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[그렉의 한국 엿보기] Over Here
"Yogiyo!"
The word sounds harsh and a bit aggressive and creates no response. We're at a samgyeupsal restaurant and have just run out of cabbage leaves to wrap the grilled meat. My friend tries to contact the waitress again: louder this time, "Yogiyo!!" everywhere, the waitstaff are busy helping other customers. Finally one waitress hears my friend's distress call and hurries over to our table. After our order has been filled I ask my friend the translation of the word he used to summon the waitress. The literal translation is "over here," and it's the same thing you might tell a cabdriver when you want to stop. At first it sounded too informal to me, too direct and slightly rude and I was uncomfortable using it. However, at every restaurant I went to I would hear it ricocheting around the room and nobody seemed to mind.
In America, the protocol for attracting the attention of a waiter or waitress is somewhat different and more oblique. Of course the quality of restaurant makes a difference; however, in general it can be more difficult to beckon a waitress. In an average restaurant, one waitress is assigned to your table. She is your ambassador to the kitchen and you must negotiate every exchange through her. Often, she is serving other tables in addition to yours, so you must wait patiently for the right moment to catch her attention. Eye contact can work best. If this fails to work, a simple hand signal or wave can call her over. Finally, if none of the indirect methods succeed, a simple "excuse me" when she is walking past your table almost always does the trick. Most of the time though, the waitress will check up on you on her own accord or pick up on one of many other cultural signs that you might be ready for her help: such as closing the menu when you're ready to order.
 [그렉의 한국 엿보기] Over Here 청취
here, in Korea, those same signals also work and "yogiyo" seems to be closest to an English "excuse me." Nowadays though I've found one extra tool, or invention, that helps to improve the response time, the "yogiyo bell" usually positioned at one end of every table. As waiters and waitresses often seem free to help any table in the restaurant, having this device at your disposal can alert a staff member and send him or her scurrying from one side of the restaurant to the other immediately. There is no need to wait until the proper moment when you can formally make some kind of contact. These days I have little trouble bellowing out a strong "yogiyo!" However, when I have a choice, I usually ring the bell.
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 / 입력시간: 2008. 05.20. 15:32
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