중앙데일리

Withering fancy flowers

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: Every time I’m invited to attend formal functions ― weddings, funerals, concerts, anniversaries and opening events at various places, the entrances or hallways are lavishly decorated with rows of tall flower wreaths and live potted plants. I was informed that these were gifts, so each plant bore the name of the sender and a message on a ribbon attached to it. A few companies insid…

Nov 07,2004
Wanted: Missing Child’s Parent

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: I went to a ballet performance last week. There I found on the back of the tickets black-and-white photographs of missing children, which actually reminded me of the same kind of photographs I saw on milk cartons. My wife and I thought, “what a strange place to see pictures of missing children” and wondered how these children got to be missing in Korea. A: The organized effort…

Oct 31,2004
Water in ashtrays

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: When I ask for an ashtray in restaurants or bars, I expect to get a dry, clean one. In Korea, though, people are used to wet ashtrays. At first, I thought it was a kind of mistake, but I saw waiters carefully place wet tissues or used coffee beans in the ashtray, and if there happens to be a dry ashtray to be used on the table, then someone will pour water in to make sure it stays w…

Oct 24,2004
Time goes on, but toilets stay the same

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: Last week, I went to one of the local motor vehicle offices in Gangnam. Although the building was quite old, it looked as if the bathroom has been recently renovated. The women’s bathroom was very clean and was painted in pink and decorated with artificial flowers. Each closet door had a small picture frame hanging on it. What shocked me were the toilets ― they were squatters. …

Oct 03,2004
Lighting up for safer roads

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs. Glenn Lawrie of Taean, South Chungcheong province, wrote: Q: In the interest of public safety, why do Korean police refuse to address the issue of vehicular lighting? Too many drivers refuse to turn on their lights or refuse to replace burned-out bulbs. Another not insignificant group of drivers opts to replace their amber turn-signal lights with fashionable blues or greens. Al…

Sept 19,2004
Naturally dyed red nails

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: I’ve seen a number of Korean women, from young girls to matronly ladies, wearing bright orange nail polish. At first I thought nothing of it, but I began to wonder about it, because the color and the way they wear the polish are a bit unusual. A friend tried to explain to me that it’s an old custom in Korea, but I didn’t quite understand. Can you explain it to me? A: An old…

Sept 12,2004
A wall of jealousy?

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: Korean women who are with their boyfriends often seem to avoid walking along the walls of Deoksu Palace, which is in downtown Seoul. Why is that? Is there any special cultural reason why Korean women shouldn’t walk there with their boyfriends? A: There is a lingering belief in Korea that couples who walk alongside the stone wall of Deoksu Palace will eventually break up. It…

Aug 01,2004
Small bows with a special meaning

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: I was going through the text messages in my Korean mobile phone and found one containing an odd-looking icon that resembled a bow tie. It was part of a mass message mourning the death of the young Korean hostage in Iraq. I thought nothing of the spam message, until I saw a small group of Koreans in the street wearing tiny bows on their business suits; they were getting on a funera…

July 11,2004
Where Buddha meets shaman

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: I was told that the upright version of the swastika symbol on the streets of Korea appeared only on Buddhist temples. But as I learned to read signs in hangul, I found that not all the buildings bearing the Buddhist symbol were actually temples. One that I recently spotted in northern Seoul read “Janggun,” which means “a general” in Korean. What does that mean? A: As Buddhi…

July 04,2004
Is there a missing gate?

Here’s this week’s tip on Korean language and customs: Q: I heard that in the ancient capital of Korea, there were gates at all of the entrances to the city. I know about Namdaemun in the south, Seodaemun in the west and Dongdaemun in the east. But I’m curious as to what ever happened to Bukdaemun, the north gate? A: The ancient gates of modern Seoul were actually used in the old days. They surrounded Gyeongbok Palace, the seat of g…

June 27,2004

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