CHENNAI: Um Jung-ae may look like a foreigner amid the bustle of T Nagar (or Thyagaraya Nagar), one of Chennai’s busiest shopping districts. But inside a saree shop, she does not sound like one.“I like it very much! Can you reduce the price?” the 40-year-old asked a shopkeeper in Tamil.Her love for shopping was what first pushed her to learn the language. When she realised some local shopkeepers could not fully understand English, she turned to an Indian friend for the Tamil word for “discount”.“That’s where I started learning Tamil little by little,” she recounted.
Before moving to India last year for her husband’s work, she had not imagined Chennai would be the way it was. “Many people (may) think that India is a crowded, dirty and dangerous place,” she said.“But when I came here, there were as many beautiful and clean places as South Korea, and there were many beautiful cities. And people said (the locals) weren’t kind, but there were more … warm people than in South Korea.”The city has since entered her life in many ways, notably through her children’s stomachs.She had never eaten dosa before moving to India. Now her two sons ask for the South Indian staple once or twice a week. She has even learnt to make it at home, though only after about 10 failed attempts and a friend’s help.
