Korean Job Discussion Forums

[teachteach]

Dear poet13 and the rest of you like him.
You derive joy and pride from 'pushing' around koreans.
They don't do it on purpose. 99% of the time they are not racist.
They often bump into eachother as well.
They are just distracted and misjudge the space needed to pass.
That's why they are bad drivers. Lack of spatial judgement.
In an overcrowded city with narrow streets and alleys it just
exacerbates the problem.
But you are all uptight westerners.
You wouldn't dare purposely bump into somebody in New York,
or Los Angeles because as whiteys you are likely afraid of black people,
Spanish people, even New York Italian people.
But you look down on the Koreans, so you get joy in pushing them
around. You look down on them because you've been here too long,
been burned by a boss at least once, or never learned any type
of flexibility.
In 5 years in Korea, I can attest that Koreans are not racist.
If poet13 and the rest are proud of pushing around old ladies then they
must have really nothing better to do, or have neve accomplished anything worth mentioning.
(two weeks later someone will probbaly write this about me)
"I saw teachteach on the subway. His schoolbag touched my knee. I gave him a real hard look. He said sorry, but that doesn't cut it. I continued to give him my hard stare all the way to the end of the line. When the door opened I pushed him out of the way so I could get off first. Then the tackled an ajjumma just for fun. '

[samd]

Seconded.

Too many uptight white people who feel like they have a license to impose their values on another culture, and react with unacceptable violence to things Koreans don't bat an eyelid at, because they know they won't be bashed/stabbed/shot here because society is so peaceful.

Any man who shoulder barges a woman intentionally should be ashamed of himself.

[laogaiguk]

[laogaiguk]

[laogaiguk]

At Starbucks today, one boyfriend got angry and almost hit his girlfriend, but thought twice (it may of been the complete look of imminent death I gave him if he had done so). He took away her cup (she was doing something that annoyed him with it) and crushed it and threw it on the ground. I still don't know what pissed him off.

Whether Korean or Western, pushing or hitting women (well, to be honest anyone) is not cool.

[asylum seeker]

Yeah, these hard men priding themselves on pushing around old ladies, they should be real proud of themselves. A-holes..

[samd]

[in_seoul_2003]

[Imbroglio]

No, they're not 'distracted' - they're just selfish and rude. Black people have more sense and they don't walk into people because they don't think only of themselves the way that some Koreans do.

Ever hear of the Korean expression "Koreans are like sand"?

Check it out and come back when you understand it.

And another thing. No one said ALL Koreans were racist, there are racists in every country, and Korea has its share.

[Stormy]

From what I read of poet's post the woman he referred to walked into his pregnant wife first. That's ok right?
Phew glad that was cleared up. Older Korean women (who are the rudest here by far) are off-limits but pregnant women are fair game. Noted.

[Scotticus]

[ardis]

[Underwaterbob]

[poet13]

I agree with all of the previous posters who say that kncoking an ajjumma about is wrong.
But as the other poster pointed out, why is it ok for them and not anyone else?

Should we have to walk down a street weaving side to side, dodging ajjummas, who it appears, seem intent on demonstrating their ajjumma-ness to all with a combination of Einsteins' posit that, "The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.", and a Special Forces brother who said, "...and feck everyone else."?

At a certain point, one must certainly say enough is enough. The woman I watched came directly at my wife for twenty paces. As I watched her come, there was a certain growing disbelief as I said to myself, "Oh no, you're not!" Being laden with groceries and a dawdling 3 year old, I believe it was not our obligation to "go around". I believe it was hers, and the fact that she chose to ignore such a simple and common decency to not walk into a pregnant person tells me it was intentional, and I dealt with it accordingly.

Think of a school yard where one kid lays a shoulder into another in passing as a challenge. The other pushes back, they square off, have some words, and maybe it's a draw, or maybe they tussle right then and there. Perhaps they agree to meet later.
Or, if that image doesn't work....
then think of a shrinking watering hole in Kruger National Park late in the hot summer. The animal that gets to drink is the one who pushes the most.
This is the image I have of ajjummas.

Can you explain why few others practise this behaviour of walking into people?

Would they do this in NY or LA? Hell no. They'd eventually get shot....or mistaken for a pickpocket....and get shot.

After my 4 and a half years here, I can also say that MOST Koreans are not racist. But like the other poster said, there are racists in every society. But can you explain banking practise here?

In my 4 and a half years here, I have had an overwhelmingly positive experience.

Lately however, I have become much much more protective of my family her, and I simply choose not to let people walk over them.


edit, I added what was going through my mind as the ajjumma came toward us.

[poet13]

"They are just distracted and misjudge the space needed to pass.
That's why they are bad drivers. Lack of spatial judgement."

I'm sorry, but....

Apology accepted.