A few weeks ago a little boy in our church turned six years old. Little Joseph was so proud. I asked him, "How old are you, Joseph?¡± He shouted "six" and then he held up both hands to show me his age. Please follow my directions. Put down this newspaper and hold up your hands to show me "six years old¡± like you think Joseph did. If you acted like a Korean six-year-old, you held up all five fingers on the left hand and stuck up the thumb on your right hand. Am I right? I noticed this because an American child would hold up all five fingers on the left hand and the index finger on the right hand. That how I show "six years old¡±. I mentioned this observation to an adult standing next to me. Joseph overheard this conversation and the next time I asked "Joseph, how old are you?¡±, he held up six fingers like an little American  his right index finger instead of his right thumb.

I talked with some Koreans about this. They showed me how Koreans count. It's right thumb first, then the other fingers on the right hand. Then it's the left thumb followed by the other fingers of the left hand. They kept on counting from eleven to twenty by lowering the same fingers in the opposite direction. I never learned that. I asked one of the Korean men, ¡°how about in Baseball. How does a Korean umpire count three strikes? Does he hold up his thumb for strike one?¡± He laughed then thought for a while and said, ¡°no, he counts like an American". I said, "Why, he's Korean"¡±. He replied, "But it's an American game so he counts like an American¡±.

I find it so interesting that different cultures use gestures in different ways. I remember reading a book as a teenager about cultural gestures. There was a comment about head shaking. The author said that most people in the world do recognize an up-and-down head shake as "yes¡± and a side-to-side head shake as "no¡±. But this gesture is not universal. Many people on our planet cannot interpret these gestures that are so ingrained in me that I do not even think about them. Some hand gestures are quite culturally specific. There is a common hand gesture used among Americans that signals "insult or "defiance". It is sometimes called ¡°the bird" or "flipping you off¡±. If an American raises a middle finger toward you it is obvious sign of insult.

This form of hand insult was much in the news in January of 1968 when the USS Pueblo was seized by North Koreans off the shore of Wonson harbor. The Communist North accused this Navy ship of spying for the Americans. For nearly one year eighty-two American sailors were held captive by North Koreans. During their imprisonment the crew signed papers, admitting the ship's intrusion, apologizing, pledging to cease all future action, and acknowledging the truth of confessions obtained during captivity. To publicize the their prize catch, the North Koreans published propaganda photographs of these unhappy Americans. But these sailors had the last laugh. For months of their captivity every photograph of the American captives shows a middle finger raised toward the camera. (see more pictures at
 http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/captivity/goodluck.html ) .

The poor North Koreans did not know that they were being insulted! They published all these pictures with the sailors "flipping off¡± their captors! Of course the communists noticed this hand gesture, but the clever Americans said that this was the "Hawaiian Good Luck Sign¡±. A captive sailor reported later ¡°The finger became an integral part of our anti-propaganda campaign. Any time a camera appeared, so did the fingers.¡± The next time an angry American flashes a raised middle finger at you, maybe you can politely thank him for showing you the "Hawaiian Good Luck Sign¡±.