Tag Archives: mealtime etiquette

Don’t sit at the corner of a table

Nationality: Korean
Age: 20
Occupation: Student
Performance Date: 4/23/2022
Primary Language: English
Language: korean

Background: The informant (A) is the son of two Korean immigrants. He moved to a city on the west coast when he was two years old and grew up there, but he was born in Korea and spent many summers there with his family. 

J: When you eat dinner or eat anything I guess, you’re not supposed to sit in the corner. I don’t know exactly why but it’s like bad luck and they say you’ll die earlier. it’s along the lines of it being pointy and sharp and you’ll die

Me: of the table?

J: Yeah, we have like…a circle table I guess at home but when we went out for big group dinners with friends and stuff my parents would tell me not to sit in the corner of a table. And no one else would sit in the corner either.

Context: This was told to me during an in person interview.