’s emotions. Or they will talk for the train.

“I hated it when you ripped my arm. It made me say, ‘Oww.’ cause it hurt.” (I know Americans will think this is the ultimate in guilt trips… but Japanese don’t see it that way. It’s teaching consideration for other’s honne.)

This emphasizes community and to think of other’s feelings before one’s own. The group setting also forces the children to play together and share toys.

The feelings communicated and being guessed at are the “honne” of the say, the teddy bear. This is often said in Japanese dramas, where people will lecture to other people about feelings or that the person must have guessed the feelings or not thought of the feelings of the other people first. It’s a bit strange from the US perspective, since sometimes you’ll get male speech, which is considered street slang tough along with swearing… and then a lecture about feelings in the middle with questions, which is tough to translate because the male speech makes it tough, the light swearing (like crap), the feelings make it seem “feminine” in the West’s eyes since that’s delegated to females. And the questions are indirect speech, which in the West is attributed to females. (How do you translate that mess?)

The second layer is the tatemae. The honne are considered fragile and something you don’t want to impose on other people, so you protect yours behind a mask. You don’t want to run over someone else’s honne–it’s rude. It’s like suddenly showing up for a visit at someone’s house. You don’t do it. In order to be really considerate, you hide your feelings and spend a long time trying to figure out the other person’s feelings. This part is considered as deep consideration.

This figuring out is something that Americans never seem to quite get. So they see this as a “double faced” rather than trying to keep one’s shirt properly tucked in, your pants up so you look proper in public. This is why Japanese tend to view Americans as loud… and rude. (Like talking loudly on trains–which some Japanese Brazilians do… and Japanese start calling them the rude word for foreigner…)

You can see this manifested in many dramas as the person who knows a bunch of things, but they say they want to make sure before saying anything. In another words, this is the Tatemae step. The tatemae step of this, feels like walking on eggshells a lot from the person speaking. Whereas the person listening is supposed to get from the context and the concepts talked about what the feelings of the person are and to not impose. The person listening is listening carefully and trying to reach behind the wall of the other person. This is why Japanese if purely translated has a lot of indirect speech, especially at higher speech levels. There is always an escape route in Japanese because the speaker isn’t always sure. “Kamo”. Statements as questions. (Many translators make them statements, especially on men.) “tabun” “Desu yo ne” rather than plain “desu” etc… this way the other person can softly disagree if the other person guessed their honne wrong. Direct contraditions are frowned upon because then you’re stepping on the other person’s honne…

Who knows what she’s thinking the American will say. (’cause in America you’re not supposed to conjecture–the whole individualism thing.) In Japan you’re supposed to know and shape your speech around those possibilities in the first place. The context will tell you and you’re supposed to be like that mom with the teddy bear, but not voice it.

From the Japanese perspective, this creates a sense of “Wa” or harmony. In this way you never trespass someone’s house of feelings. It’s deep, deep consideration for others.

So, the final step is romance… the idea in Japanese romance is that the person who knows your inner feelings the best and can guess them the best will win you. If they can accept your inner feelings better than their competition, they will win you. (The idea that you can be yourself at home). Princess Kaguya (the fiarytale) makes a whole lot more sense in this context.

This goes to the other things that Americans tend to hate. The instant! lecture on feelings which makes American men go a little nuts. (Feelings???!!) (You can spot this in about every school drama ever. Just watch for the fight scene and listen for the word “Kimochi” and “kokoro”–Kokoro can means spirit, thoughts, feelings–there isn’t a separation between thoughts and feelings in Japanese in the same way as in English. Often both are meant.) The wise girl who won’t say anything (Biblio)…. the open endings on dramas/anime… the selfish people you are told you should be thinking about their feelings on (See Monster Parent…)… the double-faced girl from the US standpoint–Switch Girl and Hotaru no Hikari (also explains why Buchou wins) Yamato Nadeshiko, also kinda explains the mothers… and the whole lecture about you are supposed to know. The whole time the audience is listening for the honne, leaving the majority of foreigners in the dust who want “proof” for everything. Everything played out. Everything direct. Sorry, Japanese isn’t like that. There are a few exceptions. Aomori dialect is supposed to be a lot more direct. Osaka is a little less direct. But from what’s being said in both cases, the smack downs are mild even though there are far more statements.

The downside of this is that sometimes Japanese can play things out passive aggressive and alienate a certain person from the community systematically, but every communication style has its downsides, so I don’t think this is unique.

Personally, it doesn’t drive me that nuts, since from my Korean side I just readapt the noonchi and use it in the other direction. Since noonchi allows you to read other people, you just use it to *know* what the other person is feeling and shape the speech that way. You just don’t out it like in Korea (though that’s more for people’ you’re close to. Hwasin is so good for this. Hee Seon has a gift, I swear.). Korean communication is more like sorting. Japanese communciation is more like reaching behind a wall while stepping on eggshells, trying not to break them, while feeling guilty doing so.

Anyway, this is changing a bit with Japan’s falling birth rates (One child per household, with more women working later and later and no day care support by the government…) and Monster Parent boom. I also think it’s industrialization a bit too…. Industrialization seems to push towards individualism as families are often forced to become neolocal/nuclear rather than extended in one house. So there has been a clash between individualism and this type of socialization.

If you still didn’t get it, here are some things that Americans will not get about Japanese speech…

Anata means you. Anata is also used for “darling” among married couples.
If the person is dead You say “that person” “ano hito” which means you were once married to them, and they are no longer here, so in consideration, you don’t speak their name to outsiders.

I think those two conventions gives you a feeling for how the language works internally.

This Week in Dramas

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Japan, Korea, This Week in Dramas，
10 May 2013
1

This Week:
- Got feedback on my first script, so I’m going to fix it, then work on script 2 and then through 4. I’m still getting my footing.
- Worked on some Korean embroidery.
- Picked up a summer class.
- Submitted yet another story.
- Lamented the lack of a heart thumping Rom com that sets me to the sedge of my seat.
- Made a Korean name generator. Whoo Hoo. –;; Thinking up Korean names was too hard on my brain.

Cultural Note: Touring Korea by Drama Locations. (I know you want to)

Nail Shop Paris

OK, I admit to watching a lot of reverse harem dramas, but this is particularly bad when it comes to episode 2. The premise was really, really horrible for episode 2.

