New Years Kiss

Date: 1/1/11

So, time for Culture Lesson:

In America--we all watch the ball drop, half way sing "Old Ang Sing" (Because who actually knows the worlds--their in Scott or Old English or something like that), and kiss your partner.  But....if you don't have a girl/boy friend, then you usually kiss a stranger.

I had confessed this to Sarah and Freddie the night before--and they were quiet captivated by the idea.  In South Africa, you air kiss everyone's cheeks.  I think it's similar in New Zealand, because Scott and Kat were also bemused.

Anyway, this turned into Sarah and Freddie trying to get me to make a "Free Kiss at Midnight" sign all night.  Which, I never got around to.  And, throughout the night, we would all mention "oh, Midnights almost here!  Maggie, get ready to pucker up."

At one point in the evening, I even asked the crowd of Koreans around me if anyone was single, explaining the custom.  The whole group pointed to a cute Korea guy and made "Oooh"-ing sounds.   The poor guy turned about 17 shades of embarrassed red.   Then, "mysteriously" the crowd soon separated us from this group of friend Koreans.

After that I didn't put much effort into finding a friend.  And News Years came and went, I was sad not to get a kiss.  I went back to the Balloon Fighters and sort of sulked about it.  Which prompted Kat to pop up and say, "Well, let's go find someone!" (Which, btw, was not what I was expecting!)

She grabbed my arm and we headed back into the crowd.

I should point out here that I am not one of those foreigners who is trying to get X-many notches in my bedpost during my time in Korea.  There is certainly a subculture here that will facilitate that, if it is your wish.  But not me, no thanks.  So, this was a little out of character for me.  I don't go around trying to kiss guys--Korean or otherwise....

So, when Kat walks up to a pair of guys and proceeds to explain the American custom, its my turn to turn red.  This is basically how we dumbed down the culture:

Kat: "My Friend.  American.  Migok. [Korean for American]  In America, at New Year....kiss. *kissing sound*  You kiss my friend?"

We went up to one guy and he said yes, to my surprise!  But it was weird....

So, Kat grabs my arm and takes me to another pair.  At this point, a fellow American Patricia (A friend of Scott and Katrina's, and the one who told us about this CountDown event) had joined us.  And she speaks Korea--she's actually the best foreign speaker I have meet.  She explains to the pair about the American custom. This guy's friend gets really into it....laughing and grabbing the guys camera.  Which is the perfect opportunity for Kat to grab my camera.

I love this picture sequence.  It sums up the next minute or so perfectly.

This is: "Hi, yes, I know, this is a weird custom.  But Americans are strange.  So, do you mind?"

This is the "American attacking Foreigner" photo.

 This is the Success.

And of course, Kat was quiet helpful.  She says, "oh, wait!  That one was blurry!  Can you do it again?"

So, I got my New Years Kiss after all.