Korean Job Discussion Forums

[itiswhatitis]

For the longest time I thought that Koreans have no personal space simply because they have no choice.

Eventually I realized that they are always shoving their noses into other people's business.

The Japanese are not the same way.

I wanted to ask if the mainland Chinese are also like this BUT China is such a huge country so it is hard to generalize.

How do people in Shanghai compare to Koreans with regards to respecting personal space?

Thanks in advance.

[Janny]

It's like night and day.

I've been here for about a month now, in the middle of Shanghai, in a fairly dense neighborhood. Small streets and sidewalks, lots of apartment buildings, lots of people and bicycles, and many small businesses along the avenue.

I have been bumped while walking NEVER. I have had ZERO people veer into my path while walking. Despite many bicycles, I've never seen one ridden on the sidewalks. Scooters? On the road, yes. On the sidewalk, no.

It's amazing how different it is. I feel exactly as comfortable as I do in Canada.

Same goes for noise. The only annoying noise that happens alot is the honking of horns from cars. That's it. No stupid music from shops, no yelling, no banging footsteps above me in my mid-grade apartment building. When I had jet lag my first few nights, I walked around at 4 am. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

I have not seen one drunk staggering around and no piles of puke on the sidewalk. Instead, they have nightly dancing in the neighborhood park. Couples of all ages dance while children play with their grandparents. It's absolutely wonderful to see; I got tears in my eyes first time I saw it, I swear.

Someone said I'm in the honeymoon phase, and I'm sure that's true. I will tire of being a leiwei soon enough. But will I cry once a week and gain 30 lbs from bad comfort fast food delivery like I did in Seoul? I don't think so.

There are too many big differences here that mean alot to me. Thank God.

[Mr. BlackCat]

On my first day in Seoul many years ago, I went to a small grocery store. I was looking at some chips and this lady full on put her arm across my body and SHOVED me out of the way in order to get something on the other side of me (she could have just walked around me, or asked me to move). Needless to say, I was taken aback but considered it to be a rare incident and maybe I was being too sensitive. As I waited in line people shoved me, tried to cut in line and one actually removed my things from the belt to place her's down.

I went to Shanghai for about 10 days last year. Nothing like this happened. Not even close. A big portion of my trip was over a national holiday and the city was packed. We were in busy touristy areas, too.

Yes, it was a vacation and short, but see above for my first day in Seoul. Actually, that was within my first 4 hours and just at a store across from where I was staying.

Take what you will from this information.

[yodanole]

Sounds to me more like you're channeling the last 10 minutes of "Return of the Jedi".

[byrddogs]

Not to say that it doesn't ever happen here, but it is way far from being a normal occurance. The only time I get bumped into is at school when the high schoolers are walking 4-5 wide down the hallway and can't work it out amongst the group to give some space (disclaimer...I work at a K school), but this doesn't happen often either.

[KimchiNinja]

[byrddogs]

[Steelrails]

Authoritarian regimes have their perks.

[optik404]

What my Chinese friends always tell me is that, if I find little things like bumping in to people, talking during movies, littering, spitting, etc annoying in Korea, that I will absolutely HATE China.

[KimchiNinja]

[wishfullthinkng]

[mayorhaggar]

When people I know have gone to China, all I've heard about was how noisy it was and how there were kids pooping and peeing in the street everywhere. If I can ever get around the dopey 6-month ARC card visa thing and go there I'll form my own opinion, but it doesn't really sound appealing in terms of noise and cleanliness.

Koreans definitely are touchy-feely though. You won't ever see Koreans kiss in public but they'll manhandle members of the same sex all day long.

[byrddogs]

[PatrickGHBusan]

I only visited Shanghai (this summer for work) and it is massively crowded. To me it felt like most super crowded cities in Asia: a massive press of people that means you need to swerve and roll your shoulders to get anywhere.

[byrddogs]