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Who's Your Daddy?
Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.
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 Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2012 4:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Selfishness seems to be the root of most of the annoyances I have here. |
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NilesQ
Joined: 27 Nov 2006
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:56 am Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
| NYC_Gal 2.0 wrote: |
I hate being followed around with about a foot of breathing space.
My husband recently took me to buy a new handbag at Shinsegae, and the salesgirls at the majority of the nicer shops were so close that I could hardly see the bags. I walked out of most of the shops, so I can see where that can get really annoying. Those salesgirls lost a really good commission. . |
Yeah..they really don't get it.
I can't even think straight with someone in my face let alone make shopping decisions.
Worst are the guy attendants who follow you round sucking their teeth.
It just drives me insane.
I either totally ignore them or tell them I'm just looking. Often that works, but if it doesn't I will just leave the store. |
I'm not a huge fan of Korean retail culture, but remember - it isn't aimed at us. Korean customers get pissed if someone isn't fawning all over them when the set foot in a store. That's a part of their idea of a good shopping experience.
My experience is that the happiest foreigners in Korea dont see the majority of the stuff discussed in this thread as good or bad, just different. I don't agree with how animals, in general, are treated here, but Koreans view cats the same way westerners do rats. Through that lens, I understand poisioning them.
I'm not an apologist who says everything is wonderful in Korea. But everything is the way it is for a reason. Those reasons change, and the way things are change, but nothing is just a blind accident. I have seen massive changes in Korea since I first arrived in 1999. The change seems to be happening faster every year. I meet a lot of Koreans in Toronto where I live now and am impressed at the difference in the attitudes of young people then and now. Korea is like an abusive parent; it ain't perfect but it's still your Mom. |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 4:48 pm Post subject: |
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It's the countless annoyances (micro-aggressions) that one encounters every single day that build up. Let me mention my morning today.
- I wake up early because of my naighbors slamming their doors. Can't get back to sleep, so I'm underslept.
- nasty smell from the glues used to make the furniture in my apartment makes me mildly nauseous.
- sit down to eat breakfast but lose my appetite as ajoshi outside loudly and disgustingly coughs up a loogie
- go into the shower, but not enough hot water
- head out to work, walk past the poor dog tied up for his entire existence
- endure stares of neighbors
- endure the astonishing amount of exhaust fumes that come out of every single vehicle that passes me as I proceed to the bus stop
- mild anxiety attack as I step off the sidewalk onto the crosswalk, knowing that I'm taking my life in my hands
- cars flying past me within inches as I use the crosswalk
- get to other sidewalk only to have to dodge autobikes there
- get to the bus stop; ajumma waiting for the bus walkes over to an unoffending tree and spits a loogie at its base and covers ity up with soil using her foot
- get on the crowded, heated bus and people are sitting at the outer seat with the window seat unoccupied; people are standing but noone has the decency to move over; I indicate that I would like to sit down, but rather than stand up or move over I have to squeeze through two inches in front of her
- bus driver thinks he practicing for the grand prix; drives like a maniac and thinks that speed bumps are there for decoration; just fly over them at 60 mph
- arrive at my bus stop only to be thrown about the cabin as ajoshi screeches to a jolting stop
- endure another crosswalk only to almost run down by a friggin truck flying around the corner without slowing down one bit
- etc etc etc
All this before 8:30am. And I haven't even started my work day yet!
No wonder we drink. |
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motiontodismiss
Joined: 18 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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| NilesQ wrote: |
I'm not a huge fan of Korean retail culture, but remember - it isn't aimed at us. Korean customers get pissed if someone isn't fawning all over them when the set foot in a store. That's a part of their idea of a good shopping experience.
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I think it's the whole twisted confucian "You're below me so you should serve and fawn over my every need" mentality. I personally hate this culture and will leave if I'm followed that way.
Now Macy's in the US goes the other way but I prefer that. |
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NYC_Gal 2.0
Joined: 10 Dec 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I don't dislike helpful sales staff, but I don't want someone blocking my view of the merchandise. That's just stupid. |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Scorpion wrote: |
It's the countless annoyances (micro-aggressions) that one encounters every single day that build up. Let me mention my morning today.
- nasty smell from the glues used to make the furniture in my apartment makes me mildly nauseous.
-- go into the shower, but not enough hot water
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Doesn't seem like a micro agression or a Korean thing. Looks like it's a problem with your apartment.
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| - get to the bus stop; ajumma waiting for the bus walkes over to an unoffending tree and spits a loogie at its base and covers ity up with soil using her foot |
Don't see the problem here.
