컬쳐쇼크 Korean Culture Shock!! Episode 1: "밥 먹었어요?"

[dkrdj2003]

No !! You are right!!

you answered honestly ..

and that is right ..

it is totally okay to say that i haven't eat lunch yet

[JuOn666]

mean while in america...

[thisloneliness]

I'm British and I had big American culture shock. Americans say "How are you?" really enthusiastically in greeting, and I too, for about six months to a year would answer honestly since they were seemingly so sincere, but now I feel foolish, because of course the proper answer is expected to be: "Fine/okay/alright/good/great thank you, and how are you?" Short sentence response. So interesting how different cultures are!

[nomelord]

God!! Those fuking teeth!!!

[Onegative82]

You are super cute and your videos are enlightening. 

[MultiGanton]

Nice nose. Carefull not to fall in your mouth.

[iambanananaNa]

@MultiGanton hey bitch watch yourself!

if you cant say anything smart than just shut up

[FormerDeathMachine]

Hahaha that was so cute and entertaining. Thanks!

[Chls122]

I'm american and I always ask that. LOL, probably cause I love food

[HyunAOH]

아~이런것도 문화충격일 수 있겠군요.

[ChiTownEd84]

Yeah right! LOL! You "figured it out after 6 months?"

[00098765574]

hehe i am korean and i think its kind of a good conversation starter lol. sometimes (even to my non asian friends) i ask them if they had eaten , when i dont know what to say;) when they say they hadn't then we could go grab something to eat together lol

[mapojeon]

Korea was a super poverty nation after korean war. people ate american soldier's food dregs and made stew. this is budae chigae. everyday eating something was survival activity. now koreans are not starving anymore, but still ckeck neighbour ate food today or not. this is meaning that im worrying you are starving or not because im feeling familiar to you

[kjh4him]

@expatkerri hm... I think what Mapojeon said above has somewhat to do with it, but I still think your boss really wanted to know whether you ate and wanted to prepare the food when u didn't eat to make sure you are taken care of. it's not just a 'hello'. When it's lunch time that's something you say as a cutesy and 'jung' - so if you didn't eat, it's an invitation to eat when they ask, exp. at a work place from someone above u.

[billiemarin]

LOL! Kerri, that little voice you made was hilarious!

[slipknothim13]

even though its just like a kind of greeting you must of had a REALLY nice boss to actually prepare you something to eat when you said you were hungry!

[everend0113]

One of Confucianism is altruism and food has been the single most important thing in their life. so asking about your lunch simply means "How are you?" but i think this was a lot more than just greeting when we had "보릿고개".

[everend0113]

This greeting is actually originated from so called "보릿고개" which means starvation around April when people have to wait until barley is fully grown and they ate almost all of their rice. This caused national starvation periodically. I guess this problem occurred every countries which can only plant a rice and barley in their rice field in a year. => temperate climate. This periodical starvation and Confucianism are the two main source of this greeting. I GUESS.

[TofuUnion]

We don't have that custom here in Japan where starvation almost never happened. Chinese people also would say to friends " Did you eat breakfast ? " in stead of " Good Morning " Probably in Vietnam and other southeast countries as well.

[10382913]

@TofuUnion exactly, don't worry the whole world knows japanese are cold blooded

[bigdima3]

One Jew lol

[NCAstu]

Thanks for coming to Korea and welcome :)

[SSpunky2009]

you make me totally miss Korea!!! Oklahoma is not as fun....

[Gabby4you]

hahahahha xD

omg that was weird and awkward :O

[lennonp06]

I ready that this form of greeting started when there was wide spread food shortages after the Korean war and it was very common for many people to skip one or two meals everyday. How do you ask someone how he's doing when you know that person hadn't eaten in couple of days? Hence came the custom of ensuring each other that they are fed as a form of greeting.

[Traces1000]

im vietnamese and when i went to vn they ask me this all the time...it's like a form of respect and caring because obviously i think to them eating always comes first ^_^

[chosop25]

So cute. Come to think of it, it's true. So funny.

[dogbutter99]

they ask you if you have eaten or you well in the morning because so many people died over night or not haven eaten due to variety of harships that koreans faced in the old days.. :) but you are right.. it's like saying 'hello'.. i always yes, 'no.. give me food now!'

[havefaith89]

aww this was cute and very informative

[glendaices]

Oh wow, I noticed they do that in Korean dramas!! I never really payed attention to it. I just assumed they were asking because that meant they would go eat together or something. But now it all makes sense now. Thanks! hahaha

[VioletSkies42]

OH MY GOODNESS! This explains SO much! I am a Korean ESL teacher in the states and one of my students asks me that EVERY day, and expresses real concern every day that I have been too busy to grab lunch. One day she even asked if I was healthy :(

Thank you! This is very helpful!

