Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ytuque]

I was finishing up a lecture yesterday with 15 second year uni students when a male students starts moving around in his seat. He turns to the side and then proceeds to pinch the top of his nose with his thumb and index finger and noisily lets fly with a stream of phlegm which hits the floor and back wall.

His technique was as good as his English-ee because he ended up with snot covering his hand. He then rubs his hands together and tries to wipe the snot off on his desk. Finally with both hands covered, he stands up and walks around the back of the classroom with both hands up in the air asking students for a paper tissue. He looked like a French soldier trying to surrender!

Finally, a student pulls out a roll of toilet paper and unrolls about a meter for the hapless student. He blows his nose with a loud honk, wipes his hands, throws the tissue on the floor, and sits down. Because of the fine quality of Korean tissue, it disintegrates, and there are bits of snotty tissue everywhere.

What I found really shocking was that a university student would do this in a classroom, and none of the mostly female students reacted negatively to this. Judging from the students' reaction, this is a perfectly normal thing to do in the classroom. I was so thoroughly disgusted that I ended the class early.

My first instinct was to eject him from the classroom. Actually, my first thought was to go to the back of the class and slap the fool. Should I have a talk with him about proper classroom hygiene or ignore it and hope it doesn't happen again? Should I just get used to this and hand out tissue in class? When in Rome......

BTW, what is the proper term for blowing snot out of your nose in this manner?

[CentralCali]

[ytuque]

[mnhnhyouh]

[Kimchieyescream]

Farmer's blow

[Easter Clark]

"Farmer's handkerchief"

I don't know what you could've done--I would've been as shocked and dismayed as you were! Maybe ask the female students if they find that behavior attractive? And ask if it's common in Korea for men to do this in class.

Make it a spectacle. Tell them that students in your country have much more respect for their fellow students and teachers and will go to the restroom to do such a thing. Would make for a good class discussion, then tell the class "Let's get the culprit's opinion: Why did you feel the need to do such a thing in class?" Then do your best to embarrass him while amusing the other students...just my opinion!

[eac02]

That is disgusting. I'm coming to korea in aug and can't believe all the stories I hear about bad hygiene.

I've heard them called "snot rockets"

[CentralCali]

[poet13]

Indian Style where I come from.

...and I would have humiliated him starting with "what would your mother or father do if you did that in your house?".

[Lekker]

You're supposed to launch snot rockets into the subway tracks on Sunday afternoons when everyone is watching, especially children, so that they can have a role model to look up to.

[komerican]

[ytuque]

As for hocking a loogie:

I don't think it would be understood as shooting phlegm out through the nose but rather spitting out phlegm. The correct term would be hawking which mimics the sound that people making when trying to expel a glob of mucus from deep in the throat. Hawking is an onomatopoeia, and my dictionary describes it as such.

BTW, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that lovely "haaawwwwkkkk" sound here, I would be wealthy and retired in the south of France.

[MissSeoul]

[curlygirl]

Thanks for clearing that up MissSeoul.

So the question remains, if a student does something particularly revolting in the classroom/lecture theatre, how should the teacher respond? Is it appropriate for the teacher to embarass the student so that nobody else thinks that the behaviour is okay, or should the teacher speak to the student alone after class?

[mrsquirrel]