Korean Manners and Mannerisms

We’ve already been living here a full month! I still definitely feel more like a visitor than anything but I guess it takes years for a place to feel like home. Within the expat community, it seems like people are always coming and going, so even if you stay a long time you’re forced to make new friends. However, it does sound like you get used to things like the sweet garlic bread and mayo on every sandwich. And eventually pick up some Korean.

None of my photos really went with this post so here's the sandwich and coffees we had while I wrote it :)

I wanted to write about some of the mannerisms that we noticed when we first arrived but they’re already becoming normal. For example, when someone younger is passing you something (like giving your credit card back or handing in an assignment), they always use two hands. If you're passing something to someone younger then it doesn't matter. We also get this crossed arm symbol 🙅🏻‍♀️ a lot. If we’re trying to order food and they’re sold out we get a 🙅🏻‍♀️ or if we’re trying to go inside a closed area of the store - 🙅🏻‍♀️. I knew I was adapting when a kid asked me a question in class and I answered no and gave a crossed arm symbol without even thinking about it.

There’s also, of course, the mask wearing. There was a rule that you had to wear a mask even on the street outside until very recently so most people still wear a mask outside. As I mentioned, I was getting used to mask wearing quickly and I did. Now I’m already tired of it and refuse to wear my mask outside. I always get a piece of fluff stuck between my mask and my face and then it itches my nose. And I’m getting 'maskne' again. We also noticed that in the markets, some of the older stall owners were less likely to be wearing masks. My guess is they’re also a bit fed up.

We have learned how to say hello (annyeong haseyo) and thank you (gamsahmnida) but goodbye is very confusing. When we leave a store, the cashier always says “annyeonghi gaseyo” to say goodbye to the leaving person. But as someone who is leaving, you are supposed to say something different… “annyeonghi gyeseyo” (but the g sounds more like a k). It’s just automatic to say the same word for bye to someone. We end up just saying thank you several times. (Here’s all the ways to say goodbye if this interests you https://languagedrops.com/blog/goodbye-in-korean).

Another thing that we are getting used to is how scooters have all the freedom here. Especially delivery scooters. They ride on the roads, on the sidewalks, use the crosswalks and do u-turns on the crosswalks through the pedestrians. As far as we can tell, they’re allowed to do all of this. As a pedestrian, it’s a bit jarring sometimes but I guess as someone ordering something online, you're happy to get your delivery quite quickly. I am very excited to get our ARCs so that we can also order things online!