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]