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Stupid things Newbies to Korea say
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sportsfan



Joined: 26 Feb 2012

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?
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motiontodismiss



Joined: 18 Dec 2011

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 5:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?


I'm cheap, but neither fat nor consider bowling exciting.
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sportsfan



Joined: 26 Feb 2012

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?


I'm cheap, but neither fat nor consider bowling exciting.


if not fat (sry, should have said big. i've seen some downright big G.I.'s) how is it impossible to shop? Korea is crazy for shopping. And if you say korea is boring, citing the lack of bowling allys, its fair to assume you find bowling exiting.

Korea is as 'boring' as you make it. Teach, drink and sleep. If that's your routine, then yea its going to be a boring place. Just like anywhere.
Since being here I've been involved in baseball leagues, football leagues, rugby leagues, gone to musicals, concerts, gone to wine tastings, gone skiing, scuba diving, paintball, mountain climbing (not hiking) and the list goes on.
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jpe



Joined: 15 Aug 2011
Location: Seoul, SK

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

ajuma wrote:
My favorite newbie question: "What's the difference between the churches with the red crosses and the churches with the green crosses?"

Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes


I guess I am still a newbie....is there an obvious answer to this?
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 7:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jpe wrote:
ajuma wrote:
My favorite newbie question: "What's the difference between the churches with the red crosses and the churches with the green crosses?"

Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes


I guess I am still a newbie....is there an obvious answer to this?


Red is Christian, green is Catholic.

Green is hospitals!
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motiontodismiss



Joined: 18 Dec 2011

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?


I'm cheap, but neither fat nor consider bowling exciting.


if not fat (sry, should have said big. i've seen some downright big G.I.'s) how is it impossible to shop? Korea is crazy for shopping. And if you say korea is boring, citing the lack of bowling allys, its fair to assume you find bowling exiting.

Korea is as 'boring' as you make it. Teach, drink and sleep. If that's your routine, then yea its going to be a boring place. Just like anywhere.
Since being here I've been involved in baseball leagues, football leagues, rugby leagues, gone to musicals, concerts, gone to wine tastings, gone skiing, scuba diving, paintball, mountain climbing (not hiking) and the list goes on.


I'mt a size L in the states and I can barely find clothes that fit without paying through the nose. I hate sports and mountains. I don't drink much. I like hanging out with actually interesting people. That leaves me with very little to do here. And I bore easily. AFAIC Korea's a good place to make money because AFAIC there's nothing to do here which makes spending money difficult if not impossible.
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warmachinenkorea



Joined: 12 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?


I'm cheap, but neither fat nor consider bowling exciting.


if not fat (sry, should have said big. i've seen some downright big G.I.'s) how is it impossible to shop? Korea is crazy for shopping. And if you say korea is boring, citing the lack of bowling allys, its fair to assume you find bowling exiting.

Korea is as 'boring' as you make it. Teach, drink and sleep. If that's your routine, then yea its going to be a boring place. Just like anywhere.
Since being here I've been involved in baseball leagues, football leagues, rugby leagues, gone to musicals, concerts, gone to wine tastings, gone skiing, scuba diving, paintball, mountain climbing (not hiking) and the list goes on.


I'mt a size L in the states and I can barely find clothes that fit without paying through the nose. I hate sports and mountains. I don't drink much. I like hanging out with actually interesting people. That leaves me with very little to do here. And I bore easily. AFAIC Korea's a good place to make money because AFAIC there's nothing to do here which makes spending money difficult if not impossible.


If you're a L size back home and can't find clothes you're not looking hard enough.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Zyzyfer wrote:
jpe wrote:
ajuma wrote:
My favorite newbie question: "What's the difference between the churches with the red crosses and the churches with the green crosses?"

Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes Rolling Eyes


I guess I am still a newbie....is there an obvious answer to this?


Red is Christian, green is Catholic.

Green is hospitals!


I was confused by the question as well. The green crosses on the hospitals didn't even occur to me.
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Mr. BlackCat



Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelrails wrote:
Quote:
If Korean food was as good or better than comparable food from neighboring Asian countries, why aren't there more Korean restaurants in the world OUTSIDE Korea catering to non-Korean people?


This reminds me of a conversation I had with one of my friends. He had a fair bit of money and I asked him why he didn't just buy a McDonald's and let the cash roll in. He said something to the effect of owning a restaurant was kind of embarrassing.

Coming here and seeing so many restaurants I think I can see what he means. Owning a restaurant or a dry cleaners or a liquor store is kind of seen as failure. Yes, its a safety net and many Koreans fall back on it, but you're supposed to make it in a more prestigious area.

