Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tomato]

This picture appears in Let's Go, vol. 4, p. 41.
The child on the left is presumably an Asian,
but I wonder how many of our students recognize themselves in that picture.
Every Asian cartoon person I've ever seen portrays Asian people much as Western cartoons portray Western people.

How do Asians distinguish between themselves and us?
Apparently not by the difference in eyes;
I get 헬로하우아르유'd even when I'm wearing sunglasses.

Let me argue for one hypothesis.
Here are two words which we learned in sign language class:



The teacher explained that the sign on the right portrays Western people's big noses.
I said, "Is that how you see us?"
The teacher and the other students chuckled, but they didn't answer my quesion.

[therooster]

We have big noses . Get over it .

I'm more concerned with our "boerishness" in "their" eyes . We tend to be a big ,burly ,clumsy, graceless , untidy , scruffy bunch in comparison . It doesn't give our "civilised" "ethical" societies much credibility .

[dogshed]

[fusionbarnone]

The first thing I was told by the head(male) of the POE when I was first in the ROK, "Big nose big penishe".

[twg]

[paquebot]

[tomato]

I have.
I have more hair on my arms than even most other White people.
A preschooler I work with now strokes the hair on my arms.

I once worked at a Black day care center.
The children commented on my beard, on my hairy arms, and on my bald head, but they never commented on my skin color.

One day, a child said, "My daddy doesn't like White people."
Another child said, "Do you?"
I said, "I AM a White person."
The second child looked at me in amazement.
The first child said, "I like you but I don't like other White people."

[indiercj]

[DCJames]

Koreans and many Asians have an inferiority complex with white people.

[waynehead]

By western standards, I'm pretty hairy. Last year teaching kindy the kids would stroke my arm hair every chance they got, and gasp in horror if I ever lifted my pant leg and exposed my leg hair.

The other day, in my middle school class, I was walking around monitoring the students while they did some activity, and sure enough, once I stood still for a few seconds some 14 year old boy started stroking the arm hair.

[rocklee]

Twas watching rain man the other day, Man! talk about watching 2 of the biggest noses in the business.

[PeterDragon]

One of my Korean co-workers creates a Korean-language comic about working in an English Hagwon. She portrays the western teacher character as a stubbly guy with visible beads of sweat and huge fried-egg eyes. I have no right to be offended; I laughed at Corporal Yo in Beetle Bailey and the Japan and China episodes of the Simpsons.

[PeterDragon]

[SPINOZA]

[schwa]

I can usually discern foreigners from a distance without relying on facial, hair, or clothing details. Their body language is distinct in subtle ways -- they stand, walk, & sit differently from Koreans.