Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bogey666]

I like to joke around and especially so in stuffy academic settings, where too often people take each other WAY too seriously (reminds me of Chevy Chase pretending to be a doctor.. where not knowing how to perform surgery, he just goes around and repeats Doctor.. Doctor.. with everyone acknowledging just waste time)

It's like that with Mr.. Mr... Mrs.. blah blah in academic settings.

anyways , my Korean PS isn't like that, thank god.....

but I find I still have to constrain my naturally "impish" personality because they just don't/won't get the joke.

for e.g.. I wrote about a petite Korean female teacher whacking the crap out of some students.. I started to say.. "when will it be my turn".. and she gave me a quizzical look - I quickly shut up and immediately instituted a strategic withdrawal.

With an American woman, you can say "spank ME please" and if she has ANY sense of humor, she'll at least smile and say "you wish", if not playing along some more. You can't/won't get that with a Korean.

Their "sense of humor" is something I don't quite understand -(that's where the language barrier comes in)

clearly double entendres, often a rich source of jocularity are off limits to non native speakers.. but with Koreans I also sense a cultural divide.. they just don't quite have the same sense of humor..

less "ribald" perhaps is the best way I can phrase it?
a product of their conservative and sexually repressed culture?

(though I notice they have some of those stupid "variety" shows they find hilarious (similar thing in Latin America) which I could never quite "understand" - they were just DUMB to me.

I did manage with a lot of effort to play a joke on the VP the other day... all day he was besieged with teacher after teacher with forms to look over and sign. After having taught him the phrase "when it rains it pours" the other day... I saw an opening.. and at the end of the day.. sauntered over to get in line behind some other teachers.. with a huge stack of papers and books (grabbbed everything I could and stacked it)

he saw me. sitting there with an impish smile. and asked "what are you doing"?

I responded that like the other teachers I also had some "documents" for him to look over and sign.. He got it... and started laughing... then explained to head female teacher.. she started laughing too.

anyways.. what are YOUR impressions of "Korean humor", lack thereof? and how to bridge the cultural divide?

[tanklor1]

Most Koreans, hell most Teachers here, can't ge sarcasm for the life of them.

[bogey666]

[Summer Wine]

[tanklor1]

[bogey666]

[tanklor1]

[seoulsucker]

[tanklor1]

[IncognitoHFX]

[tanklor1]

[IncognitoHFX]

[raclos234]

i have one k-teacher who lived in england for a time so her english isnt too bad. shes not the prettiest chick out there but has a fiesty attitude that can either attract u or push u the *beep* away.

anyways, we sorta had a running joke whenever we would give each other food or whatever by saying that its 'from my heart'. on one occasion after she gave me some food and said that saying, i wanted to tell her 'im touched.' but it came out 'i like to touch'. that was met by a big laugh.

next day she gave me more food, then asked 'how does it taste?' with a big smile on her face. i responded back with 'im taking my time in eating it'...she didnt get that one, oh well.

a couple minutes pass and then i say 'mmmmmmmmmmm'...she understands the connotation in that (at least i think she does) and another k-teacher hears whats going on and gets a giggle out of it.

i guess u gotta spell it out more to someone who doesnt speak ur native tongue.

[samd]

Judging by your avatar, your sense of humour needs some work too, OP.

How much of it is lack of a sense of homour, and how much is it a lack of Korean language ability?

And use your brain when it comes to sexual innuendo, double entendres etc. Leave them out, they already think we're sex-crazed perverts.

[bogey666]