Korean Superstitions

I meant to post this around Halloween, but I've been busy and other stuff. Oh well. This post is about Korean superstitions in S. Korea that I've learned about during my time here.

Fan Death

This is probably one of the very first superstitions I heard when I arrived in Korea...like as soon as I met the academic director of the hakwon and saw my apartment. He told me to not sleep with my air conditioner on or a fan on. Mind you, this was the middle of August in Korea, so that wasn't happening.

It is apparently believed that sleeping with the fan on in a room without ventilation will cause hypothermia or asphyxiation. And yes, people still believe this in Korea.

I'm not sure if this is related, but I've also encountered the heat being cranked up full blast in the winter and then windows being opened. The people by the windows were freezing while everyone else was boiling. I'm not sure of their reasoning behind doing this, but I've seen lots of people do this in places where the thermostats are separate for floors or rooms.


Red Ink
This one also came to my attention while I was teaching courtesy of my students. If you write someone's (a living person's) name in red ink, they're going to die.


This origin of this one is more historical. Koreans only write names of deceased people in red ink in the family register and on the funeral name banner.



4

The number 4 in Asian cultures is similar to the number 13 in Western cultures. The Chinese word for '4' is very similar to the Chinese word for "death," so it's considered bad luck. Some buildings will skip the 4th floor altogether, or they'll use the letter 'F' instead. So if you get in an elevator in Korea, you'll often see '1', '2', '3', 'F', '5' on the buttons. The building that I work in at Samsung has 38 floors and we skip the 4th and 13th floors completely. If you watch the screen that displays the floor number, 3 and 12 stay on the screen for an unusually long time.


Hair Washing and Seaweed Soup

On the day of an important event, like taking an important test or something, you're not supposed to wash your hair or eat seaweed soup.

If you wash your hair, you'll wash away all of your knowledge. Seaweed is slippery, so if you eat seaweed soup, everything you've learned will just slip away.



Birds

In Korea, different birds have different meanings. The two that I've heard the most about are crows or ravens and magpies. If you see a crow or raven in the morning, you'll have bad luck, but if you see a magpie in the morning, you'll have good luck.



Nail Clipping

I have no idea about the origin of this one, but you're not supposed to clip your finger or toe nails at night. If the clippings fall on the floor, a mouse could eat them during the night and become your doppleganger.


Poop

Yup, poop. When I first came to Korea, stuffed toys shaped like little piles of poo were popular and I'm beginning to wonder if this superstition is why. If you dream of poop, you'll have good luck. I actually had a Korean friend tell me about a dream she had about rabbits pooping all over her apartment - and she was happy about this dream since it meant good luck. I told her it meant she was going to have a shitty year :). I'm such a good friend. I believe the origin of this one goes back to when there were more farmers in Korea. Animal poo is used as fertilizer, so the more poo you have, the more you can fertilize your crops. Ergo, better crops, better harvest, more money.


Wedding Bouquets

Ah, the wedding bouquet. You knew they'd have to have one considering the importance that the culture places on getting married. This one goes that if you catch bouquet when the bride tosses it, you need to get married within 3 months or else risk not getting married for X number of years or something. You can catch another bouquet in that 3-month period to extend your marriage time frame, though. Another one with the wedding bouquet is that whoever catches it has to burn it 100 days after the wedding to ensure that the couple will live happily ever after.


Well, that's all I've got for Korean superstitions. I'm sure I've missed some. Let me know of any I've missed or any superstitions from your own culture in the comments :)

Coffee Tweet

So, Coffee Tweet...yes that is the name of this coffee shop, and no, it's not based on Twitter. However, it does have a bird theme. This is the only Coffee Tweet that I've ever seen, so I assume it's just a privately owned little coffee shop. The sign outside says the hours are 10am - 12pm (they of course mean midnight and not noon, though). However, I think the hours are different on Sunday because I've been here around 11 am or so and they haven't been open yet.
It's located on the same block as KFC but on the other side by Donglee Pie Shop and Calvin Klein. It's also across the street from A Twosome Place. Another lovely Paint map
The prices on drinks here are typical of most coffee shops: 3000 won for an espresso - 5600 won for a cafe mocha. The difference being that they only offer one size here instead of a regular and a large. They also have a small dessert selection: maybe three or four items? A brownie, cheesecake, and a couple of other items. The prices on these are around 4000 won. They also have bagels and a pretzel. You can also get the elusive Arizona iced teas for around 3000 or 4000 won, I think. A decent selection of teas and blended drinks is also on the menu. A few set menus are also available.

The first time I came here, I ordered an iced mint mocha. The guy that runs the place was very friendly and offered to add more mint flavor for me if it wasn't strong enough, in English I might add. The mint was fine, though, however the coffee here seems to be a bit more bitter than at other places. My iced cafe mocha that I had today was also more bitter than other places.

The inside of Coffee Tweet isn't very big, but it's comfortable. One downside is it seems that voices carry too well and even with just a few people in the lobby, it seems like there is an army chattering in their high-pitched Korea.

The bird theme is very evident in the decor with a large bird cage on the wall directly across from the entrance and bird cages acting as light fixtures. There is also a row of birds on a shelf along the side wall.
Overall, it's a cozy little place, but I'm not sure how often I'll come here due to the noise level and slightly bitter coffee. The seemingly sporadic hours don't do it any favors either. However, it's a cute little place with a friendly guy behind the counter.