Going Local
Nearing the year-mark of our arrival in Korea, Adam and I are getting into the next level of Korean culture.
One, we’re shopping for our first apartment really in Korea. You probably know, we live in a theme park called the English Village an hour north of Seoul, on the border of North Korea. It has been a great experience, and we’ve learned a lot. But we’re really looking forward to the next chapter, living in the city, having to use more Korean in our day-to-day interactions. We’ll begin moving our stuff in July, and we’ll live full-time in Seoul starting in August when my contract is up at EV.
Second, we have been given Korean names! Korean names come from Chinese characters, and they are usually made of three characters/syllables. The first name/syllable is the family name, and there are relatively few family names compared to the infinite number of family names in the States. The second two names are the familiar name, and the familiar name is only used alone if the speaker is an extremely close friend. If the familiar name is used without the family name, the syllables “ah” ã… or “shi” ì‹œ are usually added for politeness.
A few of my Korean co-workers have given me the name No Hye Young– ë…¸í•´ì˜ which means wise, beautiful flower. “No” is the Korean family name closest to “Lofbomm” since the family name Lo/Ro is not used. Adam has adopted the Korean name No Young Jae– ë…¸ì˜ìž¬– meaning genius. Our favorite security guard at English Village is named Young Jae, and Adam is the only person he allows to call him by his familiar name. The rest of us little people have to call him Captain Lee.
(Young Jae and Young Jae)
Have a great day.
-Hye Young
