Friday, October 19, 2007

It's always amazing what you find in another culture

One of the vocab words for my students this week was "honey." So as we asked what the Korean word for it was, my students would say "yago." I would turn to my co-teacher and she would nod in agreement.

Later, Jen and I were talking with Sophie and Joe and they explained that "yago" is actually the Korean word for "self," (like "I" or the prefix "ego") but many older Koreans also use it as the word for their spouse. So they are in fact calling their spouse "self" or in essence "part of me."

Hearing that reminded me of Genesis 5:1 which has amazed me since I first understood what it said. It reads (loosely) that man and woman got married and God called THEIR name Adam. God sees married couples as one person. I assume that this is kind of the same way we see God too, 3 in 1.

In God's eyes, the most realistic name I could call my wife is "self" or "me." If I can beat the concept into my brain, I'm sure Eph. 5 will be much easier to follow. I'm gonna try calling her "me" and see how she takes it. You try it too and see what happens. Let me know their reaction!

3 comments:

Robert L said...

Interesting. Although the Fat, Old librarian will never experience this. It is still interesting to know. So is it getting colder in Korea? I the same ol' here in Guam.

Pam said...

Hm, never thought about it that way. I'll have to try it!

JMAC said...

That's an interesting observation. In Ephesians, God also commands man to love his wife like he loves himself, because no man hates himself. In other words, don't be a "hate-ah."