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<v Teodor Halvorsen>This is The Long Vowel. I'm Teodor Halvorsen.

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<v Odile Marchetti>I'm Odile Marchetti. Our guest runs the floor of a busy restaurant in Busan: Ok Ha-eun. Ha-eun, the word, please.

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Nunchi. Nun is the eye. And nunchi is, how to say, measuring a room with your eyes. Knowing what people feel before they say it.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>So, tact?

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Tact is what you do. Nunchi is what you notice first. You can have nunchi and still decide to be rude.

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<v Odile Marchetti>How do you use it in a sentence?

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<v Ok Ha-eun>We say your nunchi is fast. That's a compliment. Or, he has no nunchi. That's the guest who keeps telling a long story while everyone is putting on their coats.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>I may have been that guest.

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Everybody has been that guest once.

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<v Odile Marchetti>Where does it matter most in your job?

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Everywhere. A table goes quiet; maybe they are arguing, so I don't go and ask about dessert. Somebody looks at the door twice; they want the bill, but they are too polite to wave. A grandfather is pouring for everyone; I bring the bottle to him, not to the young man who ordered it.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>Nobody told you any of that.

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<v Ok Ha-eun>No. That's the point. If you have to be told, it's too late.

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<v Odile Marchetti>Can you teach it?

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Slowly. When new staff start, I don't give them rules. After the shift I ask, what did table seven want? Not what they ordered: what they wanted. After a few weeks they start to see it.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>Do you switch it off at home?

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<v Ok Ha-eun>Never. My husband says I read him like a menu.

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<v Odile Marchetti>Ok Ha-eun, thank you.

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<v Teodor Halvorsen>That was nunchi, and the end of our first season. Season two goes outside.