Uptempo Global

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! ‘ 회식 ’ literally means ‘ group dining/eating out with a large group of people ’. However, it is taken to mean a ‘ company dinner ’ or ‘ staff dinner ’ .   People call it ‘ 회식 ’ when a senior or the company pays for the food and alcoholic beverages, and everyone is required to attend . At 회식 , workers are often forced to consume more alcohol than they desire and are expected to flatter their bosses. Because it is mandatory and stressful, many Koreans consider 회식 as ‘non-paying extended working hours’.  The below meme perfectly encapsulates the ‘ 회식문화(company dinner culture ) ' in Korea: https://steemit.com/busy/@showroo/6kgvfi In the meme, the boss says “Back in my day… we could never have enjoyed such a peaceful and comfortable ‘ 회식 ’ like this.”  Even though both workers appear to be smiling, the one on the left is thinking to himself, ‘I know. You’ve shared everything including your elementary school years’. Many Korean workers would...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! The word ‘ 타다 ’ can mean many different things in Korean. ‘ Ride ,’ ‘ burn ,’ ‘ dry ,’ ‘ part ,’ ‘ climb ,’ ‘ win ,’ ‘ feel/sensitive to ,’ and ‘ mix ’ are some of them. ‘ Ride ’ and ‘ burn ’ are two of the most commonly used definitions of ‘ 타다 ’. Photo by   Tim Mossholder   on   Unsplash For example, you may say ‘친구 차를 타고 왔다,’ which means ‘I rode my friend’s car here (My friend gave me a ride here). Photo by   Ricardo Gomez Angel   on   Unsplash ‘캠프파이어에 태울(to burn) 장작을 다 썼다’ means ‘We ran out of wood to burn in the campfire’. ‘안돼, 팬케이크가 타고 있어 !’ means ‘Oh no, the pancake is burning !’ Photo by   Jeremy Bishop   on   Unsplash ‘나 어제 서핑을 8시간 했더니 온몸이 탔어 ’ means ‘I surfed for 8 hours straight yesterday, so my entire body is sunburned . ’ Photo by   Giorgio Trovato   on   Unsplash ‘목이 타서 몹시 갈증이 난다’ means ‘I’m parched - My throat is so dry that I feel extremely thirsty.’ Photo by   Gio...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! Photo by   Alisa Anton   on   Unsplash The changing color of the autumn leaves is a beautiful natural phenomenon around the world. However, autumn seems to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia in many people. It could be because the days are getting shorter, plants and trees are slowing down their growth cycles, or summer activities no longer serve as a distraction from internal contemplation. Both sadness and courage can be natural reactions to the weather changing. “ 가을 타나봐 ” is a popular autumn song in Korea.  가을 means autumn , and 타다 usually means to ‘ ride ’. However, 타다 can also mean ‘ to be affected by the weather ’. In Korean, it’s typically used for 가을 .  가을 타다 means ‘ to be sentimental due to the autumn weather . ’ 가을타나봐 means “ I think the autumn weather makes me sentimental ” 계절은 돌고 돌아 돌아오는데 The seasons come and leave 사랑은 돌고 돌아 떠나버리고 Love comes and leaves 추억을 돌고 돌아 멈춰 서있는 I’m still standing here after reminiscing a...

Hello, this is Uptempo Marketers! Photo by   The Creativv   on   Unsplash When out drinking with friends, Westerners usually ask ‘if anyone wants another round of alcohol’. They normally stay in one place for the entire night, unless they go bar hopping. Koreans, on the other hand, generally move from one place to the next, typically from a restaurant to a bar and then to karaoke. This act is referred to as ‘ rounds(차) ,’ and is usually divided into three categories: drinking with meals, drinking after meals, and drinking late at night .   Ex)  A: 우리 다 먹었나? 2차 갈까? A: Is everyone done eating? Anyone up for the second round(2차) ?   B: 2차 로 어디에 갈거야? B: Where are we going for 2차?   C: 저번주에 갔던 포차 어때? C: How about that Pocha that we went to the other week? 포차(Pocha) is a type of tent bar that serves low-cost, high-quality street food, generally with traditional Korean alcoholic beverages like soju and makgeolli . Koreans usually visit 포차 as their 2 n...