The first time I read about “jeong” was in Jeanie Chang’s Instagram post. Jeanie is better known as NOONA’S NOONCHI, and I had the good fortune to meet her in Korea where she was leading one of her tours. For me, meeting someone who is well known for her many faceted career in connecting Kdramas to real life was a thrill. (Face it: I wanted to meet Gong Yoo, but meeting Jeanie was the closest thing to meeting a celebrity that I was going to get in Korea.)
Jeong is a Korean term that is difficult to explain in English. You can Google it as I did, but there are so many descriptions I decided to come up with my own. I just call it a connection to someone or something, much like a description of “karass” in the Kurt Vonnegut novel, “Cat’s Cradle”. It has somewhat the same meaning as Jeong but with a reference to a fictional religion. I’ve often wondered over the years who might be in my karass. Okay, Judy, you’re in. (I didn't read Cat's Cradle so this is absolute greek to me... Judy)
I had that feeling of Jeong when I went to the Hallyu exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in December. I saw two women who were trying to take a selfie, and I offered to help.... Okay, I butted in. One of the women looked familiar to me, and when she said I looked the same to her, I realized I had met her at a book signing in Oakland last April. Jeanie Chang had just published her book, “How KDramas Can Transform Your Life,” and Tracey, who had been on the first NOONA’S NOONCHI tour, had come to say hello and hear about Jeanie’s book. Wow, that sounded like why I was there!
We chatted a bit and talked about how nice it would be if we lived closer so we could talk about Kdramas more. We never exchanged contact information, though, so to run into her and start yakking about Kdramas just made my day. Jeanie Chang would say, “Jeong.” I would, too. ~ Pat
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