Also, the way Thai and Chinese restaurants operate seem to be a little different. They seem to be much more extended family oriented and sometimes strike me as a front for a bunch of illegal immigrants and a job for family members. I've never seen a Korean restaurant that seems to be staffed with 20 people from the same family.

Also, most Japanese restaurants where I am from tend to be Korean owned and operated...

Quote:
And my happiness here is far more affected by the ugly, junk buildings all around me than by the DISGUSTING food. Can avoid the latter, not the former.


This goes back to my original noob post of "No".

Did you bother to look at pictures of Korean cities before you came here? "No".

Did you bother to try the food before you came here? "No".

Did you consider how strongly you have opinions about food and architecture and how they affect your happiness? "No".

Was not considering those things, and investigating them, a sign of poor judgment and critical thinking on your part? "No".

Quote:
Consequently it doesn't seem that strange an Idea that , as Modernist claims, some westerners might pretend to like the local cuisine for ulterior motives. That's really all he was doing


True, but there are posters who seem to have an axe to grind and seem to have an "anger" towards Korea beyond simply "I don't like this". So maybe he has ulterior motives when he tries certain foods and refuses to admit some taste alright.

I know I did it when I was in my Korea-bash phase (before I came to Korea!) or my snooty "Fast food is for the peasants" phase before I stopped lying to myself and admitting that a Shamrock Shake is a tasty treat and that nothing beats a Crave Case.

And for the record folks, Modernist and jfromtheway were pretty complimentary about the BBQ before this all degenerated. If they dissed on that, then I'd say they had a serious axe to grind, because that would just be silly (unless you were a vegetarian) and an obvious attempt to just rag. However I will say that if all they can seem to find and enjoy is BBQ, then I wonder about how much food they've tried and how mature their taste buds are.

If there is a food that Koreans need to sell, its to take the broth from 콩국수 and market it as a breakfast shake. That and sell the juices that have the fruit in them (I used to bring those into work back home and got a bunch of blue collar folks addicted to them).


Laughing So the reason there are more Chinese and Thai restaurants around the world than Korean restaurants is because those dirty Chinese and Thais only use it as a front for illegal activities, which are so below the respectable Korean businessman who would never engage in such terrible things. You keep grasping, those straws are almost within reach. Laughing I guess owning a restaurant is below the average Korean, but dry cleaner shops, convenience stores and nail shops are the height of Korean dignity, then? Laughing I can imagine someone coming on here saying Koreans are famous for dry cleaners because they use it as a cover for all their illegal activities, like hiding their 20 family members (disgusting, having so many relatives!) I would imagine they'd be personally insulted by the usual group, including Steel Rails, and probably banned from the site for life. But Thais and Chinese? 2+ pages without anyone even batting an eyelash.
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goreality



Joined: 09 Jul 2009

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think it's important to distinguish between noobies who are new to Korea and those who are just new to being an expat. My favorite are the noobies who come here and say yeah I lived abroad before, I'm from Vancouver and went to school in Seattle for a semester.
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Wed Apr 11, 2012 11:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
o the reason there are more Chinese and Thai restaurants around the world than Korean restaurants is because those dirty Chinese and Thais only use it as a front for illegal activities


For the record I don't take quite so dim a view of illegal immigration (at an individual level) and having a store as a front for family members to have meaningful employment doesn't make them bad people, if anything that's showing that they should be able to immigrate if they can hold down a job and not be a burden on society.

Quote:
I guess owning a restaurant is below the average Korean, but dry cleaner shops, convenience stores and nail shops are the height of Korean dignity, then?


Heck no, I said those tend to be fallbacks for Koreans. They're the Korean equivalent of the restaurant. Those are the ones that tend to draw in the extended family and people who managed to sneak in.

Quote:
I can imagine someone coming on here saying Koreans are famous for dry cleaners because they use it as a cover for all their illegal activities, like hiding their 20 family members (disgusting, having so many relatives!) I would imagine they'd be personally insulted by the usual group, including Steel Rails, and probably banned from the site for life.


I'm sure more than a few of those dry cleaners are a front for something...
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Mr. BlackCat



Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelrails wrote:
Quote:
o the reason there are more Chinese and Thai restaurants around the world than Korean restaurants is because those dirty Chinese and Thais only use it as a front for illegal activities


For the record I don't take quite so dim a view of illegal immigration (at an individual level) and having a store as a front for family members to have meaningful employment doesn't make them bad people, if anything that's showing that they should be able to immigrate if they can hold down a job and not be a burden on society.

