Story Time.

[kimchiandsoju]

My wife and I went to Korea a few years ago with her family to visit some in-laws and see the country. The wife and I split off for a bit to explore Seoul on our own and when it came time to meet back up, we were going to take the subway to the bus station, and then take the bus out to where her aunts and uncles lived.

Neither my wife or I speak great Korean. We do OK, but we aren't great. Her youngest sister though, she's really good. We got her sister on the phone to tell us which bus to get on and where to get off. Her sister was trying to relay instructions from her aunt and basically said something like "Get off where the sign says "Mireh (미래)". There must have been chaos at the aunts house because she had to hang up and she sounded pretty stressed out.

Well, No problem, we thought, that sounds easy enough. We went up the ticket window and I said in Korean "I would like 2 tickets for the bus that goes to 미래". The lady says "What?" so I repeated myself. The people selling the tickets looked at us funny, and looked at each other, and again said "where are you trying to go?" and I said "미래!!!!" One of them laughed and finally said "we don't sell tickets to 미래".

"where can I buy tickets for the bus to 미래?"

"Try outside" they said, and laughed.

I went outside to where the city buses were and said "I would like to take a bus to 미래". Again we were getting funny looks and nobody would help us. I was starting to get pretty angry.

Finally a Korean guy came up to us and offered to help us out. He spoke perfect English. Thank God. I told him English that we were trying to take the bus to 미래. Then even HE looked confused. We called our Aunt and he spoke to her and Korean and figured out where we needed to go, helped us get out tickets, and told the bus driver to let us know when to get off. I guess at the stop there was a sign for the "미래 Bookstore", and that was where we were supposed to get off.

So what does 미래 mean then? Why was everybody treating us weird? We asked our Korean helper. "미래 means 'the future'".

My wife and I looked at each other and just about died laughing. To this day we still laugh about the time we tried to buy tickets for a "Bus to the future".


Thats my story.

[kimchiandsoju]

I started learning Korean in the '90s when I was in the Army. They sent me to the Defense Language Institue in Monterey, CA. The Army being the Army, I didn't get to pick what language I was going to learn, they picked it for me. I showed up, they said "you will learn Korean" and I said OK.


Anyways............................


One day I was having 1 on 1 conversation practice with one of the teachers. She asked me what color something was (I don't really remember what color it was or what we were talking about). Lets say, for the sake of the story, that the color was "green".

green.... green... I couldn't remember the word for green. "Something + 색" right? 색 means color, right? OK, I can explain this even if I don't know the word... She's wearing a green sweater, I'll point at it and say "Its the this color."

So I pointed at her and said "이 색 이에요!"


She froze and then said "you should not say that."

"yeah, OK, but, I forgot how to say green..."

"You have said a very bad word."

"WHAT?!"

I left very confused.


Looking back I think its hilarious, but at the time I had no idea what I had done wrong.

[kimchiandsoju]

This one is short.

Last time I was in Korean I saw signs everywhere that said "부동산".


I thought to myself "Wow, that must be one famous mountain! So many businesses have it in their name!"

부동산 means "real estate". Its not a mountain.

I'll leave the stupid conversation in which I realized that 부동산 is not a mountain up to your imagination.

[cheri]

Hahaha

Thanks for sharing! They're all pretty good, but I think my fav's got to be the 미래로 가는 버스. ^^

My Korean friend told me a similar blooper once, when he was learning English in Australia, and used to tell people, "Have a sh*t." (Bad pronunciation of seat.)

Another time, when a friend and I saw a couple displaying some PDA, he got confused and said it was DMV, then MTV.

I've also said stuff like 컴퓨터 죽었다 which sent a buddy into hysterical laughter (I guess it doesn't translate the same), as well as 생선 있다 when pointing into 천계천. These moments are the best. I'll have to think of some more - I'm sure there were many.

Thanks again for the laugh!

[kimchiandsoju]

Cheri... I just browsed your food blog, it was pretty funny

[kimchiandsoju]

I knew this dude named Dave once who was also a student of Korean. There was a big halloween party at the language school and he wore a white sheet, with holes cut out for eyes (Like a ghost), and he had "한" written on the front.

When people asked what he was he would say "Han Ghoul" (한글).


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

[Keith]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Chris1]

Excellent stories. Thanks for sharing! But I think we would like to hear the 부동산 conversation... haha.

