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Things back home that would annoy Koreans/foreigners
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decibalsrising



Joined: 12 Sep 2012
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:00 am    Post subject: Things back home that would annoy Koreans/foreigners Reply with quote

I know some of us nit pick about things here in our daily lives..but in the reverse situation, what things would you think would annoy Koreans/recent foreigners who visit North America?
Could be a fairly long list though
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JustinC



Joined: 10 Mar 2012
Location: We Are The World!

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think a LOT of things as Korean culture is so unique and hard to find in other countries.
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newb



Joined: 27 Aug 2012
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not having red/brown paste sauce and kimchi.
People not speaking Korean.
Not finding Soju.
Not being able to drink/drunk in public.
Not being able to argue with police.
Getting cursed/shot at while driving in Korean style.
Not having corn and potato pizza toppings.
Total strangers smiling and waving at you.
No hagwons and pc bang.
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nautilus



Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Blowing one's nose.

Men going shirtless in hot weather.
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T-J



Joined: 10 Oct 2008
Location: Seoul EunpyungGu Yeonsinnae

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote


One of the cultural hurdles my wife had to overcome living in the U.S. was healthcare.

She hated physicians telling her a particular ailment was 'just natural'. And it would take its course.

Whenever she had a particular ache or pain she expected a specific diagnosis and perscription. Which is more preavently found in Korea.

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Unibrow



Joined: 20 Aug 2012

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not being able to buy liquor past 6 PM.
Not being able to buy alcohol on sundays.
Going to a bar just to have a beer or two and not ordering a side dish.
Police will stop you if you run a red light.
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Lazio



Joined: 15 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 7:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

T-J wrote:

One of the cultural hurdles my wife had to overcome living in the U.S. was healthcare.

She hated physicians telling her a particular ailment was 'just natural'. And it would take its course.

Whenever she had a particular ache or pain she expected a specific diagnosis and perscription. Which is more preavently found in Korea.



You mean the common diagnosis of �you are tired� and suggesting an IV thus prescribing horse-dose antibiotics for basically any kind of symptoms?
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 8:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

T-J wrote:

One of the cultural hurdles my wife had to overcome living in the U.S. was healthcare.

She hated physicians telling her a particular ailment was 'just natural'. And it would take its course.

Whenever she had a particular ache or pain she expected a specific diagnosis and perscription. Which is more preavently found in Korea.



Laughing You just described my wife's first few visits to the doctor here in Canada!

Other things that she had to adapt to or deal with:

Store opening hours (more limited here). She found that to be limiting. She is used to it now.
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Newbie



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in Canada now with my Korean wife and have a constant in flux of visitors from Korea, and meet/socialize with lots of Koreans living here. Below are some things that have been mentioned as being bothersome/annoying/troubling:

Fat people
Limitations on smoking
Black people
Brown people
How few white people there are (Toronto) and the fact that I consider these non-white people to be Canadian
Doctors and their "just rest and drink plenty of fluids" instructions.
Rude teenagers
Clothing/style choices
Random things that are insanely expensive here compared to Korea (Batteries, for example)
Cold weather
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laynamarya



Joined: 01 Jan 2010
Location: Gwangjin-gu

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 9:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tipping
Having to shovel snow
Ridiculous health care
Lack of kimchi
Having to pay extra for side dishes
A zillion different accents
The lack of cleanliness on the subway
Subway and bus breakdowns or chronic delays
People getting pissed off if you bump into them, or stop in the middle of a pathway
Super-high taxi fares
Scandalous tank tops
Strict parking rules
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have also include (as cited by others here) stuff like:

Tipping at restaurants
How run down people look (how they dress)
The fat issue.
Dirty subways
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 11:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The responses on this board are pathetic and demonstrate a serious inability to empathize and conceptualize what other human beings would feel. It is based on stereotype and bigotry, two things people here are allegedly offended by, of course only when it happens to them.

As someone who had Korean friends back home, and instead of opining to them constantly and trying to be the center of attention, actually tried to listen, I can give actual reasons, not fantasies based on prejudice.

That being said, most of the things happen as well in Korea. It's just the way it happens, at least in America, was different.

Guns and crime.
The culture of violence.
The passive-aggressive political culture of bumper stickers.
The "culture wars", not that people argue over culture, but the form it takes.
The uber-machismo.
The lack of caring towards family and willingness to insult one's parents.
The lack of energy devoted to education and the willingness of individuals who fail at education to blame the system.
The racism.
The claims of being tolerant, yet being subtley racist.
How difficult it is to do group projects and the tendency to do a lot of the work and get little of the credit.
Cheese and meat on EVERYTHING. The general unhealthiness of food- massive portions, deep fried, cheesed and creamed.
Customer behavior in restaurants and shops
Teachers who don't teach and don't discipline and just show movies.
The difficulty in reaching consensus on things

And a whole host of other things.

But its not Kimchi, Different Colored People, Booze (Lots of Koreans in America are teetotalers because they are hardcore church attendees), and banchan.

No, you aren't as insightful as you think you are.
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Mr. BlackCat



Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 11:38 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

laynamarya wrote:
Tipping


Yes, tipping. As most people not from North America find hard to understand (along with those of us who have spent time abroad).

-Traffic laws, often enforced
-lackluster and expensive public transit
-sheer size of North America (Florida is next to Toronto, right?)
-Yelling "OVER HERE" in a restaurant will result in mucus in your meal.