The rest I can relate to. |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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| NilesQ wrote: |
| Julius wrote: |
| NYC_Gal 2.0 wrote: |
I hate being followed around with about a foot of breathing space.
My husband recently took me to buy a new handbag at Shinsegae, and the salesgirls at the majority of the nicer shops were so close that I could hardly see the bags. I walked out of most of the shops, so I can see where that can get really annoying. Those salesgirls lost a really good commission. . |
Yeah..they really don't get it.
I can't even think straight with someone in my face let alone make shopping decisions.
Worst are the guy attendants who follow you round sucking their teeth.
It just drives me insane.
I either totally ignore them or tell them I'm just looking. Often that works, but if it doesn't I will just leave the store. |
I'm not a huge fan of Korean retail culture, but remember - it isn't aimed at us. Korean customers get pissed if someone isn't fawning all over them when the set foot in a store. That's a part of their idea of a good shopping experience.
My experience is that the happiest foreigners in Korea dont see the majority of the stuff discussed in this thread as good or bad, just different. I don't agree with how animals, in general, are treated here, but Koreans view cats the same way westerners do rats. Through that lens, I understand poisioning them.
I'm not an apologist who says everything is wonderful in Korea. But everything is the way it is for a reason. Those reasons change, and the way things are change, but nothing is just a blind accident. I have seen massive changes in Korea since I first arrived in 1999. The change seems to be happening faster every year. I meet a lot of Koreans in Toronto where I live now and am impressed at the difference in the attitudes of young people then and now. Korea is like an abusive parent; it ain't perfect but it's still your Mom. |
The question is, is it there for a good reason? |
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atwood
Joined: 26 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| fermentation wrote: |
| Scorpion wrote: |
It's the countless annoyances (micro-aggressions) that one encounters every single day that build up. Let me mention my morning today.
- nasty smell from the glues used to make the furniture in my apartment makes me mildly nauseous.
-- go into the shower, but not enough hot water
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Doesn't seem like a micro agression or a Korean thing. Looks like it's a problem with your apartment.
| Quote: |
| - get to the bus stop; ajumma waiting for the bus walkes over to an unoffending tree and spits a loogie at its base and covers ity up with soil using her foot |
Don't see the problem here.
The rest I can relate to. |
Me neither. She didn't spit on the sidewalk, but in a place where the soil would absorb the sputum and its germs and even covered it up. I very rarely see such thoughtfulness in Korea. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2012 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I'd be far happier if people would look for places like that to spit. |
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John Junior
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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| The Floating World wrote: |
Like jfromtheway said, it is the fixed mindset that will always form a lasting impression with me.
I have one advanced student who is ultra friendly, curious about other cultures and has lived in Saigon (HMC) for 2 years. He is 15 yrs old.
We were talking casually about Vietnam the other day and I was asking him what it was like etc. I was surprised at first when he was saying it was exciting and beautiful etc. We were just having a nice time and the atmosphere was good.
Then this 'change' went over him. Like someone had possessed his body and mind. His face went sad and serious and he said in a monotone voice as though reading a memorised script
'But their food is often not spicy enough for a Korean. A Korean cannot ever live happily in Vietnam.'
And then he went silent and got on with his written work, leaving me feeling like 'eh, wtf just happened?' |
