So I have been proofreading my blogs lately and realizing that I make way too many typos. And the spelling check changes some that are correct. Dang! So this got me thinking... I have seen way too much bastardization of the English language while living here so periodically I am going to blog about what I hear and see. Some of these things can not be made up. :)
So another Korean lesson. I have found out that Ls, Rs, and Ys are interchangeable. So there is a famous Korean admiral that I learned is Admiral Yi, but he is also referred to as admiral Lee and admiral Rhee. Gets a bit confusing for the average tourist. LOL Another interchangeable sound is the p, b, and v. It makes for interesting conversation. So now that I have prefaced with this I will share with you the top ten that I have heard about or seen.
10. Non-Smoking allowed (on the bottom of a non-smoking sign)
9. Be Smile with how to English (brought to you by a school that teaches English)
8. Don't go back inside (A sign on a lawn at a museum)
7. Protect your skin with ultraviolet rays (a slogan on a sunscreen bottle)
6. Pick up, Cool up, Feel up (slogan on the back of a drink)
5. Poison Bakery (mistranslation of a Korean Name of a bakery near Pusan. It is actually on the sign)
4. Lacquer Poison Chicken broth with Ginseng ( so there is some word in Korean that translates incorrectly a lot. On a menu at a restaurant)
3. Mickey is Independent, A positive thinker and Burn Leader ( On a t-shirt)
2. Sauteed Happy Family (A dish on a menu)
1. Church of Fruits (On an English School Van)
Now for some others that are funny but didn't make the top ten.
Crap Roll
Steamed Snow Crap
(My personal favorite) Spaghetti with swimming Crap (Label on a buffet)
Happy Christmas to you and your lovers (a commercial on a Korean station over the holidays!)
So that is the end of that for now but look back in the future for many more mistranslations of the English Language brought to you by South Korea!
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Night out in Changwon
So first let me explain a little of where we live. Chinhae is a tiny little city by the ocean (great view). When I say tiny... 300,000 people. So while we tell everyone we live in Chinhae that is only a neighborhood of Changwon. 3 cities united to create a mega city and they were Masan, Chinhae, and Changwon. The name of this mega city is Changwon because Changwon is the larger of the three with around 800,000 and Masan has around 500,000. I know, crazy right. Everyone asks if we like Chinhae because it is a small city. I just respond with, "Have you been to Elizabethtown, KY". :) Since Changwon is the larger it is the to go. There is the City 7 mall and a number of movie theaters that show movies in English. Restaurants are amazing and even the same stores that we have in Chinhae are bigger and better in Changwon. And this is where my story begins.
Once a month the women of the American base go out for a night. It is seriously great fun and a great way to meet people. This happened a while back but I am now finally writing it. I have for years told people that I despise Indian food. The yellow curry is just way too much! I would tell everyone that I hate Indian curry but I love Thai curry. So where do the women of the base want to go for the night out? You guessed it... Indian. I was not thrilled but I wanted to get to know people. So a night at Bombay was on the menu. LOL After Bombay we were to go to a little bar that my sister and I had heard about a lot. I will tell more later in this story. Come to find out that I love Indian food. I have been to this place a number of times to eat. I have even taken Jamie who has claimed that he hates Indian curry as well. Guess what, he likes it as well. :) I guess that we have just always tried the wrong places for Indian. lol And once again I tangent. :) So the thing is if you want amazing Indian food... Come visit me in S. Korea. lol
While in Bombay enjoying some crazy good food a friend and I needed to use the ladies room. So they tell us where it is and we head that way. We are on the third floor and there is one restroom per floor. We get in there to discover there is only one traditional toilet as we know them and the rest are just holes in the floor with guards. Seriously! My friend goes into the stall with the toilet only to discover there is not toilet paper. So I search the other stalls and there is none in any stall of this bathroom. Not sure what to do. We go back to Bombay to request toilet paper only to realize that toilet paper has to be requested from the business you are at. Seriously folks, it is bring your own toilet paper to the toilets here in this next of the woods. I have a friend that says that she does not leave home without a roll in her purse. Good gravy... it is the simple things... like some good old toilet paper. :) So funny thing is while I am waiting for the good toilet (I am not using the hole for I did not sign up for camping lately) a woman enters and in a Irish accent says, "dang, the good toilet is taken". I just stared and nodded for I love accents. This leads me to the bar.
