Quote :

"When greeting in Korean, body language to show respect toward someone older or in higher position is important. Aside from honorifics used for speech, the proper body posture would involve keeping one's legs straight and upper body in a slight stoop. A formal greeting with deep bow(Yonhap News) Saying "Annyeong" (Hi) with a short hand wave is good enough for friends or colleagues, but for more serious acquaintances, the greeting bow should be done at an angle of about 30 degrees. To show further respect to those older, honorifics should be added to the verbal greeting to make "Annyeong" to "Annyeong-haseyo"("How are you?"). Often, handshakes follow a greeting among men. Often, you support your right forearm with your left hand. You can also add "Manna-seo bangap seum-nida" ("Pleased to meet you"). The greeting bow to address someone during family occasions like big birthdays or funerals should be done by bowing at the waist to 45 degrees. When expressing a light apology, like for stepping on someone's foot by mistake, one can apologize by giving a small bow, bending only 15 degrees. In starting a basic conversation, Koreans may casually ask questions about information that you might consider too private to share, such as age, family members or marriage status. Since this is a way for Koreans to get to know someone as fast as possible, either answer the question without taking offence, or try to sidestep the question as gracefully as possible. During the first meeting Koreans might question something too private to answer. This could include your age, your family or your marriage status. Don't be offended for this is typical way of Koreans to get to know each other. One can gracefully turn to other topics in such cases. When offering gifts, it is also typical for Koreans to refuse once or twice before accepting it with grace. Such is a gesture of humility. One should also receive gifts with two hands when receiving it from an older person or one's superior as a gesture of politeness. It is recommendable to gift-wrap things beforehand. Also, wait till the giver is out of sight before opening it. Such is a roundabout way to express to the giver that his or her intention to give is more appreciated rather then the gift itself. On the other hands, it is also true that more and more Koreans are condoning foreigners opening the gift they have given. Friends can simply wave goodbye when parting, but in formal occasions, another deep bow is advisable when parting. One can bid goodbye to friends the same greeting "Annyeong," and in more formal occasions, with a variant of the initial greeting: "Annyeong-hee-gaseyo"(toward those who are leaving) or "Annyeong-hee-geseyo"(toward those who remain). On the phone one should begin with "Yeoboseyo," which is a Korean way of saying hello. A pen and a memo should be ready for convenience."

I would prob be considered the rudest person ever.

9/12/2011 9:33:59 PM

9/12/2011 9:35:53 PM

haha I was trying to figure out where I knew that phrase from

9/12/2011 9:40:38 PM

Quote :

"Korea has its own language and alphabet. This simple fact stands as one of the strong contributing factors that hold this nation's people together under shared roots and national identity. Linguistic and ethnological studies reveal that the Korean language belongs to the Altaic language family that includes Turkic, Mongolic and Tungus-Manchu languages. The Korean alphabet Hangeul, in which each character represents one syllable, was invented solely by the scholar-king Sejong the Great (1397-1450) for the convenience of the ordinary people. Modern Hangeul consists of 10 vowels and 14 basic consonants that can be combined into numerous syllables. Noted as the world's most scientific writing system, it was designated by UNESCO's Memory of the World Programme as a global documentary heritage in 1997."

neato

9/12/2011 9:43:48 PM

Quote :

"On the phone one should begin with "Yeoboseyo," which is a Korean way of saying hello. A pen and a memo should be ready for convenience."

Guess you're screwed if you answer the phone in your car.

