Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pkang0202]

So, I had some Korean friends over and I cut some apples and gave it to them to eat. One of them said, "Eating an apple at night is poison."

I said, "Great! More for me!"

Anyone else hear this too?

[Socks]

the old saying "An apple a day - keeps the doctor away"

I guess you can't eat them at night..

geez.. Koreans have such easy ways to commit suicide - usually at night...



"Oh, he died, because he fell alseep with fan on'...

"Oh, she died, because she ate an apple at night before she went to sleep...


I think maybe its just an old "Policemans story.. to explain cause of death..

[Dukey77777]

careful, you might get mad cow disease.


I was looking at some other weird ones...you've probably seen these but I thought they were hilarious:

A superstition about couples says: Don't present a boyfriend or a girlfriend with a pair of shoes. If you do, your boyfriend or girlfriend will leave you. So some people believe they will break up with their girl friend if they give them a pair of shoes.

In Korea, there are a few things we are not supposed to do at night. So when I was young, my mom asked me not to cut my nails at night. She said, "If you cut your nails, some animals like mice will eat your nails, and then they'll become you or they'll take your spirit." Basically, this belief is from the past when we didn't have electricity. If we cut out nails then night then, the room would be dirty because we couldn't see to clean it. So, we still don't do that even today.

Similarly, we don't sing at night. Old people say, "If you sing a song at night, snakes will appear in front of you." I think the reason they say that is to stop you from annoying your neighbors. In the past, we didn't have soundproof walls or windows. It was a kind of wisdom.

In Korea, when you choose your spouse, you have to be careful. If you marry someone five years difference in age, "won jin sal" will bother you. You'll fight with yur spouse every day, but you won't get divorced. And, if you marry someone six years older or younger than you are, "sang chun sal" will make you strange. You and your spouse will live happily, but you will always be beggars. As a result, many Koreans consider four years difference or seven years difference in age between the bride and the bridegroom is the best age.[/i]

[lorenchristopher]

My Korean friend said it's not BAD. He explained in terms of medals...

An apple in the morning is gold, in the afternoon it is silver, and if you eat one at night it's bronze. It's not bad, just not the best for you.

[ED209]

Might give you a bit of tummy ache.

[jackson7]

I called out a Korean friend of mine on this and she said it's just a way of exaggerating that it's not good for you.

Funny stuff on the shoes as a gift thing. One of my exes gave me shoes for a gift and I just happened to dump her ass a month later.

I've heard the singing at night thing about calling snakes, but Koreans usually say that about whistling, not singing. Koreans love singing.

The eating of the toenails and mouse thing is just a myth, not a belief actually held by many Koreans, I would imagine. Although, there are still many that believe in fan death.

Then again, I thought that if I stepped on the chalk on the baseball diamond I would have a bad at-bat when I played baseball as a kid...

[Rteacher]

I don't know about apples, but according to ayurvedic medicine, orange juice is said to be like gold in the morning, silver in the afternoon, and lead at night.

The acid in apples eats away tooth enamel - so if you do eat one late at night it'd probably be a good idea to brush your teeth

[Scotticus]

[Justin Hale]

Apples supposedly are an outstanding wake-up stimulant (like caffeine). Better than caffeine, even. Could be a metaphor for that, because obviously apples aren't literally poisonous at night.

[cruisemonkey]

I've heard it.

I live dangerously: eat apples at night, sleep in a closed room with the fan on...

[Cheonmunka]

Here's another one: I got told off for stepping on the bottom of the door frame when entering the office, the 교모실, by the very elderly big boss lady. Seems to be a superstition from the old days. Wierd.

[PeteJB]

Actually eating an apple (or most fruit) before bed, THEN brushing your teeth actually causes your teeth to wear down faster from the acid being brushed around your mouth. Be sure to have some water or other non-acidic drinks after having fruit, it cuts down on the stuff chewing away at your teeth. It's not good to eat an apple at night, for me it even causes indigestion. However my girlfriends grandmother served us apple after dinner so it's not a problem to eat in the evening.

[billybrobby]

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/apples.asp

Apple seeds contain cyanide.