It is called O'Briens. Hopefully by the name you have figured out what kind of bar it is. YES! An Irish pub. So you can come to S. Korea for some great Indian and a great little Irish pub with the best hamburgers I have had outside of the state thus far. Come to find out, Irish pubs are big in Seoul. Just didn't expect S. Korea to be such a culture mecca. When I say that it really isn't but there are more foreigners than I originally expected.
So when visiting... Don't forget the Charmin. It will come in handy. ;)
Once a month the women of the American base go out for a night. It is seriously great fun and a great way to meet people. This happened a while back but I am now finally writing it. I have for years told people that I despise Indian food. The yellow curry is just way too much! I would tell everyone that I hate Indian curry but I love Thai curry. So where do the women of the base want to go for the night out? You guessed it... Indian. I was not thrilled but I wanted to get to know people. So a night at Bombay was on the menu. LOL After Bombay we were to go to a little bar that my sister and I had heard about a lot. I will tell more later in this story. Come to find out that I love Indian food. I have been to this place a number of times to eat. I have even taken Jamie who has claimed that he hates Indian curry as well. Guess what, he likes it as well. :) I guess that we have just always tried the wrong places for Indian. lol And once again I tangent. :) So the thing is if you want amazing Indian food... Come visit me in S. Korea. lol
While in Bombay enjoying some crazy good food a friend and I needed to use the ladies room. So they tell us where it is and we head that way. We are on the third floor and there is one restroom per floor. We get in there to discover there is only one traditional toilet as we know them and the rest are just holes in the floor with guards. Seriously! My friend goes into the stall with the toilet only to discover there is not toilet paper. So I search the other stalls and there is none in any stall of this bathroom. Not sure what to do. We go back to Bombay to request toilet paper only to realize that toilet paper has to be requested from the business you are at. Seriously folks, it is bring your own toilet paper to the toilets here in this next of the woods. I have a friend that says that she does not leave home without a roll in her purse. Good gravy... it is the simple things... like some good old toilet paper. :) So funny thing is while I am waiting for the good toilet (I am not using the hole for I did not sign up for camping lately) a woman enters and in a Irish accent says, "dang, the good toilet is taken". I just stared and nodded for I love accents. This leads me to the bar.
It is called O'Briens. Hopefully by the name you have figured out what kind of bar it is. YES! An Irish pub. So you can come to S. Korea for some great Indian and a great little Irish pub with the best hamburgers I have had outside of the state thus far. Come to find out, Irish pubs are big in Seoul. Just didn't expect S. Korea to be such a culture mecca. When I say that it really isn't but there are more foreigners than I originally expected.
So when visiting... Don't forget the Charmin. It will come in handy. ;)
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Funny and possibly offensive so beware!
So I have not blogged in a while. Who had time when you are crazily trying to set up house in a land that does not speak your language. Which leads me to what I am blogging about.
Language and things that mean nothing to the culture that you are living in but means a lot to you. So I am immature... everyone who knows me knows this. My sense of humor ranges from injuries to passing gas. And some where in the middle is just anything that strikes me funny.
So We move to Korea and Jamie is trying to tell me about everything that is great in Chinhae. Well let's just say a little overwhelmedness came along and I kind of did not hear half of the things said. He happended to mention that there is a new downtown in Chinhae which is the young hang out. So hey, we are young of course we want to hang out. lol Well here is the deal. I am going to teach you a little Han'gumal. An e and an o together make the sound owe. So Seoul is pronounces S"owe"ul. The downtown area of Chinhae is called Seok Dong. Dong in Korean means neighborhood. So for instance Jamie and I live in Jeonchong Dong (another area of Chinhae). Well how this becomes funny is that we found out the hard way that Chinhae is considered down home country bumkins in Korea. We went from Kentucky to Chinhae. Maybe we are country bumkins... no offense to all my lovelies in KY :). Anyway, back to Chinhae, their speak has a major accent to the rest of the country. So Seok Dong is pronounced Suck Dong here. I hope that I do not have to explain why this is funny. But just imagine riding the bus and a gentle womanly voice tells you of what neighbor you are in at every stop. Yes, I am immature but it was stupid funny. So yes folks Jamie and I venture to Suck Dong for fun. *giggling inside* Still funny...