9/12/2011 9:43:49 PM

now i want pho

9/12/2011 9:44:35 PM

korean food looks nasty as hell from what I see on their shows

korean bbq, on the other hand, is awesome

9/12/2011 9:47:09 PM

Quote :

"The list of Korean cuisine is endless. It ranges from the very spicy to the salty, and there is something for almost everyone. If you are here for a short time, you may feel lost when it comes to choosing what kind of Korean food you want to eat. So here are some dishes you should try. When surveyed, foreigners residing in Korea or visiting often pick bibimbap, bulgogi and galbi as their favorite Korean foods. So it may be a good idea to try one of these dishes if you are here for a short time. bibimbap Bibimbap is a Korean dish that mixes rice with seasoned vegetables, beef, fried egg and red chili paste called gochujang. Bulgogi is beef marinated with a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and other seasonings. Galbi is the term used for barbecued ribs cooked at your table. samgyetang Recently other Korean dishes are becoming popular among visitors or foreign residents. These up-and-coming dishes include samgyetang and seolleongtang. Samgyetang is a chicken soup made with a whole young chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng. It was traditionally served in summer, but is now available year-round. Seolleongtang is a soup made of boiled beef bones and meat."

9/12/2011 9:49:31 PM

^^ hell naw Korean food is awesome. I need to find some good ones around here. The one on Hillsborough is not very good.

9/12/2011 9:53:48 PM

I had some Seolleongtang and Bori Cha Friday with all the fixings in K-town NYC!

9/12/2011 10:52:43 PM

I miss bulgogi so much.

9/12/2011 11:16:12 PM

They make nice electronics that look exactly like nice American electronics

9/12/2011 11:18:10 PM

korean food is amazing.

i figured out the written language in about 6 hours and could pronounce the words, but had no idea what the fuck i was saying. i thought that was kinda neat.

9/12/2011 11:31:09 PM

ChoSun Ok is pretty good at Hwy 55 and 54. I hear good stuff about another Korean place off of Capital Blvd as well.

9/12/2011 11:35:25 PM

http://www.learnkoreanlanguage.com/learn-hangul.html

9/13/2011 9:46:03 AM

Seoul Garden on Atlantic(?) is good.

9/13/2011 9:51:37 AM

Anyone been to that Korean steakhouse in Cary?

9/13/2011 9:53:41 AM

i have had authentic bulgogi. very good.

9/13/2011 9:55:32 AM

my sister lives in korea, and the stories she has make me want to live there too. zero crime, cheap booze, super megaton fast wifi everywhere, and two starcraft channels on tv.

9/13/2011 1:03:37 PM

<3 soju with my korean bbq

9/13/2011 1:07:40 PM

^^ Pretty easy to get a job over there as long as you have a degree.

9/13/2011 1:08:29 PM

I was stationed in South Korea from March 1998 to February 1999 and even though I was homesick, I had a pretty good time in Seoul and throughout the country. All the Korean people were nice and I loved to walk around and take the subway all over the place. No graffiti. No violence. Wonderful places to shop. Had to be a little careful what and where you ate sometimes. SOJU BOWLS RULE! I will have to go back someday.

9/13/2011 1:11:42 PM

2nd infantry?

9/13/2011 1:12:22 PM

Nope. It has been so long ago (trying to remember) I was attached to the 8th Army at a support unit and was with 95th Maintenance Company (very small) TMDE (calibration) support.

9/13/2011 1:14:44 PM

I was down at Camp Humphreys and Osan and Camp Carroll near Taegu and up near Casey and Red Cloud near the DMZ. On courier we drove from Seoul to Taegu then back to the DMZ and down to Seoul again.

9/13/2011 1:16:35 PM

i wanna work at KAIST

9/13/2011 1:22:20 PM

^what would you do there?

Quote :

"^^ Pretty easy to get a job over there as long as you have a degree."

music to my ears.

9/13/2011 1:34:11 PM

what about tdub? and maya and orion and baby#3?

9/13/2011 1:45:44 PM

tdub works just fine from sk.

9/13/2011 1:46:51 PM

not from nk though

9/13/2011 1:48:08 PM

Make sure you hit up a DMZ tour while you're there.

9/13/2011 2:03:36 PM

Quote :

"music to my ears. "

Now I never said it would be a good job If you're interested (or don't mind) teaching English though there's lots of jobs out there.

