In 2012, I moved to South Korea. I stepped off the plane in Seoul with a handful of Korean phrases in my pocket. Within days, one of them — “joesonghamnida” (I’m sorry) — was earning me confused looks everywhere I went.

Getting around in a massive metropolis like Seoul was nothing like Colorado’s Front Range where I’d lived most of my life. There were oceans of people. I was bumped, jostled, and occasionally shoved on subways, stairwells, and streets. On these occasions, I would instinctively apologize, “joesonghamnida.” After yet another commute full of strange looks, I asked a coworker what was going on, and he shared that in Korean culture, it was strange to apologize for an everyday occurrence like bumping into someone. It was understood that this would happen in a place with such hig

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