SO this next experience at the language difference needs no lessons or explanations. It will read through very well. In Pusan (about and hour away from us) there is an incredibly beautiful (world known beautiful) beach. And on this beach is an aquarium. Well we received free tickets to the aquarium at the new years party on base so we decided to take the boys. Let me just say it is incredible. I enjoyed every minute of it. The otters were so cute and playful. THe sharks were awe inspiring. The natives taking picture of my children like they were on display was hilarious (yes this does happen, shopping is interesting). And finally we get to the penguin tank. They are just so cute waddling, and diving, and jumping around. We stood there for a long time when my sister had to stretch and looked up to find the name of the tank. We were in disbelief so we checked a number of times. I can tell you all with complete certaintly that the penguin tank at the Pusan Aquarium is called the Jackass Penguin Tank. Honestly I can only tell you this much. The kids loved the sharks... the adults loved the Penguins. :)
And so now I leave you offended but hopefully laughing. I am sure I will run across more of these issues but for now these are the ones that keep me laughing. And anyone who knows me knows I will laugh about something funny for a very long time. :)
Language and things that mean nothing to the culture that you are living in but means a lot to you. So I am immature... everyone who knows me knows this. My sense of humor ranges from injuries to passing gas. And some where in the middle is just anything that strikes me funny.
So We move to Korea and Jamie is trying to tell me about everything that is great in Chinhae. Well let's just say a little overwhelmedness came along and I kind of did not hear half of the things said. He happended to mention that there is a new downtown in Chinhae which is the young hang out. So hey, we are young of course we want to hang out. lol Well here is the deal. I am going to teach you a little Han'gumal. An e and an o together make the sound owe. So Seoul is pronounces S"owe"ul. The downtown area of Chinhae is called Seok Dong. Dong in Korean means neighborhood. So for instance Jamie and I live in Jeonchong Dong (another area of Chinhae). Well how this becomes funny is that we found out the hard way that Chinhae is considered down home country bumkins in Korea. We went from Kentucky to Chinhae. Maybe we are country bumkins... no offense to all my lovelies in KY :). Anyway, back to Chinhae, their speak has a major accent to the rest of the country. So Seok Dong is pronounced Suck Dong here. I hope that I do not have to explain why this is funny. But just imagine riding the bus and a gentle womanly voice tells you of what neighbor you are in at every stop. Yes, I am immature but it was stupid funny. So yes folks Jamie and I venture to Suck Dong for fun. *giggling inside* Still funny...
SO this next experience at the language difference needs no lessons or explanations. It will read through very well. In Pusan (about and hour away from us) there is an incredibly beautiful (world known beautiful) beach. And on this beach is an aquarium. Well we received free tickets to the aquarium at the new years party on base so we decided to take the boys. Let me just say it is incredible. I enjoyed every minute of it. The otters were so cute and playful. THe sharks were awe inspiring. The natives taking picture of my children like they were on display was hilarious (yes this does happen, shopping is interesting). And finally we get to the penguin tank. They are just so cute waddling, and diving, and jumping around. We stood there for a long time when my sister had to stretch and looked up to find the name of the tank. We were in disbelief so we checked a number of times. I can tell you all with complete certaintly that the penguin tank at the Pusan Aquarium is called the Jackass Penguin Tank. Honestly I can only tell you this much. The kids loved the sharks... the adults loved the Penguins. :)
And so now I leave you offended but hopefully laughing. I am sure I will run across more of these issues but for now these are the ones that keep me laughing. And anyone who knows me knows I will laugh about something funny for a very long time. :)
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