It’s a cross dressing reverse Harmen story. Where the main girl tries to collect info about a guy who works in a male-only nail salon. But the nail salon kinda doubles as one of those bars where lonely women get guys to pour drinks. (Which is more Japanese) So the place serves up a fantasy of having a relationship with the guy as well. I wasn’t expecting mind bending, but…

*SPOILER*

So there is a wife who turns stalker on the nail shop boys, so instead of ya know, reporting her to the police, the nail shop tries to tackle her mental problems by “saving her” from her husband. Her husband has been beating her, jealous of the nail shop guys who are at least 10 years his junior. (Can you say OMG)

The episode ends when the wife says, “I’m at fault because I made him that way” and the husband gets his nails done with hearts. And he gets cured when one of the employees yells at him, saying they are tired of “cleaning up your problems” and then “cure” the couple. NOOOOOOOOOO. I have so many feminist things to rant about this plus a non-domestic-violence smack of realism. Couple it with my rant from last week about changing people.

* END SPOILER*

Couple that with pretty flat acting. TT And why did I watch this? Because of this drama I fell asleep at 9:00. I’m serious. Was that bad. I usually fall asleep at 10-12…

How are they going to survive for 10 episodes off of this?

I whole heartedly give this zero stars. (First time in a while) Did anyone survive through watching the whole thing without cringing and losing brain cells? What’s worse is the premise of the writer needing inspiration in that way kinda fell flat, which is weird, since you know, a writer is writing it.

13-sai no Hello Work

The premise is OK. Guy goes back in time to try to advance his own timeline, but is an ignorant selfish person. (Said so in the drama too).

But the fan service and the crappy things the drama says about women make me cringe. It’s cute for the older-younger interaction and the small things that make a difference. But then as the cute sinks in and I kinda like it, it pulls another misogynist thing out of it’s hat like women who dress in say, short skirts are inviting men to look at her and treat her like an object, so of course something bad will happen to her. Then I get mad again.

Guy can be a jerk and get punished for being misogynistic. I’d like that instead. But, instead you have several characters like that and ofen rewarded for being like that.

The original book was written by a male. And it shows.

*groan* If they cut the anti-women stuff, I’d actually watch it through because it’s funny otherwise and fairly well played. Plus the older v. younger interactions are kinda heart-warming. But it comes thick, so regretable skip.

Kakusho

First, nor second episode does not pass the Bechdel test (bench marks 1 and 2 pass, but not 3–she talks to other named females, but about males). This drama kinda feels like they got the talent, but the script lacked that final polish. While it’s not bad, it’s not the best ever either. This is one I want to like really bad, but can’t quite seem to. Especially when the lead female is as young as she is and the male lead is as old as he is… If they played it off as a father-daughter relationship, in part, I think this would work. I’m not sure what the theming or tone is supposed to be.

Upside, the female characters do prove to be on par with the male characters, but this isn’t established too well so far. I wish they would establish it for sure.

Also, it’s a female has to prove herself in a male-dominated world on the feminism scale.

I’ll give it a chance, but it’s running the crime of me being bored rather than upset at it. And that’s a crime one should never commit while writing.

Mayonaka no Pan Ya

It’s about a girl that comes to live with her brother-in-law.

Laid back, slow, good for late night when you don’t want to think so hard. Good slice of life with a little eye candy for the girls.

It’s the kind of drama Javabeans would dislike–it has quiet details and a slow pacing without shiny cinematography, but would be in range of Carole and maybe
Mystisith. It’s slow, thoughtful, methodical.

Similar Dramas: Late Night Dinner, though isn’t quite so charming as that one. It has a similar tone to Tsuma wa Kunoichi.

Nine
Much better this week, though I still want more scenes with MY. Perhaps her new drama is an explanation for the cuts???

And rat-face was epic this week.

Gaby’s Request
The book was called “Koreans” or “The Koreans” and is an account written from a soldier’s POV. It’s not the most fun read ever since it suffers from what I would say “permanently exotic” syndrome. That is that Koreans are a “them” and Koreans are weird creatures I don’t quite understand and I never really applied myself to learning the culture besides what makes Koreans different from “us”.

Reading such books as that can be a bit unsettling since I think of people around the world as “us” rather than “them” and the lack of effort into looking at similarities along with the differences kinda puts me on edge.

However, there are some decent anecdotes which he of course frames from an exogenous and sometimes US-centric POV, but since I have enough training in cultural Anthro and so on, I was able to refilter the information through the appropriate framing. So I hope my retelling isn’t half so annoying as the original source material.

If you want to learn about Korean culture, as in cultural anthropology, you can look up cultural anthropology papers on noonchi for communication. Keep in mind the blog stuff is usually done from a euro-centric POV. You can also read books from Korea as well. I bought one on Korean Shamanism, one of Joseon dynasty, some Korean Literature, and have been reading Korean translated books. (The language in Moon Embracing the Sun is really pretty. I can see why it was successful.) Also the Moon guidebooks are really good.

I bought a lot of books from hanbooks dot com which also sells dramas online. (Cheaper than the amazon versions of the same books) They have classics, if you want to geek out. Only keep in mind the ones in English on the site tend to be all “sad” stories because that’s what English publishers tend to import. Rather than “happy” stories like Coffee Prince. Chalk that up to racism of the West rather than Korean culture. (It’s a pattern you’ll find with all books not centered on the mainstream… a wall I personally hate and want to see defeated… but I’m getting political.) If you venture into the Korean fiction section you’ll find novelizations of many dramas you’ve watched, but again, only in Korean… Also will give you a far better bisection of the range of fiction actually being published versus what’s being imported.

That’ll give you a better source. I tend to like books written about people who actually come from the country rather than other people coming in and trying to explain what they perceive is the culture of the country. The second always runs into issues and for me an occasional flipping the bird. *cough*

Touring Korea by Drama locations

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Korea，
10 May 2013
0

Touring Korea by Drama locations:

I know you’ve thought of it, but you didn’t want to say it: You want to secretly stalk some stars, or at least stand where they stood. (Or stand where they will stand in the future.) On the other hand, you don’t want to spend a ton of money. So what’s the best thing to do?

There are maps released by the Korean tourism board that actually lists dramas and their locations on a map. But I don’t like them. And you could go to the Korean Tourism website for some of them, but why not get a list? Besides, I know how crazy dedicated you are to the Korean drama fandom.That’s why you wish to stalk show your fandom to your favorite stars by “accidentally” showing up where they are. These are my top spots I wish to conquer. (Plus a wish at another shot at being on Running Man)

Cultural note: Koreans tend to navigate by landmark more than they do by address. Expect this.

Seoul Locations

Myeongdong Market
Address: You can usually ask and people will point it out. You can use the 2 line to get there easily.
If you go here regularly and early enough, you will often find shows taping here. Some famous shows have included Running Man (who uses it at least twice a year.), some news shows–and I also caught some trot stars here as well (I have photo proof.) TT I could have caught Yoo Jae Seok, but I was too slow. *cries in corner* Jae Seok, why are you a blur in your punishment underwear in my photo? NOOOOO. >.<;; (I even have pictures of the cameras... Man I was so slow to "get" it.)