-Graffiti, vandalism and other common civil disobedience
-Control your kid in public!
-White/Black/Brown people using chopsticks like it isn't some mystical Asian secret
-No one wants to hear how 'busy' or 'tired' you are.
-Can only buy booze at certain hours, bars close at a designated time
-Can only smoke in certain areas, strictly enforced
-You walk in with a wet umbrella, you must carry it with you as it drips all over you while you walk around the store.
-Limit to free samples at Costco
-No vat of onions and ketchup at Costco
-Lack of kimchi tacos, kimchi kebabs, kimchi pizza
-Lack of kimchi

-Slow internet
-Expensive internet
-Boobs all over the place
-I don't care that you're a month older than me, I will still address you as I would a cashier at Walmart until you actually earn my respect.
-Cashiers at Walmart (and other service industry workers) deserve respect
-Tax not included
-Delivery charge $5
-Delivery takes more than 15 minutes
-Fans left on all night without regard for human life
-Everyone orders their own meal
-Order steak, only one layer of fat and no scissors to be found
-A hundred different coins (for Canada)
-A hundred different bills

-Cats EVERYWHERE
-Smart phone left on bar table = free smart phone! for passers-by
-Using toilet paper at the dinner table will make me speak to you like you're from the Jungle Book
-Laughing at doing something wrong will result in a visit to the hospital
-Your friend will not being buying all the drinks on his birthday, no matter how many delicious cakes you buy him
-The lack of really delicious cakes (Dairy Queen ice cream cakes not withstanding)
-The '~' sign means nothing to me
-Apollo Ohno is a national sports hero
-The tomato is a vegetable
-Casual Fridays
-Neighbours calling the cops when you have a screaming match at 2am


-Smokes cost a day's wage
-3G and wifi mean nothing when you're on the subway
-neighbour doesn't want to be your pillow on the subway
-Noise on the subway
-Why do sticky claustrophobic shower curtains exist?
-Chrome, Firefox and Safari
-Privacy laws
-Cab prices are dumb
-April snowstorms
-September snowstorms
-Snowstorms
-Icestorms
-August cold snaps

-$10 to dry clean a shirt
-Copyright laws
-Punctuality
-Service industry people treating you as an equal
-Homelessness
-Eating different kinds of food every meal
-Korean food is actually very rarely one of those foods
-No one has heard of Jeju or Dokdo
-South or North Korea? (ignorance)

-Going dutch
-No means No. You don't want some of my fries? More for me!
-If you offer to pay I will go ahead and let you pay. Every. Single. Time.
-Sarcasm
-Gentle mocking as a sign of friendship
-Star Wars VII (not exlusive to Koreans)
-difference between American and proper English spelling
-Imperial system

Obviously some of these are tongue in cheek. Some.
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Mr. BlackCat



Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 12:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelie, I'm going to take you to task on a couple of these because a) I'd actually like to learn more; b) because you can handle it; and c) I like to bother you (and we're both up at an unreasonable hour...hope your as 'liquidated' as I am).

Steelrails wrote:


The passive-aggressive political culture of bumper stickers.


And Korean culture isn't passive aggressive? Maybe in different ways, not so public?
Quote:

The uber-machismo.

I see dozens of ajoshis everyday that would like to disagree, if they can pull themselves away from spitting at my feet, budding in line and giving me the death stare.
Quote:

The lack of caring towards family and willingness to insult one's parents.

This goes to perception, I think. Just because we move out when we're adults and can relocate overseas doesn't mean we hate our families. In fact, I hear Koreans complain about their parents and families more than my foreign friends. This might also be because foreigners can easily talk about the faults of our loved ones and ourselves without losing 'face'. But if anyone else tried to say the same things about my mom I'd punch them to the moon.

Quote:

The lack of energy devoted to education and the willingness of individuals who fail at education to blame the system.


You're joking, right? In a society that gives passing marks to students who don't speak a word during English speaking tests and University students get at least a B for showing up? There are definitely problems with the North American education system, but thinking Korea has us beat on this point is laughable. Koreans try to send their kids to international schools here. No one back home is lining up to send their kids to Korean schools. How many Koreans go to foreign universities? Now, how many foreigners move to Korea to study?

Quote:

The racism.


Wait, is this performance art?

Quote:

The claims of being tolerant, yet being subtley racist.

Yes, this is a good point. And not so subtle, too. "I'm not racist, I just think we need to take back our country and Obama wasn't born here!"

Quote:

How difficult it is to do group projects and the tendency to do a lot of the work and get little of the credit.

Is this really only a Korean complaint?

Quote:

Cheese and meat on EVERYTHING.

I don't doubt that it's strange to Koreans, but I'd rather live 35 years with cheese and bacon on everything than live 100 years without it. True story. Life's gotta be worth living.

Quote:

Customer behavior in restaurants and shops

You mean not treating staff like serfs?

Quote:

Teachers who don't teach and don't discipline and just show movies.

Honestly, I mean it, honestly have you ever been inside a school here?

Quote:

The difficulty in reaching consensus on things

Yeah, having opinions and ideas about how to better do things SUCKS. Look at the examples: Microsoft, Apple, Ford, NASA, Facebook, modern science, Nobel Prize winner after Nobel Prize winner. Yeah, much better for everyone to agree with the oldest male than to have new and innovative ideas, especially if they conflict with how things are usually done!

I do agree with some of what you listed, but many things are worded to suggest one is better than the other when in fact it can go both ways.
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joelove



Joined: 12 May 2011

PostPosted: Fri Nov 16, 2012 1:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dunno if it would really annoy most Koreans, but coming to a big city in the west and seeing the diversity of people, cultures and foods all in one city must freak them out for a while.
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