Notice that all three times you were called 아줌마 it was either by a young child or someone talking about you to a young child. In the eyes of a young child, pretty much anyone over the age of twenty is an 아줌마 or 아저씨. Have you ever heard a young child even use the word 아가씨? It just doesn't happen.
Not long after I came to Korea (I think I was 23 at the time, Western age), I was in a park and a bunch of kids were running around called me 미국 아저씨. Granted, it is more traumatic for a woman to be called 아줌마 then for a man to be called 아저씨, but still, it's all relative.
...i think we should rally up and fight for a "middle-ground" label in Korea!
I'd feel a bit weird being called an "ah-gah-ssi" at my 30+ age. But like you, "ajumma" is a bit MUCH! Isn't "ajumma" 40+? And I *know* I don't look 40.
how about...ah-gahmma?
haha.
Well, Charles already beat me to the punch, but I'll just second his comment that it was most likely because of the age difference between you and the kids in question that you were called ajumma. I was at my aunt's house last year (I was 28 at the time), and my relatives were trying to figure out what my cousin's 4-year old son was supposed to call me. As it turned out, my cousin's wife wound up calling me agashi while her son called me ajumma.
Hmmm, "ahgamma" is kinda cute...
But since I don't live in Korea, being called "ma'am" all the time is really starting to get to me. I guess these chapters open and close in one's life with a certain amount of finality...
Commenting by HaloScan
