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Are Doors New to Koreans?
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JeJuJitsu



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 4:43 pm    Post subject: Are Doors New to Koreans? Reply with quote

I ask this, because I have the first cubicle next to the doors in our Teacher's Office. They heat the teacher's office, but not the hallways. When someone comes into the office, they never shut the door behind themselves. Ever. I mean, no one. Teachers, students, parents, male, female, whomever. And this blast of cold air is, well, farking cold, particularly if you aren't wearing a parka like the rest of the staff. I refuse to wear a parka indoors, and I won't change OUT of shoes TO slippers with my suit & tie.

Anyway, did they just invent the door here in Korea in the last 5 years? If not, why don't they close the door? Do they expect their mother to close the door for them? I mean, when I ask why they don't heat the hallways, they tell me it's wasting energy. Yet...all the rooms they DO heat, they leave the doors wide open--wasting more energy than if they'd heat the whole building (Having the furnace constantly kicking in full-blast is more wasteful that a regulated higher avg. temp, as far as I remember from science class).
Sure, the chill isn't bad now like the dead of winter but it's been going on for as long as I can remember.
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pkang0202



Joined: 09 Mar 2007

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it varies.

I've notices it too. People come in and they leave without shutting the door. Some people are really good about shutting it, other are not. You should tell your school to get one of those hydraulic things installed that will automatically shut the door. Or if it bothers you that much, you can go to a Mart and buy one yourself and screw it in.


Last edited by pkang0202 on Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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ED209



Joined: 17 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they were born in a barn.
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JeJuJitsu



Joined: 11 Sep 2005
Location: McDonald's

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

pkang0202 wrote:
You should tell your school to get one of those hydraulic things installed that will automatically shut the door. Or if it bothers you that much, you can go to a Mart and buy one yourself and screw it in.


Yes, odd, for all of Korea's love for gadgetry, they really should have the auto-spring close in these high traffic areas...

...but I think I'm slowly teaching them, as they have to notice the waygook getting up every 18 seconds, slamming the door shut and going back to his seat.
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drkalbi



Joined: 06 Aug 2006

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I love at my uni when there are 2 doors that open side by side, but the students open just one and try to squeeze threw just the one. I feel like a genius when I open the other and walk threw.
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ilovebdt



Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Location: Nr Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ED209 wrote:
Maybe they were born in a barn.


Or as they say in Korean they must have a long tail.

ilovebdt
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mnhnhyouh



Joined: 21 Nov 2006
Location: The Middle Kingdom

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

For me the interesting thing about the doors here is the placement of the hinges.

If there are two then they are symmetrical, but if there are three, they are often not, with the top and middle hinges being closer together, the middle one being moved up.

Has anybody else noticed this?

Or am I just being detail obsessed?

h
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rothkowitz



Joined: 27 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 5:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

No,not at all.I've noticed that myself too,but I can't think of any reason to do it.
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hubba bubba



Joined: 24 Oct 2006

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yes, I've decided that doors must be a new concept in Korea. Take my local Emart, for example. There are six big glass doors leading into that place. Yet, when I try to go inside, four or five of them will be locked. WTF??? Why would you lock the doors? Don't you want people to come inside??? Same with the Starbucks. Two doors, one always locked. Why?? I mean, what possible purpose or logic would make you keep the doors to your business locked? Will it deter theft? Save energy? Are you trying to lock the customers in??? Why why why!???

Ugh, that's really a sore spot for me. So f'ing annoying and pointless. If anyone knows why Korean people do this, please tell me.
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rothkowitz



Joined: 27 Apr 2006

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

My school entrance has 2 doors,one of which is labelled "fixed",so that people coming in or not have to bump past each other through a 1 metre gap.

Hey,lets get really decadent.Lets open BOTH the doors.Seize the day.

I feel like I'm in some kind of asylum when I go into buildings here.Most aren't labelled at all and I'm trying locked doors before I finally get one to yield.
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xtchr



Joined: 23 Nov 2004

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="JeJuJitsu
...but I think I'm slowly teaching them, as they have to notice the waygook getting up every 18 seconds, slamming the door shut and going back to his seat.[/quote]

Sorry to tell you this, but it probably won't be making a bit of difference. A slam doesn't seem to even register at all in this country.
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Drew345



Joined: 24 May 2005

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for posting about doors, it has been on my nerves for a while.
My building is heated with steam. We get one hour of heat in the morning and maybe one more hour in the afternoon. Except for that the building is not heated.
Yet the students totally leave the doors propped wide open all day! Not just to the offices and classrooms, but the main doors to the outdoors. Even the windows. It is certainly like they live in a barn, and this is a big university.
It just seems acceptabe to have the indoors just as freezing and the outdoors.
Luckily, Spring is around the corner.
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Alyallen



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Location: The 4th Greatest Place on Earth = Jeonju!!!

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:22 pm    Post subject: Re: Are Doors New to Koreans? Reply with quote

JeJuJitsu wrote:
I ask this, because I have the first cubicle next to the doors in our Teacher's Office. They heat the teacher's office, but not the hallways. When someone comes into the office, they never shut the door behind themselves. Ever. I mean, no one. Teachers, students, parents, male, female, whomever. And this blast of cold air is, well, farking cold, particularly if you aren't wearing a parka like the rest of the staff. I refuse to wear a parka indoors, and I won't change OUT of shoes TO slippers with my suit & tie.

Anyway, did they just invent the door here in Korea in the last 5 years? If not, why don't they close the door? Do they expect their mother to close the door for them? I mean, when I ask why they don't heat the hallways, they tell me it's wasting energy. Yet...all the rooms they DO heat, they leave the doors wide open--wasting more energy than if they'd heat the whole building (Having the furnace constantly kicking in full-blast is more wasteful that a regulated higher avg. temp, as far as I remember from science class).
Sure, the chill isn't bad now like the dead of winter but it's been going on for as long as I can remember.


YES.....Thank God I'm not the only one who noticed this... I've punished my students because of it. One day, my students came into my class left the doors open. I didn't say anything. Maybe 5 minutes later, they start whining about how it's cold in the room. So I just go off on them and so does my coteahcer. Like DUH! It was warm in here until you dorks came in and left the door open!

All my students know the phrases: "Close the door, please" "Close the front door, please" "Close the back door please" and the plain and direct "CLOSE THE DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!"

It just doesn't quite register....It's their country, it's their way of doing things. As bizarre as it is to me, I'm not going to change much of anything. The only change I've noticed is that they will close MY door but not other doors. My words of wisdom just have no effect Laughing
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Privateer



Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

hubba bubba wrote:
Yes, I've decided that doors must be a new concept in Korea. Take my local Emart, for example. There are six big glass doors leading into that place. Yet, when I try to go inside, four or five of them will be locked. WTF??? Why would you lock the doors? Don't you want people to come inside??? Same with the Starbucks. Two doors, one always locked. Why?? I mean, what possible purpose or logic would make you keep the doors to your business locked? Will it deter theft? Save energy? Are you trying to lock the customers in??? Why why why!???

Ugh, that's really a sore spot for me. So f'ing annoying and pointless. If anyone knows why Korean people do this, please tell me.


Haha, the answer is on this thread: if they left all the doors open they know no-one would bother closing them and there'd be a cold draught.

NB I'm talking about buildings with two sets of doors. They leave one unlocked on the left on the outer set, then one unlocked on the right on the inner set.
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nautilus



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

PostPosted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 7:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was thinking about them recently...Do you think one dy Koreans will really get into them? maybe if they have another economic meltdown I guess.

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