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highdials5
Joined: 13 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:36 pm Post subject: Is it any wonder... |
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...that Koreans have a negative opinion of foreigners?
Yesterday, I went to the Jisan Valley Festival. Whilst waiting in line to get into the front pit, there were a group of foreigners (almost certainly military) away to my right hanging out on the hill. They were being incredibly loud and obnoxious, throwing this ball to passers by in the hope they'd catch it. Fair enough, annoying but they were only having a joke around (though I still found it annoying). Anyway, they then starting throwing the ball into the crowd of people watching the bands, without warning, and on one occasion it hit a guy smack on the head - he was understandably angry and was shouting at the guy to come and see him. He calmed down a bit after his girlfriend reigned him in.
A real embarrassment.  |
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benji
Joined: 21 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 10:47 pm Post subject: |
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Unruly, drunk behavior at a rock festival? The hell you say!!!
Is it any wonder that foreigners have poor opinions of Koreans: literally every time I leave my apartment I see a red faced,insanely drunk, swerving, yelling, vomiting ajoshi. |
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mimis
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:08 am Post subject: |
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Sure, but in the end...we are guests.
Can you imagine a group of, say, Arabs doing the same thing in your home country? Would you think- oh well, it's a rock festival? I think it would piss a lot of people of. Let's face it...Westerners are the Arabs of Korea 
Anyway, if I would go to a festival back home and see a bunch of foreigners misbehave, I'd probably also think "losers, go home". That's just the way we people are  |
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Whitey Otez
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: The suburbs of Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:25 am Post subject: |
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Sure, but in the end...we are guests. |
...and Koreans are our hosts. Both sides have to act their part. Oftentimes, neither one does.
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| Anyway, if I would go to a festival back home and see a bunch of foreigners misbehave, I'd probably also think "losers, go home". That's just the way we people are Smile |
Where I'm from, I'd have to talk to the people before I knew for certain that they were indeed foreign. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:34 am Post subject: |
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| mimis wrote: |
Sure, but in the end...we are guests.
Can you imagine a group of, say, Arabs doing the same thing in your home country? Would you think- oh well, it's a rock festival? I think it would piss a lot of people of. Let's face it...Westerners are the Arabs of Korea
Anyway, if I would go to a festival back home and see a bunch of foreigners misbehave, I'd probably also think "losers, go home". That's just the way we people are |
I'd argue that most of us don't look at people with different colour skin, and assume they are foreigners, never mind thinking, "losers, go home." Even the Asian kids in my city who are plainly ESL students, I don't think of them as guests. Guests visit, these people are in my city to live for a bit.
I don't expect anyone to be on their best behavior for an entire year. Ideally you'd learn what is considered "common decency" in the part of the world where you're staying, and try to live within those bounds. That's a little harder to do in Korea, since there is one set of expectations for older Korean men, and another more stringent set for everyone else (not just foreigners, but Korean women too) |
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mimis
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:39 am Post subject: |
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Ah... I was thinking about Germans...
I'm from Hiddink land (NL) and we get a lot of German tourists... They're not always on their best behaviour 
I don't think of people with different skin colour as foreigners, I know many people from different backgrounds who were born in NL and are in many aspects more Dutch than I am. No judgement there.
But it just feels a little different here. In the west we've dealt with immigration for centuries, but Asia is so closed... I don't think Koreans see us as their own. Just have to be a little more careful imo.
Last edited by mimis on Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:58 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mimis
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:45 am Post subject: |
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| Whitey Otez wrote: |
| Quote: |
Sure, but in the end...we are guests. |
...and Koreans are our hosts. Both sides have to act their part. Oftentimes, neither one does.
| Quote: |
| Anyway, if I would go to a festival back home and see a bunch of foreigners misbehave, I'd probably also think "losers, go home". That's just the way we people are Smile |
Where I'm from, I'd have to talk to the people before I knew for certain that they were indeed foreign. |
Sure, where WE are from.... but here it's quite obvious that we're foreign. |
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crossmr
Joined: 22 Nov 2008
Location: Hwayangdong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:52 am Post subject: |
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I thought this was going to be about the the fact that there is a thread asking about large sized clothing and one asking about philly cheese steaks..