[lamcph6]

HAHAHA this is funny.. I'm Korean American but my dad told me (he grew up in Korea) it's because unlike today, Korean were pretty poor back like 50 years ago after the Korean War and eating was tough like finding food was not easy so that was a way of greeting/asking someone they cared for, my dad said.

[june823]

hey,, im just wonder... how old r u?? and do you teach english in some national school? some educational school?? i mean some school which make teacher??? 진주교대? 캐리 u welcome everyone as ur friend? can i be too? :)

[1kaaa]

you nail the korean accent pretty well~

[susiebones]

lol I'm Chinese American, and I think we do this too. Maybe not as often as Korean people? I don't know how often people ask this in China. These Culture Shock videos are cool, it's fun to learn differences between cultures like this!

[expatkerri]

@susiebones ~ i'm glad you enjoy them! thanks!

[tewkewl]

@susiebones it's not as often as you think or as often as kerri makes out. it doesn't really mean hello or anything. you don't say it all the time.

[rockoncarly]

@susiebones Yes. Chinese people do, do this! Idk it just seems right to do so.

[Eerae]

LOLHAHAHA I think she has a habit! not everybody do that but some people are..yeah. I get what you're saying about xD

[pck0011]

how about have lunch with me? hahaha

[1and2itsMyahBoo]

Lunch is SUPER important in Korea, haha. It's (I believe) the most important meal of the day for Koreans, but here in America (and even Canada), it's the least important. I noticed that in Korea, your lunch will include tonsss of food and side dishes.

[GenLiu]

Never got confused by this one since I knew before travelling to Korea but that's pretty interesting to notice how 밥 is important for Korean pples. Another confusing thing is how Korean (especially women) can be mother-like. Like for example when you're going to a restaurant and the waitress switch your dishes places when they are not at the "right" one (quiet surprising, you eat, everything is fine and suddenly she come to you and change your dishes places with a large smile). lolol

[Fhenry]

Yeah if I didn't know this I would answer honestly to...thx for the tips

[Mariah6789]

Haha well that makes sense. I go to a Korean school to learn Korean (obviously) and that's the first thing they always said to me (In English, of course).

[aliskey62389]

Why did she make you lunch after you said you didnt? Was it because she felt bad that you hadn't eaten yet? Is it bad manners in Korean culture to not fix or buy someone lunch if they say they haven't eaten?

[shilbybloggy]

I dont feel like it is really like you are saying.. And its weird that this person asked you avery single day... I'm korean by the way (but living in france)..

[expatkerri]

@shilbybloggy Korean living in France? Alors bonjour!! actually, she really did ask me every day! just as she asked me how i was doing, she asked me if i ate.

[ianpolitano07]

@expatkerri ㅋㅋㅋㅋ 밥 먹었어요? ㅋㅋㅋ 미국에서 한국인 친구들이 매일 밥 먹었어 라고 물어봤어요. 처음 들었을때 놀랐어요 !

[antispeedTom]

@expatkerri i think i know what shilby's saying. in a way, yes, kerri are right in that the phrase is mentioned as often as how westerners might say "how are you?" but - and i think this is what shilby's saying - the actual intent of the question is not superficial like "how are you?". for example, you and i exchange "how are you" almost like a "hi", and we really don't super care about the response. but in "have you had lunch", yes.. if you answer "no", someone is going to prepare food.

[antispeedTom]

@expatkerri ..and i think the reason for all this is because food is such an integral part of korean culture. it's also a deep way of showing how much one cares about another. like, if you walk into a store the clerk is obviously not going to ask if you've had lunch - because you're strangers. but, if you walk into your grandma's, or "auntie's" that's not really an aunt.. yes, they're going to make something. i feel if anything, one should definitely feel honored by the question.

[antispeedTom]

@expatkerri and - sorry to nail you with 1000 replies - but, i believe the typical "korean" response to those "did you eat yet" questions is, "no, but it's ok, i'm good - thank you." to which the asker will then say, "no, let me make you something." to which the response would be, "no, no, no, please, it's ok." followed by, "no! let me make you something - it'll be real quick!" repeat maybe, oh, 6-7 times.. followed by a smile, pat on the back and a "so how've you been? good?" =)

[asma2002]

hahah that's pretty confusing ! really like the two episodes :) keep up the nice ideas :) have a good day Kerry :)

[jameschan19940220]

this also works in some asia countries....

especially in china, people always start a conversation like this :)

[expatkerri]

@jameschan19940220 really? i didn't know that, but it's good to know!

[itsberto101]

The reason for this phrase is because after the Korean war South Korea wasn't in the greatest economic situation so when people greeted each other they would say "Did you eat?" instead of saying "안녕" :)

[expatkerri]

@itsberto101 thank you for the explanation!

