It's True, Beer and Skittles Makes Happy Life

This was the headline on one of my nine year old student's notebooks. It's exactly because of off-the-wall statements like this that Korea is so charming. They try to use English in every way possible, but it often falls way, way short. I've been trying to buy a shirt that says, "All Times Have Happy Days," off one of my students, but he hasn't given in yet. I often wonder why they don't just buy a foreigner beer or some chicken to just edit they're signs, menus, etc. I finally found out through my Korean/Australian friend where to find the Konglish (that's the term for these grammatically incorrect items) and I went shopping there this Sunday. It was Korea's version of a second hand store. Usually, clothes are ridiculously expensive and trendy. This place was a 4 store warehouse with people selling whatever they had in booths. I quickly found out that bartering was part of the deal. I found that Run DMC/ Beatles Boys shirt and talked the guy down a few bucks. I was feeling good about my bartering and Korean abilities so I went to the electronics market to check out the MP3 players. I was stopped by a younger guy showing me 512MB players for 100 dollars. I played it cool, talked in his language about everything under the sun. He was down to 90 which is very cheap, but I remained tentative. Finally, as I walked away to think for awhile, he sold it to me for 80 because I was an English teacher and I spoke good Korean, or so he said. Sometimes, like this very day, I feel like my Korean is good enough to accomplish all basic tasks, but there are times when I get discouraged because I can't share a basic thought. They always apologize, Koreans are always ashamed that they cannot speak English fluently and they don't expect us to know any of their language. Usually, I tell them that English is much tougher, so don't worry about it. Beyond the Konglish merchandise, many English words have been adopted into their language. This is a big difference and a reason N and S Koreans can't understand much of eachother. The North is holding onto their traditional language but the South uses English words such as, "computer, building, corner, pizza, snack, service, chicken, party," and much more. Also, I find that I am speaking in incorrect grammar often because the students understand me better if I take such liberties with my native tongue. English and Korean are opposite in word order so Koreans understand better if you say, "Book, read it" than the other way around. Hopefully I'll correct this by my return home. Beyond the cheap laughs though, these hilarious English mistakes remind me how in demand native speakers are here. They've come a long way, but they'll need our help for another 10 years or more.