More from Stephanie:
So on an early release day at the elementary school where I helped teach, my aunt picked me up and I went with her to help her with her job, which was a private English tutor for kids. Her job seemed to consist mostly of driving to each kid’s apartment, checking their homework, asking a few questions and assigning more homework for next time. (maybe it was homework-check-day or something) but after we visited a few kids and got in the elevator to ascend yet again, we were joined by some very young “초딩”s. Before we came to that apartment we had each bought an “ice cream” (more of popsicle type things really) and were trying to eat it before we got to the kids house and when my aunt saw the two second or third grade boys, she immediately offerred her half eaten ice cream to one of them saying “무글래?”(먹을래). I was a little suprised that she would do this, because I highly doubted that she knew this kid, let alone be close enough to offer her ice cream!
Later, as I was leaving a tutoring session, ( that I taught by myself) with “Michael” (6th grade) who came from a different apartment and therefore had to go home also, we were joined by another small kid from that floor whom neither of us knew. Michael was eating a box of 빼빼로 that the 아줌아 whose kid I was teaching supplied for refreshments. When he saw the kid, he offerred some to the little guy who took a couple. I asked Michael if he even knew the kid and he was like , “No. Just.” (그냥 makes more sense in Korean, which by itself means like, ‘just because’ or ‘no reason’) and when I asked “why would you give a kid you don’t even know something to eat?!” to which he replied “Koreans are just friendly.” I thought this was a very interesting thing. I don’t know about other places, but here, random people are not apt to offer you stuff, unless they’re flyers advertising something but I know I would be a little freaked out if someone I didn’t even know offered me their 과자 they happened to be eating at the moment. Anyone else have a similar experience?
