#21. 한강물 차냐? -- Should I just go kill myself? (just kidding)

While I was fooling around on DC Inside (it's the Korean version of Reddit, but the people are the most vicious and mean, hence it is often my website of choice!), I read a pretty sad post of one of the users, where he really messed up his chance with the girl of his dreams. He misread signals, he was too eager, and it was a disaster overall. Everyone was mocking his failure, and in his depressed state, yet clearly being a good sport and playing along with the others, he asked:

한강물 많이 차냐? (How cold is the water of Han river?)

This phrase is actually used fairly often, when someone has screwed up badly, and doesn't see any way to rectify the situation. It is, of course, spoken in jest, but the concreteness and the precision of the phrase shocks me a lot more than just saying something like "죽고싶다 (I want to kill myself)." Yet the phrase is fairly humorous, because the speaker is almost surely joking.

But people really do kill themselves a lot on the bridges of the Han river. So much to the point that the railings actually have phrases written on them, to try to discourage people from jumping into the river (and apparently it works).

It must have been so difficult for you. I know, even though you never said it out loud.

Did you remember to eat?

It seems to me that each culture has its own way of dealing with difficult subjects. The Korean way feels a lot more blunt than the North American culture that I am used to, and making the situation humorous is also something that is not often done in North America, to the point where it seems almost taboo. But I suppose that this is something that one needs to see as "틀린게 아니라 다른" (not wrong, just different.) After all, sharing a laugh in even the most miserable situation can make it seem better.