Thursday, June 27, 2013

Let's Talk About Rings the Korean Way


I rarely wear jewelry and somehow I am not really that interested in them but this thing about the ring fascinates me.

I never heard about a so called couple ring until I meet my Korean students.
I thought couple ring is the wedding ring but it turned out to be completely different thing.
Here's the story: If a man and a woman became exclusively dating at least for a month, the man is expected and therefor oblige to buy a couple ring. YES! one for her and one for him and they tend to be pricey. (the evil in me is thinking, if only I am pretty then I would go on a BF collection to collect a ring I could sell, after all I only need a month to get that ring.. Kidding)




actually I wonder what happen to that couple ring after they became engage. They sure will change it to an engagement ring of course. Well I head that the girl will put the couple ring in another finger and will put the engagement ring to replace it. But the catch is that there is no specific finger the couple can put the couple ring, it's their own choice. Well it still can be seen as fashion and not something that symbolize something.


oh well here comes the ring that I know of. Wedding ring, symbol of being taken and not up for grabs. according to my students the couple will now replace the rings that they previously wore with this final ring.

I was thinking! wow you cant be a playboy in Korea unless you are rich (not that I agree with guys being playboys) Just imagine buying pricey ring every month just in case you want to change GF every month. Sigh!


Some koreans words I would like to share:

Older sister
*If you are a boy - Nuna
*If you are a girl - Unni

Older Brother
*If you are a boy - hyung
*If you are a girl - Oppah (but then again if your BF is older than you, you can call him Oppah)

Younger sis/bro
*Male/female can call them dongseng.

and here's my favorite
Hello
*face to face - anyong (if its older - anyong haseyo)
*Over the phone - Yoboseyo (seyo is polite way, mostly used to older people) But be careful cause without the seyo and just yobo it would mean a totally different thing, it would mean "Honey" and not just honey, it's only used by couples who are legally married. If you are not married then you can use "jagi or jagiya" which is so sad cause jagiya is the name of my dog. :(  T.T

28 comments:

  1. What will they think of next. The kids here call them friendship rings or something like that.
    I don't wear jewelry very often either. I am married but don't wear a wedding ring. I just find no use for one.

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    1. yep when I was young there is something we call a friendship bracelet too hehe :) but that is often times handmade by us :)

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  2. Interesting! Wow, I wish I could get a swanky ring after a month of dating :)

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  3. It's interesting to read about other customs. My sister-in-law is Korean. She taught us some naughty words of course! Thanks for sharing those words. It's funny I thought unni was for sister. Like she would refer to her older Korean women friends as "unni" or so I thought!

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    1. they often use it to an older female hehe :) but originally its for an older sister :)

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  4. Couple ring seems interesting to me haha, Nice to know about Korean traditions. thanks for sharing some good words and great information ;), I was just familiar with oppa gangnam style :D

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    1. I was actually amazed when my students told me that they hates that song haha :)

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    2. Really?? haha that's strange because that song is famous worldwide

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    3. it is hehe... I guess there is something about the meaning that they dont like that much hehe :)

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  5. Wow this is a very interesting post. At least I can say I have learned one new thing today :)

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  6. Very interesting. I love learning about other cultures.

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  7. Very interesting. My daughter just got back from a trip to Thailand, I will ask her if she has heard of this. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Not sure if they have something like this in Thailand.

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  8. I love learning more about other cultures! Can I please also get a fancy ring after one month - oh wait. I'm married already - Boo!

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  9. Oh that is really interesting and such a sweet thing. x

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  10. I love rings! I have two wedding ring sets-made the hubby get me a larger diamond later after we got married. Now I like the white gold. I love the cultures ways as well!

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    1. you are so lucky... rings are some kind of investment these days to some culture..

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  11. Oh my! My daughter has been dating her boyfriend for about eight months. Maybe he needs to get her a couple ring. :)

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  12. Wow that is crazy that only after 1 month they are expected to buy a ring! The price of gold is outrageous right now I just can't imagine doing this. It is so interesting how cultures vary beliefs when it comes to relationships.

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    1. agree... this could be a good business hehe :)

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  13. Wow! Love reading about other cultures.... thank you so much for sharing this story. Very interesting but also I would think it would force the "couple" to be more serious about really getting to know some basics about each other during that first month so they can decide if they really want to get "that serious" or not!

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    1. agree because there is no such thing as courtship in korean culture :)

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