Korean Job Discussion Forums

[byrddogs]

I was out today on a school trip with primary students from my school. I don't teach in Korea anymore, but my school is Korean. Some of the girls in the grade that I was accompanying were talking to me (don't teach them, so they wanted to chat and hang out). The usual questions came up. They asked where I am from....blah blah. I asked the small group that was around me where each of them was from in Korea originally. The answers were Seoul x5 and 1 Daegu. The girl from Daegu went on to tell me that other kids make fun of her because she is from there and not Seoul. I was thinking, wtf? I pointed out to her and others in earshot some of the good things about her city and she smiled.

[fermentation]

I used to live in Daejon and when relatives and friends from Seoul came to visit, they called it the "country" even though it's a big city in its own right.

I think kids especially have that mentality. Kids will make up any stupid reason to make fun of another kid. What do you expect from kids.

[rabidcake]

怎么了？很正常啊，中国人也是。上海人对外地人不是特别好

[luckylady]

a class of first graders I was teaching once started laughing at one of the other students and made him cry - I called the hakwon director in there to find out what was the matter and she said they were all making fun of his new watch and calling it a cheap toy even tho it wasn't. apparently his family was wealthier and they were jealous, she said it was common for the kids to tease each other that way - yea, sounded about right.

still, I was surprised they were so blatant in front of me, to be so cruel. usually kids do that just amongst themselves.

[byrddogs]

@fermentation I know enough about kids to understand that

@rabidcake 这是非常真实的上海。它提醒我，。 sorry, my Mandarin sucks

[yodanole]

In Hollywood, there are only New York and Los Angeles ( well and sometimes Chicago )

This board, being so much more sophisticated recognizes 5 locations.
There are East Seoul, West Seoul, North Seoul, South Seoul and Central Seoul ( and sometimes Itaewon). not like those rube indigenous peoples.

Itaewon is the Kim Kardashian of this board. Like most guys on the internet, I am the CEO and chief shareholder of a Fortune 400 company.
So, naturaly I only date supermodels, usually 2-3 at the time. So I so totally understand why guys on the webs just don't find KK attractive enough to toss a dog biscuit. So that's Itaewon in a nutshell. Who would go there and mingle with the great unwashed? Still, that's so much better than provincial Korea ( shudder ).

Sorry, I have to go now. I simply must instruct the serfs and oafs to wax the Bugatti. Adieu.

[slothrop]

edit

[soomin]

Yeah, it's weird that even though Korea is small, even Koreans don't know much about it sometimes and only think about Seoul... I live in Daegu and people are like "don't you want to move up and work in Seoul?" And one of my Korean friends asked me if there was a beach in Daegu... despite it being in the middle of the country @.@ She had no idea, even though it's the third largest city @.@ When I went to Jeju Island, another Korean friend was openly laughing at her Jeju friend saying things like "I'm Korean and *I* can't understand him! His crazy Jeju accent~ who knows what he's saying??" and laughing hysterically... at her own friend @.@

I like to think only the ruder people are like that, though... >.>

[happiness]

Dude, regionism here is normal.

Also, kids pick on each other.

[highstreet]

[byrddogs]

[happiness]

Sorry, Im not an 1st langauge speaker. I guess I used dude wrong...

um..Ive found with Kyopos it depends on their parents on how Korean they are...who knows

[coralreefer_1]

I hear the same thing from other Americans here in Korea. Like the kids in the OP, none of the other foreigners I am speaking of live in the US (as we are all here in Korea)

And while the teasing doesn't go to the extent of the kids in the description, most of it is in body language..etc, but when some of the other Americans I have encountered who are from major cities like New York (not event the city, but even people who live 100 miles from NYC think of themselves as New Yorkers), Miami, LA, Chicago, Philly..etc hear that I am from Raleigh, NC..I also get the subtle nose up reaction (even though my home city is consistently rated in the top 5 places to live in the US)

As has been said many time about Koreans asking about age/university education..etc as a means to measure themselves against that person, I find that this kind of "sizing up" is not exclusive to Koreans. We foreigners do the same, albeit in a more subtle and hidden way.

[byrddogs]

[PatrickGHBusan]