Here, you can also get the best Hot chocolate in Seoul, Leondias and visit the nearby department stores where they often shoot dramas. (The famous plugs for designer items. Which you can often see featured in such dramas a Baby-faced Beauty) and see pictures of stars all over the place. (I got a picture of Hongki!)

You can also find the Safeway--which at the time I went was selling Pig Rabbit and also hair accessories. That Safeway gets filmed a whole, whole bunch. It's included in Running Man and most of the shops in Myeongdong have also gotten filmed as well.

Often reality shows and dating shows film here too. You can wave to beanies and boast once you figure out which show you were on. Only catch is that on weekends no one is up before 10:30, but often cameras are. =P Most filming, however, starts at 6:30-9:00 to reduce crowd problems or late at night. Occasionally in the afternoon, but that's rare because it's really difficult to crowd control for. (Try Saturdays and Sundays)

The various Open markets
Address: Most guide books list the local markets plus instructions to get there.
These are often featured in Running Man. There is one market with really awesome kuksoo, but filming isn't in these locations often. I still think you should go to one for the sheer experience. My hometown has a market where I grew up for 4 years, so I admit I have a really huge soft spot for open markets. I like to hit any open markets when going to a new place. In part to try to find the remnants of the memories of Eomma, and also because there is something raw and genuine about markets for me that feels like the heart of the city because most anyone will go to a Korean Open market--great for cheap dates, variety shows, etc. No one is immune. Plus it's not so slick as other places usually are.

Subway The 2 Line The 7 Line

Particularly at night, you can get some awesome shots of the Han River, go people watching while sitting down, try experiments in blending in, and visit various underground shopping centers, such as the one near the universities which has street food, and of course Gangnam... (Where I bought an awesome coat. ^^;; Before the song, for the record.) It's like a quick minimum 2-3 US dollar tour of Seoul. If you leave the stations then it goes up 2-3 dollars, but that's better than paying a hundred for the bus tours, plus allows you some freedom.

Building 63
Address: 50, 63-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Made famous in My Girl, but also featured a whole much of shows, it has a curse on me, since the first time I went I forgot my camera and the second time it was so foggy I couldn't see anything. TT Though there are a lot of night shots out of it from the famous glass elevators, you can't actualy go up at night, since it's closed. It has offices in the general building as well as an aquarium which you can also visit. (I bought an umbrella there). There is a bus that's free that gets you there and back from the subway. Ask your hotel to help with that. Skinship? Go here.

Namsam Tower
Address: 1-3 Yongsandong 2(i)-ga Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Also cursed for me. I tried one time, but they don't allow cars to go up and there is a complicated procedure that I couldn't understand. I have a bunch of shots of it. Running Man, of course, also filmed here, early on with Joongki. Also featured in some dramas, but probably because it's not as eye-candy worthy, it's not shot as much as Building 63.

Coex Building
Address: 58, Teheran-ro 87-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Has a bigger aquarium, but if you can find it, also a Kimchi Museum with substandard Kimchi. Nearby there is also a Buddhist temple with a HUGE Buddha. (Bonggeunsa: 73 Samseong-dong Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea) Both are fun to visit, though the aquarium gets visited far more, the Buddhist temple is worth also visiting--just please don't talk at all while people are meditating--that's really rude. (Don't whisper either.)

MBC/ KBS
Address: MBC: 31, Yoido-Dong, Youngdungpo-gu/KBS: #18, Yoido-dong. Youngdeungpo-gu. City, Seoul
These two buildings are nearby each other. They get (understandably) filmed very, very often. On work days you can catch people wearing badges. Do some stalking? I'm joking. Really. Don't go stalking. But you can take pictures like I did. And it's not that far from Building 63 either.

SBS
Address: SBS Broadcasting Center, 920 Mok-dong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 158-051, Korea
is located separate from KBS and MBC buildings.
Run after some Running Man Members?

Bugaksan
Address: Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul-si
If you want to mourn the character Jo Jeong Seok's character from The King 2 Hearts, you can go here. Sing the song. Also other dramas have filmed here. It has the wall, lit up and you can see views of Seoul. You can't take a car up, so be prepared to climb.

Lotte Hotel World
Address: 40-1 Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul 138-220, South Korea
A bunch of dramas have filmed here merely because the interior is expensive to look at. It's also fairly expensive to stay at... so I wouldn't really stay here. (My brother had better places, but I couldn't remember them. He did anger staff at one hotel by hacking their internet connection line to give himself more power. --;; Dude, really?) You can see why it's film worthy from pics. If you want a hotel, most of the time in dramas, it's this one.

1st Coffee Shop Location:
How to Get There: Take Subway Line 2 to Hongik University, and go out of Exit 4 a Turn right at Seven Springs corner and pass the intersection. At the 3-way intersection, turn left. Walk about 100 meters on the road above the playground and walk towards the road on the right side. Walk about 500 meters until you find the coffee shop on the right. (From Korean Tourism Board)

Low on my list, but Bukchon Hanok Village...
Address: Gahoe-dong, Jae-dong, Samcheong-dong, Gye-dong, Wonseo-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul-s
Was featured in Personal Preference. I mostly want the blueprint though. =P

Sageuk Fans

Korean Folk Village
Address: 107 Bora-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Either one. Again do some stalking uhh… hanging out and occasionally you’ll see them tape things. Especially if you hide and stay in the night when they film. Kekeke. There are also activities. Mostly in the Korean folk village, though, which take a while to get to. Just be sure to bring protection for arsenic poisoning and your silver chopsticks. (Though I’d take a handsome guard too) Also learn how to say “Seongohamnida” and offer your life at the drop of a hat.

Gyeongbok Palace/Changdeok Palace
Address: 161, Sajik-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Address: 99, Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Both are close to each other. You will get to see more if you take a tour of the place because they take you to places where they actually film. And if they are filming that day, they’ll actually say and NOT take you there. (You know what to do then… pull a Moon/Sun from the first few episodes… No, joking. Really.)

I was really, really, really tempted to yell “Jeonha” in the center audience room. It took a whole bunch of restraint, not to yell it, especially since it echoes. OMG, I soooo wanted to say it. =P Maybe you have less restraint???

Note: Don’t go around calling it Changdeokgung. That’s like saying palace twice and you’ll look like an idiot, no matter what wikipedia says. Fujisan Mountain!

Outside Seoul (You have to plan ahead for these)

The Teddy Bear Museum on Cheju
Address: 31, Jungmungwangwang-ro110beon-gil, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do
Which has become synonymous ever since Goong for a Honeymoon spot. For golf fans, the island also features large, expansive golf courses. If you want to spot some daily life, there are still also traditional Korean divers who dive for oysters on the Island. Cheju, as a whole, gets filmed a lot. But you really need to plan ahead to get here.

