Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Jasmine]

I was talking to my Korean friend about the importance of having sons. I told her that I had heard that sometimes, if a family already has a daughter, they will pay a doctor to tell them the sex of their next child before it is born so that they can abort it if it not a boy. She was really surprised that I knew this, but admitted that it is true.

This got me thinking...what do we (foreigners) know that they (Koreans) think we don't know?

I know a lot of things are hush-hush here, but I'm sure we've heard all the good and bad! What do you think Koreans would be surprised to find out that foreigners know about them and their culture?

[The Lemon]

[sunny6200]

As a korean myself, korean are either pleasantly or unpleasantly surprised at first. if the story is a good thing about my people, of course, we are very happy to be heard by others and vice versa.However, generally, we think that foreigners who know about korea and korean culture are very culturally sensitive and cute (for me).

[yodanole]

The thing that really kills me is this. I introduce myself to my students, and I tell them I've lived here 7 years. So, the first question is always this "Have you ever tried kimchi?". If you can show me a foreigner who has been in Korea 7 hours and hasn't had kimchi foisted off on him, I'll be shocked. But 7 years? No kimchi? I couldn't survive that long anyway without my kimchi! And I ain't crazy about Korean food. The other thing is,
after telling my students I've lived in Ulsan 7 years, they suggest "Let's go to Pulguksa (a local temple in Kyongju). Like kimchi, it's absolutely fabulous. But I've been there more than 100 times. I usually tell them I'm so busy.

[captain kirk]

well, there are the barbershops and that was covered in a post thread just recently. and there's mafia in korea which is controlling the above and other interests. one teacher who worked in wonju (which is in the moutains in the middle of korea not that far from seoul) told me a story of a big gang fight there. the police cordoned off an area of the city. in these gang fights fighters duel with long knives. he also mentioned that dope was grown in korea, also controlled by the mafia. and that those old pictures showing elderly gents smoking a long stemmed pipe were painted before tobacco arrived, so what would they be puffin? of course, discussing these unsightly underbelly-ish aspects is for the uncouth and morbidly curious. there's the surface, and what's under the surface. not acknowledged it may be allowed to teem, like a school of carp barely seen in a silted pond by pines.

[yodanole]

OK- some of this actually is about why Koreans may be suprised when I'm ok with their customs, or what they don't really know about westerners
I hope I'm not horribly off post, but culture is a two way street.
So...
Koreans are suprised when they find out I know:
1) anything about Korean history pre 1945
2) why some barber shops have two poles
3) that I understand what they are saying about me
4) that all women in the sex industry are not single
5) that eating dog doesn't disgust me even a little
I explain about westerners historical fondness for cat
6) that these days ,some Korean girls aren't virgins before marriage
7) that I can use chopsticks
that I didn't learn to use chopsticks in Asia
9) I can't be shocked by worms and chicken feet (soju helps in this)
10) that I understand why they hate George Bush (I'm American)
11) that I'm willing to observe Korean customs (when it ain't about ripping me off)
12) that all Koreans aren't honest

[dogbert]

That Korea has 5,000 distinct seasons and 4 years of history.

[Bulsajo]

[narsty dog]

that was funny dogbert ...wish i d though of that one, brilliant

but to answer the OP

koreans wouldnt be surprised cos they spend all their time trying to keep everything a secret.


however if you want to get a laugh then try,

1. telling them about the lesbian park hangout in shinchon ( very young girls)
2. ask them about pakasu ajummas ( those really old women who hang around mountains ) selling 'soft drinks ( ie pakasu) ' to harabojis.
3. tell them that kim young sam s favourite food was kalguksu.
4. tell them that you know about discrimination against cholla-do, for historical and 'dark-skinned' and the rivalry with kyongsang ...this small amount of political insight will really freak them out..epsecially in seoul
5. tell them you know that adopting babies is taboo, and many koreans believe their blood is pure.
6. tell them you know that whistling at night isnt good
7. tell them you know that any male with a weird long fringe hairstyle parted to the side will be laughed at for looking like an old kasu ( singer)
8. tell them you like watching those ajummas and ajjossis dancing to bong-jja music whilst travelling at high speed on highway coaches.
9. tell them you know tapkol park was designed by an englishman
10. tell them you know it s unlucky for an unmarried couple to walk together in toku su gung (palace), nr city hall
11. telll them you know its important to have a 'small face' in korea to be liked
12. tell them you know its good to eat miyok guk ( soup ) on birthdays and hae jang guk for a hangover...........

[Circus Monkey]

To answer the original question, I think one of the reasons why Koreans are suprised when foreigners display knowledge about Korea is perhaps the Koreans thought that their knowledge is somehow secret and incomprehensible to outsiders. It's like a foreigner cracked the Enigma machine. Either that or Koreans don't like to be showed up.

CM

[Bulsajo]

13. Tell them you know about the 'mongobanjum' and where it comes from. (The mongolian birthmark on the rump).

[weatherman]

I would have to say it is because Koreans have such a low image of themselves, (you know their daily inferiority complex), and think that nobody cares about Koreans and have to go it alone in the world community, so that they are down right surprised when any waegukin shows any knowledge about Korea. Of course the South Korean domestic culture is off the radar for most of the world, so I think Koreans believe they can get away with pretending others don't know about their dirty laundry. Revealing that you know about Korea's dirt maybe makes them feel ashamed, for they do keep it hush-hushed. It then becomes complicated because some Koreans refuse to admit to waegukins that they have any dirty laundry. My biggest issue with this is that I can read different types of Korean personalities and I am pretty good at guessing what and how a student and anybody will procede with a conversation, so that I aviod topics, for I just don't want to discuss things with that person and go over a conversation I have had in the past for the 100th time.

[mokpochica]

People are always surprised when I know that Kim Il-sung--Kim Jong-il's father--was not the *real* Kim Il-sung. (The real Kim Il-sung was a war hero and popular with Korean people, so they stole his identity and fame after he died.)

And that's just one of many things, but probably the one that I have impressed with the most.

[Derrek]

[indiercj]

I have always been surprised whenever I happen to meet a non-korean who study hard and try to observe closely with care what this country have been through since the end of Chosun Dynasty. Not just the everyday superficialities of where it is now but the path it went through.

How hard they tried being literally one small country in far east asia to survive in the middle of a political scramble by Russia, China, Japan and The US. What happened after experiencing a total rupture of its culture(including language) during the colonial period. How they managed to rebuilt a modern country from the debris of a tragic and devastating civil war. How they overcame the long millitary dictatorship and won by their own will to rename itself as one of front runner in the race for democracy among asian countries.

I am not going to give any excuse to what it is still 'fucked up' now, but the more I look at its path and get a glimpse of what the more I feel some sympathy. A foreigner who can share this kind of understanding always amaze me. And I ask myself had I ever looked into any foreign country with depth and care, maybe none, but I definitely would.