I don't know how to say "excuse me" in korean

Before I came to South Korea, I had high hopes of learning some of the language. Previously, we had lived in France and I regretted that I hadn't learned French any better than I did. I could get by. And I could read and comprehend it far better than I could speak. However, ten years have gone by and I am sure that even alot of my reading abilities have diminished. (I do try to retain some of my French speaking abilities though. We bought our dog in France and I think he is used to me telling him that he is my "beau garcon" and that I love him "beaucoup".) There has been an influx of the French to Okpo in the past year and I have enjoyed getting to know some of the women. Three of them are in my Friday morning art class and I try to pick out what they are saying whenever they converse among themselves. Unfortunately, I seem to only understand a few words here and there and also whenever a number is in the conversation, like cinq heures(5:00).

I bring this up because it was the learning of Korean numbers that ultimately had me give up learning some Korean. Koreans use 2 different sets of numbers - native Korean for counting and stating a number of items (like five boys or three trees) and Sino Korean numbers (which are taken from the Chinese) for anything involving money, phone numbers, dates and time. And if that isn't confusing, only minutes and seconds are in the Sino Korean numbers - hours are in the native Korean! Two sets of numbers to learn..........and I think that the fact that there are two steps (translating the characters into our alphabet and then translating what the characters mean) instead of just translating what the word means also played into it. At least the French language has characters like a, e, i, o and u instead of vowels that look like ladders with and without some of the rungs. French words may have extra accents over some of the characters, but at least the letters are recognizable to me. And let's face it, I might use French (maybe at a restaurant?), but I don't think that Korean will play into my everyday life.

I am sure that by now, you can see into my thinly veiled excuses for not taking the time to learn Korean.

I have learned a pitiful few words in Korean - hello, goodbye, how much, yes, no, thank you - all come to mind. However, I haven't learned the Korean words for "excuse me" or "sorry" as of yet. Maybe this is why? When I first arrived, I would spend afternoons walking the streets of Okpo and wandering into the shops and marketplace. People would bump into me. They would not only bump into me, but they would push me. They would get in front of me in while I was waiting in a line. At that time, I made a mental note to learn "excuse me" and/or "sorry" for these incidents. However, I usually forgot this thought by the time I got home. But you know what? In time, I learned that it didn't really matter if I said "excuse me" while navigating around someone standing in the middle of the sidewalk. Or if I said "sorry" when I was "accidentally" bumped into by someone in the shop aisle. Because when it comes to matters of courtesy regarding personal space in Korea, in my opinion - there doesn't seem to be any.

I wonder if this comes from living in a small, mountainous country, where one's own space is limited? I have told Ken that I think if you told the average Korean that you thought they were being rude when they pushed by you, they would be shocked and apologetic. I don't think that it is intentional or deliberate, I just think it is their way. Some days, it doesn't bother me at all. But some days, it just hits me wrong.

For example, Ken and I went to see a movie last weekend. Afterwards, I went into the ladies restroom, where there was one lady waiting in front of me. There were only 4 stalls, and after she went into an empty stall, I waited for the next available one. Before someone could exit, two young girls came in, went right past me and each planted themselves in front of a stall. Then, another lady came in, walked past me and posted her claim on a third stall. By now, since I was by the first stall, I decided that no one was going to get that one for sure. That one was mine. But I guess it really comes down to the luck of the stall. I lost big time - all three women (that entered the restroom after me) went into their respective stalls before mine emptied!

P.S. I want to reiterate what I have always tried to maintain in this blog - that these are my opinions formed from my experiences living in South Korea. They are no means a reflection of the people or country as a whole. Hopefully, I always try to look at the other side of the coin. Which makes me wonder...............what would a non-English speaking South Korean think about the people they encountered in the aisles of the American grocery store, the mall or the fast food restaurants? Now that's a thought.