Don't swing you arms when you're greeting Koreans!
I was walking back from the Dutch bakery today with my Korean friends today and asked how to say "How are you" in their language. They told me, and I tried it out--and they burst out laughing uproariously! Why???
"You can't say it like this!" one explained when she recovered, and pumped her arms like a marching soldier.
Aha!
This is a respect-oriented culture, and you must stand still, respectfully with your hands in front of you (not crossed arms) in order to greet each other. I need to think more about how my body language is communicating.
Yikes. I also showed the bottom of my foot to a north African by accident the other day, and that's definitely not good . . . *cringe*
I was walking back from the Dutch bakery today with my Korean friends today and asked how to say "How are you" in their language. They told me, and I tried it out--and they burst out laughing uproariously! Why???
"You can't say it like this!" one explained when she recovered, and pumped her arms like a marching soldier.
Aha!
This is a respect-oriented culture, and you must stand still, respectfully with your hands in front of you (not crossed arms) in order to greet each other. I need to think more about how my body language is communicating.
Yikes. I also showed the bottom of my foot to a north African by accident the other day, and that's definitely not good . . . *cringe*
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