Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Summer Wine]

[Moldy Rutabaga]

>"The Korean school will teach values that are important to Korean families."

Well, thanks for making that clear. Based on past experiences, we weren't sure if the Korean school would teach French, Icelandic, or Zimbabwean values. We don't want them imbibing those value systems which state that you should beat your parents with a metal bat.

[nautilus]

They're right of course, westerners sometimes don't respect their elders enough.
Western society has lost a lot of structure and order since jettisoning christianity, however I don't think confucianism is the right candidate to fill the vacuum. What the Koreans don't mention is the 101 disadvantages to confucianism that accompany the few advantages.

[BoholDiver]

Or the fact that confuscianism is counterproductive to change, progress, and advancement.

Koreans have a lot of beliefs that 'we are the only people who _____' (insert gross overgeneralization here).

I have students that tell me only Korea has 4 seasons, only Koreans take off their shoes in the house, only Koreans give up subway and bus seats to elders, etc. If that's all they have to offer, they have very little.

[djsmnc]

[AmericanExile]

[Tundra_Creature]

So it's a big community centre. Coo'.

[jiberish]

I heard something like this from the misses. The kids were schooled in America and when the dad came to visit they just lay on the sofa and said hey instead of standing up and greeting him. The dad then proceeded to beat them for not showing any respect.

[nautilus]

[wesharris]

"Followed by a shot gun proctology by enraged children."

[oldfatfarang]

[Juregen]

[jvalmer]

Making a kid study is considered child abuse?

[pichon]

MMMM biased opinions with no foundations

[Steelrails]

As far as I can tell American values (for better and for worse) used to be pretty much the same as Korean values and vice-versa. In fact pretty much every culture around the world shared the same values.

Work hard, become educated, show respect to elders and your parents, father knows best, white bread, get a good job, spare the rod spoil the child, etc. etc.

Now Koreans and Americans (and again, much of the world) share a new culture- consumerism and leisure.

I'd say that culture is either A)Agrarian/Tribal, B)Industrial or C)Consumer/Leisure based. Obviously all societies share these three to varying degrees.

All cultures have their fatal flaws. You can't have a culture that emphasizes both leisure and work-ethic, so you'll get too much of one or the other. Of course, that may not be so bad if you live on an island. But don't expect to repel invasion.