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okokokok
Joined: 16 Jul 2009
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 Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 2:51 am Post subject: Disgrace and Humiliation |
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http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/08/137_49869.html
I'm posting the whole article because it is important and I could care less if the Times gets any traffic.
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Disgrace and Humiliation
By Alexander Washko
I would like to talk about my recent experience concerning the constant battle of Korean culture vs. fear of English teachers. This is a completely true account of events last week that I am seeking legal action against.
I am raising this issue so that other people can be mindful of what they may have to deal with entering Korea from their much needed vacations.
Upon returning from a weeklong vacation in Malaysia, my excitement to return to my new home in Korea turned very ugly, very quickly. I was randomly pulled from the customs line of about 200 people and asked if my bags could be searched. Being filled with only dirty, sandy clothes, I did not see a problem. Then things turned strange.
The customs official took out every piece of clothing from my bag, leaving my roommate's untouched. My dirty underwear was now on display, and even on the floor of Incheon International Airport. But I let it go, and knew I had nothing to hide, save a few smelly bits of clothing.
Then, a man took our passports for a brief moment and asked us to go into a small side room with him and two others. When he closed the door, he claimed I had ``drug residue" of MDMA (the compound that makes ``Ecstasy") on my passport. My roommate's passport (which had been in the same bag or pocket for most of the return flight) was clear, leading me to believe it was all faked. Confused and knowingly innocent, we asked for more information and what this meant. To this, we were given no answer other than we had to give up our wallets and watches for tests, which came back ``positive" as well.
Then they framed me: They wanted to test my hands for ``drugs." After two tests that came back ``negative," they told me to hold my passport before the third test, to which I naturally refused as that would leave ``residue" on my hands. After trying to force the passport into my hands, they simply swabbed the passport, my watch, then my fingers and walked out, while I was screaming to my roommate, ``They are framing me! Look! Help!"
Of course, they returned to tell me I had drugs on my hands as well. We were horrified. Next, I was stripped to my underwear and told if I had to use the bathroom, I would need a chaperone. Little did I know this chaperon would stand in front of me, fighting the stall door open, and watch me defecate while chatting on his cell phone, laughing and pointing at me. It was the most humiliating moment of my life, not to mention the most uncertain.
I was then led back into the room, where my roommate was waiting, as they left him alone this whole time. They told me, verbatim, ``All English teacher use drug on vacation, we know it. We cannot trust you, you do drug."
Astonished at this generalization and lack of chance to prove my innocence, as I do not use drugs, I simply stammered they must test my blood or urine. To this suggestion, they refused. In their frustratingly broken English, they told me I could not be released from the airport, to which I replied ``But I live in Korea." They responded, ``You must go to home country!"
They were threatening me with deportation, flat-out. I was unable to speak or to defend myself. Everything I said was met with ``NO" and ``English teacher do drugs." And then it was over. He told me not to use drugs next time I go on vacation and to leave. And I left, disgraced and humiliated.
I could rant about the far-reaching cultural implications this has for Korea: perpetuating their xenophobic habits and their thinly-veiled solidarity against English teachers (and all foreigners), but all of that should be obvious. Inhumane treatment is illegal and disgusting. It does nothing to bridge the gap between foreigners and their national cohabitants. It just made me very sad to be back in Korea, a place I used to think was my home.
The writer is working for a highly respected school system, and has lived in Korea for more than a year. He can be reached at [email protected]. |
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GreenlightmeansGO
Joined: 11 Dec 2006
Location: Daegu
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:34 am Post subject: |
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| bumpity bump |
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thoreau
Joined: 21 Jun 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:43 am Post subject: |
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| Why you and not the roommate? Just bad luck? |
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:47 am Post subject: |
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That's weird. A lot of people pass through Incheon airport, and a lot of them go on vacation. If that's the kind of thing Korean immigration officials do a lot, wouldn't it be well known by now? I wonder if the writer did anything on the plane that attracted the attention of the crew, and they reported him?
Sad story, I think he could definitely sue someone for defamation. Back in 1996, while on a vacation in Japan to see my friends, I was filmed with a hidden camera by a Korean TV show, (obviously without my consent) and they changed what I said in the subtitles - to say something entirely different - that I was "looking for a Korean man" - I sued them and settled out of court for a nice sum. That producer was a real jerk for doing that. The comedian, Park Chul also had to give me a written apology for his behavior. I was lucky to get a good lawyer that didn't charge me anything up front. On the tape, you could clearly hear me saying that "every time I visit Japan, I always meet Koreans somewhere/somehow" and that I was "having a good time with my American friends in Japan" - they turned that around and wrote that I was a gay foreigner looking for some action. That TV show was called "Let's make fun of other people's cultures" - I think.
Anyway, in the end I won. This guy should sue the heck out of them. |
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Whitey Otez
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: The suburbs of Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 3:52 am Post subject: |
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| Hmmm..he didn't get the officer's name or badge number to file an official grievance? I'd have made certain that the next time I saw that man, he'd be holding out his hat begging me for change as I go home from shopping. |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:06 am Post subject: |
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| Whitey Otez wrote: |
| Hmmm..he didn't get the officer's name or badge number to file an official grievance? I'd have made certain that the next time I saw that man, he'd be holding out his hat begging me for change as I go home from shopping. |
where does he say he didn't in the article? |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:13 am Post subject: |
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I wonder about the writer. Clean-shaven type? Short or long hair? Tattoos? Piercings?
In other words, would his appearance in any way suggest that he would lead an "alternative lifestyle"?
Many Koreans judge heavily on looks.
A clean-shaven white guy with a regulation haircut and a decent suit could walk through Incheon security and customs with a suitcase full of heroin and semtex.........none of those guys would look twice at him. |
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okokokok
Joined: 16 Jul 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:15 am Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
I wonder OP, are you the clean-shaven type? Short or long hair? Tattoos? Piercings?
In other words, does your appearance in any way suggest you would lead an "alternative lifestyle"?
Many Koreans judge heavily on looks.
A clean-shaven white guy with a regulation haircut and a decent suit could walk through Incheon security and customs with a suitcase full of heroin and semtex.........none of those guys would look twice at him. |
I just posted the article. I'm not the author.
On the Times site, he looks pretty clean-shaven to me. |
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Daegudavid
Joined: 08 Jun 2009
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Forward Observer
Joined: 13 Jan 2009
Location: FOB Gloria
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| Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 4:34 am Post subject: |
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Brother, I can completely understand where you're coming from, but you seriously need to get to a more foreigner friendly city or leave this country before you do something crazy. But I | | |
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