[kimchiandsoju]

Cheri, that post about the baby eels and tofu has scarred me for life.


Thanks for the nightmares.


I used to work with this KATUSA named JuJu Lee who was from Jejudo, and he told me about this tongue twister or joke in jeju language that was something like "gaga-ga-gagaga", and that was supposed to mean something.

I also heard once that Jeju language has more in common with Japanese than Korean, but I don't know if thats true.


A new Korean sushi place opened up on Convoy st which is like our little K-Town here in San Diego, and they named it "Dokdo Sushi". They decorated the inside with Japanese stuff and the sushi chef wears a Japanese costume. My in-laws didn't get the extreme irony in all of this. I was banging my head against the wall. How are you going to call the place Dokdo Sushi and then make it look all Japanese?!


This lady that we've known for a long time, Shirley Ajuma, came to our wedding. She's been a friend of my wife's family for years. She's been around pretty much my wife's whole life really. Good old Shirley Ajuma. Anyways, after the wedding we were going through all the presents and writing thank you cards and stuff when we got to the present from Shelly. "Who the hell is Shelly?" I asked my wife. She had no idea. We called her parents and asked them. "Oh, that Shirley Ajuma!" they said. My wife was stunned to find out that the lady she called "Shirley" her whole life was actually named "Shelly". Who knew? We still call her Shirley though.

Here's the thing though... if you are moving to another country, why would you pick a name like "shelly" that's almost impossible to say? Thats like a Korean changing his name to Earl. MADNESS. I didn't pick a Korean name when I went to Korea. My name is Gary and I figured that was good enough.


What language is "Arbeit"? German?

[cheri]

Gary, I have to say, you're quite the storyteller, and I'm getting a kick out of it. Hope you keep 'em coming.

Also glad I could do a bit of scarring via the interweb. Wonders.

I have some relatives who moved to Jejudo, and when they tried to teach me some of the dialect, it went in one ear and out the other. I really had no idea what some of the people were saying, but it was kind of fascinating.

Funny you mention the Shirley/Shelly story. My name is pronounced like sherry wine, but my Korean family - EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM - calls me "Shelly." Sometimes "Selly." It's not even a pronunciation issue because in Korean, I spell it 쉐리. Even my mom doesn't get it but oh well. We are creatures of habit.

[holdfast]

these stories are awesome. i say things that people laugh at all the time, but people won't always tell me why it's funny - haha! a lot of the time, i think they are just laughing because they were surprised at what i said (like they forget i can actually speak korean or something) hehe.. or i'll ask 왜 웃어? and all they'll say is 완전 귀엽다~~ or something like that. 암튼..

this is the opposite, but still funny: a few weeks ago i went to queens with some friends for an 오빠's birthday party, and we were going to cook out at a park. we got off of the train and 오빠 picked us up in his car and he told us we were going to 엘리판트 파크 so we were all naturally looking for "elephant park" signs out of the window. imagine our surprise when we get there, and it is actually called "alley pond park"..... HAHAHAHA! and i was the only non-korean person in the car, so it wasn't just my misunderstanding - everyone thought he said "elephant park." i thought it was great (:

[kyuree]

What language is "Arbeit"? German?

yep, why?

oh and why can't you choose which language to learn in the army??

[kimchiandsoju]

What language is "Arbeit"? German?

yep, why?

oh and why can't you choose which language to learn in the army??

Most Koreans think it is English... you know "Ah-ruh-ba-ee-tuh"...part time job. I asked my Korean in-laws what language that was supposed to be and they thought it was english.

well, now I know!

[owbEe]

What language is "Arbeit"? German?

yep, why?

oh and why can't you choose which language to learn in the army??

Most Koreans think it is English... you know "Ah-ruh-ba-ee-tuh"...part time job. I asked my Korean in-laws what language that was supposed to be and they thought it was english.

well, now I know!

Really? That's where they got the term for part-time job? At least it makes sense.

Btw, your stories are funny.

[kyuree]

What language is "Arbeit"? German?

yep, why?

oh and why can't you choose which language to learn in the army??

Most Koreans think it is English... you know "Ah-ruh-ba-ee-tuh"...part time job. I asked my Korean in-laws what language that was supposed to be and they thought it was english.

well, now I know!

Really? That's where they got the term for part-time job? At least it makes sense.

Actually they copied it from the Japanese who got it from German