Archives for: April 2010, 07

04/07/10

Permalink 09:12:24 pm, by admin Email , 172 words   English (US)
Categories: ...and Takes On, Family, Friends, Travel, Korea

Dojang Chins: A Moment in Korea

At Grandmother's house, the night of the jaesa (ceremony honoring the death of Good Man's Grandfather), I slept on a "health pillow." This health pillow was filled with short straws. When I woke up in the morning, I had a dark, honeycomb-like bruise on my chin.

I joked that it looked like I'd used a Korean name stamp (dojang) on my chin. A name stamp is a stamp that acts like a legal signature in Korea. It has your name on it in pure Korean or in Chinese characters. You always use red ink with a dojang.

Several days later, it was still there. While out with Master, he asked what it was. Good Man explained for me since I didn't have the vocabulary, but Master's Daughter didn't understand. She leaned over onto my lap and poked my chin.

"아만다, 뭐예요?" Amanda, what is that?

I smiled, "도장 찍었어." I stamped a name stamp on my chin. I started stamping my chin.

Master's Daughter's eyes lit up and she started stamping her own chin. "찍어요! 찍어요!"



Stamp, Stamp



찍어요! 찍어요!

An American educator moves moved to Korea, presumably to teach English. Instead she discovers discovered that learning Korean one taekwondo class at a time is was a more captivating activity.

Somewhere along the way, she met a Good Man, fell in love, and ended up back in the States. Still doing taekwondo, still learning Korean...

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