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It starts with a word: A Talk to Muckefuck Story®
I've written many times about the place near work where I eat Korean and the couple running it. But if you'll notice, all my interactions are with the young woman behind the counter. Her husband has always been a silent lurking presence in the restaurant, often off back in the kitchen or quietly reading his paper in a corner of the seating area.
Today, in fact, he was sitting and reading it behind the counter as she took my order. After she'd gone, I went to get some water from the cooler and found they were out of cups. As there was no sign of her returning from the back, I decided I'd have to disturb him and boldly spoke, "여보세요!" This had the desired effect--he sprang from the chair and I said, "Cups." As he came to set them out, the interrogation started: You know Korean? How much Korean? Where did you learn? Have you been to Korea? Do you have an Asian girlfriend?
Ironically, all this time I'd been assuming she was more fluent than he was. Turns out he completed a degree at University of Michigan, which sparked a discussion of language instruction in East Asia and then the Korean and Western educational systems more generally. We talked until my food arrived and the conversation was getting so interesting that I invited him to join me. He sat a respectful distance away as I slurped my soup and spooned my rice and we covered race relations, career prospects, and the state of Chinese economy.
My favourite bit came early on when we were still discussing food. I dropped so many Korean culinary terms (생낙지, 생맥주, 안주, 전라도, etc.)--each one greeted with further surprise and amazement--that he finally said, "I think you are some kind of secret agent! You know too much!" I was embarrassed to admit that I formally studied Korean given how badly I speak it, so I kept downplaying my knowledge of the language and putting it down to having Korean friends in high school and college.
Oh, and![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
kcatalyst will be bemused to find that I brought up the article about Korean shopkeepers which I read at her urging only a few hours ago. It was my turn to be surprised when he readily admitted, "I think Koreans are very racist." I'm not sure how much of his openness is generational (he seems about a decade or more younger than most Korean businessmen I've chatted with--and in terms of modern Korean development, that's a lifetime) and how much is personal. Before he moved back here, he lived in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and who knows where else, making him rather more cosmopolitan than the average Korean business owner.
We'd spent some time talking about different cultural expressions of politeness when he noticed that I'd finished my meal and said, "Ice cream? I'm going to do the Korean thing and treat you. Is that insulting?" I accepted graciously and we exchanged names. (Note to self: Keep in practice writing your Chinese signature. Forgetting the spelling of your surname is embarrassing.) I readily acquiesced to being called "대문씨" and, in return, had to accept calling him simply "Jay". And his wife? "Hera, like the goddess!" Given that she occasionally plays Christian music over the loudspeakers, I'll be interested to hear the story behind that one!
Today, in fact, he was sitting and reading it behind the counter as she took my order. After she'd gone, I went to get some water from the cooler and found they were out of cups. As there was no sign of her returning from the back, I decided I'd have to disturb him and boldly spoke, "여보세요!" This had the desired effect--he sprang from the chair and I said, "Cups." As he came to set them out, the interrogation started: You know Korean? How much Korean? Where did you learn? Have you been to Korea? Do you have an Asian girlfriend?
Ironically, all this time I'd been assuming she was more fluent than he was. Turns out he completed a degree at University of Michigan, which sparked a discussion of language instruction in East Asia and then the Korean and Western educational systems more generally. We talked until my food arrived and the conversation was getting so interesting that I invited him to join me. He sat a respectful distance away as I slurped my soup and spooned my rice and we covered race relations, career prospects, and the state of Chinese economy.
My favourite bit came early on when we were still discussing food. I dropped so many Korean culinary terms (생낙지, 생맥주, 안주, 전라도, etc.)--each one greeted with further surprise and amazement--that he finally said, "I think you are some kind of secret agent! You know too much!" I was embarrassed to admit that I formally studied Korean given how badly I speak it, so I kept downplaying my knowledge of the language and putting it down to having Korean friends in high school and college.
Oh, and
kcatalyst will be bemused to find that I brought up the article about Korean shopkeepers which I read at her urging only a few hours ago. It was my turn to be surprised when he readily admitted, "I think Koreans are very racist." I'm not sure how much of his openness is generational (he seems about a decade or more younger than most Korean businessmen I've chatted with--and in terms of modern Korean development, that's a lifetime) and how much is personal. Before he moved back here, he lived in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and who knows where else, making him rather more cosmopolitan than the average Korean business owner.We'd spent some time talking about different cultural expressions of politeness when he noticed that I'd finished my meal and said, "Ice cream? I'm going to do the Korean thing and treat you. Is that insulting?" I accepted graciously and we exchanged names. (Note to self: Keep in practice writing your Chinese signature. Forgetting the spelling of your surname is embarrassing.) I readily acquiesced to being called "대문씨" and, in return, had to accept calling him simply "Jay". And his wife? "Hera, like the goddess!" Given that she occasionally plays Christian music over the loudspeakers, I'll be interested to hear the story behind that one!
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