So, The Mouse has been reading back through her blog posts, and would like to make a post about things that are not actually true, or are no longer true. Before she came to Korea, The Mouse did a lot of research on Korea, and it turns out that quite a bit of it is either false or misleading. Here are some things she has learned she got wrong since moving to Korea:
1. A rather small one, but The Mouse writes her name quite differently in Korean than she did initially. While it can be written the way it was in her third post on this blog, most native Korean names have 3 syllables (some have 2 or 4, but this is rather rare), and it makes things much easier to conform to that format on bank forms and other official things. So The Mouse has dropped her surname in favor of her single-syllable middle name and two-syllable first name, thus making her Korean name 앤린지.
2. Korean Phonetics
The Mouse has learned quite a bit more about the phonetic system of the Korean language since she moved here. This might not make sense to many, but while The Mouse once said that 시 sounds like [ɕi], it's actually [ʃi], and sounds quite close to English "she." Also, the sound 으, which The Mouse transliterated [ɯ] is actually [œ] (which she actualy knew at the time, so she's not sure now why she used [ɯ]).
From her "Learning Korean Pronunciation from an English Perspective" post, she claimed,
"몰라요 (I don't know), expected pronunciation [mol.ɾa.jo], actual pronunciation [mo.ɾa.jo] "
While this actually would have made sense, she has since learned that syllable-final ㄹ followed immediately by syllable-initial ㄹ actually sounds quite a bit like [ɭ]. It's a thick and somewhat retroflex l-sound.
3. Cultural Note: What and What Not to Wear in Korea
On workplace and casual-wear distinctions, much like in America, this depends on the workplace. At The Mouse's job, she definitely tries to dress professionally most days, but when teaching young children it is generally acceptable to wear jeans and a t-shirt. The Mouse generally just tries to wear things that are comfortable and look nice, even if they're not entirely "professional" by most standards. Just because you wouldn't wear it in an office, doesn't necessarily mean you can't wear it in a classroom, depending of course, on your school! The Mouse does have friends in Korea who are required to wear button-down shirts or even ties every day in their school, or who are not allowed to wear jeans.
Open-toed shoes are not a no-no and, in fact, most schools will require teachers and students alike to wear indoor shoes, which are usually sandals (even though Koreans call them slippers) with an open toe. It IS true that most teachers here do not wear a lot of gaudy or showy jewelry, but The Mouse does not get the impression that these are not allowed.
It is actually illegal to get a tattoo in Korea from someone who is not a medical professional, though this does not stop people from coming here with tattoos, or even getting them here. They are still frowned upon in the workplace, but seem to be becoming somewhat more accepted in the general public.
No one seems to notice when The Mouse doesn't wear makeup. She has friends and acquaintances who get told they "look tired" when they don't wear makeup, but The Mouse has surprisingly never been insulted for her lack of it.
4. Basic Korean Words!
In one post, The Mouse claimed these:
Please (formal) - 주시기 바랍니다 jusigi balabnida
Please (informal) - 부디budi
Well, please. No one says "please," at least not that The Mouse has heard. Adding -habnida or -seyo to the verb is perfectly fine for politeness. No "please" necessary.
Thank you (informal) - 감사 gamsa
While people do say 안녕 "annyeong" to friends for hello and goodbye, The Mouse has never heard simply "gamsa," even between friends. 고맙습니다 or even 감사합니다 is MUCH more common, even in informal situations.
Goodbye (formal) - 작별 인사 jagbyeol insa
The Mouse has never heard this. The two below are the most common, though there are several ways to say it depending on the situation.
Goodbye (General, formal) - 안녕히 가세요 annyeonghi gaseyo
This is actually only to someone who is leaving. If you and your coworker are at your home, and your coworker leaves, you would say 안녕히 가세요 (annyeonghi GAseyo). Your friend, who is leaving, however, will say 안녕히 계세요 (annyeonghi GYEseyo)
I don't know - 나도 몰라 nado molla
While this is technically correct, "mollayo" is much more common.
Where is the bathroom? - 화장실이 어디 있죠? hwajangsil-i eodi issjyo?
*ahem* i(ss)eyo. Not issjyo.
I apologize - 내가 사과 naega sagwa
Another one that The Mouse has never actually heard. She is aware that one can say simply "sagwa," but this seems to be extremely informal, perhaps between very good friends. More common is some form of 미안 (mi-an, informal), which is usually heard as 미안에요 (mi-an-eyo, polite) or 미안합니다 (mi-an-habnida, formal).
5. The Mouse keeps claiming she's going to update, tries to be a good blogger, and then falls off the face of the earth. Usually, when she has free time, she dedicates it to reading, sleeping, friends, or games (or a combination of these). She recently spent her 9-day summer vacation substituting for a friend, sleeping, and playing computer games. She's going to try to get back on top of this blog thing, but she's not going to keep making promises she can't guarantee she will keep. She WILL, however, definitely get to work on getting the pictures in the most recent posts working again. Facebook has changed its image storage format and so the links no longer work. Therefore, The Mouse will transfer the photos to a photo dump site and update the image URLs once that hassle is done with.
안녕 for now,
~Mouse
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