Comments on: No More Ajushi

By: silentgrayfellow

silentgrayfellow — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 05:02:57 +0000

other than ” ’shi ” , I also hear a lot of newbees saying Att-a-shi, not knowing any better. Maybe adding a “headstart’ day of Korean languange lessons to inprocessing would help. They did it in Germany when I was stationed there, and I was grateful.

By: Cedar Bristol

Cedar Bristol — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 21:41:14 +0000

One of our Katusa’s in the S3 shop wrote a memo to the batallion specifically addressing the “shi” thing. And I very clearly remember the text of the memo saying pretty much exactly what Tim said. It went like: “When you’re riding on the bus, don’t say ‘next stop SHI’. ‘Shi’ means ‘damn’. The correct word is pronounced Ah-juh-shi.”

I know things change a lot faster over there than they do in the English language so maybe they are phasing it out, but there’s no question that ajushi was the polite word for a man you don’t know then (96/97).

By: ChickenHead

ChickenHead — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 12:29:21 +0000

GI, Gi, gi…

Now, how are they going to skim the take in a nice, orderly, clean, corruption-free, prostitution-free, human trafficking-free ville?

How can they play the Off-limits Game, the Human Trafficking Protection Game, the We Don’t See the Prostitution Game, the Golf Access Game, the Black Marketing Game, the Slot Machine Game, etc, Etc, ETC?

By: GI Korea

GI Korea — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 05:33:09 +0000

In response to Brendon I think the colonial mentality is reinforced by the ville culture. The first thing new soldiers see is the sleazy ville filled with prostitutes, booze, drunks, run down buildings, and Koreans looking to rip you off. Is it any wonder why the soldiers have a low opinion of Koreans if all they see is the ville?

That is why I have always advocated on this blog to change the ville culture. Once the ville culture is changed than attitudes of soldiers will change as well. Leaders can talk all day about how great Korea is but these soldiers are going to spend 75% of their free time in Korea in the ville and that is going to influence attitudes about Korea more than anything else.

The USFK relocation to Camp Humphreys is an excellent opportunity to change the ville culture.

By: CPT KIM

CPT KIM — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:49:20 +0000

Most of Korean man should not get offended by calling them Ajushi, but Women may get offended if you called them Ajuma to unmarried single women or even younger married women. It may be easier just to call Noona or Unnee to these women. They may get kick out of it.

If you know their last name, then call them Mr. Kim or Ms. Park. They do that in Korean corporate environment.

By: Tim

Tim — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 23:48:57 +0000

It is also perfectly okay to address Korean males by their surname and adding the honorific “Shi” after that such as saying, “Han shi, Anyounghaseyo!” (Hello, Mr. Han!). This is not a practice to use for Korean females though. I think this is what they are trying to turn around to but it is also true that Koreans call each other Adjushi and Adjuma all the time. I believe it is becoming an accursed term because the younger men (some of the not married) are getting tired of being called that. There’s also the crowd of younger Americans that believe it’s perfectly okay to go around saying “Yo, shi.” or other combinations of that phrase. This may sometimes lead the Korean male to believe that he is being cursed at instead of being a called to attention. The word “shi” is sometimes used as an abbreviated profanity for the Korean term for “son-of-a-bitch.” This might be part of what is fueling all this furor.

As long as you correctly say Adjushi or Adjuma with a respectful tone and don’t shorten it or make it sound as if you are talking down to a person, I believe it is not viewed as demeaning or disrespectful.

By: Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog)

Brendon Carr (Korea Law Blog) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:05:53 +0000

you do know taxi drivers (usually) have their names clearly displayed on the dashboard, right? same with bus drivers, except over the back door (of most buses i take).

Sure, but then those names would be used surname-plus-title, which I’m guessing most soldiers don’t know, even if they could sound out the name. I’ve found that sonsaeng-nim as a form of address works wonders in conversation with any (male) stranger whose name I don’t know, an yangban as a third-party pronoun where the third party is present.

It might help things if soldiers were firmly reminded by their chain of command that Koreans aren’t colonial subjects, and if the Korean staff of the base would not be so rude, lazy, corrupt and worthy of contempt. Good luck to both sides with that effort!

By: justin

justin — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 16:26:14 +0000

you do know taxi drivers (usually) have their names clearly displayed on the dashboard, right? same with bus drivers, except over the back door (of most buses i take).

By: Haraboji

Haraboji — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:27:13 +0000

Exactly.

Also, it’s quite rude to call a Korean stranger by theri given name, which will inevitably happen with these badges.

By: waegookin

waegookin — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:14:49 +0000

Now wait a damn minute! Koreans use the term, it is part of thier culture. It is NOT an offensive term. It’s not like the “N” word or something. I am a white man and I’ve lived here for a while, and I am sometimes called ajushi… It’s a common form of address. Here is an example, by a Korean:

“Ajushi”, or uncle, is a polite title used for older men

I have always been taught by various Koreans that this is the proper term to refer to an older, or married man in Korea.

I can understand not liking the ebonic ’shi and ‘ma… I don’t like it either, especially the tone usually taken. So, perhaps USFK is overreacting. Instead of correcting the perpetrators (which would in and of itself be politically incorrect) we get this crap.

I don’t get it. I don’t know where this came from. It smacks of some sort of agenda, can’t put my finger on what they are trying to get. Or, who’s tring to get it, and what “it” is.

Signed
- Call me Ajushi!