Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Manghchi]

How do you like using chipped cups, mugs, or plates? I usually don�t believe superstitions, but there is one that I can�t give up. When my cups, plates, or glasses are broken, I never hesitate to throw them away because I believe it will cause me to have bad luck to use them. When I go to a restaurant, if I find one of the plates has crack or is chipped, naturally I feel I�m not respected.

When I was in America, one day, I followed my friend to a party. It was the annual party of a women�s tennis club.

When it came time to exchange gifts, everybody in turn randomly picked one from the piles of gifts and opened and showed it to us. In Korean culture, when I receive a present from a guest visiting my house, I usually open it after she or he leaves. Opening gifts in front of the person would be rude, although things are changing these days.

So, it was very interesting for me to watch what they brought, and their reaction. All the presents looked so simple and cheap.

One of the women opened hers and showed hers. It was a mug. It looked like a used one because it was slightly chipped! Once she saw the mug, she was laughing and explaining to us which made me surprised and never forget her words. �Hahaha�I love this mug, it looks like me! Someone who gave me this must know I lost my one tooth recently. What a coincidence! Ha ha ha!�

I was surprised to see her humor over the broken mug.
I would be very insulted if I got a chipped mug as a present.


http://maangchi.blogspot.com/

[conor]

I had a cleaning lady for a couple of months because some other teachers were lazy and wanted to split her work 3 ways. Well I always found it scary that she cleaned my dishes and put them back on the shelves without drying them. So whenever I would make dinner and grab a plate I would get a cold splash of dish water all over me. I think I'm emotional scarred for life now.

[ajuma]

I never sleep with a fan on with the windows and doors closed!!

My one AMERICAN superstition that I can't get over is opening an umbrella inside. I don't care how hard it is raining, I wait until I'm outside of my apartment building before opening it!

[going_places]

[going_places]

As far as an American superstition, yes, for some stupid reason I also hang on the umbrella thing....

I find other cultures do this too, especially my Irish friends.

[ajgeddes]

[SuperHero]

I have no superstitious beliefs and laugh at anyone who does.

[seoulkitchen]

[Manghchi]

Umbrella thing is very interesting! I haven't heard about it before.
It was good to start talking about superstitions because I already learned one of the western superstitions.

One Korean supertition I ignore is that when you sleep, your head shouldn't point towards the north. That's what we do when we bury dead bodies, so it's bad luck.

[denverdeath]

[stumptown]

This isn't my particular superstition but a general Korean one. I don't know if it only applies to bars because that's the only place I've seen it. If a customer is extremely rude and causes problems, the owner will throw a handful of salt out the door right after he leaves. Kind of freaked me out the first time I saw it (in a trippy, not spooky sort of way).

[noguri]

What about the "knock on wood" thing? Is there something similar in Korea? I mean the idea of a jinx.

My wife is Korean and she says she has a superstition that you can't talk openly about something good that happened, or something bad will happen. I said, "funny, I think the same thing. You can jinx a good thing if you're too loudmouthed."

So, if the rain is stopping and I say, "The rain is stopping!" it is sure to start again. If the baby is eating her gruel and I say, "The baby is eating!," she is sure to stop immediately.

But resolutely avoiding mention of anything that is good can make one sound gloomy or negative. So why not talk about what is good? Now I will say to my wife, "Uh, something good is happening. Should I mention what it is? Or should I keep my mouth shut?" And she'll say, "Tell me!" But if it goes sour, she'll say "you uncorked the champagne too soon!"

[Manghchi]

About Fan on at night
It's true! I remember I heard on radio news that some people died in the middle of the night while they were sleeping with their fans on with doors and windows closed.

Possible reasons that I can guess could be that they couldn't breathe well because of the strong wind from a fan?

About throwing salt.
That's our very traditional superstition. They believed that bad spirits or ghosts are afraid of salt.

About not telling anyone about good things happened to you.
It's interesting, isn't it? I don't agree with this superstition. When you are happy, smile or laugh!

[flotsam]