Quote:
I guess owning a restaurant is below the average Korean, but dry cleaner shops, convenience stores and nail shops are the height of Korean dignity, then?


Heck no, I said those tend to be fallbacks for Koreans. They're the Korean equivalent of the restaurant. Those are the ones that tend to draw in the extended family and people who managed to sneak in.

Quote:
I can imagine someone coming on here saying Koreans are famous for dry cleaners because they use it as a cover for all their illegal activities, like hiding their 20 family members (disgusting, having so many relatives!) I would imagine they'd be personally insulted by the usual group, including Steel Rails, and probably banned from the site for life.


I'm sure more than a few of those dry cleaners are a front for something...


Steelie, you're missing the point/intentionally ignoring it. You're reasoning that there are infinitely more Chinese and Thai restaurants around the world than Korean is because they're just fronts for illegal behaviour. You apparently believe that people the world over couldn't possibly like Thai or Chinese food more, no, it's just that they're empty store fronts with human trafficking going on in the back room. Do you hear how silly and petty that sounds? And also how easily disputable? Then you imply strongly that the reason there aren't many Korean restaurants is because owning one is below a Korean. Again: silly, petty and easily refutable. Also, all of this is kind of racist.

I disagree with the War on Drugs, but that doesn't make it okay for me to say Americans have a higher per capita GDP than Canadians only because they're all drug dealers. No, that would be silly, petty, stupid, misinformed, inaccurate and slanderous.

Again, it's all so ridiculous. Someone says Korean food isn't as popular around the world as others and suddenly that person is a sicko who should leave Korea immediately. Not only that, the only reason there aren't more Korean restaurants is because all other races are criminals who engage in business the average Korean wouldn't be caught doing.

Or, you know, Korea was a poor and closed country up until 30-50 years ago and the world hasn't had time to appreciate it's food nor have Korean expats had time to adjust it to a foreign market. Whichever.

Do you guys who protect Korea's image like your daughter's innocence on this site ever sit back and realize how pathetic and bitter you sound?
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DIsbell



Joined: 15 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steelrails wrote:
Also, most Japanese restaurants where I am from tend to be Korean owned and operated...


Man I like a lot of Korean food too (and wish there were more Korean restaurants stateside), but when you post stuff like this you're pretty much defeating your own argument, haha.

And lay off the the Thai and Chinese. Sounds like you've been here too long and are buying the view that they're "dirty."
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PatrickGHBusan



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
sportsfan wrote:
motiontodismiss wrote:
cronolegs wrote:

"I'm going to save so much money!"



In what kind of major megalopolis does one find it hard to impossible to go shopping, eat interesting food at reasonable prices, or go bowling?.


So you are fat, cheap and you consider bowling exciting. Weren't you in the Big Lebowski?


I'm cheap, but neither fat nor consider bowling exciting.


if not fat (sry, should have said big. i've seen some downright big G.I.'s) how is it impossible to shop? Korea is crazy for shopping. And if you say korea is boring, citing the lack of bowling allys, its fair to assume you find bowling exiting.

Korea is as 'boring' as you make it. Teach, drink and sleep. If that's your routine, then yea its going to be a boring place. Just like anywhere.
Since being here I've been involved in baseball leagues, football leagues, rugby leagues, gone to musicals, concerts, gone to wine tastings, gone skiing, scuba diving, paintball, mountain climbing (not hiking) and the list goes on.


I'mt a size L in the states and I can barely find clothes that fit without paying through the nose. I hate sports and mountains. I don't drink much. I like hanging out with actually interesting people. That leaves me with very little to do here. And I bore easily. AFAIC Korea's a good place to make money because AFAIC there's nothing to do here which makes spending money difficult if not impossible.


Movie theatres, beaches, museums, hiking, temples, national parks, concerts, taking courses (online or in house), going out with friends, noreabvang (if that is your cup of tea), trying new dishes/restaurants, renting movies, visiting places in Korea.......

The list of things to do is pretty darn long...
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definitely maybe



Joined: 16 Feb 2008

PostPosted: Thu Apr 12, 2012 4:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DIsbell wrote:
Steelrails wrote:
Also, most Japanese restaurants where I am from tend to be Korean owned and operated...


Man I like a lot of Korean food too (and wish there were more Korean restaurants stateside), but when you post stuff like this you're pretty much defeating your own argument, haha.

And lay off the the Thai and Chinese. Sounds like you've been here too long and are buying the view that they're "dirty."


Believe it or not, there ARE a lot of Japanese restaurants owned and run by Koreans. There was, and very well may still be, a belief that Korean restaurants just don't appeal enough to foreign tastes, at least in the US, to be financially viable.
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