Correct me if I am wrong, but in Korea there seems to be a difference between the “yuhja” (or Korean woman) and your average woman.  I don’t completely get it myself but I’m trying.  “There’s nothing better than a good ‘yuhja'”, says 44 yo office manager, Mr. Kim.  “Nowhere else in the world will you find yuhja, but you can find women anywhere else in the world.¡±  I think what he means is that Korean women are unique in their nature. 

What is it that makes these yuhjas so different from their feminine counterparts around the world?  What makes them so special at what they do?  Is it the way they “cheng-gyuh” a mans life?  Is it the way they cut fruit for their guests?  No doubt for many centuries, our yuhjas have suffered.  In most cases because of evil-outsiders, but also many times because we have been such ³ª»Û ³ð’s.  She has come quite a ways from the past and has evolved into a beautiful creature. 

But there is definitly something special about our women.  How else can you explain the phenomenon of yuhjas excelling in the world of sports today?  Just look at all the great woman golfers and archers in the Korea.  It¡¯s very telling of the yuhja nature.  Is it that yuhja’s have more of a propensity to be accurate?  And if that is the case, then would that imply “Korean women are always right?”

27 yo Ms. Kim believes the yuhjas excel because of the very culture of Korea and what they were taught since being a little child. “¿©ÀÚ´Â Â÷ºÐÇÏ°í Á¶½ÅÇØ¾ß ÇÑ´Ù”, she says.  In other words, since they were little girls, their mothers have been telling them they must be calm, quiet, composed and careful of their conduct….if not everything else!  They live their lives around this saying.

The namja and yuhja are like yin and yang.  The western version of men and women are like yin and yin.  The women want to be men.  The women want to do just as men do.  But in Korean culture, it is different.  “Korean women do not want to think like men or act like men.  They want the right to be women in the FULLEST sense of the word.  They also want to be equal partners with men in all things, but within the context of their feminine nature.  They prefer a clearly defined ‘woman’s world’ that is on an equal footing with the ‘men’s world”  (1)

In the same sense, I heard literal translations from Korean to English do not exist.  Let’s go back to Mr. Kim again, “Western definition of friend is very different from Korean definition of chingoo (Ä£±¸). That is why you do not understand Korean movie, ‘Chingoo’, like I understand.”  I thought I did understand it!  In all his great brutal honesty, I do believe Mr. Kim is not taking anything away from the value of what a western style chingoo is. I just think he sees friends are made differently in Korea.  

I still do not understand everything I want to understand, but I can say I do understand a tad bit more than I did yesterday.  It’s kinda like what Eumak012 commented on in my last post.  “it’s easy to make american music. all u gotta be is be american and write music.” (2)

(1)  De Mente “Korea’s Business and Cultural Code Words”, pg. 445, 2004

(2) Eumak012 http:/www.xanga.com/item.aspx?user=RobAce412&tab=weblogs&uid=331505032