Conversation with Jongouk is gradually becoming more natural (for both of us)--more like we're friends and not just "conversation partners." As I forgot for a moment that I was speaking that English is his second language, I caught myself using an expression--I stopped and tried explaining it. I then asked Jongouk if Koreans used expressions, he nodded, and I asked him to share one with me. He smiled nervously, saying it would be difficult to translate, but he would try. I instantly wished I hadn't made the request, but then, it was already out there, and I was too curious to take it back.
"Other people's rice cake is bigger than mine," he said. He then tried explaining its meaning, and I soon made the connection that we have a similar phrase in English: "The grass is always greener in somebody else's lawn." It's really interesting, because while both sayings hold the same meaning, they are both understood best in their respective cultures. Most Americans don't eat rice cakes often enough for the "rice cake version" to make sense--but in Korea, they are so commonplace, that everyone can easily relate to that expression.
I love seeing how we are similar and yet different, and the ways in which each culture expresses itself.
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