Korean Rappers...

I had dinner with Il Bin and Jung Hee tonight. He is the Worship Leader, and she is his fiance. He's been asking my impressions and advice about the praise team. We have a new pianist and drummer as the former members completed their agreed time. The Korean church has many talented people who willingly give extra time to be here on Saturday night. This is in addition to their worship and work on Sunday. The new team is raw but eager, and I'm sure that with time and practice they will be even more polished than before.

I enjoyed my time with Il Bin and Jung Hee. They are both fluent in English. We talked about many things, and I found myself rambling on about this and that. It seems I've been bottled up for a while. I didn't realize it, but I've been missing real conversation. I talk all the time with people, but due to the language difficulties, the conversation rarely goes beyond surface niceties and basic subjects. On these rare occasions, my pronunciation relaxes, and my pace quickens with an unexpected flood of thoughts comes pouring out.

We (people of different language and culture) have much more in common than we realize. We share the same hopes and dreams...the same struggles...and the same sense of humor. I was practicing some of the Korean I've learned and I said the word, "얼마에요" (Ol-mah-eh-yo) which means "How much is it?" With my relaxed pronunciation, I was slurring the first syllable a bit. Jung Hee smiled and Il Bin explained. It sounded like I was saying "엄마에요" (O-mah-eh-yo) which means "Are you my mother?" I laughed 'til I cried. So that's why the lady at the store looked at me so strangely. I told them I had seen that one in movies but never really believed it happened. I'm a believer now.

We laughed about ourselves, our language and our cultures. I commented how refreshing it is to really enjoy our differences as positive things. On Saturday, I had tried to help Jung Hee when she was mispronouncing "song sheet". It quickly descended into chaos, so I stopped. Tonight I went back to it and only then realized they knew it was a bad word but had no idea the meaning. She turned red when I explained, and we all laughed the rest of the night it.

Il Bin shared this story with me:
Giving honor and respect to one's predecessors is a highly valued trait in Korea. American rap artists are greatly respected in Korea because they demonstrate this attitude. As one listens to American rap songs, a recurring theme immerges. If you listen closely you can hear them regularly memorialize legendary Korean rappers Yu-Nohm-Een and Yu-Nohm-Sayng. The honor goes unnoticed by American audiences who mistakenly think the words are "You know what I mean?" and "You know what I'm sayin'?"

Ok, you had to be there, but I thought it was funny.