9/13/2011 2:05:33 PM

ha...yeah, we were talking about english. I wanted to do that in China a few years back so I guess I am not mad at that choice of work.

9/13/2011 2:12:38 PM

The pay is crap in China from what my friends doing it there tell me. Japan and Korea are where you'll actually make enough money to live comfortably and save some dough along the way. Not sure if Korea does this but in Japan they'll subsidize your children's daycare and schooling when they're younger than middle school age.

9/13/2011 2:28:22 PM

do you have any idea what childcare is like?

9/13/2011 2:30:06 PM

the cost of living in japan is exponentially higher in japan than korea, yet the pay is pretty much the same.

9/13/2011 2:33:44 PM

where is the best "suburb" or area to live?

9/13/2011 2:34:48 PM

charlotte, NC!

9/13/2011 2:35:36 PM

bah!! In South Korea!!!

9/13/2011 2:39:42 PM

http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/

9/13/2011 2:59:49 PM

Korean Garden in Cary is pretty good, definitely better than Waba. Their Bulgogi plate and Kimchi Jigae are kind of pricey, but good quality and portion. The bibimbap also good and priced well.

9/13/2011 3:04:21 PM

Quote :

"do you have any idea what childcare is like?"

From what I saw from my friends who had their children enrolled in daycare it's good stuff. One of my friends had her two daughters enrolled in a daycare run by a Buddhist school. She said at first they had to put up with some teasing since they weren't Japanese but after having a talk with the teachers it became much better. Another friend had her daughter enrolled in a prefecture run daycare and she said it's better than the private daycare she now has her daughter enrolled in here in the US.

If it's something you're seriously interested in, you should come to the info session I'm running at State on Monday

Quote :

"the cost of living in japan is exponentially higher in japan than korea, yet the pay is pretty much the same."

If you're living in Tokyo sure. If you're living where most English teachers live, the cost of living is no higher than what I pay living in Cary I found. And with all the subsidies the Japanese government gives you, you're making over $50k/year to teach English. Not sure how the Korean subsidies stack up to what the Japanese government gives you.

9/13/2011 4:04:48 PM

Power structured / power differential speech and conduct in the extreme there. One plane crashed even though the co-pilot could have fixed it because it would be rude of him to point out a superiors mistake or oversight and even ruder to correct it without authorization. By contrast the US has a very low power structure / differential in speech and conduct.

Kimchi!!!

And Korean food is tasty! (best not to be picky though, you might be SOL)

9/13/2011 4:41:07 PM

Would it be similar to living in south Korea? That is where we are thinking moreso than Japan.

9/13/2011 4:42:59 PM

http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=South+Korea

drop down and get your google on girl

9/13/2011 4:45:32 PM

I'm gonna try to find some tweetups or something and try to talk with US citizens who have lived in South Korea. Also try to find people to practice speaking Korean in a non-stupid sounding accent.

9/13/2011 4:49:36 PM

Quote :

" Also try to find people to practice speaking Korean in a non-stupid sounding accent."

9/13/2011 4:52:44 PM

^4 in what way?

[Edited on September 13, 2011 at 4:54 PM. Reason : I]

9/13/2011 4:53:42 PM

Everyday life, customs/culture, temperament, jobs, economy, threat of china/n Korea, acceptance of Yankees, etc...

9/13/2011 4:59:01 PM

From what I saw in Seoul and what friends that taught English in Korea told me it's mostly the same but the working conditions in the schools aren't as good. Not to say that they're bad, just you don't get as much pay, holidays, tend to work more overtime and night hours, etc.

One thing my friend Ronda told me that sucked when she was working in Korea was while her pay was pretty good for within Korea, anytime she wanted to travel overseas or send money home the exchange rate really sucked. Not sure if it's still that way, she was there three years ago. Right now the exchange rate in Japan is rocking. The yen is worth about double what it was when I was there

9/13/2011 5:03:26 PM