Korean Job Discussion Forums

[T-J]

Was going to respond to this but really...why bother. Think I'll just copy paste to the freakiest waygook thread.

[earthquakez]

While I feel sorry for anybody who's a decent person and has had stick from Koreans (eg the woman who got the nasty treatment from the Korean co worker after she'd helped her financially, etc) I'm not sure if I'm understanding correctly what the woman poster here said.

I'm well aware of how hateful some Koreans can be towards non Koreans. I've heard 2 things esp which were depressing.

The death of the South African woman down in Jeollanam a few yrs back, which was a hate crime based on how the Korean man cursed out foreigners and threw his cigarette outside the room she was in. Apparently she was minding somebody's place and the friend had dogs. Too many Koreans also keep dogs in small places and shouldn't. The woman died from burns.

A female teacher also down there who had her place broken into and threats in writing made to her from Koreans who had some problem with her and expressed it in a hateful way connected to her as a foreigner.

But...I am not sure if the lady who wrote the post about the harassment of Koreans is correct about the extent of it. I understand how hateful some Koreans can be and yep, they will take photos and post it on the net.

I've even had a few little f-------snap photos of me entering the building where my hagwon is hoping that I'm teaching illegally. The three times that happened the little sh--------almost cried when I took their phones and said I was going to the local police station to report them for harassment and invasion of my privacy. They were university students.

But I find it hard to believe that everywhere the lady went, Koreans recognised her. Sorry if this sounds harsh.

[PRagic]

Read Hall's book on culture.

Read anything by Hofstede or Trompenaars on culture.

Work your way through the Peace Corp's 'Culture Matters' workbook available on line.

If you have a background in business, get ahold of some international organizational behavior texts and dig in.

You're only as unprepared as you choose to be. And one general rule of thumb regarding success in cross-cultural settings is that experience in one country does not guarantee success in another. From your posts, it sounds like your experience in Europe equates to a toe test of the ocean's waters. In Korea, you'll be jumping in head first. For many here, this is what makes the experience both challenging and exciting even over the long term.