Last edited by crossmr on Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
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mimis
Joined: 24 May 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:00 am Post subject: |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 3:11 am Post subject: |
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Whitey Otez wrote:
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| Where I'm from, I'd have to talk to the people before I knew for certain that they were indeed foreign. |
mimis wrote:
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| Sure, where WE are from.... but here it's quite obvious that we're foreign. |
mimis is right, here it is obvious that we are foreigners. But I tell you, for back home(big city USA), that is one pithy observation. |
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PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:51 am Post subject: |
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I'd argue that most of us don't look at people with different colour skin, and assume they are foreigners, never mind thinking, "losers, go home." Even the Asian kids in my city who are plainly ESL students, I don't think of them as guests. Guests visit, these people are in my city to live for a bit.
I don't expect anyone to be on their best behavior for an entire year. Ideally you'd learn what is considered "common decency" in the part of the world where you're staying, and try to live within those bounds. That's a little harder to do in Korea, since there is one set of expectations for older Korean men, and another more stringent set for everyone else (not just foreigners, but Korean women too) |
Nice thought but sadly not a widespread one back home for most people. Peppermint you are in the minority with that thinking and kudos to you for being open-minded like this. Being back "home" for a over a year and half now I can tell you thats not how it plays out at all. It is less overt than it sometimes is in Korea but you are kidding yourself if you think a bunch of arabs, asian or blacks doing what these white guys were doing would go off as kids at a rock concert back home.
The reaction would be less overt but you can bet with high odds that the cops would be there right quick. In fact it happens routinely. Fast example for you: we were in a local park where we live in Canada in late May. Was a nice day. Me, my korean wife and our two kids (2 and 4 years old) were playing in the park. A little ways away was a group of white kids using the park as a skateboard play pen. A bit to the side of the park, near the fountain a group of black kids were listening to music, loud but no big deal. 20 minutes after we arrived, cops show up. They walk past the skaters and go straight to the black kids. They have a talk (from what we can see) and those kids leave the park. It happens often, old reactions are alive and well. Most of us may not think of people from other ethnic groups as foreigners and probably not thinking "losers go home" but we live in culturally mixed societies. However, most white people in Canada will ask a person from another ethnic group at some point where they are really from...you can also see the tensions that are rising due to growing immigration and an increasingly mixed population. Again, we are talking about multi-cultural immigration based/dependant societies....Korea is not that way, it is homogenous and has little to no immigration. That will affect outlook but also will affect foreigners living there.
On the topic at hand: Westerners are guests in Korea and should be aware of that fact as the burden is on us to behave according to local customs. But as peppermint said, sometimes the rules are complicated or the standard pretty high when it comes to the older generation. Then again thats something you need to be aware of as a guest. |
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I'm no Picasso
Joined: 28 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
On the topic at hand: Westerners are guests in Korea and should be aware of that fact as the burden is on us to behave according to local customs. But as peppermint said, sometimes the rules are complicated or the standard pretty high when it comes to the older generation. Then again thats something you need to be aware of as a guest. |
Is your wife a "guest" in Canada? Are your children? Are those black kids by the fountain? |
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Snake Doctor
Joined: 14 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="PatrickGHBusan"]
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On the topic at hand: Westerners are guests in Korea and should be aware of that fact as the burden is on us to behave according to local customs. But as peppermint said, sometimes the rules are complicated or the standard pretty high when it comes to the older generation. Then again thats something you need to be aware of as a guest. |
I'm not a guest, I'm a permanent resident. I have a green card F5 visa. (Yes, the color of the card is GREEN). |
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I'm no Picasso
Joined: 28 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Snake Doctor wrote: |
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
On the topic at hand: Westerners are guests in Korea and should be aware of that fact as the burden is on us to behave according to local customs. But as peppermint said, sometimes the rules are complicated or the standard pretty high when it comes to the older generation. Then again thats something you need to be aware of as a guest. |
I'm not a guest, I'm a permanent resident. I have a green card F5 visa. (Yes, the color of the card is GREEN). |
I'm not a guest either -- I'm an employee. No one's putting a roof over my head or food on my table for nothing. |
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backhand
Joined: 17 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: Is it any wonder... |
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| highdials5 wrote: |
...that Koreans have a negative opinion of foreigners?
Yesterday, I went to the Jisan Valley Festival. Whilst waiting in line to get into the front pit, there were a group of foreigners (almost certainly military) away to my right hanging out on the hill. They were being incredibly loud and obnoxious, throwing this ball to passers by in the hope they'd catch it. Fair enough, annoying but they were only having a joke around (though I still found it annoying). Anyway, they then starting throwing the ball into the crowd of people watching the bands, without warning, and on one occasion it hit a guy smack on the head - he was understandably angry and was shouting at the guy to come and see him. He calmed down a bit after his girlfriend reigned him in.
A real embarrassment. |
korea is best country |
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