Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Michelle]

Hi All,

I was annoyed today after class since my two (yes two) coteachers for the camp have been intervening from the beginning and now feel free to order me around in class time.

Then, after class they said "How are you feeling?"

I said nothing.

One of them said "You are very angry now"

Then she said 'for us to understand you have to say"

I thought 'this is the last straw; being ordered to state my emotional state.

I was partly annoyed at the students and I told them

The thing is I had told them how I was feeling a previous time when they asked and they argued with it.

It is very disgusting to do that to someone just to trap them into saying something bad - to get them to express a bad feeling just to delogify it. They are not listeners.

I can tell them however change will not be forthcoming.

I am wondering when did they ever tell me how they are feeling other then I'm fine.

I guess this is part of the Korean way of dealing with not having a life outside of work.

Anyone relate?

[MantisBot]

I'd put it more as them trying to set up a pecking order. In the future, don't let yourself get pushed around in the beginning and they won't be able to do it later. If you're older than them, let them know it (let them tell you their ages first). If you have better qualifications than them, let them know (again, let them show their cards first). It may be too late now to really do anything about it without being rude, but in the future make sure you lay down the boundaries at the start. The Confucianist part of Korea heavily stresses pecking order...

[spliff]

I would have told them that honestly "I feel like puking on your face".

[Rumple]

[fromtheuk]

I am glad the OP said this.

It's a relief I am not totally paranoid.

I am doing winter camp alone, thank God!

But during regular class, my co-teacher points at me dismissively when it's my turn to do stuff.

She is basically insecure, I suspect she has an unhappy life at home, she is also upset because I have politely refused her stupid work requests, and I avoid her like the plague.

I also never show any anger and look even happier just to wind her up, and it works. How do I know? Because she looks very angry, sometimes she can't hide it, even when we are in close proximity, which is incredibly amusing.

From now on, until the end of this contract, I may start pointing at her dismissively in class, that is if she continues to do so.

[Rumple]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[cbclark4]

One thing I learned in the business world is you gotta get nasty every
once in a while just to let people know that you can get nasty.

Let them know you're pissed and don't let them off until they understand
that you are pissed.

Don't asked then to fix it or tell them how just be pissed it works.

Sit back and watch what happens.

"I'm angry and I'll let you talk to me again in an hour, so you better
collect your thoughts"

[OiGirl]

I love it when you can tick someone off just by being happy in their presence.

[MrsSeoul]

[ryouga013]

[Juregen]

[PRagic]

The easiest solution would be to simply not work camps. These are, after all, money making schemes, and education takes a back seat.

The poster who raised the 'pecking order' point hit the nail on the head, though. Life and status are not viewed as level playing fields here. If you are of lower status, suck it up and deal with it. If you have status, enable yourself.

Being asked about feelings is more than likely their attempt at approaching you from a 'Western' point of view. If you were a Korean, you wouldn't be ask how you felt, and you wouldn't show it, either.

Part of the joy of working in a foreign culture is getting a cross-cultural smack in the face once in a while. You are developing new instincts, and that can be a painful process. Once you get used to things, it gets easier, although by no means completely easy. Drive on.

[Michelle]

[wylies99]