Five (well, 6) Things Koreans Say Differently Than Americans

I passed the halfway point of my contract year without much fanfare…honestly, it slipped by me so fast I only just now realized it.  Anyway, 6 months immersed in another culture and language has been wonderful.  While my Korean still actually pretty poor…I haven't had much time to study these days…I have enjoyed some of the linguistic beauty of "Konglish."  Here is my top 5 (well, top 6) phrases that Koreans use differently than Americans.

1) Nice to meet you!
What they mean is: Nice to see you...but to their way of thinking, every time you see some one face to face you are "meeting" them.  Therefore, it is nice to meet someone every time you see them.  Likewise, they will also say "it was nice to meet you (again)" when you are parting ways.

2) Where are you going?
This one is just kinda idle chit-chat....like Americans say "what's up?" or "how's it going?"  I think Koreans still think it is a little funny that I will give them an honest answer, like "I'm going to the bank" or "I'm going home."  Linguistically, this is not uncommon, for example, in some cultures "where are you going?" is not only idle chit-chat, but the asker can also display his or her status over the askee by holding them to the spot until they dismiss the askee by saying "then go."

2.5) A literal answer to "How are you?"
So, this is the next logical step to the last one.  While most younger people understand that this is a cut-chat/small talk thing…and the polite answer is "Fine, thanks and how are you?"  (You have no idea how hard it is to keep a straight face the 20th time you have heard it in one day!)  Occasionally, you will receive the literal answer to "how are you?"

3) That's too bad!
They mean: "I'm sorry to hear that", but for Koreans, and in most Asian linguistics, "I'm sorry" means "It's my fault" and is only used when the speaker feels like something is the result of their actions.  It feels a bit condescending when my co-workers told me "that's too bad" when I had a cold last week, but knowing that "I'm sorry" indicates the feeling of personal responsibility, I can see that they would not consider themselves to be to blame for my cold.

4) I Love You!
I love you is word magic in Korea!  Sure, it means, "I love you," or you know, strongly like you, but a lot of younger Koreans, especially students use it as "hello" or "thank you."  Go on, I dare you to not say "I love you, too" to those earnest young faces!

5) See you again!
This one means "see you later."  These two have the same context and "see you again" is probably the most intuitive of these phrases for foreigners to understand.