The Eastern Beaches (in general)
It’s not a lie you can get there within a day, but you do have to stay overnight. Can be romantic. But remember, if you want to have points to catch your drama guy, you must *run* and *chase* each other one the beach. You’ll get extra points if you try to splash each other. ^.~

Anything in Gangwon-do is worth it. That’s where you get the white beaches you see featured often. Sokcho, Gyeongpodae, Naksan are often featured.

Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do
Address: Jeongseon-gun, Gangwon-do
For My Sassy Girl Fans–you have to be pretty hard core, though. You can find the famous tree there and hope to meet your future husband from a time machine. Don’t get dreams of Tae Hyeon showing up, though, ’cause he’s MARRIED. (No matter how many times he looks through magazines at women and flirts with girls on 1 Night 2 Days)

Pusan, especially the markets.
Many stars come from Pusan. If you want to stalk the streets, you probably could find the Answer Me 1997 locations. Also hear the famous Saturi from that location. If you have lots of time, you can plan it on the way to Cheju. Also visit the beach–Running Man has often filmed at the beach.

And for Melodrama fans: Any islands that are not Cheju… such as Cheongsangdo for the Spring Waltz scenes, you can dream about having leukemia, brain cancer, a mysterious disease, cancer, playing some kind of music, especially a piano, and endless cost-saving hospital scenes from going to places like this. Just be sure to bring drama protection if you do go. ^.~ Bullet proof vest, impact absorbers from cars, decent clothing that aren’t turtlenecks, and genetic testing. What? Did I say something outlandish?

english.visitkorea.or.kr.–If you are looking for a specific location, this website will have it, often listing the drama with it.

Korean Telephone Manners

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Korea，
03 May 2013
0

In Korea, there is no goodbye on the phone.

You say “Hello” (여버세요/Yeobeoseyo) Speak and then as you’re hanging up (Keun oh), you either raise your voice or say, “The end” (roughly translated)

That’s why the whole putting down the phone and saying something at the last minute showed up in Nine.

I’ve pulled this a few times without realizing it until afterwards. In the US, at least, it means you’re angry. ^ ^;

How communication works and Korean inflection

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Korea，
03 May 2013
0

Korean culture note: How communication works and Korean inflection

The thing about Korean communication that most foreign speakers get dead wrong is the inflection, which follows an emotional curve. Emotions dictate the tones, the pitch, the loudness, and the holding of vowel sounds. (Compare this to say, Japanese or Chinese (Mandarin, mostly) and you’ll find that culturally, this is very different.) Daniel Henney admitted that this was the hardest for him to conquer because in the US, men aren’t supposed to change, pitch, tone, loudness and hold vowels–it’s considered girly (from mostly Standard American English). My brother also refuses to do it, even though he knows it’s wrong. (This is one way to pick up someone is not native Korean)

This means that in order to prove anything, you have to have a better emotional base than the person in front of you. A book I read said that arguing in Korean can get ugly, whereas in English, it’s a lot cleaner. English tends to be far more logical and report that if you don’t get the precise word, then your meaning is off. Also, English tends to argue on logical points rather than emotional. Korean doesn’t do that.

Korean is also highly contextual. This means that the meaning of words are much more clear in context than they are in English, where the meaning of words tends to be more stable no matter the context. (Look up Imja as an example–from Faith.)

Combine these two and it’s obvious why you need Noonchi. You need a fair amount of intuition/perception to figure out the true emotional state of the other person. You also need it to figure out all of the other pitfalls, such as what the other person is really saying, what they mean, when to back off, when to press, etc. Noonchi is also not easy for foreigners, who are often pressed into respecting privacy rather than figuring out the other person. (Noonchi can also be scary for foreigners, which is why Koreans can seem blunt–because out of the blue this ajoomma might come to you and say something that’s true and stings because it wasn’t honey-coated) Noonchi can also seem to invade privacy quite a bit. (I turn off mine when I’m in the US, which makes me seem slow by US standards…)

Tact, however, does exist. (You can see this particularly in Lee Soon Sin, where Joon Ho has tact, but no noonchi, so confronts his ex-girlfriend without proof and starts a tirade.) This is mostly done through avoidance tactics. If you want to block knowledge, you change the subject at the best time where noonchi won’t flare up. This takes some skill, because you have to work hard to block. (Anyone watch Hwasin last week??) In Standard American English you usually let the person continue, but say less an less as a blocking. In Korea, you change the subject steadily. That said, Korean blunt is like carrying a sledgehammer.

Koreans are also more physical, but I think you would get that, especially if you watched the Super Junior Full House special where they get English lessons.

When my suitcase was open both my Korean father and the person I was staying with poked at my suitcase, but didn’t move anything. That never happened in the US. So that’s also what happens in Korean communication too.

So most communication can go like this:

Let’s get all of the emotions out in the air–you tell me what they are, I’ll sort which ones are your real ones, and then return to you using my noonchi what I’m feeling based on what you’re feeling and we’ll work it out. I’ll respect your boundaries, if you let me poke you a little.

Add on top of this respect levels where respect makes you colder. And age levels of respect (humbleness) And I would say this is a pretty good bisection of Korean communication. (I’m guessing that unless you’ve been really slow, you’ve at least picked up some of the respect level stuff–my friend half learning Korean picked it up even though she doesn’t know hangeul or any vocabulary….).

One book I read a while ago told a story like this.

An American Guy who didn’t know better bumped into another car. So he got out. The other guy grabbed him by the collar and started cussing him out. (You’ve seen this in dramas). The American then punched him. However, the other guy was really surprised at this, since Koreans are physical and like to fake threaten in the heat of the moment. So, the American ended up in jail for the night and having to call the agency because he’d done assault. Because in the US, you’d think it was self defense. In Korea, it’s not so.

Another minor story. After a long journey I’m not talking about, I saw these two ajeossi in a bus terminal. They greeted each other like they were angry. Calling each other jerks and then fake punching each other. Then they put their arms around each other. One called the other “Hyeong” and they laughed together. So I figure that part of dramas isn’t fake either.

Based on this, you can understand how the dialects work. Dialect is called either Saturi (Satoori)사투리 or Pangeop 방업.

