Handsome guy. Thanks, you too.

Whether or not I’m a good looking guy is very debatable. But every now and then I get complements on my looks from complete strangers. I’ll just be walking down the street and someone will greet me with, “Oh…handsome guy!,” and then walk off. If I didn’t know better, I might try riding the wave of my own inflated ego for a while. But early on, I discovered that the “handsome guy” complement is one nearly any white guy in Korea can expect to get on a regular basis. Strange but true. Back in the states I’d be little weirded out if random guys on the street came up and said that to me, but here it’s becoming commonplace. Maybe it’s evidence of a massive practical joke that some designer of public school English curriculum decided to play on the Korean populace. “Oh, yeah…it’s REALLY common for American guys to say that to strangers. Let’s put it in ALL the books from elementary up through high school. (He he he).” Then again, maybe it’s just part of the broader cultural phenomenon of giving frank commentary on other people’s appearances. Unfortunately, the commentary isn’t all bright and sunshiny. The day after I got a haircut, my students told me that I looked like a monkey…or a big baby…with a big nose. So much for my ego THAT day.

All this to say, I’m still getting used to the barrage of blunt opinions that are flung my way fairly often. And for a while I didn’t really know how to handle the “handsome guy” complement. But then I figured I’d just say, “Thanks, you too.” And when I went out for dinner with some co-workers, I had my chance.

The owner of the restaurant was a bit tipsy and in true Korean fashion, he told me I looked handsome. So I tried to return the complement. Apparently, I didn’t use the correct honorific word for “you,” and everyone got a kick out of it. Then he wanted me to swear off any other type of alcohol from now on, and only drink macoli (Korean rice wine). And then I found out that the words “Thanks, you too” are magic…well, kind of…at least when you say them to a tipsy Korean guy who’s feeling generous.