Today, I took a class's homework papers and let one slip into my pile without a name. So I used my red pen to write the girl's name on the sheet, but the director Mike was quick to closed the office door and warned me "Koreans don't write names in red 'cause it means death"... I was shooked and mortified and quickly blacked-over the name and rewrote it in black. |
But these little cultural surprises go both ways. I was shopping for an umbrella a couple weeks ago in Busan and I would dare not open them inside to see the pattern. Why? I grew up with the superstition "Opening an umbrella indoors in back luck." I don't believe in such superstitions, but I do follow these little rules as part of my cultural identity. I just think "Where I am from, we do not do this, ever!" |
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