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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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 Posted: Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:35 pm Post subject: |
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| SeoulShakin wrote: |
| Before I left, I told one of my old choreographers that I was leaving to go to Korea. She got all excited for me, and said I'd have a really great time learning Asian culture etc. Then she surprised me with "but do you think you'll have a hard time learning Japanese". I was surprised, then said "umm no I don't think I'll have to learn ANY Japanese". She looked confused until I explained that I wasn't going to Japan, I was going to Korea, which is a small country between Japan and China. I'd have to learn Korean, not Japanese. She still looked confused. Poor woman. |
Did you let her know the occupation ended in 1945? |
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inkakola
Joined: 28 Dec 2006
Location: hbc
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 1:33 am Post subject: That's typical... |
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When told people back home i was moving to Korea, almost everyone asked if i was moving to North Korea. After a while of answering this stupid question, i just started telling people yes. i even went as far as just telling people i was moving to North Korea, period.
Once i had a roommate from California, and i told her that i was originally from New Jersey. She asked me where it was. Then when i told her, she had no idea that it actually was a state. Well, come to think of it, that makes sense.
When i was teaching back in the states, my students swore that there were 52 states. I asked which ones are the additional two? Mexico, Peurto Rico, Washington DC, Hawaii, Guam, Cuba and some random others were their answers. Upon telling them that there are only 50 states, they refused to believe me. So i told them to count the stars on the American Flag, that's how many states there are. Either they were too lazy or couldn't count that high. |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 2:43 am Post subject: |
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| Some things in this thread are astonishing, but I doubt there is a person in the world who couldn't be made to look ignorant on some things. We laugh and say, oh my god, and Jay Leno does the Jaywalking segment, and everybody laughs, forgetting perhaps how easy it is, with the right question, to be made to look like a dumbass. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 4:01 am Post subject: |
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| Remember the Korea that is portrayed in MASH. They wear Vietnamese hats and use oxen to plough their fields. Some of my friends back home asked if I'd ever gone to see Uijungbu, because it's where MASH was based. Why in the name of christ would I want to go to Uijungbu? |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:06 am Post subject: |
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| Yeah, I think the geography ignorance is understandable. Lots of people who've finished high school might have trouble finding Korea on the world map. |
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kimchi_pizza
Joined: 24 Jul 2006
Location: "Get back on the bus! Here it comes!"
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:00 am Post subject: |
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Had to smile....
As a 19-year-old finishing up boot camp my heart never sank so much as
when the Drill Sargeant shouted my name and where I was being shipped off too, "K.P.!!! - KOREA!!!!"
The D.S.'s kept telling us MPs that anyone over 6 feet and sent to Korea would go directly to the DMZ. I hadn't the slightest clue where Korea was or what a "DMZ" was. I turned pale, mouth fell open and stumbled in be-numbed silence back to my bunk thinking I was being sent to Hades and the DMZ was Purgatory.
But...the day I landed at Kimpo (1993) and saw the flashing neon signs with these strange heiroglyphs of lines and circles, I smiled and prepared myself for a great experience. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:22 am Post subject: Re: Korea? What? |
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| amberflannery wrote: |
So I was letting my landlady know today that I will be moving to Korea in 2 months to which she replies "um, this may be a stupid question, but where's that? is it another country?" I told her yeah, its part of Asia over on the other side of the world. And she goes "oh? And its called Kor-ea?"
 oi
just thought i'd share a giggle with you all  |
Wow that's awesome. I haven't met anyone yet who has actually never even heard of Korea. I've heard some people ask if it's part of China or Japan, but absolute ignorance of the country? That's amazingly stupid, if for no other reason than the Korean War.
That same lady probably thinks WWIII already happened, too, and doesn't know what part of Massachusetts Normandy is in. |
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princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: soul of Asia
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| Well, many people back in my hometown ask if I am in North or South Korea. hahaha!!! Before I first came here, my cousin asked me if I had been watching MASH to get prepared. |
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ajgeddes
Joined: 28 Apr 2004
Location: Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 6:38 am Post subject: |
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| princess wrote: |
| Well, many people back in my hometown ask if I am in North or South Korea. hahaha!!! |
Why is this such a bad question? So, most people don't know that North Korea is generally shut off to foreigners? Big deal.
In North America, "Korea" is not a country, "South Korea" and "North Korea" are countries. It's like saying you are moving to the "Republic of China". Nobody is going to know you mean Taiwan. |
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