Seoulmal (the dialect of Seoul) tends to sound like rising up a hill and then going a little down and sitting on the other side. The rising up will change on emotional curve. If you want to visualize it, it’s kinda like: Jack and Jill went up the hill to get a pail of water. Then Jack walked down, and Jill sat next to him on the other side. What? They were tired. (You never get to the bottom of the hill) You can best hear this in the Seoul version of “Annyeonghaseyo”)

Jeolla is like listening to someone roll up and down a rounded top and a rounded bottom. You usually can pick this up from phrases like keundi. (which is usually at the bottom of the hill) for Keunreonde. So up, rounded, down rounded, up rounded, down. The up is higher than Seoul which can sound flat in comparison. (They soften it quite a bit for dramas though. Even talkshows… Yoon Si Yoon softened his for Strong Heart, for example. There are smaller regional differences.) I always get the feeling of a kiddy rollercoaster smooth and relaxing a bit. Example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrSN2U_0nyU

Kyeongsang is like hearing a rising spike. The famous elevator pitch. (It’s like those elevator rides… you rise to the top, anticipate the fall and are let down easy at the very end) If you imagine a sharp mountain with rounded valleys in between it sounds like that. The more upset or emotional you are, the higher your pitch, louder the sound, and inflection. You can occasionally pick it up from Hong Dong in Barefoot Friends who often slips into it when he’s emotional. Yeobeosiyo instead of yeobeoseyo. The ye ending for ne and also yu instead of yo. Also a lot of “no” endings. There is also a primer for it in Answer Me 1997 episode 0, though that’s the Pusan version, which is weaker than most of the surrounding area. (The diluted version.) Gary of Running Man occasionally uses it, but he often ends up in Seoulmal. Also famous for being noisy amoung Seoul saram. Men are said to be silent and women are said to be noisy… Some Seoul people think that it also sounds like Japanese, but it’s not even close because of that elevator pitch. Answer Me 1997 had the most natural examples since the actors were from mostly Pusan. Gyeongbuk Satoori: (part of Kyeongsang) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcqolxj5t8s (has subs) Compare to the usual drama version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Tq-mhKUyMw (on the guy) Jeolla is spoken by the woman.

Here is four dialects done very well: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR2auwH_fxQ

You can hear it is similar to you can hear the spikes.
I haven’t personally heard enough sample of Cheju or the other areas to get it. But if I did, then I could parse it pretty quickly.

Jeju I haven’t heard enough of. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crgIiPJga1c is an example, though faked. I also noticed that most sentences have a rise in pitch at the end in this example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcQHONkB0d0 which feels like an angle, versus a question which rises pretty much straight up. (Must be confusing, since most sentence ends go down). Also Jeju people tend to talk fast. Jeju saturi is probably the hardest for Seoulites to understand. Sounds like a foreign language sometimes. It’s harder to pin without a natural example of one native talking to another. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db7a7v4zyq4 <– has a longer example, but the woman is clearly softening it for the non-speakers. (She also explains the cultural beliefs for why saturi from jeju is like that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJpyXmDM8I0 <– a rap in Jeju satoori. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8eUyUlOnjA <– a kid speaking it Poor kid doing it in his underwear though. (You can hear the cadence. Over the hill and surf the wave.)

Gangwon, Chungbuk are harder to find dialect samples for.

This Week in Dramas

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Drama News，
03 May 2013
0

Annyeonghaseyo! All spoilers are marked.

This week:
- Looking forward to Tiny Times. It’s supposed to come out soon. I looked it up. The story is so Winnie’s type of story which just makes me that more excited.

- Waiting for feedback on the first episode of the Korean drama script I wrote. =P Secondary readers.

- Researched locations in Seoul for a novel I wrote

- Still can’t find where Lee Kwang Soo was born. Must be a secret.

She is WOW

*sighs* Skip. There is no anchor character to like in this drama making me throw it out. I don’t mind a cast of quirky characters, but making them entirely unlikable, unfunny, and having a long way to go with nothing to anchor makes me feel like a weathervane in a tornado. I’ve never liked the “perfect family that’s secretly broken” from the Japanese, American or any market. So that’s probably another prejudice making me ditch this.

Skip.

Nakuna Hara-chan

Finally got subs, though I should note DC is stealing subs from a subbing group that asked them not to post the subs anywhere. (Politics). You can watch through 10 from that group, if you join and DL. I have to say, as a subber, I’d be pissed off, especially since the warnings were deliberately taken off.

Other than that, it is as great subbed as I thought it would be.

WGM– Kwang Hee and Seonhwa only

I marathoned this for 2 reasons: research for maybe writing Kwang Hee as the younger brother of my character imagined to be played by Kwang Soo…. (They kinda look alike, save for the height. Also have similar natures.) I like my Meta. I may as well entertain myself.

And to numb myself from Nine.

That given I can understand why they broke from the show at 8 months–they both said it–it was getting too confusing. Which is wise considering what happened with Andy and Solbi in the first season, where she clearly was upset it lasted as long as it did because it got too confusing and Solbi said she’d never do a show like that again. (Producers seem to have heeded her ever since too) Making it a wise move on Kwang Hee and Seonhwa’s parts since they were friends before the show.

My notes on Kwang Hee (as he carried himself on the show) were that he’s a sloppy eater, vain, lacks noonchi, is not physically gifted and for some reason reminds me strongly of Sin Joon Ho from Lee Soon Sin…. but isn’t so irritating, despite boasting about his abilities, because he always over estimates it and makes up for it with talking really well and grinning. Also his trickster side and mischievous air is somewhat more amusing that the character of Joon Ho. This is because he does this, all his friends and acquaintances always want to prank him back which makes for an interesting dynamic. He’s also open about his plastic surgery, how much it costs (and boasts about it) is bad at driving and often ends up singing off pitch (which makes no sense to me since he’s in a singing group). The being embarrassed about skin ship in a close relationship is entertaining too. Despite being vain, and a little arrogant, he really doesn’t seem to be covering for insecurities, because when he’s pushed instead of really denying it and pushing harder he downright admits it (Most arrogant people are secretly insecure)–Kwang Hee gets away with his vanity quite a bit. Quirks: Keeps boasting he can cook when he can’t. (He got that from his mom) And touches his “expensive” silicon nose a lot.

I look forward to seeing if he could fit into my script as a counter balance character (Which would not be a Foil)… though I’ll probably do some twisting here and there. This is more a gage of his abilities. If I put him in, I’d probably capitalize on his mischievous nature, write him as a neat eater (camera and boon will have to stay away from his legs though.) ^.~ and use him to highlight against Kwangsoo’s natural humble nature, which I’m exaggerating for my script.

Nine
Episode 15 left me cold and feeling sour. Mostly disappointed at this show for pulling a few stunts. Mainly the sloppy camera angles, the rough cutting, the rough cinematography, the rough script, and tons of filler in the place of smarter writing. And pontificating. OMG, I hate pontificating. Pontificating kills a lot of heist storylines for me as I fall asleep. And also mysteries. The pages upon pages of what could have happened, but you damn know well that’s not what happened, puts me to sleep. Pontificate, fine, do it in action sequences.

