Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

Have you gotten any �반가,반가s� from your students?

Today after my early morning Extra class and then 5 straight (with a lunch break in the middle) middle school classes, which start with the best students and work the way to the bottom of the barrel, exactly in step with my energy level, I was trudging my way up the hill back to the high school. I passed the boys draining the fish pond (one was soaking wet after �diving� in�I think he was pushed), past the boy who pointed at me and said, �You handsome. I handsome?�, past a couple of giggly first year middle school students too nervous to do more than grin and giggle, and past a gaggle of high school boys who said, �Hello/Good afternoon!�, and ran into a crowd of 3 high school girls. Two said, �Hi� but one said, �반가! 반가!�

My reaction was divided between, �Is my Korean THAT bad that I didn�t understand her, or did she just say something really rude to me?� I asked her if she had really said, �반가, 반가� to me. She said she had and I asked what it meant. She said, �Nice to meet you�, giggled and went on her way. I thought this was one of the ones who liked me, but I was thinking maybe I have her confused with one who doesn�t.

As I said, I was moving kind of slow by this point in the day, but I caught up to the same group at the other end of the building. They�d stopped to talk to more girls. I asked her again what it meant. She repeated what she�d said and her friends giggled and all said it to each other and then I asked her if she could say it to a teacher, suspecting that it was rude. Just then another teacher walked by and I pointed at him and she said it to him and he replied with the same. Didn�t even break stride, much less haul out his love stick and beat her black and blue. Or anything. [I should mention, I wasn�t getting any facial expressions or body language that said �hostility�.]

I shrugged and headed on into the building and up to the office. I asked my supervisor co-teacher about it and got the same meaning. He said it is a contraction of the Korean phrase for �nice to see you� and that it comes from the internet chat rooms. In his opinion, it wouldn�t be used between a student and teacher, but obviously the other teacher who replied with it without a blink thinks otherwise.

I think I�ve stumbled across one of the examples of where Korean kids are chipping away at the formality and status-consciousness of standard Korean.

Three weeks in and it�s a heck of a lot more fun here than with that crowd of surly teenage country boys I was stuck with last year. They had me thinking I had lost my touch.

[During lunch break I sat out in the park in front of the middle school and was joined by four middle school girls who invited themselves over. One asked if she could touch my �cute� fat. This is the first of those�but someone in a crowd did cop a feel the first week by sticking his/her arm between other students and gave me a poke.]

I guess what prompted me to post this is that my initial reaction was suspicious and guarded. I�m sure it�s the result of the insecurity of starting a new job, coming off a year that was a whole lot less than successful, wondering if I could ever establish rapport with Korean teenagers like I used to do so easily with American teenagers, what with the language, culture and increasing age barriers. I just have to wonder: How much of the stuff we see here on Dave�s is coming from our own insecurities?

[Junior]

Get a blog dude so we can bypass your ramblings

[ChuckECheese]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

What's a cannival?

_*_

[gang ah jee]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[Hyeon Een]

I had some kids saying it a lot early this year. Correct me if I'm wrong, but its a greeting from the internet used mainly by elementary aged kids. Above abbreviation above being correct. I'm 99% sure they mean it in a friendly or cute way rather than just a banmal rude way. They like you Ya-ta. (though you gotta stop saying that when you drive past em )

I've seen them say it to young female Korean teachers they're also 'friends' with. I doubt they'd say it to their principal though.

[billybrobby]

[ChuckECheese]

[jinju]

Maybe they are supporters of Ban for the UN general secretary job?

GO BAN!