ha ha ha 
1. Korean immaturity.
2. Comparing Koreans to Italians. (That is an insult to Italians)
3. Special consideration of a Korean before a foreigner.
4. The fact that it is not the West and I will never get used to it.
6. Terrible coffee.
7. Korean male jealousy of foreigner males.
8. Demonic male teens that yell out ''Weegook, lets follow him'' like a fly on faeces may I add.
9. Korean inabilty to maintain a semblance of civility under the influence of alcohol.
10. Alcoholism.
11. South Korea.
12. Socially retarded Koreans.
13. Their ethnocentrism. (Ditto)
14. Spitting while trying to enjoy food.
15. Koreans treating me like a space monkey. |
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John Junior
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Julius wrote: |
- The shocking attitudes simmering just below the surface
- traffic lights that take ten minutes to change
-The rudeness to foreigners, teachers and strangers
- The hostility and unhelpfulness of show/olleh service staff
- coffee shops that don't stock milk or cream
- the way terrible behaviour is endlessly tolerated but never corrected
- restaurants that have no salt or pepper handy
- Hot dogs covered with too much dressing
- Sandwiches with 100 layers of lettuce
- the scooters coming at you on the sidewalks and pedestrian crossings
- the never-ending resentful scowl on the faces of ajosshis
- the tolerance of awful behavior by wonjangnims just to keep students
- The subordination of everything to monetary profits
- The tiny-minded village mentality
- The fact that even well-travelled koreans barely change their mindset
- The lack of privacy in terms of others affairs
- The abuse of anyone you are in a position to get away with
- The lack of deeper values
- The superficial judgementalism
- The bold expression of bodily noises- teeth-sucking, slurping, etc
- The snapping photos of every minor experience
- The arrogance of people with money but zero experience of the world
- The general lack of interest in causes beyond the self or the family
- The gridlock and inability to do anything on public holidays
- The little puddles of sick on the pavement every morning
- The screams and hollering outside your window at 3am
- The 40 minutes of commercials every time your TV show takes a break
- The invasion of personal space
- The deliberate acts of provocation or irritation disguised as accidental
- The jostling, bumping and shoving
- The traipsing obstructive dawdle that blocks your path
- The unabashed intrusive stares
- The transitory nature of everything- friendships, jobs, relationships.
- The impossibility of finding a subway seat for most journeys |
You are on the money
I forgot. K-POP, what a load of money spinning commercial trash. |
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Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| darkjedidave wrote: |
| Its the Confucius mentality that irks me. The shock and horror people have when I wont brown-nose them simply because they make more money than me gets me every time. |
Actually, Confucianism holds that the pursuit of money is vulgar, and money itself is spiritually dirty. Merchants were held in very low regard in the Joseon era even if they were rich, and Yangban often wouldn't even touch it (their slaves did instead). |
Yeah, well, the Bible says it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to get into heaven but that hasn't stopped the Church from amassing one of the biggest fortunes in human history.
As for Korea, one thing I can't get used to here is how rude the children are and how much the adults tolerate it. Just now, I was collecting pencil cases from my students before my CT reviewed their last test (because otherwise they will cheat and change their answers). Two students threw their pencil cases across the room at me, one hitting my CT in the face. The kid just laughs and my CT does nothing. When I try to say something, my CT defends her and says it was an accident. Class desks are blank canvasses for these kids, too. No respect for anything, extremely selfish and rude.
Korean culture is very selfish and rude in general. Another example, as others have brought up here, is the noise. Every Thursday morning a guy delivers something to the business below me at 530am. He bangs his metal cart on every conceivable surface, shouts loudly in his phone and slams down the products as loudly as possible in the open staircase that we residents share. I've tried talking to him, but it's no use. And there's absolutely no reason to be this loud (unless he's helplessly drunk which is possible). But that's Korea. Noise = power. He has the power over me and the other sleeping people. It's all about power and control here. People talk over each other, construction starts at 6am, everyone shoves each other out of the way. Korea has some good points, but the culture of selfishness gets trying sometimes. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:31 pm Post subject: |
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| JohnJunior wrote: |
| Terrible coffee |
Yep. The automatic serving of useless cold coffee with ice cubes unless you remember to specify hot, with cream and sugar. (ie normal).
| Quote: |
| Special consideration of a korean before a foreigner |
This really used to wind me up. You sit half an hour in a restaurant before realizing they've served all the koreans before you- even the ones who arrived after you.
| MrBlackcat wrote: |
| How rude the children are and how much the adults tolerate it |
Right. Total lack of control over kids. Especially in public places.
| Quote: |
| He bangs his metal cart on every conceivable surface, shouts loudly in his phone and slams down the products as loudly as possible in the open staircase that we residents share. |
There seems to be a contempt for inanimate objects here. Everything gets carelessly slammed, bumped, dropped, or thrown down. |
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John Junior
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:51 pm Post subject: |
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| myenglishisno wrote: |
Music. I saw Girls' Generation on Letterman the other day.
This is music? This is popular music? This is getting exported? Why do my adult students insist that they love this music and Western music is too "noisy"?
There are no objective standards by which this music could be considered good with the exception of wardrobe and fashion (and even those are up for debate). |
Koreans know nothing about music, any indie music lover knows that. If it is about money and music that is acceptable by their standards. K-POP is a load of commercial rubbish, not about talent or passion. A real musician loves music because of its inherent aural value or unique ability to capture the essence of an emotion. Makes me think of a K-POP song entitled ''Rolly Polly". WTF?  |
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John Junior
Joined: 31 Jan 2012
Location: Somewhere
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| Posted: Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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Examples:
Driving: running red lights at full speed as if either the laws of probability or physics do not apply to them. With the highest I.Q.'s in the world, you'd think this was a no brainer.
.[/quote]
Koreans have a high I.Q? Are you serious? |
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