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Saying goodbye

Haabda
New in Town
Posts: 2
Joined: November 9th, 2009 3:06 pm

Saying goodbye

Postby Haabda » February 5th, 2010 6:11 pm

I was recently lucky enough to be able to spend two and a half weeks in Korea staying with my 사범님's family and his 관장님.

I spent a few days in 부산, 대구, 대전, and 서울. As I left each of these places, at least one person openly wept as I was leaving. Then, one of the families I stayed with came to stay at my home in Mississippi and the mother wept as they were leaving to head back to Korea.

I don't cry when saying goodbye to my closest family members. I don't know of many Americans who do. Is weeping while saying goodbye a Korean cultural thing? Should I have been weeping?

trutherous
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Joined: February 8th, 2010 8:55 am

Postby trutherous » April 10th, 2010 6:27 pm

Wow - sorry nobody got back to you in this question.

Hi, I'm George, a fellow student here.

I have been married to my lovely Korean wife for 23 years today.. and living with Koreans for about 27 years, I haven't noticed that weeping when saying goodbye is necessarily common but it does happen. However, this is a great compliment for you, since it reflects the degree of affection you engender in others. I have never seen tears when one moves across town, but I have seen them when one crosses oceans. And the longer you stay with Koreans the more tears there will be when parting -this is the Korean heart. There is something called '정,' loosely translated 'affection,' that is one of the reasons I never plan to part from the Korean community.

George

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Haabda
New in Town
Posts: 2
Joined: November 9th, 2009 3:06 pm

Postby Haabda » April 12th, 2010 3:21 am

Thank you for the reply. I had given up on getting one. You are correct when talking about the Korean heart. Every Korean I have gotten to know has treated me like family.

julialim
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Posts: 390
Joined: December 4th, 2009 9:45 am

Postby julialim » April 12th, 2010 7:05 am

:wink: Yes we call that "정" < 情 >, but it's really difficult to explain.
affection(?), warm heart(?) :roll:

"말하지 않아도 알아요~ ". / 미운 정, 고운 정

Even though you stayed with them for a short time, they had a good menory with you and felt "정". ("Weeping" depends on a person and a situation.)





Image

A Korean famous snack(pie): 초코파이.
Its Bench-marking is "정" and they have been having a steady love from people.

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