So I’ve decided to go back and learn my roots. I’ve decided I will learn to cook Korean and speak PROPER Korean, rather than my version, which I realize is the hillbilly backward version of Korean that only my parents and my brother seem to understand. Sadly, I found this out after I purchased the book Instant Korean, Your Passport to Korea.

This sudden urge to properly learn Korean came after my trip to Spain. Why was I in Spain you ask? My Scottish boyfriend’s brother was getting married in Leon. I must say Scottish/Spanish weddings are superb: guys in kilts and daggers, girls in flowing, glamorous dresses, cutting cakes with swords. What was not glamorous was me doing the Scottish Highland fling (it’s exactly what it sounds like) and then falling down the staircase because I was trying too hard to be a lady.

But back to the main point of why I’m now learning Korean. After eight years of studying Spanish, I can say that I’m pretty fluent. Never really got to test my ability, but I’m proud to say that I can carry my own weight and find out where the bathroom is. Being in Spain for the first time and actually having the opportunity to speak only in Spanish, I was nervously excited, ready to show off to my boyfriend. Oh how wrong I was. 

For some reason whenever I was asked a simple question, like “Would you like some water?” my response was “Neh, gracias.” Huh? Where the hell did that Korean “Neh” come from? I don’t even speak proper Korean, so why was I responding with it? I think the best moment was when I was in the pharmacy getting some cold medicine, and I was doing very well — speaking in English. Then they handed me the change, and next thing you know I’m bowing and saying “thank you” in Korean. Both pharmacist and cashier looked at each other and laughed. At that point, I realized I just shouldn’t speak any foreign languages, so instead I fed my boyfriend Spanish phrases and words. Everyone complimented him on his newfound Spanish.

So my conclusion to this is no matter how hard I try to learn a new language, I’m always going to go back to my roots, so it’s pointless to try to fight it. I might as well just learn to speak Korean properly. Then I can properly tell my father, “Go away old man, or I’ll leave you in the woods.