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pegasus64128
Joined: 20 Aug 2011
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 Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 6:29 am Post subject: Re: Anyone else have a problem with "foreigner"? |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| tanklor1 wrote: |
This is just my opinion and I don't expect everyone to agree with me but every time I hear or read the words 외국인 or foreigner I can't help but feel a bit slighted. From my viewpoint it's only a blanket statement that says one thing: "this person is not one of us."
When I was growing up in Canada I don't remember people from other countries being referred to as foreigners. I remember them being called tourists, immigrants, students, Americans or what ever country they came from. And even these words didn't seem to crop up all that often.
Maybe I'm just of a touchy sort but whenever I come across that word here I always feel as if it's a racial slur. I know that there's often nothing negative about the use of the word but its sole functionality seems to be to point out to everyone that this person is different. He ain't from around these parts.
This rant was the result of five hours of desk warming.  |
Well I'd rather be called "foreigner" then "drunken, skirt chasing immigrant"
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Well, they call you that too. Koreans have every right to call us by any number of profane words. We should be given as much respect as our own leaders give us - none, and I think that's how they see it too. Go complain to your relevant 'leader' and see. Now if you were treated badly or arrested for extolling the virtues of 'cloud' computing or the police state, they might have a conflict of interest that they should be in but otherwise, no. I'd expect them to ignore it if it ever did reach their desk in the first place - which would be highly unlikely. |
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MollyBloom
Joined: 21 Jul 2006
Location: James Joyce's pants
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| Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:36 pm Post subject: |
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| schwa wrote: |
| Reise-ohne-Ende wrote: |
| ...she'd called me a 여자 and not a 외국인!!! It meant so much to me. I wish incidents like that were more common than the other way around. |
Me too, I get a kick out of being treated like an ordinary citizen. Like when a woman rolls down her car window & addresses me as "ajoshi" & asks for directions. Or a grandma at the bus stop asks me which bus goes to such & such place. Or kids strolling past give me a calm pleasant "hi" or "annyeong haseyo" (or no acknowledgement at all!). Incidents like these are definitely becoming more common.
I'm under no illusions that I'm perceived the same as a Korean but I've lived in the same small neighborhood for 12 years & would like to think I've had a bit of impact on local perceptions of foreigners. I am a foreigner. I'm also just a guy who lives amongst them, contributes to the community, & happens to be different.
Koreans in general are adapting quite rapidly to the increase of outsiders in their midst, considering its a quite recent phenomenon. To my ear, there is no slur implicit in the term "waegukin," just a statement of fact.
I'm happy to live in a place where words arent hyperscrutinized for hidden meaning. |
I got sensitive the other day about this. The guy who lives in the apt. across from me was leaving with his little daughter. I've maybe said hello to him a couple of times when we were both unlocking our doors. I said hello to him and then said "안녕" to his daughter, and he told her to say hello to "언니." It was a silly, small, thing but it made me feel good all day long.
Sorry Capt. Corea for the BS you and yours have to go through. My husband and I are thinking about having kids in the next couple of years, and even though both of us are white, we are thinking about dealing with all this cultural stuff in the future. |
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