오빠 --Opa

Blessings come in strange packages sometimes. That is a globally accepted truth. I can attest that I have experienced many unusual blessings. However, I have the gumption to believe that there's an extra special (and perhaps extra strange) kind of blessing for me in Korea. That blessing is the blessing of “opas.”

The word “opa” confused me when I first came to Korea for one simple reason: “opa” means “grandfather” in German. So for several weeks I couldn't hear the word without a mental picture of an old man in my head. However, in Korean, “opa” means “older brother.” And as my favorite opa reminds me on a semi-regular basis, he is not yet an old man! (However, he does prefer that I think of him in terms of his American age, which is a couple years younger than his Korean age!)

Anyway, “opa” is the term that Korean girls use to refer to guy friends who are older than they are. Under the Korean social hierarchical system, opas have one self-imposed duty: they must watch out for the well-being of these girls (their “younger sisters”). One guy explained it to me like this: “When a girl calls you 'opa,' it's like she's putting her life in your hands. If she calls me by my name, I can ignore her requests, but if she calls me 'opa,' it convicts me somewhere inside, and I have to do what she wants.”

I've never had an older brother before. I've never known what it's like to have someone take care of me in that way. But I'm learning here. And even though I'm an independent, self-actualized American woman, I kind of like it. Opas are a special brand of people, and I am immensely grateful to have a couple on my side. :)