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| Teachers who refuse invitations vs. teachers who turn up to work with hangovers: which is the greater of two evils? |
| Refusing an invitation: it is culturally insensitive. |
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17% |
[ 5 ] |
| Turning up with a hangover: it is unprofessional. |
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46% |
[ 13 ] |
| Neither offend me. |
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32% |
[ 9 ] |
| If you do one or the other, you are giving foreigners a bad name. |
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3% |
[ 1 ] |
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| Total Votes : 28 |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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 Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:41 pm Post subject: Teachers who refuse invitations vs. teachers with hangovers. |
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| Which is the greater sin - regularly refusing late night boozing with coworkers, or turning up to work the next day with a hangover? |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: Teachers who refuse invitations vs. teachers with hangov |
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| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| Which is the greater sin - regularly refusing late night boozing with coworkers, or turning up to work the next day with a hangover? |
Boozing with coworkers, or boozing with the boss?
If the boss, then the refused invitation is worse. If it's just coworkers, the hangover trumps it. |
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kermo
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Location: Eating eggs, with a comb, out of a shoe.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Turning up with a hangover is pretty normal Korean behaviour, and I doubt it would give foreigners a bad name. Hell, even my students do it.
Refusing regular drinking? Not good for "jeong" and "kibun"! |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:09 pm Post subject: Re: Teachers who refuse invitations vs. teachers with hangov |
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| faster wrote: |
| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| Which is the greater sin - regularly refusing late night boozing with coworkers, or turning up to work the next day with a hangover? |
Boozing with coworkers, or boozing with the boss?
If the boss, then the refused invitation is worse. If it's just coworkers, the hangover trumps it. |
If a foreigner admitted to turning up for work with a hangover, would you quiz him on the context before deciding whether to praise or condemn him? Or would you simply shrug your shoulders, give a hearty chuckle, and move on to the next topic?
Should we all simply get on with life, do what we think is right, and forget the trivial details? |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 6:13 pm Post subject: Re: Teachers who refuse invitations vs. teachers with hangov |
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| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| faster wrote: |
| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| Which is the greater sin - regularly refusing late night boozing with coworkers, or turning up to work the next day with a hangover? |
Boozing with coworkers, or boozing with the boss?
If the boss, then the refused invitation is worse. If it's just coworkers, the hangover trumps it. |
If a foreigner admitted to turning up for work with a hangover, would you quiz him on the context before deciding whether to praise or condemn him? Or would you simply shrug your shoulders, give a hearty chuckle, and move on to the next topic? |
I wouldn't care either way unless he was doing a lousy job. I'm thinking, however, that it might affect his boss's interpretation of events. |
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Bernard_Carleton
Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Location: Out in the open, but you can't see me.
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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Being able to work through the hangover is a valued merit in this society. The suffering that the hangover presents the next day after drinking with colleagues creates a sense of bonding, shared agony, and a team spirit. However, you must be able to work through it.
Unfortunately, many office flunkies can't and so they don't actually get much done until the afternoon, so they end up staying late to get work done. This causes stress, which should be shared and therefore lessened by drinking with co-workers. This then brings on the hangover and the whole process starts over. A classic example of a "vicious cycle". |
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faster
Joined: 03 Sep 2006
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Bernard_Carleton wrote: |
Being able to work through the hangover is a valued merit in this society. The suffering that the hangover presents the next day after drinking with colleagues creates a sense of bonding, shared agony, and a team spirit. However, you must be able to work through it.
Unfortunately, many office flunkies can't and so they don't actually get much done until the afternoon, so they end up staying late to get work done. This causes stress, which should be shared and therefore lessened by drinking with co-workers. This then brings on the hangover and the whole process starts over. A classic example of a "vicious cycle". |
This is true. Office workers, however, can nurse their hangovers at their desks as they pretend to work. I've been hungover in class before, and it's not the same; I was a significantly worse teacher than usual, and I won't put myself in that position again (and luckily my boss is unlikely to put me in that position either). |
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kat2
Joined: 25 Oct 2005
Location: Busan, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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| It's not about going out for drinks after work. It's about self control. Don't have so many drinks that you are going to be hungover. I don't have a problem with going out on a week nights, but I do have a problem with people being hungover at work. |
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aaabank
Joined: 27 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Many people in Korea say that turning down an invitation, saying no, is not to be done in Korea. They say it is too rude. This, like many other "truths" in Korea, is a half-truth. To flat-out say 'no' to an invitation is not acceptable (and it really isn't well-thought-of in other cultures either). Most people here have learned to make an excuse (or a lie) in order to avoid doing something they wish not to do (i've also picked up on this and have my excuses at the ready when I sense an unwelcome invitation is in my immediate future {especially in regards to being invited for a grand old time spending Chuseok in a booooring ceremony})
I'd have to agree with the earlier poster that showing up with a hangover in this culture is perfectly natural as long as you can stand on two feet and make it through the door.
Personally, I find that drinking on a weeknight is perfectly acceptable as long as it doesn't interfere with the students' experience. That is, after all, the main reason (I hope) why we are at our respective (not all respected) schools. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2007 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Being able to work through the hangover is a valued merit in this society. |
This is not particularly true.
I once worked in a company with my own office--the former hangover recovery room. For several months after I moved into the office there was a bed in the corner for people to come in and sleep off their hangovers. Amazingly, it was pretty much the same people in rotation during the week. After a few months, the bed was removed to a different office.
In the places I've worked, people just kind of shrug if Mr. Kim is hungover and go on about their job. At one of the high schools I worked at, the school threw Wednesday afternoon parties where the entire male faculty got drunk at school. More than once, we all went out for lunch and then came back to school drunk and taught. I was commended for turning down the third shot of soju at lunch--"Oh, good teacher'. I did it out of self preservation. I don't much enjoy high school age people, and I found that I REALLY didn't like them when I was drunk. |
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