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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed Oct 15, 2003 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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I think sometimes as foreigners, we attribute alot more 'racism' on to Koreans than they deserve. I know tons of people who assume they are going to get lynched or something for not being white and being a foreigner.
My darker-skinned Vietnamese friend came here and LOVED KOREA! He said everyone was really friendly, the women were so easy to talk to and so friendly, etc.
Nobody knows how a person is going to react when the go to another country.. and how they are going to perceive it.. or experience it.. |
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Circus Monkey
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 12:36 am Post subject: |
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Corporal wrote: |
CM, your "opinion" was a little too generally worded. You indicated that it is inevitable that a mixed-race child growing up in Korea will be subjected to idiocy. You implied that the idiocy they would experience would be so great and constant as to make any thinking parent take their child out of Korea as soon as possible. That is the sentiment I (and I think Scott in HK) am objecting to. Who's to say our experience won't be perfectly positive? Why condemn all Koreans, when some are quite okay with the idea of mixed children. |
Oh for murphy's sake, I already said from my own experience. But very well Corporal, I shall indulge you with some specific examples at the top of my head.
1) having kids going to hagwons till 11 pm.
2) unsupervised 2-4 year olds zipping around parking lots.
3) same kids unsupervised on the playgrounds.
4) sometimes even 2-4 years olds just wandering around. A few years ago a buddy and I were walking down the street and two little kids were dangerously close to the main road. One actually stepped out and nearly got hit. Needless to say, we got picked up the kids and went into the bank where we guess where the parent was. And she could've cared less. I've got more of these kind of stories - just ask
5) regarding the whole race issue; well, maybe your kids will have a wonderful time. But I recall what one person said to me gushingly, "My friend's daughter is loved by all! They treat her like a pet." Excuse me??? Face it, the "wanggta" possibilities are exceedingly high. You don't blend in, you are out. Sorry. It has been my experience that mixed children are not widely accepted.
Again, I hope you both have positive experiences raising your kids in Korea. But for my child's long-term future, we won't be here except for visits. |
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kimcheeking Guest
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 12:46 am Post subject: |
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I tend to agree with CM on this issue though not quite as strongly. I am not planning on raising my daughter here long term either. I do want her to get some schooling, up to around grade 3, maybe 4. But if I find a better position elsewhere I will move before then.
Raising kids in this country is a risk and should only be done after very very careful consideration of the situation and any alternatives you may have. I do know of 2 families that have successfully raised mix kids here without problems and that is probably why I am more positive then other users. However, I am not about to turn a blind eye to the potential problems. |
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Dan
Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Sunny Glendale, CA
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 8:29 am Post subject: |
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well KK, I think it would be more fulfilling to their lives if they can get a background in both cultures. but if you take them away from korea at a too early age, they will forget everything and just spend their lives trying to deny that side of them. early exposure to the benefits of both leads to healthy appreciate of their biological lineage.
but thats just my take. |
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little mixed girl
Joined: 11 Jun 2003 Location: shin hyesung's bed~
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 10:45 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by little mixed girl on Fri May 09, 2008 6:48 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Medic
Joined: 11 Mar 2003
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 3:16 pm Post subject: |
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Little mixed girl where exactly is that town with families and people from different ethnic backgrounds?
Wondering if their is any documentation about how the people live and interact with each other. There must be some study on it somewhere. |
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Jensen
Joined: 30 Mar 2003 Location: hippie hell
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 3:49 pm Post subject: |
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Dan wrote: |
...if you take them away from korea at a too early age, they will forget everything and just spend their lives trying to deny that side of them. early exposure to the benefits of both leads to healthy appreciate of their biological lineage... |
It really is difficult to expose kids to some "Korean sensibilities" here. When the kids were between 5 and 9 they didn't want anything to do with speaking Korean. They wanted to talk with their mom must like they talked to their friends. Now they are getting back into it and, as a "mixed" buddy once put it, "dealing with their ethniticity" on their own initiative. |
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little mixed girl
Joined: 11 Jun 2003 Location: shin hyesung's bed~
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 7:38 pm Post subject: |
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Last edited by little mixed girl on Fri May 09, 2008 6:50 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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Posted: Thu Oct 16, 2003 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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I've known a number of southeast asian ethnic waygooks and darker-skinned waygooks as well.. and most of them are having a great time in Korea.. or basically the more or less as everyone else. Maybe not amazingly great.. but not some nightmare experience either. Just like anyone else basically it seems to me. |
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Jensen
Joined: 30 Mar 2003 Location: hippie hell
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Posted: Fri Oct 17, 2003 7:40 am Post subject: |
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I remember meeting an American soldier and his Phillipina (?) wife in Kangnam, they were looking for the Phillipines embassy, consulate, or whatever just a couple blocks away. They stopped in at a couple of local businesses and nobody would talk with them, everybody was heads down, no eye contact. No ajumas scrambling out to say "GUDA MORN-ING KKAN EYA HELPA YOOOO!!? like they did when I walked past their shops the first few times. Just suspicious, dark glances. Reminded me of what it was like looking for housing in Seoul with my wife, her a little older and dressing sloppy, and me looking like a buzz-cut GI.
Which isn't a mixed-race issue, but I'm reminded of the attitude when I read stuff on the web about Amerasians in Korea. I'm guessing the status issue is making a huge difference in why a "our" mixed kids get treated pretty decent and have family support, whereas an illegitimate mixed kid being raised in poverty in Korea gets treated like shit, especially if he/she is illegitimate.
But then most people who are impoverished get treated like shit, wherever they live. |
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