Korean Job Discussion Forums

Dodgy Al · Joined: 15 May 2004 Location: Seoul

It's Friday afternoon, so I'm trying to be all calm and stuff. But just now a kid was messing around outside my classroom. He got up on chair and decided to spit at one of his friends. So I hauled his ass to the discipline teachers' room, where his homeroom teacher resides. i could tell they were not going to treat this as seriously as I'd like, but as she told me she would 'deal with it', (and with it being Friday Smile

), I decided to let it go. Still a bit miffed about it though.

So the point of my post is to ask you guys how you have dealt with spitting in your schools. Honestly... sometimes the hallways are like minefields.

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

I've made a high school student get down and clean her spit off the floor. Having to clean it off the floor probably makes them a bit more inclined to keep it in their mouths.

But you know it's a lost cause when you see spit on the stairs and have to wonder if it's from a student or a co-worker.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 11:28 pm Post subject:

Ahhh... K-land... where the floors of my PS are immaculate, but the walls are covered in: dirt, cobwebs, footprints, graffitti and 826 lbs of dried spit!...LOL. Rolling Eyes

Joe666 · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Location: Jesus it's hot down here!

Ya intersting phenomenon in K-land. I had a public middle school announcement translated to me by a couple of students a few weeks ago. Stop spitting inside the school.

Jesus - put an empty plastic bottle with a cap in your school bag! Wait! Are the boys getting female action via spatting on the floor! Even better, do the ladies get action for the same act.

Haven't seen a young girl do it yet. Can't wait for that day!

sinsanri · Joined: 20 Apr 2009

One of the things you need to learn if you want to survive in Korea is-- 'Do not make a mountain out of a molehill.'

It may be a mountain (big deal) to you but it may only be a mole hill to Koreans. It is best to learn what is a big deal to the Koreans and let the small stuff slide.

JJJ · Joined: 27 Nov 2006 Location: Seoul

poet13 · Posted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 3:58 pm Post subject:

It happens in every new class once. Only once. The offender is given a mop and mops the entire classroom....during class. Row by row, the students move their desks, chairs, bags, etc; and the offender cleans 100% of the floor surface. Really buggers a class, but it never happens again.

tob55 · Joined: 29 Apr 2007

afsjesse · Joined: 23 Sep 2007 Location: Kickin' it in 'Kato town.

Not to mention we need to be careful not to spread the Swine Flu (point of seriousness, but meant as a joke).

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

I thought that 'spittn' like a man' was one of the things newbies loved about Korean girls. Am I missing something here?

by2004 · Joined: 20 Mar 2009 Location: Gyeongsan

If Koreans could learn how to spit without horking a big one then I would feel much better. It's usually the middle aged men who do that. You see teen boys doing that a lot but they're just doing it to be macho. I propose a law like in Singapore where spitting/spitting gum is punishable... not. Oh well. But I agree with a previous remark that we should let it slide. It's their country. Why get stressed out?

superacidjax · Joined: 17 Oct 2006 Location: Seoul

Too bad this isn't Singapore (at least for this specific concern!)

http://harosingapore.blogspot.com/2005/12/spit-in-public-ground-of-disease-and.html

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1017.html

excerpt: "Visitors should be aware of Singapore's strict laws and penalties for a variety of actions that might not be illegal or might be considered minor offenses in the United States. These include jaywalking, littering and spitting."

Looney · Joined: 23 Dec 2008

Yu_Bum_suk · Joined: 25 Dec 2004

I don't know if this is a Korean urban legend but there was a story from about 15 years ago of a Korean who was confronted by a Singaporean policeman about spitting on the street. The Korean tried to deny it and the police arrested him and did a DNA test, after which the Korean got a whopping fine.

I don't know if that story's true but I sure hope it is.

sjrm · Joined: 27 Jul 2005

A kind of bit off topic, but anyone remember that American kid who was caned for vandalism in that area? I'm pretty sure it was Singapore, or maybe Malaysia, or somewhere in that area! From what I remember, the mother was pleaing for her son not to be caned, and the father pretty much wanted it to teach his son a lesson in stupidity.