Korean Job Discussion Forums

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

That's the 5th one today.

Homer · Guest

Roch · Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul

Scotticus · Joined: 18 Mar 2007

The_Conservative · Joined: 15 Mar 2007

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

Good call Scott, exactly what I was about to write. After the 100 millionth time of being laughed at, I stopped answering.

Koreans reap what they sow.

Hollywoodaction · Joined: 02 Jul 2004

The kids in my block don't even bother anymore. Once, when they were screaming "Hello" at me while I was walking with my wife, she pulled them aside, hissed between her teeth at them and gave them an earful about their rudeness, something along the lines of "Is he your friend? Why do you shout at him like that?". Now, they walk up to me and say "Hello" politely. When a new kid moves in the block and shouts at me, the other kids tell them to stop and then whispers something to them.

Laughing

periwinkle · Joined: 08 Feb 2003

Erm, going back to the topic: anyone sending their kids to Seoul Foreign School? My parents have offered to pay for our son to attend the British school.

British school anyone?

tzechuk · Joined: 20 Dec 2004

Scotticus · Joined: 18 Mar 2007

SuperHero · Joined: 10 Dec 2003 Location: Superhero Hideout

Homer · Guest

Calm down scottius....

I did not say he should encourage the drive-by hello that happens sometimes here buddy.

I was discussing the fact that those kids see him walk by (everyday? often?) and staring (I assume that is what he meant) with open mouths (?). Now, he (I-man) was using that to extrapolate how his mixed daughter would be treated were she to attend a public school here.

I was merely debating the fact that the two situations differ and had you read the previous posts you would have seen that. Sadly, you just read the last one and knee-jerked it.

So, I do not respond to all or even most the hellos scottie. In fact, I ignore most of them or sometimes smile back if the hello sounds more genuine. Kids are kids.

So I am not doing a disservice to anyone or encouraging anything here Scott. Sorry to dissapoint you.

I just think there is a huge gap between the foreigner walking by and a mixed kid attending school. The former is a stranger, the latter is a schoolmate....completely different.

I provided examples of this earlier in the thread (had you bothered to read).

anyway, what this thread boils down to is personal choices about education of mixed or foreign kids made by their parents. If I-man does not want to send his daughter to school here when the time comes, no worries, that is his choice as a parent and no one can fault him for it!

I am just interested in discussing these perceptions we have of how mixed or foreign kids are treated in schools here.

Most of the people I know with mixed kids in the school system here have had pretty good experiences. Some have had bad experiences as well.

Do you have a mixed kid Scott? If so, what are you intentions with regards to schools? What actual experience do you have with mixed kids in schools here?

Lets continue an interesting and hopefully useful discussion here.

Scotticus · Joined: 18 Mar 2007

Homer · Guest

But you took one part of a post from an ongoing discussion on a larger topic and used it to make a useless. I responded and then you used a quip to quote me...come on man be honest enough to have a complete debate....

I did make comments about the situation. He (I-man) walks by the same school (I assume) everyday and gets stared at with open-jawed gazes of amazement.

I find that behaviour to be stupid too (just so I am sure you are going to get it this time...by stupid I mean the kids who stare). I said that what is likely is that for these kids seeing the Foreigner walk by has become a game or at least it sounds like it did.

I was discussing the comparison made by I-man between that reaction and the one he figured his mixed daughter would get down the road if she entered elementary school here...

I am not dancing around any issue here Scott.

You focused on only part of the discussion and forgot or ignored what was said before....

So to be crystal clear...

Kids saying hello to foreigners is sometimes a behaviour borne of ignorance. It is seldom malicious, mean spirited or even knowlingly racist. It is basically kids being stupid. There are many ways to respond to this and I agree encouraging it will not help change things. You have options there: ignore it, confront it, behave like an idiot yourself (amusing but useless) or take it case by case. One should always remember that these are children and that kids do dumb things all the time.

As for the larger issue (there is one here Scottie) it is about mixed or foreign kids going to school here. I do not think we can compare how schoolyard kids behave towards a foreign adult walking by and how they are likely to behave to a mixed kid in their school. In my opinion that is because one (clarification for you scott: one here is the foreign adult) is a passing amusement/oddity as they do not interact or know him and the other (clarification for you scott: other here is a mixed kid attending school) is a classmate.

Now, the mixed kid in a school here will undoubtably encounter some hurdles that are unique to his/her situation here. No debate there.

Finally, I completely respect I-man's choices here because heck he is the father of that cute little girl and he (and his wife) make and will make what they feel is the best parental decision for their child.

Funky Chunk · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

If circumstance caused me to be in Korea with a child of my own, I don�t think I�d go with the Korean educational system. Since I�m a certified teacher myself, I would more than likely home school my child. However, I�d be sure to look into hagwons or some other form of structured activity for my child for two reasons. First, social interaction with his/her peers would be a vital concern of mine. Many home schooled children receive an excellent education, but it is often at the expense of their social skills. Second, I would want my child to learn how to function in a structured setting with authority figures other than myself. I�ve taught children who were home schooled early in life and then placed in public school at a later date. These kids have been nightmares in the beginning simply because they weren�t used to having to follow rules and operate within a non-negotiable schedule.