Saying goodbye

[Haabda]

I was recently lucky enough to be able to spend two and a half weeks in Korea staying with my 사범님's family and his 관장님.

I spent a few days in 부산, 대구, 대전, and 서울. As I left each of these places, at least one person openly wept as I was leaving. Then, one of the families I stayed with came to stay at my home in Mississippi and the mother wept as they were leaving to head back to Korea.

I don't cry when saying goodbye to my closest family members. I don't know of many Americans who do. Is weeping while saying goodbye a Korean cultural thing? Should I have been weeping?

[trutherous]

Wow - sorry nobody got back to you in this question.

Hi, I'm George, a fellow student here.

I have been married to my lovely Korean wife for 23 years today.. and living with Koreans for about 27 years, I haven't noticed that weeping when saying goodbye is necessarily common but it does happen. However, this is a great compliment for you, since it reflects the degree of affection you engender in others. I have never seen tears when one moves across town, but I have seen them when one crosses oceans. And the longer you stay with Koreans the more tears there will be when parting -this is the Korean heart. There is something called '정,' loosely translated 'affection,' that is one of the reasons I never plan to part from the Korean community.

George

[Haabda]

Thank you for the reply. I had given up on getting one. You are correct when talking about the Korean heart. Every Korean I have gotten to know has treated me like family.

[julialim]

Yes we call that "정" < 情 >, but it's really difficult to explain.
affection(?), warm heart(?)

"말하지 않아도 알아요~ ". / 미운 정, 고운 정

Even though you stayed with them for a short time, they had a good menory with you and felt "정". ("Weeping" depends on a person and a situation.)







A Korean famous snack(pie): 초코파이.
Its Bench-marking is "정" and they have been having a steady love from people.