Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Starla]

Okay, I'm aware that getting shoved by ajummas and ajossis is to be expected in Korea. But I've noticed that young Korean women have a tendency to do this too and most of the time, they see me but do it anyway. I got this twice from the same young woman in a store today. I was ready to chase her down and shove her back but I held back. Have any other people experienced this? I know some nice Korean girls but there's a breed out there that seems b*tchy as hell and I would normally not let girls like this back home do this without letting them know what I think. This does not happen to me with young Korean men by the way.

[okokok]

Honeymoon's over.


Hellllllooooooooooooo culture shock!

[Starla]

[Return Jones]

No, Starla, you would qualify as a mild annoynance.

[DrOctagon]

When I came here I was expecting to be shoved by ajummas and ajossis, but I've been here for over a month and still no shoving going on here. Does this only happen in big cities?

[Starla]

[Janny]

Today I was at the supermarket. On my way out, there were four girls walking in front of me, in their teens, who decided to stop and have a quick chat right in front of the doorway out. I guess they didn't notice I was behind them. I stopped walking and waited for them to notice there was someone (carrying groceries) waiting to walk out. But they didn't notice me (or, didn't care). I said "excuse me" and walked through their gossip circle. Cut right through the middle. I hit one of them in the shoulder with mine (not gently). She *screamed* like, well, like a little girl. It was such a loud little sissy scream that I couldn't stop myself from laughing out loud right there in the doorway.

The entire debaucle gave me some pleasure, in a day of getting shoved on the sidewalk or "making way" for anyone who ALWAYS veers into my path, no matter how much room there is.

It's a facet of Korean society that I don't understand, but in my heart I believe it has something to do with the crowdedness of the place, and therefore they simply can't care about bumping others around. They'd be annoyed All The Time. So they don't care about bumping others or getting bumped.

However....when there's plenty of room on the sidewalk and I carefully watch a Korean walk TOWARDS me, not to the side as I do...I am confused all over again.

Isn't life fun. That's the approach you gotta take on this one. Yah...you might be gettin an extra shove cuz you're white. But....we all know we're better off. We ain't teaching manners to Koreans while we're here. And they don't want us to.

Just stiffen that shoulder and get into it! It can be fun.

[zpeanut]

[okokok]

I'm just tired of people saying it's just the older generation and that younger koreans are different. BS!

All ages push. Young kids get away with shoving their elders (including teachers) out of their way. Old people do what ever they want of course.

There's many excuses. But what it comes down to is the self-centeredness of Koreans and they get away with it and are even encouraged from a young age.

This self-centeredness is the root of many problems here. But don't forget, it's our language and our country and our house.

[jkelly80]

I don't mind the jostling. It's crowded here, sometimes you have to get somewhere quicker then somebody else and there's no room to go around. I've also gotten into situations where I feel it was because I'm too used to having space around me and screw up the pedestrian flow. Sometimes it's just not a question of me not being adapted to being a pedestrian in Korea.

But The Drift is inexcusable.

Q: Why drift into my path on an empty sidewalk?
A: You're an idiot.

This has happned too often for my liking, so I've developed a strategy to prevent coming into physical contact with these idiots. If I see it I usually look right at them and speak in medium voiced English, while making eye contact :"well I see we have another one, let's see how this goes"--usually Scorcese-ish gibberish. Sometimes I use a Billy Batts voice.

It freaks them out. Either its the cadence or the eye contact (really really wide eyes, that's key too). I've only done this three times but it's worked like a charm every time. They hear the english and then see the maniac face and they forget about whatever jeong/han/Confucian-inspired bubble of emotion that prompted them to decide to not acknowledge the presence of another human being.

The only downside: you look like a psycho.

[Janny]

jkelly, I love it! You've inspired me to get more creative (proactive?) on the sidewalk. Cheers!

[okokok]

[jkelly80]

[pkang0202]

I look straight ahead, square my shoulders and march.

I dodge 3 things:

1. Strollers
2. Old People
3. Motorcycles

Other than that, you don't want to play sidewalk chicken with me.

[Starla]