Konglish!

Well for those of you who don't know, there is a special variety of English that is alive and well in Korea....KONGLISH. It is the Korean take on English words. It is quite helpful to know these. For instance when you are shopping and you want two similiar items you should say "same-same." If you settled on just using one "same" there would be no way that would be understood. Also you must add an 'uh' or an 'ee' sound to the end of most words. For instance if you want to trade seats with somebody on the bus you would just look at them and say "changee' while making the appropriate hand gestures. Furthmore, despite the fact that they know we have a little bigger bodies it is still important to specify "largee sizuh" when buying t-shirts and the like. It is all quite simple once you get the hang of it.

Now moving on....

There is an abundance of signs and especially clothing in Korea that really shows Konglish at its best. One of my favourite shirts that I bought near my house is as follows, front: "I LOVE ROCK AND ROLE", back: "i like you. when the world is mine, you death shall be quick and painless." This isn't exactly the best example but it still demonstrates the total obscurity of some of them. Most people don't know what the thing says so you can see some real doozies being worn. Do you actually think the girl wearing the t-shirt that said "My step-parents are dearer to me than my real mother and father" had any idea what it meant? My friend Tess saw that gem when she was on the subway coming to my house... Or what about the 50 year old woman by my house who was wearing a t-shirt that said "I see you've me the twins" emblazoned across her chest. That made me chuckle a little, especially considering Korean endowments... ;)

Last but not least, I will leave you with a few pictures of some funny things I have seen and taken photos of with my cell phone...

"100% Happy Virus"...wow, I must buy this notepad. It really sounds nice and it will definately go with my Beautiful Infection totebag.

Hmmm....one has to wonder what sort of things take place in the MATE Testing room....

Why thank you. You enjoy your "Rice Day" too.

I should also mention that there are many other things which I have come across which are much less family friendly....