*SPOILER*
I want to scream at dramaland to stop using rape for making a guy auto-evil. Not only is rape usually not about sex (as it was shown here), but it’s usually done by acquaintances who are often nice and friendly with the person first. And it’s certainly not about love either. There are usually mind games played before the want of possession. Stranger rapes do happen, but by portraying rape constantly like this, it cheapens what is truly a traumatic experience. Rape is usually confusing. PLEASE don’t use rape to make someone auto-evil. Please. Rape is not a means for character development. It’s not that simple either.
*END SPOILER*

Episode 16 was better, but I have a really strong noonchi feeling that they rewrote the script and that’s why young HYH is missing for the last few episodes, and also why episode 15 suffered. (The actor was caught drunk driving near his apartment… got driven there, and then decided to park the car himself, drunk, and was caught. –;;)

They could have made up for it, but I suspect they were behind on the schedule so as Jomo put it, the derp face and as I put it, the filler came in to substitute. (Also long lines about pontification–elew.) Otherwise, I could have gotten some background scenes for really cheap that I think we all want… past HYH’s dealing with his future annoying wife, more background on MY. More SW and MY first timeline scenes. Maybe some background on that annoying mother. (If you want Makjang, then let’s see what JW is losing.) I’d even like some Past SW scenes playing with his older self. But ya know, live shoot and irresponsible actors means nine times behind schedule.

So here’s to hoping next 2 weeks make our hearts race nine times as fast.

Take Five
Doesn’t pass Bechdel and definitely something to watch with your male counterparts. It has action and male characters. It has a relatively strong female character, but she’s most likely to get foiled as she’s playing the detective. The jazz music is pretty amazing. I’ve heard a lot of versions of the song “Take Five” and I really like the creative arrangements put in time to the action. It’s cut beautifully and the action is well done. The “planning” part is also not explained, though they do go over the basic security, keeping the surmising about plans to almost zero, planting some nice red herrings instead through small words an action, making for a tightly scripted show.

Writing-wise I had to admit I like this better that Tokage, though I like Matsuda Shota a lot. A much tighter script and some decent humor (Like middle-aged thieves). Also some nice questions about morals, without the preaching.

Tsuma wa, Kunoichi
I really like this–it’s warming up by the episode, but it works much better late at night when I haven’t watched Nine. You need to pay attention to the screen most of the time, but you get paid off when you do. It’s slow, methodical and a thoughtful watch. I don’t have high hopes for a happy ending though. Altair and Vega are referenced in the drama, as well as in the theme song like the lovers in the drama. (There is an East Asian Myth about them)

Last Cinderella

‘Cause it was discussed last week… and somehow people missed it. But the cheating husband and the friend are some of the funniest parts of the show. I hate cheating a whole bunch, but because of how they played it out, I know that the husband’s unending humor is that he’s not getting any (and he’s going to be punished to the end for this). =P This cleans up the subplot line which I was worried would fracture the story too much.

*SPOILER*
He has ED. The friend is trying to cure it for her friend’s sake… But it’s like watching him get kicked down there as she says she’s not doing anything and is trying to use her “expertise” to help out. *dying from laughter* I love twisted punishment. And because she’s spending her nights helping him, she’s not getting any either. Double my love of dark comedy.
*END SPOILER*

The main love triangle, however, gives the story some heart going for it. Also the thing with the boss leaves me dead curious… why, dude, why?

Barefoot Friends They are still working out the kinks from a production side, but it was funny.

Hwasin–They got an upgrade to their set and more budget. I can taste it. They are still playing with format. But this week’s guests are really funny. I was laughing really hard.

Lee Soon Sin The mother bugs me, so fast forward. The manager also bugs me. So also fast forward. The whining of the actress also bugs me, so fast forward. Hated the grandmother enough to give her my middle finger. (I skip through her heaving and hauling about how everyone around her is ungrateful and she should have died with her perfect son [Who was reincarnated into derp-faced overacting Choi.] How about her?) Wait? That means I didn’t watch most of Episode 15? That’s correct. Mostly went for the romance scenes of the daughters because the side stories are kinda weak for me at this point. (Do the writers have a grasp on older female characters? ’cause they kinda seem lost and spinning wheels. I had a lot of good influence from older women… so really disappointed.)

I kinda feel like launching into a rant about adoption here. If at any time you feel you will be jealous of your child’s other family, to the point you’re going to take it out on them, no matter who they are, you should not adopt. Period. Also if you do adopt, most psychologists say to not withhold the truth because it will hurt the integrity of the family in the long run. Love isn’t so one dimensional that you should be so greedy anyway.

No changes in ditch or order. I’m fairly steady with what I like to watch. BTW, Running Man was funny with the eggs. OMG I think I was rolling. Comedy gold.

Korean Given names

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Korea，
26 April 2013
0

This will be unbearingly long. Sorry.

I chose this topic after Hwasin, Nine, and Soon Sin all started to cover this topic.

References need to be gotten out of the way first. http://kluster.com.au/issue/seven/suk-kuhn-oh/
http://belectricground.com/2011/08/08/korean-language-and-culture-series-korean-names-part-4/ (read the previous parts too)

Huge credit to the second, a little credit to the first.

The second link covers the following:
- Conventional naming practices
- Hanja v. Hangeul names
- Generational names
- Japanese derived names
- Funny names (Why Pil Soon is funny, for example–meaning last daughter… also Soon is very feminine. From Hwasin.)
- And cultural names.

The first link is about Cheol Soo and Yeong Hee, which is referenced in the second link. (I haven’t found a translation) It’s pretty much like the Dick and Jane books for Americans. (Cheol Soo is also a very common male name)

So I’ll cover what this post didn’t cover.

- Generational names
- How to choose names
- Family fighting.
- Hanja eccentricities
- How to win naming your child what you want when the family disagrees with you.
- The naming dream.
- Naming superstitions (old ones)

First, a little history, (quick, since the series that was done covers the majority of it).

Korean names were originally three syllables (mostly) with no surnames. It wasn’t until the importation of Chinese culture with probably Buddhism that changed this and made for the yangban, surnames, which eventually leaked into the lower classes, albiet quite slowly. This is why in Three Kingdoms historical dramas, you often get three syllable names, but they aren’t really surnames. (And some people on dramawiki get confused about this.) For example, the name: Soseono (From Jumong) is one name. It does not contain a surname. It’s a bit difficult to find these names though.

After the Three Kingdoms era, and the coming in of Chinese, derived names, many names also became Chinese-derived, following Chinese naming conventions. This included the importation of books to tell you which generational name you should use.

That given before the 1990′s, most names, especially traditional ones followed this convention. So that all your cousins in the same generational line of the same sex (though sometimes also all the opposite sex) had the same name.

