I accidentally offended my friend's grandma by talking about her new apartment

I was visiting my friend's family in Seoul last year and his grandma had just moved into a smaller place. I said something like, 'It must be nice to have a fresh start in a new home.' The whole room went quiet. Later, my friend pulled me aside and explained that in Korea, it's a big taboo to openly congratulate someone on a new house or talk about it too much. The belief is it can attract bad energy or make the house spirits jealous, which might bring bad luck. I had no idea. I was just trying to be nice and supportive. It was a real eye-opener about how something so normal where I'm from can be totally wrong somewhere else. Has anyone else run into a simple house-related comment that was a big no-no in another culture?

2 comments

2 Comments

harperwright2d ago

Oh man, that's rough. I just apologized a bunch and bought her some nice fruit the next day, which my friend said was a safe peace offering. It felt super awkward but she warmed up after that.

reese_chen2d ago

My aunt from Manila told me you should never give a housewarming gift that's sharp, like knives or scissors. It's seen as cutting the good luck or friendship. She said a new neighbor gave her a nice kitchen knife set and her mom made her return it with a coin so it was "bought" instead of a gift. Makes you think about all the little rules we don't know. What's the weirdest gift rule you've heard?