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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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 Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 1:40 am Post subject: |
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| thebum wrote: |
| Atavistic wrote: |
| my best friend had to text message a mutual acquaintance to save my butt when I made a very misunderstood joke |
what was the joke? |
Best Friend=BF and Mutual Acquaintance=MA. Another MA=MA2. I see MA much much more often than BF.
MA wanted to go out to dinner. I was already going out with BF and we needed to be able to TALK because she was leaving for Hong Kong for two months the next day, so I said no. I needed BF's help asking MA something (language barrier). BF called MA, and MA starting asking BF if he could join us for dinner. This ticked me off as I had already said no several times and I'm the oldest of all three of us. I JOKINGLY texted MA and asked him if he was a beggar. He wrote back this scathing text message calling me selfish and freaking out on me. MA wrote back that it was just my sarcastic American sense of humor and that by teasing him I was showing that I cared about him.
The next day everything was fine, but goodness, I meant no harm by it and his response was over the top upset. A few days later, MA2 made some joke at me that hurt my feelings and MA jumped in, "No! No, jokuh! Jokuh! OK? OK? Hanguk jokuh!"
I understood why he had freaked out better after I had freaked out myself. |
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The Hierophant
Joined: 13 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| Just hit the 8-month mark and have no Korean friends, and I'll be outta here in 4 months so I'm not interested in making any. I've made plenty of 'foreign' friends, but I've never felt any real inclination to engage with the local culture besides learnin a smattering of survival phrases and taking martial arts classes. The Koreans in my martial arts classes have invited me out for soju a few times, but I've always turned them down. |
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Zoobot
Joined: 25 Aug 2006
Location: Toronto, ON, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 2:24 am Post subject: |
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| I think making friends in Korea is less BS-y than back home. None of this, "Oh, we should get together for dinner! *Kiss Kiss* Call me!" junk. |
A-freakin'-men.
I have a few Korean friends who I'm pretty tight with. It seems like a bit of a popularity contest to count them though... |
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Grimalkin
Joined: 22 May 2005
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:28 am Post subject: |
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| Zoobot wrote: |
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| I think making friends in Korea is less BS-y than back home. None of this, "Oh, we should get together for dinner! *Kiss Kiss* Call me!" junk. |
A-freakin'-men.
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Altho' it can be surreal in a uniquely Korean way. I had one guy who, within ten minutes of meeting me, invited me to come for Sunday dinner every week, telling me he'd like his wife to meet me and that he thought it would be good for his (three year old  ) daughter to talk to me.
I've twice had complete strangers come up to me on the street and invite me to their homes for dinner ( one of whom also told me that he wanted to have "relationship" with me, which probably came off sounding a lot more lascivious than he'd intended!). |
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nautilus
Joined: 26 Nov 2005
Location: Je jump, Tu jump, oui jump!
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:00 am Post subject: |
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[quote="Grimalkin"]
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| But.....how long does it take for them to start treating you as though you're no different to anybody else? |
Time. been 8 months before I've started to feel properly comfortable around them. And, they like to know you won't be dissapearing away soon.
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| but their well-intentioned friendliness usually come across as way over the top! |
I get that. But I think its usually just in the early stages. Once they find out a few secrets and you've confided in them a bit, things become a bit more normal...good luck! |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 5:50 am Post subject: |
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| Most of my friends are lower-class, a lot are high school drop-outs, and very few of them have university education. That's probably why they don't act typical. |
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oneofthesarahs
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Location: Sacheon City
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:09 am Post subject: |
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| I have several of Korean friends, with varying degrees of closeness. My best friend in Korea is...drumroll please...Korean. But he has the dubious honor of being one of the few Koreans who can speak English better than he can write it. We email each other fairly frequently, because he works days and I work evenings and it's the best way to make plans. All of his emails come across strangely like spam email, especially since he likes starting them with "Hi, friend!" (Even though he just calls me Sarah, never "friend" face to face.) The subjects of his emails are always long and bizarre. The last one I got was titled "It`s really cold these days, please take care of yourself." I keep half expecting him to tell me about an EXCITING BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY and to transfer all of my funds to a Nigerian bank. |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| I am not sure how to comment on this thread. A Korean gentleman helps me learn Korean, and he is a nice fellow. He is a very understanding fellow. I think we also have similar values. I get along with my manager, but I wouldn't call him a friend. It is much easier for me to have foreign friends. For one, most Koreans can't speak English, but many of them are friendly. |
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wire
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 11:21 am Post subject: |
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I made one Korean friend.
His dream is to open a hagwon in the Phillipines. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 3:17 pm Post subject: |
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I have all female friends. I tried to make friends with some Korean male coworkers but they're either busy or their lifestyle doesn't jibe with mine. I like to sit in Starbucks, talk, shop, see symphonies, visit museums. They like soju and bbq'd meats. On the flip side, Korean women seem to actually enjoy sitting in Starbucks, talking, shopping, getting dressed up for a live art performance, and visiting museums.
Of course, back in North America, my female friends also out number my male friends for much the same reason. |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 4:05 pm Post subject: |
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| mindmetoo wrote: |
| On the flip side, Korean women seem to actually enjoy sitting in Starbucks |
Yeah judging from the hordes of women in there, they seem to love 'ol starbucks.. From a little bit of evesdropping it seems the conversation topic is always their boyfriend.. or perhaps some boy they wish was there boyfriend.
I just wish I knew more people with interesting things to say, that I would actually want to chat with them for a few hours. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 11, 2007 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Mashimaro wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| On the flip side, Korean women seem to actually enjoy sitting in Starbucks |
Yeah judging from the hordes of women in there, they seem to love 'ol starbucks.. From a little bit of evesdropping it seems the conversation topic is always their boyfriend.. or perhaps some boy they wish was there boyfriend.
I just wish I knew more people with interesting things to say, that I would actually want to chat with them for a few hours. |
That's one of the things I like about Starbucks Korea. I never know what inane convo the people next to me are having. It's very peaceful.
I remember once in Seattle, this one guy was pissed off some moron he knew thought Melbourne was the capital of Australia. He then notes Sydney is the correct capital. Lord.
Another time I was sitting on a Starbucks patio and these two guys were sitting near me. These three women walked by and went into the Starbucks. One of the guys on the patio said to the other "Oh, I know that chick." "Which one?" "The big fat one. She was my friend's old GF."
Anyway, the big fat one comes out and says hi and long time no see. He's quite polite to her and they make a date. I kept thinking "If she only knew he thinks she's big 'n' fat." |
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