Do You Speak English?

In South Korea that answer was often a resounding "yes".  That's not
totally true actually, the answer was often "no", but then people
would go on to have lengthy conversations with us in English.  We
learned fairly quickly that starting a conversation in English was
more effective than asking first.

What struck us as most interesting about many of these conversations
in English was what it seemed to reveal about Korean as a language.
Americans often hedge when you ask them about something.  You could
this or you could do that.  You can take the interstate, but there's
also a back road or a parkway if highway driving doesn't suit you.

I am not a linguist, but spending a month speaking English with many
South Koreans from different parts of the country revealed a much more
emphatic way of speaking.  They don't hedge.  When we asked what to do
or where to go in a certain town, we were given a precise list, an
order in which that list should be completed and how to most
efficiently complete that list.  "Let me make you a plan..." was a
phase often uttered.  The first few times we had these interactions, I
would remark to Rodney that people were helpful, but that they seemed
a bit instructive, bordering on rude.

We came to believe that this is not the case at all.  It is our
totally unscientific guess that Korean is a declarative language
without the cornucopia of modifiers and softeners that Americans so
often employ.  It was kind of refreshing.  We asked and we always got
a direct answer.

The thing that sealed the deal for us on this theory was our trip to
the Leeum Samsung Museum of Contemporary Art.  Leeum is a great museum
in an beautiful area of Seoul. It is also unlike almost any other
museum experience I have had. The museum is divided in 3 buildings,
and you present your ticket at each to enter. As your ticket is
scanned the staff person tells you where to begin your tour of museum.
This did not seem so strange, but then you arrive at the prescribed
floor and are met by a second staff person who beckons at the first of
many arrows that indicated the path by which you are to view the works
of art. The whole of your journey through the museum is directed by a
series of these arrows and often accompanied with gentle gestures by
the staff if you seem unsure of where to go next. Again, no hedging.
A path laid out to follow.

Side Note:  We have returned to China.  This is land of spotty and
slow Internet.  A sad state of affairs after coming from South Korea,
the most wired place ever.  Tons of pictures of Shanghai have been
taken.  Uploading to resume as soon as possible.