These days, I have a few more names.
“Mr. Boston.” As those of you who know me know, I don’t actually come from Boston, but a lot of Koreans have, shall we say, pronunciation issues with the word “Massachusetts,” so saying that I’m from Boston makes things a little easier. Actually, the only person who calls me by this name is the guy at Tous Les Jours (a local bakery store) who, as it turns out, lives in the same building I do. Who knew?
“Stee-buh.” (This is how many Koreans pronounce “Steve.” There’s no “v” sound in the Korean alphabet, so the next best thing is the “b” sound. I don’t take it personally. This is also how some of the foreigners in my town say my name, even though they know better.)
“Older brother.” There’s a guy I see almost everyday on my way home who sells fruit and vegetables. The first couple of months I was here, whenever I saw him, he’d always stop whatever he was doing, give me the full bow, and yell, “Annyeonghaseyo!” I always returned his greeting. Then, one day, I introduced myself, he introduced himself, and we got to talking.
It turns out that he attended a university in Seoul, but never graduated. He went into the military, but didn’t complete his service. So, now he’s back in his hometown, doing what he can to help out his parents and siblings. When he found out that I’m about 12 years older than he is, he was very amused. “You are my older brother,” he said. I had to laugh. Then I told him, “You are my younger brother.” He seemed to like that. So, now, whenever we see each other, this is how we greet each other:
Deep bow.
“Older brother!”
“Younger brother!”
“You look very handsome!”
“Thank you. You look very healthy!”
“Thank you. See you later!”
“See you later!”
Have I not mentioned that life in Korea is dynamic?
© 2011
