Dispatches by John P. Gamboa

Most people are familiar with the meaning of the phrase “Engrish,” which commonly refers to signs poorly-translated from East Asian languages into English. Recently, a lot of the problems associated with Engrish have been compounded with the rise of online translators. Usually, translators don’t take syntactical nuance of a language into account. Translators usually result in Chinese, Japanese or Korean syntax with English words. It’s as confusing as it sounds.

“Konglish,” the mixing of English and Korean (and somewhat similar to Spanglish or Singlish), is common in Korea.  It can refer to poorly-translated signs, but it mostly refers to the borrowing of English words and making them Korean. Because the written language of Korean is phonetic, borrowed words occur frequently.

The best examples are:

버스 – Bu-se-uh = Bus

커피 – Ko-pi = Coffee (This is similar to Malay and Bahasa Indonesian.)

There’s a long list of words in Korean that are simply just Korean-izing English words.

The best examples are movie names:

아바타 = Ah-bah-tah = Avatar.

Sometimes Konglish doesn’t work that well. For example, in Daegu, I saw this sign at a Oriental Medicine fair:

For the Adventurous game with Nintendo (For the health)

I know you are thinking: what the hell does that mean? The literal translation from Korean, which actually makes more sense is “Nintendo Health Experience.” Instead, it was turned into a translated sentence that its makers thought would make it clearer to an English reader. This is a common issue. Sometimes the direct translation works, sometimes it doesn’t

The other use of Konglish is in style and clothing. In Korea,  clothes are made two ways. Either they are dress clothes with no logos or brands or they are casual wear with random English words. Sometimes they have slogans, other times they have no meaning. It’s kind of like the opposite of Chinese character tattoos that were popular in the U.S. a few years ago.

For example:

Guilty Parties, Killer Tunes, Broadcast, Shake Alady.

I think I knew what they were trying to get at.  ”Parties with great music are fun,” is something I think they are trying to say.

Personalifif – Finisher 1978

This one is my favorite because it doesn’t make any sense. I got the impression the previous shirt was more about partying, good music and good times. This one is a whole new category.  First of all, of there are no actual words being used. I’m guessing “personalilif” is supposed to mean “personality” and “finisher” is supposed “finished.” Even then, even if they are spelled right, it still wouldn’t make since. Why is Mickey Mouse in this picture? Why is the year 1978 on it? I know that 1978 was his 50th Anniversary, but I don’t really think it has anything to do with that.

In summation, Konglish is hilarious when used poorly. At the same time, it makes my life easier when I try to read signs written in Korean only to discover its just a Koraenized English word.

I’ll try to take more pictures of ridiculous signs and clothing whenever I can so I can share my joy with others.  Anything other than that in relation to Konglish will probably be boring.

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If you’ve been following the news, you would have seen last week that the tension between North Korea and South Korea reached a boiling point.

Lee Myung-Bak’s administration and independent reports from the U.S. and Switzerland determined that a North Korean torpedo was responsible for the  sinking of the Cheonan, a South Korean naval corvette. The March 26 sinking on the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border between the Koreas, resulted in the death of 46 South Korean sailors and marked some of the biggest loss of life since the armistice 57 years ago.

There was a lot of talk of UN sanctions, cutting off relations and even talk of war.

The U.S. State Department, which sends updates via email from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, doesn’t think there is anything to worry about for American citizens.  As of now, there are no Travel Alerts or Travel Warnings for the Republic of Korea.

The Embassy’s current assessment of the security environment for U.S. citizens in Korea is that recent events do not pose an imminent threat to the public safety of the American community at this time. U.S. citizens residing or travelling in Korea should continue to pay close attention to current events, and monitor the Embassy website,http://seoul.usembassy.gov/, for any changes in the security environment.

So basically, there is no threat of war. With the the State Department placing more tourist-friendly places like Mexico, Thailand and the Philippines under their Current Travel Warnings system and not the Republic of Korea, I’m not too worried. Neither should anyone else.

Please encourage any U.S. citizens you know here to subscribe to our warden message system via the Embassy’s website at http://www.asktheconsul.org.  This way they will receive all warden messages and information we send out via email.

It’s a good idea to sign up for the email service and follow the news closely. My co-teachers say they go through a diplomatic roller coaster every few years with the Koreas anyway.

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This photo was taken in Insadong, the so-called “traditional street to both locals and foreigners” of Seoul. This street is where I have generally seen the most amount of non-English speaking tourists. Insadong is one of the the places that you go to when you visit Seoul. It’s got a traditional vibe and even a Starbucks with the sign written in Hangul. However, like all around Korea, you won’t find trashcans. On a busy day it means that ledges invariably get turned into dumpsters.

It’s not to say that Korea isn’t developed enough write it off as a minor annoyance, such as when visiting Lao PDR or Cambodia. Korea, however, is advanced and developed enough to have them, especially in major tourist zones. For a country that’s cultural MO is saving face, I think they are doing a poor job of that in this respect. What are tourists to think when they are getting charged almost $50 for special tea at a boutique when right next door there is a pile of frappuccino cups?

However, I do sort of enjoy the whole buying “approved” trash bags thing.  Everyone in Korea is supposed to buy approved trash bags for pick up by their building. It sort of eliminates the whole debate about paying for trash pick up in places like San Diego. That way, people don’t have to pay for the removal of some yahoo who consumes way more than everyone else. I like the idea of knowing that I can control the cost of my disposal. Some people find it annoying. However, until dumpsters become the norm, I’d much rather do this.

But seriously, Insadong needs some trashcans.

The weather is changing, it’s getting warmer and when people discovered I only turned 23 a few weeks they were aghast.

So, is it time for me to shave again? I generally shave only once a year (don’t ask me why).

Here I am a few weeks ago:

Here are some past ventures:

May 2007



December 2008



March 2009

So, what should I do? Shave? Reshape? Stay The Course?

I implore all of you to read this blog post by Ask A Korean! on the topic of the current geopolitical tension. While I will write my own commentary very soon, this is a pretty good synthesis of the whole situation:

“North Korea is vigorously denying the accusations, but at this point there appears to be no other possible culprit. The critical piece of evidence was a remainder of a propeller for a torpedo, which carried Korean lettering. South Korea, along with the United States, is right now considering ways to respond to this attack, likely resulting in harsher sanctions.”

ROKS Cheonan — What You Need to Know, What You Need to Think About

A: “I think hamburger and soda pop is the best snack.”

B:  ”I am afraid you are wrong. You are getting too fat.”

AMERICAN Food makes you fat!

A: “I wish I had a new cellphone.”

B: “I think yours is too old.”

Cell phones are more of a fashion statement in Korea than in the U.S.