Korean Job Discussion Forums

[FDNY]

Yes, this is a rant. I am just wondering why Koreans seem quite content to walk, sit and live surrounded by garbage. They were colonized by the Japanese, and usually the colonized country adopts some of the colonizers culture. Japan is spotless, so this hasn't seemed to have happened here. The only things Korea picked up were a rather bizarre address system and hysterical cultural elitism (a trait of the expansionist Imperial Japanese [also adopted wholeheartedly by the North Koreans]) Also, this isn't a cultural thing. In a stretch I might agree that that horrific tendency to hork up and spit is cultural. But living amidst garbage is definitely not.

[Scorpion]

I'm also amazed at how comfortable they are with seeing piles of garbage EVERYWHERE!. And so much of it is unnecessary, in that it's avoidable. It bothers me every single day. You can't set foot outside any building without encountering piles of trash almost immediately.

But I would disagree on one point; I think it definitely is cultural. They keep their homes spotless, but the moment they're outside they're spitting and littering. It's the "in my bubble" versus "outside my bubble" mentality. They feel no obligation to strangers whatsoever, and there is an extremely weak sense of the common good.

But yeah, the piles of trash are extremely annoying and (if I'm permitted to say it), rather third world.

[optik404]

Tokyo is spotless. Outside of Tokyo it can get dirty. Not as much as Korea or China though.

[le-paul]

a friend and i walked up to a crag last week in a very beautiful area. we filled a big plastic bag full of small, candy wrappers that must have been dropped by one group on the way up (about 1km).
i am beyond disgusted.
i also dont understand how they can watch an old woman, crippled over with age, walk around and pick up their crap every day.
im beyond caring. if they want to live like this, let them.

[Sister Ray]

[fermentation]

I don't understand how people can be so proud of where they live but treat it like a garbage dump. I don't give two shits about this place so I throw trash everywhere like everybody else does.

[optik404]

[Ranman]

[Smithington]

People say there are no ghettos in Korea. I always think, "How would one tell from appearances if there were?" Bags of garbage is one of the most noticable things about Korean public spaces. It's a national disgrace for any country purporting to be developed to have such garbage-strewn streets.

And when you add the smell of the sewers, the whole "Korean streets" experience is a national embarassment. Or at least it ought to be. As the OP mentioned, noone seems to care.

That's really unfortunate - for all of us.

[nicwr2002]

They take pride in the fact that they use reusable chopsticks and Japan doesn't. They complain that Japan isn't environmentally friendly because of this. However, throwing trash on the street, between buildings, on mountain trails, etc... negates the reusable chopstick argument in my opinion. I want to to tell the people that litter that if they want to be better than Japan then stop littering.

[Captain Corea]

[Ranman]

[cabeza]

[Captain Corea]

hahahaha

Um...



I don't believe I can dig myself outta' this one.

[Koharski]