Korean Job Discussion Forums

[digsydinner]

I've seen this too many times...a foreigner entering an establishment and assuming the korean workers understand their english. It's a shame how some foreigners just refuse to learn the language.

Just today, I was at a Pizza Hut...the next table over there were two ESL foreigners (complaining about their work schedules). By the time it came to ordering, they tried to substitute one of the toppings of a combo pizza with something else, but said it in total english...totally disregarding the fact that we're in Korea. The poor korean waitress didn't understand.. asking the person politely to try to explain better. After going back and forth a couple times, the guy ordering just blew a fuse and started to yell at the worker for not understanding such an "easy" instruction....and turned into a little b**ch about it...they ended up just getting up and leaving.

Why is it that most people just don't want to learn Korean and expect all Koreans to comply to their own langange? I think it's the most rude thing a foreigner can do here...

[bundangbabo]

Go away..

[Hyeon Een]

[dporter]

During my first week in China I was out to lunch with some veterans who had some Chinese language skills. We went to some local pizza shop where all the staff were Chinese and spoke no English. The menu was in English however with Chinese characters off to the side.

When I ordered I pointed to the menu beside the small vegetable pizza - the waitress make a note on her little pad - and then I looked at her and said, 'but I don't want any mushrooms.'

She just looked at me with a blank stare.

After about 5 seconds one of the veterans spoke up and said, 'dude, she doesn't know what a mushroom is.' Something clicked and I instantly knew what was ahead for me in China.

I got the vegetable pizza and picked off the mushrooms.

[Suwon23]

I've ranted so many times about people who go to a country and don't learn the language, especially if they get really self-righteous about it ("Why don't they learn English?!"). But there are extenuating circumstances. New arrivals, of course. And sometimes you're hit with a situation totally outside your vocabulary even after years ("oh shit! I don't know how to explain abdominal cramps to my doctor! I'll just flail my arms wildly!"). But if you are, say, a vegetarian, you really do need to A) learn how to explain this in Korean, B) have a back-up plan so you don't hold all your friends back, and C) learn some flattering pleasantries so you don't sound like a demanding bitch when you tell the waiter you want galbi without the galbi.

[samd]

Good thread. +1 to all except the second post.

[moosehead]

yeah silly foreigners going into a restaurant based in the U.S. and expecting to be understood - wow what's the world coming to ?

no doubt it was a perfectly innocent mistake - the same thing happened to me when I first arrived thinking a western restaurant would have staff with a modicum of E at the very least.

cut them some slack all ready they probably are new arrivals.


btw, to the poster who told us what country we are in - nothing is more offensive than for someone to say to me "this is Korea ...." as if I don't know what country I'm in

[ardis]

I feel you. I have a friend who has been here for almost two years and he doesn't know even basic things in Korean. We were at a restaurant last week with a bunch of people, and the clearly frazzled waiter was having a difficult time writing down/understanding all of our orders. Finally, the waiter gets to my friend and my friend says his order, then says, "and I'd really like a glass of water with ice." The waiter is nervous and mimes for my friend to say it again. My friend just says it louder and more slowly. Meanwhile, the rest of us are exchanging "...seriously?" glances, since we have ordered in Korean--bad Korean, but still Korean--and been fine. But this friend ALWAYS orders in English, no matter where he goes. Finally, after watching our friend get more and more angry at this poor waiter, someone jumps in and badly translates the "ice water" request. The waiter is relieved, apologizes a million times, and then retreats. My friend doesn't even wait until he's out of earshot before he starts off on an angry rant about how people like that need to learn English and how inconvenient the situation was to HIM!! It's in those situations that I really, really dislike some of my foreigner friends here.

[Captain Corea]

[victorology]