Korean Job Discussion Forums

[sigmundsmith]

I met this person that returned to Korea for the first time in over twenty years. They came here the first time as an exchange student, went back home and then came back to teach then went back to start a career. They were just recently over here on business and one of the things that stood out for this person was the appearances of the foreigners here, especially in the usual hangouts in Seoul.

Scruffy, overweight, looking unclean (visual observation) etc. They commented on how different they look to the Koreans. How Koreans take pride in how they look. Of course they understand that sometimes we like to wear very casual clothes when we sometimes come out but at least you should take some amount of pride in how you look.

They commented on the fact no wonder Koreans may have a negative opinion for westerners coming, living and working in Korea when they are confronted with westerners lacking any level of sense in their appearance.

[Triban]

I'm skinny, stylish, and well groomed although sometimes have some scruff.

Most of my friends aren't overweight and if they aren't stylish or well groomed, they at least try a bit.

What do you say to that?

[Sinnerman]

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

For some people, coming to Korea is sort of like taking a long vacation, so they stop feeling like they have to impress anyone.

Add to that the fact that a lot of them don't settle here, and don't want to add weight to their suitcase... which probably wasn't full of amazing clothes to begin with.

[eamo]

If Koreans want to judge by appearances......that's their call.......I don't feel a need to wear suits on the weekend because I'm concerned that some Koreans will judge me as a slob for wearing comfortable clothes....

I do the shaving and suits thing for work......in my free time I'll do what I feel like.

[jfromtheway]

[Bloopity Bloop]

Did anyone actually start dressing better IN Korea?

Coming from California, I used to dress like an absolute bum in my free time. Old t-shirt, worn out shorts and sneakers. After living in Korea for a while, I actually started FEELING like a bum so I started dressing better.

I think it's for the better. I'm gonna continue to do so when I go home.

Still, I never looked as bad as a lot of the foreigners I see out here. I'm not surprised your friend noticed.

[murmanjake]

[ThingsComeAround]

Its not like Korea is the leading edge of fashion anyways.

Most of the time when I see locals "dressing down" they look shabby. To top it off, I almost never see someone looking comfortable, only "stylish"

[Steelrails]

I dressed pretty formally back home- Ties and suits and stuff, and I was a mid-twenties manager at a pizza joint. I did have the hookup on nice clothes. Casual for me is a tucked-in button down, slacks, and a nice blue or beige nylon work jacket, the kind that can go from boardroom to construction site in a pinch.

People say westerners don't care about appearances, but walk into a bar or restaurant with a group of people and you're dressed like someone 35 while they're dressed like high school and guess who gets addressed like they are the head of the table? It made noticeable differences in terms of service and perks. And then if there was any "their word against your word involving John Q. Law" you would never go down. You're dressed respectably, they are dressed like a wannabe gangster.

Dress like a slob fine, but don't be offended that you get worse service. At some point you have to play ball or accept riding the bench. I mean you dress like a student/teenager, expect to be taken as seriously as one.

As for here, foreigners are about as much of a mixed bag as the Korean population as a whole. There are a couple slobs who dress in sweatpants and t shirts, most though are wearing trousers (not jeans) with sweaters and a button down, a few dress a little more formally.

Most of the teachers dress similarly. Many are in jeans and a sweater or wearing tracksuits. A few in suits and ties.

[jfromtheway]

^Blow harder. I'm a classy individual so I dress as such generally, but that's not in question. Please don't overemphasize your worth as someone who got a college degree and never got arrested. You aren't worth anymore than the dude wearing sweatpants, so you're a fool for trying to condescend people who you think don't dress as you think they should. "You think" meaning the working establishment. The truth is, we shouldn't judge people regarding such superficial criteria and it has nothing to do with you anyway because it doesn't affect you. That's the kind of former mid-twenties pizza joint manager speak you would expect: the ass 23 year-old boss you had in high school who took his job too seriously and criticized you for random crap normal people never notice.

Everyone cares about whatever the hell "fashion" is to some degree intrinsically, but it's personal and should be based on comfort; and it's usually based on insecurities with people who seem to have a stick up derass about it. You aren't a lawyer buddy.

And you don't have to be an apologist for Korean society, you understand that, right? It's OK to not adopt their insecurities about wealth, because you will never achieve any in Korea anyway. It's fine if you dress up for work, since work generally everywhere intentionally tries to jack most expressions of individuality; and rightfully so, it's probably better that way... but it also has to do with clowns like you pre-judging people based on your ideals, or the norms of the working establishment, since they aren't really yours to begin with. However, it's difficult to expect people to be able to be that real with themselves. If I wore what most doctors wore today, you would consider me to be dressed like a bum. It's just the double standard of the argument, no body should really care about stuff like this. It just gives boring people a platform to rant about the minutia of their awkward daily thought processes.

[hondaicivic]

[Leon]

At least foreigners don't wear acid washed skinny jeans.

[murmanjake]

[Steelrails]