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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
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 Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| jaderedux wrote: |
Well I do take off my shoes at my house and other people's homes but since I have had 2 pairs of good sneakers stolen from the downstairs lockers I don't take off my shoes and change until I get to the teacher's room.
I am frequently frowned at and once asked why I can't change downstairs. I told them why and they were horrified. Things never get stolen here they informed me.
I have been pick pocketed twice. Once during world cup (the first one) pro job. Once recently but the thief was at least sympathtic I found my wallet shoved in my mailbox in a brown envelope...sans money but everything else intact.
At school the following have been stolen...1 mp3 player from teacher's room. In my drawer not exactly in plain sight. Money. 2 DVD's. 2 Uno games. Lent a pair of fairly nice headphones to a teacher and she lent them to someone else and weren't returned and since the person was older I couldn't demand them back without making a scene. From the Villa I lived I had one bicycle stolen and one bicycle seat stolen. Live and learn.
When I tell my co-workers (korean) they are shocked and assume it must be the other foreigners stealing the bicycles. As for the stuff missing from school...I must have lost it. Koreans simply don't steal things. So I continue to tromp upstairs and change my shoes in the teachers room and suffer the tsk tsking I get now and again. I lock up my desk even when I go to the bathroom. (a topic of conversation now and again in the teachers room) And never under any circumstances leave my classroom unattended. And lock every single cabinet because if it isn't locked up it gets "lost".
Happens everywhere but get tired of hearing how it doesn't happen in Korea. And by the way I teach in the so-called "good" middle school in my town.
Jade |
One of my wife's friends had her shoes stolen at school while she went to visit one of her kid's teachers. One of the kids in the class saw another kid's mother steal her genuine Ferragamo shoes from the lockers. To add insult to injury, she had to borrow the teachers flip flops in order to drive home. |
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otis
Joined: 02 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Thu Dec 21, 2006 11:57 pm Post subject: |
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| Roch wrote: |
| ChopChaeJoe wrote: |
| Roch wrote: |
Again, it's the metaphorical middle finger that was stuck in my face with their sudden announcement that they know such *beep* is bad but they refuse to stop.
So, what do you suggest I do to gross them out? |
I think you're in the wrong here. Offending you = bad?
The world does not revolve around you. Some Koreans make slurping noises while eating. They did it before you got here. They aren't doing it to offend ou. they'd be delighted if you joined their custom. Why should they change just because it offends you. Do Hindus go into a mcDonalds and start shouting about the horror and profanity of people eating cows?
On the other hand, soliciting help to deliberately offend someone strips you of any rightousness you were aiming for. |
I did not indicate to a Korean that nearly all of the Koreans I've met in my life eat like pigs. As I wrote twice already, one of the guys made a point of going out of his way to "tell the foreigner" that they are aware that caucasians usually think that Koreans eat like pigs but they will not close their mouthes and stop spitting bits of food at others when they talk with food in their mouth, etc.
What have I done is that so politically incorrect? Was it wrong for me to share the story here on Dave's?
Again, read this very closely: I was eating my supper and minding my own business when one of the teachers suddenly said that Koreans are aware that they offend foreigners with their lack of manners, but they refuse to change, etc. I then smiled and returned to quietly consuming my meal.
Show me where I'm "in the wrong." |
WWWWHHHHAAAAA!!
Korean eat with their mouths open. It's disgusting!
WWWWHHHHAAAA!! |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Dec 22, 2006 11:43 am Post subject: Re: Sarah's Reply to Roch |
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| oneofthesarahs wrote: |
| Roch wrote: |
| oneofthesarahs wrote: |
| Roch wrote: |
| oneofthesarahs wrote: |
| It's just a cultural thing. Koreans just eat louder than Westerners are used to. It's a sign that the food is delicious. Just deal with it, or eat meals seperately from them. It's not worth the time nor the effort complaining about it. |
As the 45 year old pig alleged, "it's a cultural difference." Well, this unacceptable cultural difference was not what ticked me off: It was their unnecessary dig/taunt directed at me for being a caucasian.
Hey, Canuck, how about I do something very offensive and hide behind the lame excuse/lie that "it's a cultural difference"? What do you think of that?
By the way, are you married or attached to a Korean?
Anyway, thanks for your reply.
R |
Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I am attached to a Korean. And to be quite honest, I was horrified the first time I ever saw him eat. I just sat there and stared with chopsticks in hand. Then my horror gradually turned to amusement which turned to complete indifference. I'm really not going to flip out over something so trivial.
And say that you've been chewing your nails for your entire life. Someone is REALLY offended by nail biting, and tells you so. You might stop biting your nails for a while, but the second that you stop consciously thinking about it, you're going to go right back to biting them again.
When you're eating with them, use your imagination. Pretend you are sitting with a bunch of starving people having their first meal in weeks. Pretend you're watching a bunch of people on death row eating their last meal. Heck, pretend that you're watching a viking eat a giant leg of lamb right off the bone and slurping down huge tankards of mead. But whatever you do, just remember: there are more important battles to fight than how loudly people eat. |
You remind me of a Sarah from Halifax that I met at Dalhousie University: Politically correct to the max and illogical.
Who said that I was "fighting a battle?" I referred to a taunt/dig thrown at me. Why don't you address the guy's dig, Sarah? |
Look, I'm not saying that it isn't rude for them to continue to make noises even though they are highly aware of how much it disgusts you. Sounds like you work with some very passive agressive people.
So your coworkers suck and they are rude, OKAY. I agree.
However, lots of Koreans eat loudly, and they aren't doing it to personally annoy you. It's just what they do. I just think it's sort of a silly thing to get worked up over.
P.S. All Sarahs are politically correct and illogical. It's in our genetics. Haven't you read the scientific studies? |
AGAIN, Sarah, the guy's dig/taunt irked me. Their typical Korean/crude ways were dealt with by this poster very well.
Got it, Sarah?! Finally?!
You and most others who post on this board love to put words into a guy's mouth, eh?!
Geesh! |
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