Korea: 친구 하고 졍 (Chingoo and Jeong)

The month of May saw many Seoul Mate adventures. Through these I learned about the concept of Chingoo (friends) and Jeong (ummm, hard to explain succinctly, so read on).

Chingoo

Korean culture puts a lot of emphasis on social standing. CEO to intern, parent to child, elderly to young. Even a small difference in age can alter your standing. As such, you are automatic friends (chingoo) with anyone born the same year as you.

We met as a large group (most of the Seoul Mates and most of the CIEE kids and Boram) for a picnic. At one point we were sitting in a circle and going through our ages (partially in Korean, partially in English). Whenever one of the CIEE kids was born the same year as a Seoul Mate she (none of the guys were present) excitedly exclaimed "Chingoo!!" Age is important because status does not always reveal age, especially with the men who have to serve in the army. They therefore graduate college later than is otherwise typical.

Jeong

The very next day, KaylaAnn (an All Year Program CIEE kid), Sammi (AYP), Crystal (my roommate), and Jieun (one of our Seoul Mates) went for dinner. That night I learned the meaning of jeong, which I apparently have with KaylaAnn. It's kind of a bond between two people. It isn't necessarily friendship or love, trust or understanding, but it's a bond none the less. If there is jeong then any issues in the relationship can be smoothed over. Another way it has been described to me is a husband and wife can disagree, but they stay together because of their jeong, their long history, shared memories and moments, residual love, whatever. Anyways, it's important in Korean relationships to have some level of jeong.

Sammi and Sol, my Seoul Mate group :)

Sammi and Crystal

Jieun (Crystal and KaylaAnn's Seoul Mate)
She's kinda really awesome.

KaylaAnn and me. Apparently we have Jeong

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Update: 6/13/2012: I've added pictures from the my Seoul Mate adventures!