For example, my Korean cousin has the shared character “Yoon”. If I had other female cousins, they’d all have the first generational name of “Yoon” So that anyone after us will also know that our generation is “Yoon” Any sisters underneath my father would also have Yoon.

My brother, however, didn’t get “Yoon” since the Chinese character used for Yoon is girly, but it’s likely that his first character of his name meaning “Sky/Heaven” probably would have been the generational name.

There are cases where it comes second, such as in Nine’s characters of Jin Woo and Seon Woo.

This means in given names there is also a personal name to differentiate. “Seon” and “Jin” in this case are the personal part of their names. Meaning that the characters are named traditionally, which fits with the personality of their father.

Mine is “Mi” meaning “Pretty” or “Beauty” which isn’t used in male names, typically. (Unless with something explicitly male. Such as Mi Nam. Nam, meaning man in this case).

Sometimes the nickname will come from the personal name, not the generational name, but that’s only for people you’re really close to. (You don’t usually see this in K-dramas though)

Only difference against Chinese names that Korean names don’t follow, is that they don’t number the children typically.

However, in the 1990′s after backlash against the loss of culture, etc, many people wanted to use Korean-derived names only. This includes “Haneul” which is a Korean word for “Sky” and also just chose names they just liked because of the historical context (such as Choon Hyang)

So about choosing names and Family fighting over them.

Koreans are very, very particular about names. You can get a taste of this in My Sassy Girl, Choon Hyang (which I refuse to call otherwise ’cause the title matches My Sassy Girl movie on purpose) When Choon Hyang is fake pregnant in a stunt, the father spends hours trying to write hanja characters (Chinese characters) for the name and repeat them over and over. You can also see this in Bad Family.

Koreans choose the following criteria (most of the time):
- Sound –softer-sounding consonants are usually used. ㅂㅈㄷㄱㅅㅁㄴㅇㄹㅎ over: ㅃㅉㄸㄲㅆㅋㅌㅊㅍ Korean culture has a lot of emphasis on sound of the language. (You can look up bright and dark vowels as an example.) Harder consonants/vowel combinations are also considered more masculine, I believe, as well. “Cheol” in “Cheol Soo” “Cheon” etc.
- Spelling-Sometimes the same hanja character can be pronounced two different ways. So for example, ryeong, v. yong, meaning “dragon” can be spelled with the same character, but the hangeul is different. So these things are also weighed. (Alliteration… for example)
- Meaning- Meaning is fought over a whole lot within a family. It gives the hopes of the family for that individual. You can see this for Yoon Eun Hye. She has a name that says pretty much gracious and forgiving. Do you remember how she had that streak of bad dramas because she was paying off favors? There you go. Her name says it all.
- Alternate meanings. (Where the whole name combined means something else in Korean, though the hanja, etc mean something else.)
- Hanja spelling- This comes from my own family history and overlaps with the whole family fighting over names thing.
- And usually historical context. (For example, if someone famous in their family has the name, or someone terrible has the name)

My Korean father named me as soon as he saw me calling me “Bright Beauty”. However, since my grandfather from my mother’s side is also a Gimhae Kim and also my father’s paternal senior, was pissed off by this (from what I know of him–he was traditional and very, very stubborn…. but so are most of my family)

So when it came to naming my brother, Appa and my grandfather fought a whole bunch the entire pregnancy over the name. (Even though it’s a little useless). Because it’s a generational name, and sometimes you don’t have the generational naming book, other people will also join in fighting, because it affects THEIR children too. It’s not just yours you are naming. You are naming a generation.

So my grandfather and my father came to an agreement over what the sounds would be in Hangeul. Then agreed on the hanja meaning of the name of my brother, but then they endlessly fought over the SHORTENED hanja spelling. Not the actual spelling of the name in hanja, nor the meaning of the hanja, but they fought over how the hanja would be shortened so my brother could write it more easily since the second character of the name is a bear to write. Even if the shortened hanja was only there for sound purposes, Appa fought because his version of the hanja shortening was ONE stroke shorter than my grandfather and my grandfather was the one that finally won and that was the one that got associated with my brother’s name. Probably because he was still bitter that I got named without being consulted. (I wonder if he had an alternate for me) and because he was older than my father. (My father was still bitter over it 20 years later–yeah…).

You can see a whole lot about Korean naming in that little family history.

My brother ended up with a super powerful Korean name, and super masculine, which is in contrast to my own name. (Which is super feminine) Even in Chinese naming conventions, I was told by someone who lives in Hong Kong that is a super powerful name.

Oh and you win by being older and being more stubborn than anyone.

On to Korean name dreams.

I was named Bright Beauty for two reasons. One was because I was smiling and Appa saw me and instantly knew that was my name. The other was the naming dream he had. This is the belief that dreams tell when someone is pregnant. He dreamed of the “Bong Hwang” which is kinda a Korean Phoenix (It’s not the directional bird). (My brother was named after a dragon, which according to mythology, has a King connotation to it. The Azure Dragon–look it up… He was named after that. You can see the enormous pressure my family was trying to put on him.) Anyway, since I was born first, I think Appa was trying to emulate the “Bong Hwang” in my name. Also the Bong Hwang is associated with Princesses and Queens in Korea. =P Yeah, so you can see what the hopes of my family were in that whole thing.

Oh and Sook, Ja tell someone is in their 50′s and up usually. (And female)

Soon is usually overwhelmingly female in the second position, which is why “Kwang Soon” was the joke on Running Man. This is a bit more modern, though, from what I understand.

In the old, old days before modern medicine, the first 100 days you gave your child a “demon” name so that the child would not get “stolen” by the evil spirits. Which probably has two facets. One is so the child won’t cry, the other is so the child won’t die. The official name would be given at the 100 day birthday ceremony, which was deemed old enough to give a good name. (But considering my own family, isn’t it 100 additional days of arguing over what the name should be? kekeke) This was taken from a similar Chinese tradition, though. It’s not done anymore… (though Korean pregnancy myths probably outmatch Chinese ones… Koreans are so superstitious–I was told that multiple times by Koreans who grew up in Korea.)

I hope you’ll get more of the jokes on dramas with this. Also get that Koreans are really, really passionate about their names.

Kimchi (Family clans AKA Bongwan…)

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Culture Note, Korea，
19 April 2013
0

The three questions you’ll be asked in Korea besides your name if you’re Korean are:
“Where are you from?” 어디서 오셨어요?

“What is your age/What year were you born in?” 올해가 몇 년도에 태어 났어요?

“Which Kimchi are you?” 무슨김치 이에요?

The third one is usually if you are say, “Lee” and the other person is “Lee” and then they are trying to figure out you are related. This prevents you accidentally marrying your own clan.