[itsberto101]

@expatkerri Your welcome, I reacted the same way you did when my Korean Professor would greet me that way. So I simply asked her why she kept asking me if I ate? haha People just wanted to know if you ate during those harsh times.

[Kleeeenex1]

lol but theyre alot of korean christians and lying would be a no no, then what?

[Kleeeenex1]

its just being nice , korean family always welcomes people to eat with them

[itsberto101]

@Kleeeenex1 Yes I am aware of that but the phrase surfaced because of what I explained.

[punkonthis]

Kerri, it is so ironic that you brought up this topic. I am watching a Kdrama called Can You hear My Heart. In episode 5, one of the characters is speaking to his family and friends about his son. His son ran away, and he's sitting and crying. At the 56.18-56:26 mark of the episode, he calls out virtually to his son saying "Have you eaten?" THANK YOU FOR THIS VIDEO BECAUSE IT FURTHER PUT THESE WORDS INTO CONTEXT AND THE DEPTH OF THEIR MEANING. SO SWEET! THANKS KERRI! :D

[expatkerri]

@punkonthis you're very welcome! i do think it is so related to culture, and of course, there is meaning behind the saying in that drama. i'm glad i helped you out!

[wordmakesbeing]

you can ask to them 밥좀 주세요. 밥좀 사주세요 ㅎㅎ

[StAshleigh]

Ahaha, this is good to know!

[born2witness]

I think You look like Mandy Moore, esp when you smile! =) Thanks for the video

[Miyuuchyan2010]

Mental note taken.

[yudelkamusic]

Hmm I think I'm going to like this series especially since starting this fall im going to learn korean in college, yay~~~ haha

[awriterandagamer]

How did you come across the real meaning of the phrase? XD Did you ever ask your boss "Why do you keep asking me that D:" or something? XD

What was her reaction when she found out you didn't know what was going on? XD

[trebornoican]

nice.. i love the Ask:Reply KIND of vlog.. (the chipmunk voice FTW).

[MrMawie89]

Interesting! Thanks kerri!

[bnzism]

Aaaaah...this series is going to be awesome and fun. Fantastic idea!

[bibkro]

thank you

it is good to know ~

[PandaJungle]

how cute is that? preparing food for the employees.. :))

[meyiyiyi55]

good to know,one of my bad mistakes speaking vnese was something like penis,and im glad i was told i was pronouncing the word wrong.

[5Language]

All you foreigners are going to hell lol xD.

[GodSentJapan]

this is great. Do more of these please

[denshaotoko89]

Why say no to free FOOD?

[5Language]

@denshaotoko89 That's what I'm sayin'.

[kal20twelve]

@Dorris654 oh I wasn't aware it was a countryside thing. My mom grew up in Suwon. Anyways, I like when my mom ask that. That reminds me! My mom used to call my house phone. When I would answer she would say "oh ur home". I used to always think uh yeah thats y I answered the phone. That seems like a Korean cultural thing too.

[kal20twelve]

Great video! My mom is Korean and would leave voicemails saying "hello, did u eat?" even if I answered the phone, she would still ask. I'm glad u caught on. Its hard to explain that to someone who has never experienced it but ur explanation was perfect.

[p00lman]

You know, when people ask how I'm doing, even in English, I answer honestly. I figure, if you're not going to be creative in your conversational skills, I'll take you up on that question.

Although I stopped doing this (because I got too busy), when people would casually say, let's meet again soon, or something to that affect, I'd also take them up on it, knowing full well they didn't mean it literally.

Basically, I'm a terrible person.

[charlycheer]

omg you lived in Gangwon-do? I didn't know that..I live in Gangneung Gangwon-do :)...I agree about this "did you eat lunch " thing but I already knew before I came but it's still hard for me to lie haha

[dufrhd5]

I am also excited that you are starting a new series of vid!!! Looking forward to watching more of ur bids

[EvannRachel]

Haha, interesting! These should be good. :-)

[liza183]

Kerri 밥 먹었어요? ㅎ

[YunJoe93]

so would we just lie to everyone if we hadn't ? or be polite and say yes but in fact you hadnt. or would it be appropriate so say "no i didnt" and insist we have lunch together?

BOSS: "hello, did you have lunch?"

ME: "yes in fact i did ^^ *stomach growling* " "what about you did you have lunch

boss?"

BOSS: "yes i did. *stomach growls as well* "

(((awkward silence)))

[DavidEatsPaste]

@YunJoe93 I love your comment XD

[YunJoe93]

@DavidEatsPaste hehehe thanks. gotta make the first comment interesting i guess. ^__^