Korean Job Discussion Forums

[denistron]

I have seen many Koreans reading this book in the last few days. It is getting popular I guess. It's a book about Burgeson's personal disdain of all things Korean. Has anyone seen it? It comes with a warning label: "Don't read this book if you really love Korea". I can't find an English copy of the thing, just the translated Korean version. If anyone out there can get a hand on one, let me know. I would love to know what everyone is reading about.

The book's title is dehmaninguk sayhonghogi

What kind of effect will this book have?

[captain kirk]

No doubt a sequel to his petulant juvenilia, 'I Hate Vegetables'.

[denistron]

lol

No seriously, it is supposed to be really funny. My korean gf is reading it right now and she is really enjoying it. I want to get a copy

[shaunew]

I would likr to read it as well. Does it talk about all the bad things about Korea? or just Koreans history?

[cosmo]

I did a search for it out of curiosity.
Apparently he is not alone. Until you find the book, you can read this.
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Message to Personal Therapist
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WHY CAN'T I GET ALONG? (May 30, 2002)
Hello Dr. Park, well to start off, i'm korean. i guess. i mean i was born there and lived there till i was 5, at which point i immigrated to the states with my family. i grew up in the middle of wasp america, with little to no contact with other koreans. i returned to korea as a student at the age of 19, which started the worst two and a half years of my life.
i can honestly say that i hate korea. i hate it.
i couldn't stand koreans. the rudeness, the hypocrisies, the stupidity. hey, don't get me wrong, every person of every race and nationality suffers from that at one point but the frequency with which the koreans seem to indulge in that behaviour astonished me. people used me to practice their english. people bumped into me in the streets. people treated me with less respect than i've been treated anywhere in the world. and i've been to many countries. i went to university there. sogang university. a perfectly respectable institution, where i had to fight with professors because they felt threaten by me. i couldn't smoke in the streets,because apparently koreans are still in the middle ages, when it comes to the subject of women doing anything. people gave me dirty looks walking down the street with my caucasian boyfriend. it got to the point where, i could understand why people would commit murder. i thought i would lose my sanity, so i did the smart thing. i left. i left the love of my love. and i left. now i'm back in the states. and everytime i hear koreans in the street or at school, that rage overwhelms me all over again. i can tell people till i'm blue in the face that i'm american, but everyone will still see my korean face. i can't get around it. i'm korean. so what do i do to let go of that anger. how do i get to a point where i can see a korean face and not seeth with rage. i've read all those cultural books, explaining why koreans act the way they do which may seem at odds with the cultural bias that i have. but i still don't get it. advice? ps. please don't take too personnally what i've just wrote about koreans. it's not so much individually, as koreans as a whole. i honestly do want to let go of this anger, and see that it's not koreans that are the problem, but me.
- hypergamy

Dr. Jinseng Park M.D., Phd. responded:

Although you are Korean, you don't like and even hate Korea. However,
beyond all the hatred and resentment, underneath it all, there is
bound to be that kindred bond of love and expectations that you feel
towards Koreans. Only currently it's filled with disappointment and
anger at the moment. Love and hate are like two sides of a coin. Even
if there is hatred one one side, underneath on the other side, there
exists love.

On that note, you mentioned that you left for the States when you were
five with your family. I think that it's important to examine what kind
of hardships, what sort of pain and suffering occurred to you and your
family since then. You might want to examine the relationship between
you and your parents, especially.

It is the harsh reality that for most immigrant families, like yours,
until the point comes where you can adapt comfortably, there is an
undeniable period of suffering that must be endured. In these kind of
circumstances, if you look at the experience from a child's viewpoint,
it's easy to see his or her parents as incompetent or even unintelligent.
At the same time, there are probably many instances in which the parents,
who are working hard to adapt and to provide for their family, to
possibly negelct or not pay as much attention to their children. Also,
while attending school in a foreign land, it isn't good for your psyche
and can provoke a bad influence if and when you are singled out and
ostracized for your differences by your surroundings.

Eventually, if your heart begins to consume and stack up all these
negatives feelings, it begins to take over and plant a firm root in
your life. If this begins to take over and affect your personality, it
then ultimately affects your actions and decisions, as well.

Now, I believe you need to examine all those feelings of the past, and
take care of them. This might even be a good chance for you to conquer
all those old feelings that you might have been unknowingly having for
a long time.

If you have the chance to come to Korea again, I'd like to ask you to
contact me. Even if for a short time, I'd like to try to be of
assistance and help you out if possible.

I apologize for the late reply.

[denistron]

Just to clarify.... I don't hate Korea. I just want to read this book a find out what all the hype is about.

[Alyallen]

[Adventurer]

I basically like Korea, but I don't really feel Koreans are that genuinely interested in foreigners or other cultures, and I do miss the fact that law and order generally makes more sense back home.

[King Baeksu]

Hi Denistron, thanks for your interest in my work. It's cool your girlfriend is reading my book!

I would like to clarify one thing regarding your comment, "It's a book about Burgeson's personal disdain of all things Korean."

I do not distain all things Korean and in my book go out of my way to defend the destruction of much Korean culture. Half of my book is in fact positive and not at all negative, the problem is that the Korean press rarely can be bothered to actually read the books they review and so they have totally missed the point!

If you want to read some of the original English-language essays in my book go to my site. Also, my book "Korea Bug" is available in English and is in bookstores all over South Korea. I would release an English-language version of "Korea Consumer Report" but unfortunately most expats here would rather post on sites like Dave's day and night than actually buy books about Korea. Anyway, you can read it for free on my site, wow, what a deal!

Thanks again for your interest!

[denistron]

Woah awesome King Baeksu is here! My girlfriend says she loves your opinions in the book. She says she wants to meet you one day. Well done sir.

[doggyji]

[Treefarmer]

*beep* off

i hate korea as much as i hate england

difference is that choose t livr in

[Guri Guy]

If it says as much positive as it does negative, I definitely want to read this book. Especially the part about Dokdo. I hope many Koreans read this and learn that they really don't have a claim on the islets and that is merely a vehicle for Nationalism. Very cool Mr. Burgeson. ^^

[Gwangjuboy]

[Yu_Bum_suk]