Surnames have origin stories and with them are the break down of clans. So the largest clan, kimhae Kim (location first, surname second.) is not the same “kimchi” as “Uiseong”, “Gyeongju”, “Nagan”, “Andong”, “Gwangju”, “Yaseong” and “Hamchang” Kims.

This means if you meet someone of the same Kimchi, for a long, long time that also meant you could not marry them legally. (This changed in 1997, but with some restrictions. As long as they are not related within 3 generations and you register only on certain years (I think every three) It’s legal.) Before then, it was considered mild incest to do that.

You can sometimes figure out how related you are from the other person’s name AND how many generations away you are. Parents will break up their children from the same clan, especially the smaller clans. One of my Korean teachers said since his clan is small, he’d definitely break it up.

Gimhae Kim being large, doesn’t have the same restrictions within the clan. Though my parents and grandparents couldn’t get married… ^^;; Meaning I’m a result of a taboo. About everyone I know in Korea is related to a Kimhae Kim. So it’s kinda unavoidable at a certain point. 4 million people. The largest clan in Korea overall.

I always thought this was great Makjang material. But I guess it’s still too taboo to touch v. cousins. <– making a jab at 90 Days, Time to Love. Though paternal cousin marriage, historically has been more frowned on than maternal… (inside and outside of Korea)

And no, I’m not sure which Kimchi the North Korean dictator family is from. I’m hoping I’m not related. XD

That given, most naming is done through registers and there is quite a bit of evidence for people suddenly changing their surname if it suited them. So you wouldn’t be 100% sure without genetic survey.

Korean Cultural Note: Hangeul

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Korea，Tags: ,
12 April 2013
0

Cultural Note: Hangeul

Unlike English, Hangeul has surprisingly very few exceptions to reading rules. Most of them are fairly intuitive and some of them you actually find in English if you actually listen to what you’re saying. (Especially Americans)

It’s systematic:
ㄱ- g/k sound (combined)
ㄲ- (k sound, closer to the English k sound, though further back in the mouth)
ㅋ- K with air in it.

So follow: (Initial sound v final)
ㅂ- b/p bap (rice) 밥
ㅈ- j/t
ㄷ- d/t
ㄱ- g/k
ㅅ- s/t

These can be doubled as:
ㅃ- p
ㅉ- jj
ㄸ- t
ㄲ- k
ㅆ- ss (as in the ss in princess.) IT IS NOT A SH sound. (My Korean teacher had a fit when I pronounced it sh) So it’s “ssi” not “shi” We do not speak Japanese here. (Some lazy speakers say, “shi” but it’s generally not encouraged–see end.)

Sounds that can’t be doubled are put on the second row of the keyboard)
ㅁ- m/m
ㄴ- n/n
ㅇ- silent/ng
ㄹ- r/l
ㅎ- h/t

Sounds that are “hard” or aspirated. in 2-set are put on the last row.
ㅋ- k’
ㅌ- t’
ㅊ- ch’ (has more air than the American version, such as “change” though people get lazy.)
ㅍ- p’

Vowels:
ㅛㅕㅑㅐㅔㅗㅓㅏㅣㅠㅜㅡ

straight lines are vowels.

Two lines on the vowel line is a “y” sound.

If you see two combined as in “원” Won, then there is a w sound.

Easy… you just need to memorize the directions of the marks and the shape of the consonants.

Easier to do it by groupings.
ㅗ- oh
ㅓ- eo (say eh, then make the “oh” sound, you get “eo”
ㅏ- ah
ㅜ- oo
ㅣ- ee (short ee sound, it’s not ee and it’s not a short i. Similar to the い-sound in Japanese.)

Once you get those, then the rest are easy.

ㅐ- ae (an ㅏ+ㅣ= ae) (say ah, keep your mouth shape, say, eh.) that’s ae. Jap Chae.
ㅔ- eh. As in “get” “set” “met”

Then the y-vowels.
ㅛㅕㅑㅠ
yoh, yeo, ya, yoo.

It has very few pronunciation exceptions:

Korean *does* have exceptions to pronunciation rules and also lazy pronunciation. (English has a lot of exceptions… so don’t say it’s so hard when you have English)

ㄴ as a final consonant before the ㄹ makes an l sound.
전라도- Jeolla-do, not jeonrado.

final ㄹ with a beginning ㄹ ends with an l sound. 알라 ahlah (rather than ahl-rah)

final ㅂ before an initial ㄴ becomes an m sound. 감사합니다 (kam-sah-ha[p]m-ni-dah)

final ㄴ before an initial ㅂ sound becomes a m.

a final consonant followed by an initial consonant ㅇ negates the consonant ㅇ
생각에 is pronounced: [생가게) meaning to think.
–except in the case of ㅇ–which is special….
꼬맹이 is pronounced 꼬맨기 (for the small figures… also 꼬마)

a final h before a consonant makes the next consonant aspirated. 어떻게–>어떠케

Lazy pronunciation and cultural exceptions…

누구 (noogoo) meaning “Who” can sound like 두구 (doogoo) with some people when they are being lazy.

아파 (ah-pha) (to hurt) can sound like 아퍼 (Ah-pheo) This has to do with the Korean belief of “bright” and “dark” vowels. “ah” is a “bright” vowel. and “Eo” is a dark vowel. Getting hurt is a dark moment, so it gets a “dark” vowel. Also, I hypothesize that maybe it has to do with 아빠 (ah-ppa) sounding similar which means father. A few of them follow this rule… though it’s technically not correct in spelling.

Korean, overall has a lot more back of the throat pronunciation. American English especially in the NE, tends to have a lot of sounds in the front of the mouth (as in the origin of the sound.) I always thought London English sounded more “round”. (So sound comes a lot middle middle of the mouth.)

Much easier than English. Rough, through, threw, though (And we have a lot of pronunciation exceptions as well as cultural foilbles in English)

Also, consistent plurals. (when needed for distinguishing, it only goes on the noun). But grammar should be for another time.

Anyway, Hangeul is superior for rendering Korean words. And it really isn’t that hard to learn. (And easier to type than English since qwerty was designed to slow down typing. (See Dvorak for something that makes more sense) and all the vowels are on one hand and all the consonants on the other.

You now can read the Korean in Episode 10 of the drama “Nine”. =P “Wae anwayo” “Kidari neun de” (I guess when your future self comes to the past, you still use jeonmal. Haha. In every day Korean, when writing to yourself, you usually use informal. Or I was told. =P)

Script format from King of Dramas

Kim Yoonmi (surname first) Post in Scripts，
05 April 2013
0

Screen Shot 2012-11-19 at 3.06.14 PM Screen Shot 2012-11-19 at 3.06.22 PM

 

The script from King of Drama being read by Anthony… reference. I’d trust the drama to be correct.

 

This one has the names bolded and then no parentheses for the actions.

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