J.T. vs. The Bird (and The Word)

This post contains some foul language... viewer discretion is advised.

Every culture has a way of insulting somebody with their hand. This, to me, is a hilarious thing to think about. Every culture has non-verbal ways of doing two things: greeting people and expressing hatred. I guess these are the two most important things for us to communicate. I wonder what that says about humanity. Eh, I won’t worry about it too much, mostly because I’m typing this post during the breaks of the OSU vs. M*ch*g*n game and I don’t feel like spending the extra brain power to do it.

Anyways, the point is that every culture has a way of insulting somebody with their hands, and it’s different from culture to culture. There is a hand symbol for Korea, but I forget what it is offhand (no pun intended). Needless to say, it is not the middle finger. However, most of the younger generation know what the middle finger means, and they use it exactly the way we do. This is nice and convenient for them, as their parents either don’t know what it means or don’t care since it’s not a Korean insult. As a result, I’ve never seen the Korean hand signal, but I see the bird all the time.

Now, of course, the other kids know that WE know what it means, so when another kid flips them the old bird, they come right over to the English teachers to tell on them. The problem is that the kids know the middle finger as “F*ck You.” This, of course, is exactly what it is, but these little kids will keep coming up to me and saying, “Teacher, teacher, Ji Hyun did F*ck You!” I keep trying to explain to them that, while I appreciate that they feel insulted, they can’t use that word. They nod politely, but never get it. *sigh* Where do they learn that stuff, anyways? They’re like 8 seconds old.

This, of course, highlights a bigger issue that’s worth talking about: it’s hard to swear in a foreign language and make it sound natural. When the little kids drop an F-bomb, it always makes me smile a little inside, because it just sounds cute. One of my adult conversation class books had some minor swearing it, so I had to take that opportunity to teach my adult students a little bit about swearing. Basically, I advised them to swear sparingly, and not use anything too serious because it just won’t come out right. I can’t help thinking of my friend Charmaine Chan. I knew her for 4 years at Wooster, her English is excellent, but she could still make me giggle with the fact that, when she swore, she just sounded cute. That is, of course, not how you want to sound when you swear. This applies even moreso to some of my middle schoolers who think they can ghetto slang, making them sound like idiots to a degree that I cannot possibly express to you.

Well, on a completely different note, I was lucky enough to find that the OSU vs. M*ch*g*n game is being broadcast over the Internet on espn.com for international viewers. It costs $20 to watch, but to actually get to watch a full game of football, especially THE game, it’s definitely worth it. And as I sit here watching the game it reminds me that, even after watching a just plain awful “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” call from the refs, I miss football. More than the $20 dollars, the much bigger pain was hearing that alarm go off at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning. And, as I type this, the game is 19-21 with OSU down, so I’m hoping that my early morning/late night fun brings me a malevolent smile over the beating of the “Team Up North.”

25-21 OSU… 24 seconds left…

YES!!!!! YES!!!!!! GO BUCKS!!!!!

Quick observations: Jim Tressel=Awesome Coach, Troy Smith=Top-Notch Quarterback, Josh Huston=I really miss Mike Nugent.

J.T.=Tired, so I’ll have to see the results of the Penn State vs. Michigan State game in the morning. A big congrats to all the fellow OSU fans out there. And to Michigan? Well, I think my cute little students have something to say to you…