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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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 Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:27 pm Post subject: What the frak? |
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| I came back to Canada a little while ago and I discovered people look at me funny a couple of seconds into simple exchanges. I started noticing at the cash at Tim Hortons. The cashier greeted me with a big smile, and then his smile sort of faltered and fell as I continued to give what I thought was a perfectly normal order. I was perfectly nice and pleasant. I just assumed I was looking at him a bit intensely trying to discern if he understood what I was saying like I might have in Korea. I kind of found that funny and it didn�t really bother me about other cashiers in other stores when they had the same reaction. Then I went to train at a new gym, and I sort of got the same reaction from the instructors at that gym. What happened? I came back from Korea a freak and everyone can sense my freakiness!! I swear I was normal when I left! Did this happen to anyone else? |
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crash bang
Joined: 11 Jul 2007
Location: gwangju
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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| no. youre a freak |
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sillywilly
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Canada.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Are you bowing? |
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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| sillywilly wrote: |
| Are you bowing? |
No, and handing over money with one hand and everything. Odds are in favor of freakdom. |
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mole
Joined: 06 Feb 2003
Location: Act III
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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Folks still ask me what country I'm from, even though I'm back in my hometown. Frustrating when they really act like they have no idea what I'm saying.
Kinda makes me feel "worldly." |
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Robot_Teacher
Joined: 18 Feb 2009
Location: Robotting Around the World
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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Maybe it's not you, it's them where their attitude and outlook has changed. Cultures are in a constant state of change so our home countries will not ever be just like the way we left them. It's surreal going home after you've been gone a few years. I was in Europe for 3 years and when I returned, I noticed Americans weren't as friendly and restaurant and other services were lower quality than before. I noticed morale generally was declining.
I also adopted a bit of the British accent so most people didn't know I was a fellow American and treated me as a foreigner. That also could had been why I thought service quality went for the worst, but I did notice the restaurants and streets were dirtier with more tacky dressed poor looking people. I expect when I return, I'll see less smiling people at peace with it all. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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You need to learn how to title your threads.
Before you pounce on me with, "but you came in and read it, didn't you?" know that I did so only to admonish you for such an ambiguous thread title. |
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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Kuros wrote: |
You need to learn how to title your threads.
Before you pounce on me with, "but you came in and read it, didn't you?" know that I did so only to admonish you for such an ambiguous thread title. |
Have you read my other threads? I guess you must have, or you would have simply said, "You should have titled this thread more clearly," rather than referring to my "threads" plural. Which titles do you take issue with? Or did you just carelessly phrase your admonishment. That's ok, I don't mind. Why focus on petty details: that�s my motto! |
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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Robot_Teacher wrote: |
Maybe it's not you, it's them where their attitude and outlook has changed. Cultures are in a constant state of change so our home countries will not ever be just like the way we left them. It's surreal going home after you've been gone a few years. I was in Europe for 3 years and when I returned, I noticed Americans weren't as friendly and restaurant and other services were lower quality than before. I noticed morale generally was declining.
I also adopted a bit of the British accent so most people didn't know I was a fellow American and treated me as a foreigner. That also could had been why I thought service quality went for the worst, but I did notice the restaurants and streets were dirtier with more tacky dressed poor looking people. I expect when I return, I'll see less smiling people at peace with it all. |
Cool, people in my culture are slowly beginning to realize what freaks their fellow human beings are. Change for the better, I say. |
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oldfatfarang
Joined: 19 May 2005
Location: On the road to somewhere.
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| Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2009 8:45 pm Post subject: |
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If you have taught in Asia for a while, you've probably adopted the habit of putting micro pauses between your words (so non native speakers can understand you). We -- all --slip -- into -- this (for -- survival).
I felt really funny speaking (at normal speed ) with native speakers when I returned home (after 3 + 1/2 years living in Korea and Thailand). I felt like I was mentally impaired, but after 4 months I lost my exaggerated speech. But then I came back to Korea speaking quickly and, of course, nobody understood me for 2 weeks until I slowed down.
Don't worry. It's called Reverse Culture Shock, and it gets better. |
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Dev
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 7:09 am Post subject: |
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| Robot_Teacher wrote: |
Maybe it's not you, it's them where their attitude and outlook has changed. Cultures are in a constant state of change so our home countries will not ever be just like the way we left them. It's surreal going home after you've been gone a few years. I was in Europe for 3 years and when I returned, I noticed Americans weren't as friendly and restaurant and other services were lower quality than before. I noticed morale generally was declining.
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It may be possible too that you got used to the neat way most Koreans dress. Koreans dress neater than any westerner back home especially in the lower classes.
The work ethic back home is also inferior. People complain to their bosses if they're asked to stay an extra hour while many Koreans work 12 hours a day. So that attitude comes out when you get served at a fast food joint. The staff are not very friendly and at some places, they don't even wipe the tables after customers leave.
Hopefully pride in your job will come back as the recession grows. People will be grateful they have a job.
Reverse culture shock is a good learning experience. You learn that there's no perfect place on the planet. Every country has ups and downs. |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:11 am Post subject: |
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| aboxofchocolates wrote: |
| Kuros wrote: |
You need to learn how to title your threads.
Before you pounce on me with, "but you came in and read it, didn't you?" know that I did so only to admonish you for such an ambiguous thread title. |
Have you read my other threads? I guess you must have, or you would have simply said, "You should have titled this thread more clearly," rather than referring to my "threads" plural. Which titles do you take issue with? Or did you just carelessly phrase your admonishment. That's ok, I don't mind. Why focus on petty details: that�s my motto! |
The comment was meant to be constructive, but with a touch of bite. I got overboard with the bite. |
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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:29 am Post subject: |
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| Kuros wrote: |
| The comment was meant to be constructive, but with a touch of bite. I got overboard with the bite. |
Pfft, that wasn't bite, that was nibble! No worries, point taken and I admit it was a pretty poor thread title.
Definitely the pausing thing and reverse culture shock!! Mystery solved, thanks oldfatfarang!! |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 9:59 am Post subject: |
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| Anyone who says 'What the frak?' is a bit off kilter. Watch BSG, don't imitate it. |
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aboxofchocolates
Joined: 21 Mar 2008
Location: on your mind
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| Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:20 am Post subject: |
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| VanIslander wrote: |
| Anyone who says 'What the frak?' is a bit off kilter. Watch BSG, don't imitate it. |
I used it as a convenient way of dropping the f bomb without getting bleeped. I use the f word in every day conversation and it is annoying to edit it out of my text. I like bsg, but the only reason I am using their special swear word is because it looks like ef you see kay and it is slightly more comfortable to use it like ef you see kay in my posts. Misspellings of ef you see kay are sometimes bleeped, and I don't feel like finding out which ones they are.
Just out of curiosity, when was the first time you realized calling someone out on their geekiness on an internet forum was a little hypocritical? I think it's admirable you're comfortable with your hypocrisy, it's harmless enough after all. Still, I wonder how many years a person can be cheerfully ambivalent without even minor self assessment. |
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