Korean Job Discussion Forums

[crash bang]

since "do you feel offended when..." threads are all the rage, howzabout i start one

soooooooo.........when some complete stranger says "hello" to you on the street, just cuz youre white/a foreigner, are you all "OH. MY. GOD. what a dork. just because we're both foreigners, he said 'hello' to me. get a clue, hayseed"? this question is aimed at the people where whitefaces are uncommon

[OiGirl]

I chose "friendly," but if you're friendly + needy, please don't strike up a conversation!

[jay-shi]

This topic has been done to death.

You need more options on your poll.

-I live in Seoul, I nod politely and move on.
-I live in Seoul, I nod politely, say hello and move on.
-I live in NYC and am Chinese, the thought of an Asian coming up to me for small talk, just because we share some similar traits, seems ridiculous.
-I live in a (very) small town in S. Korea and I interrogate every westerner I find.

On and on it goes.

[bejarano-korea]

I live in Changwon and sometimes when I see another teacher. (because the white faces here are either teachers or engineers) I nod my head and say hello but sometimes I'm so shocked at seeing them that I lose my tongue I say nothing!

This is not on purpose! and a thousand apologies if I 'blanked' anyone around Changwon in this nature.

Everyone is more than welcome to say hello to me! (apart from teenage Korean boys of course) I'm the tall, Spanish looking, broad shouldered guy with a nice heaircut and a black puffa jacket!

[Boodleheimer]

i was the one vote for 'What a dork'.

but i think it's a conditional 'what a dork'. i mean, if it's Christmas, New Year, some holiday, sure, i'll say hello, merry christmas, what have you. other than that -- and if it's not in a bar -- it's a bit strange.

[PeteJB]

I just act Korean and stare briefly. Then again I don't usually pay attention to who is around me. If it's a Korean, I'll just reply in Korean instead of saying Hi back - If it's teenagers saying Hi repeatedly, I'll ask them to just use Korean (not politely, but not rudely either).

[Hyeon Een]

In an area with lots of foreigners like Jong-ro or Itaewan or Gangnam I'd probably think they were weird or some religious nut trying to get me to go to their church. So my reaction would probably be a nod of the head and trying to look as busy as possible.

If I'm somewhere foreigners aren't common I'd say "Good morning", "Good afternoon" or "Good Evening", or if I hadn't seen one for several weeks I might be, like the poster above, too shocked to respond before the moment has passed.

[Ginormousaurus]

I'll say hello to anyone who says hello to me. But I don't normally initiate it as I spend a lot of my time in an area with a large number of non-Koreans.

[Mi Yum mi]

Lame. Say hi...fine. Asking where I'm from? How long in Korea? Blah blah blah...is the part I hate. If you are needy, go make a friend elsewhere.

[crash bang]

trolls need not answer

[RACETRAITOR]

We are the White Race and we share a special bond. So when a white person says hi to me, I heil them and then share a wineskin of mead with them. 14/88!

[jackson7]

I'm from a small town in Alaska where everyone knows everyone. Waves are the norm...to EVERYONE. Car horns aren't used to tell the person in front of you that the light just changed...they are used to say hello to people walking on the sidewalks!

That said, I like the friendly "hello" that ends at hello. If I make eye contact with another foreigner, I certainly don't quickly avert my eyes and clam up. I did, however, in the past think that those foreigners were raining on my special little magical parade here in Korea, and I was the only foreigner in this paradise. Got over that self-fed BS real quick.

In short, say hello, just like any other person on this planet. This world is a lot smaller than people waging wars would like to pretend, and the fact of the matter is, we're all neighbors. Say hi, be polite to strangers (KOREANS take note...be more polite to eachother for God's sake!), and wear a smile...life's too short.

[crusher_of_heads]

"YOu won't be making any money doing privates."

"Privates are illegal."

"You are welcome."

[blurgalurgalurga]

I'm offended by: foreigners saying hello to me, foreigners not saying hello to me, foreigners speaking Korean to me, Koreans speaking to me, by this thread, by every other thread, by your threads, by myself, by my friends, by my enemies, by religion, by atheism, by people who aren't easily offended, by the dearth of good fantasy movies, by the rich, by the poor, by the middle class, by knee-high socks, and by cats with scary eyes.
The best defense, I say, is always being good and offended.

[spliff]

I'm only offended if they don't show.