Korean Job Discussion Forums

philipjames · Joined: 03 Feb 2003

A national manners campaign would do wonders for this country. Forget the zillions of won being wasted in coming up with a 'national image' campaign. How about a 'national manners' campaign'? The government should make a list of things that Koreans do that make them look like third world peasants, and shame them into changing.

A national media campaign, financed by the government, would go a long way.

aphase · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

hmm I guess i'll add a story here, even though this thread is already something like 17 pages long.

One of my friends from back home was over here about a year back teaching short term. Anyways, him and his girlfriend and i were riding on the subway to go to where he was staying and some Ajoshi sitting next to where we were standing kept saying for us to shut up in Korean because he didn't want to hear us speaking english. Anyways we just ignored him and continued our conversation when my friends girlfriend said that the ajoshi was spitting at us. We moved away a bit, and then suddenly my friend got spit in the face by the ajoshi.

The funny part of this is that my friend is no small guy. He's really hard core about working out and is into MMA and things like that. The next thing I knew my friend said "He just spit in my face" and then he walked over to the ajoshi who was sitting down and smacked him in the side of the head, and the ajoshi's glasses flew across the floor. Then the ajoshi got up and my friend grabbed him by the head and proceeded to knee him in the face and then backed off. The ajoshi came forward again and I yelled out in korea "Why are you trying to fight with us just because we're speaking in English?" and then some other Korean guy joined in and head butted the ajoshi after saying something about the ajoshi's attitude toward foriegners (i couldn't understand it clearly).

That was a really weird experience. Needless to say we got off the train at the next stop to avoid trouble.

I was surprised by a couple of things. First off, I was surprised that the ajoshi would spit in my friends face when he obviously looked a lot stronger then him. But I was also surprised that another Korean took our side in the matter.

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

this must be something about "Korean culture" that someone will have to explain to me/us.

what makes an adjosshi think that he can get away with spitting on someone and not having every bone in his body broken in response?

In every country around the world that I know of and have been to (and that's plenty), spitting on someone is an invitation for somone to to try to kick your ass. no matter how old or young you may be.

so what makes Korea and a Korean adjosshi special?

btw.. this is an amusing story - I have had dreams about some idiot like this doing precisely this very thing (spitting at me) because that gives me a blank license to beat the crap out of him Smile

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

Your friend is lucky he got off scot free. We've all heard the asinine behaviour of Koreans who call the cops and sue for damages against a foreigner. In that situation I would be stuck between planting his face into the door or walking away.

aphase so you're the girlfriend? Laughing

You switched into "I" mode

aphase · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

Usually because people on here say something happened to their "friend" but usually mean it happened to the OP.

aphase · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

Alan Partidge · Joined: 29 Nov 2005

That story sounds like utter shite. There's no way you'd get away with that. There's also no way a Korean would headbutt another Korean to back up some foreigners.

aphase · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

bogey666 · Joined: 17 Mar 2008 Location: Korea, the ass free zone

I'd like to see a court or cop arrest a person for whacking someone who just spit on him. I don't care if it's Korea or anywhere else and hell yes, I'd proudly admit to responding if I could prove/back up that I was spit at.

I probably wouldn't start whaling on the guy, but sending him flying halfway across the subway car would be a good start. If he came back for more, he'd get more and go flying across the subway car again, this time a little farther and faster.

what I don't believe is that the adjosshi "came back" after being slapped and then kneed in the face (I really like the slapping part, in fact, beayitch slapping them around is probably the best response, humiliating but not overly violent). He can sue me for his rosy cheeks.

but I have yet to encounter one brave enough like that.. unless the guy was drunk out of his mind or a real live badass in his younger days still thinking he was a tough guy. I mean, I'm not a small guy, but next to a 6'4 250 pounder I will be and I wouldn't dare spit anywhere near a guy that size. Since your average adjosshi weighs in at 5-6 and say 140, it'd be like him going up a 6 footer who's about 200 lbs and getting frisky.

insane.

aphase · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

I think the ajoshi was still in disbelief that he got hit in the face by my friends knee, when my friend let go of the back of his head and stopped kneeing him the ajoshi fell back into the seat (he was sitting in one of the small benches towards the end of the car, but he wasn't a disabled person so don't get the wrong idea), anyways when he fell back into his seat he stood up and tried to take a swing but missed and thats when the other guy head butted him.

Anyways my friend wasn't trying to cause maximum damage, so I don't want you guys to think the ajoshi was left a bloody pulp, but I'm sure he probably had some explaining to do when he got home to his wife with bruises or bumps or whatever. Anyways it all happened pretty fast. seemed like everything happened in the span of a minute.

glasshalffull · Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Location: Busan, South Korea

my friends and i have been hushed on the subway by an adjosshi before. we just ignored him and kept talking. he didn't spit on us though. that's pretty brutal.

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

clay4bc · Joined: 01 May 2004

I hope the mods will make this a sticky! Already 17 pages and counting...

fadedgirl · Joined: 26 Nov 2006

One time, my friend and I were on the subway and an adjoshi was trying to speak to us in broken English. At one point he said, "how come China?" I had no idea what he was trying to say, so we were ignoring him.

Then he tried to touch my knee, and I whipped out evil-beeyotch stare down. But he kept trying to speak to us despite the fact that my friend moved to another bench and left me to fend for myself with this guy.

Then he poked me with his umbrella. His umbrella!!! I moved my knee and then he got off at the next stop. Seriously, wasn't it enough that I was giving him the evil stare down and NOT SPEAKING?!

The irony was that there were other foreign teachers in the subway AND none of them tried to help me or my friend. Thanks for not helping me or my friend!