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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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fermentation wrote:
LuckyNomad wrote:
Hosting International events in Korea. My students were so thrilled about the 2018 Winter Olympics. I mentioned that the US had hosted the olympics like, 6 or 8 times and I never watched any of them or cared. I had to look it up on wikipedia to see when and where they were held.
If you google Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, you'll see some picture of Koreans celebrating when they announced it. You'll see some of the happiest looking people people screaming with joy. There's one dude in particular who has his hands in the air and is screaming with his eyes closed. It makes me wonder why anybody would be so emotionally invested in where the Olympics are held. Are they Pyeongchang officials? Do they run a business there and are happy at the prospect of customers? Do they just really love the Olympics? A lot of questions run through my mind.
I'm pretty sure if Ames, Iowa or Peterborough, Ontario were picked to host the Olympics, the locals there would go pretty nuts. |
Yeah I don't think you can really have a go at Koreans for over-reacting to stuff in public. Look how the average audience behaves on American TV shows. |
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Maserial
Joined: 31 Jul 2005
Location: The Web
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| I'm pretty sure if Ames, Iowa or Peterborough, Ontario were picked to host the Olympics, the locals there would go pretty nuts. |
My guess is that the vast majority of people in Ames, Iowa would be perplexed about being picked, given that the city is utterly incapable of hosting the Olympic games. After that initial reaction, they would begin preparing for the worst Olympic games in history. |
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shapeshifter
Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Location: Paris
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transmogrifier
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Scorpion wrote: |
Being asked who my favorite Korean actor is.
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송강호 and 전도연.
But Korea has a lot of really good movie actors. In fact, I'm not a fan at all of their pop music, but Korean movies are fascinating, and there are some brilliant directors out there. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:27 am Post subject: |
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| transmogrifier wrote: |
| Julius wrote: |
The ease with which they give up when faced with adversity
The stubbornness, even if on the wrong course of action
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So which one is it? |
I see your point...but..one does not necessarily negate the other.  |
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chickenpie
Joined: 24 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:37 am Post subject: |
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| Gobbing in the street, from little kids, hot looking women and old guys. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 5:17 am Post subject: |
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The poor design and substandard quality of apartments
The way everything breaks after a few months
The way cold air comes in through the closed windows in winter
The way rain comes in through the closed windows in summer
The lack of awareness of when they are staring and making someone feel uncomfortable
The fact that most of the young generation have been utterly spoiled, overfed, pampered and never known hardship in their entire lives.
The impression that closing ranks against outsiders is the only way Koreans have to bond with eachother. |
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pegasus64128
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:54 am Post subject: |
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It would have to be the huge gardens everywhere. Wherever you go there's a garden. It's a garden country. Every restaurant and bar has a nice spacious one.
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yodanole
Joined: 02 Mar 2003
Location: La Florida
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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Well, New Jersey is the "Garden State". Maybe Korea could be made to look like New Jersey. Oh.......wait......
I'll never get used to the fact that Korea doesn't seem to have Snooki or Kim Kardashian, and incomprehensibly, do not seem to be making plans to rectify that problem. |
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fermentation
Joined: 22 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| shapeshifter wrote: |
| If this is something you'll NEVER GET USED TO, I suggest you try living amongst a less ridiculous species. |
There's a reason I like cats. |
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Julius
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2012 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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The playing of loud radios by walkers and cyclists in the countryside.
The daily battle to retain your own dignity.
The belief that its fine to throw down trash all over the countryside.
The shame koreans have for their recent history, instead of viewing it with objective interest.
The way that subway stops are not always announced or displayed, making it super-easy to miss your stop, get off at the wrong one, or overshoot your connection.
Bus drivers never announce stops. Making it super-easy to miss your stop, get off at the wrong one, or overshoot your connection. |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:50 pm Post subject: |
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The fact that as I leave the apartment each morning I have to brace myself to do 'battle'.
Sigh.
Last edited by Scorpion on Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:07 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:06 pm Post subject: |
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Any and all shops, products or services that contain the word "Story".
Any and all shops, producrts or services that end with "topia".
Blaming the big powers for the ongoing division of the peninsula. (Um, you can have a united Korea tomorrow if 'Koreans' can solve their own differences. Nobody is standing in your way.) |
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pegasus64128
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Scorpion wrote: |
The fact that as I leave the apartment each morning I have to brace myself to do 'battle'.
Sigh. |
Yes, that's the sad truth. I don't fight over anything that's not worth fighting over though. The dark art of saving face is a language I don't grapple with. It doesn't exist to me. I won't un-develop to adapt to that. If Koreans can't accept me for my refusal to engage in saving face then too bad for me I suppose. It hasn't been a problem so far really though.
Other things I can't get used to:
The small size of taxi lights. It's easy to see it - just a glowing red bit of neon but for some reason this grates on me. It's easy for me to focus on the car when it's far away and decipher that it's a taxi but why should I have to. I don't understand why they can't just make it nice and big, so I can see that it's a taxi with no effort. Also, I think taxi drivers might behave like taxi drivers instead of bumper car drivers if they made it more obvious that that's what they are. I saw a car recently with rubber rims stuck onto the bumpers, and I wasn't at all surprised. A lot of drivers here should be forced to drive bumper cars.
This one has been mentioned before I'm sure but it does annoy me - theses crappy little mini-tell buildings that they put up overnight. Where I live, there are 2 new ones just gone up where road works have completed. It seems to be a standard under the table contract where any new roadwork means a crappy mini-tell building - always the same template a little granite-looking gray colored model of misery. There's no effort to beautify anything - that would be aesthetics for the sake of people. It's just pure economics.
Overall, that's the thing that gets to me about Korea and a lot of it stems from the bali bali culture and post-dictatorship seed but the thing is, it's not really improving in any concrete way. It's the little things. It's no one particular thing. It's the combined effect or all the mini recklessness - the tight confined push for every penny - that pushes the roads to take up all the green space, that pushes the grimy little buildings, the adjumma that pushes you off the platform or off the bus.
It reminds me of the guy in Japan that posted the micro-aggressions thread recently. That post hit the nail on the head in many ways. |
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Dodge7
Joined: 21 Oct 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Scorpion wrote: |
The fact that as I leave the apartment each morning I have to brace myself to do 'battle'.
Sigh. |
Interesting you said this. What do you mean exactly?
When I leave my house with my wife I sometimes liken it to entering the gauntlet lol. |
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