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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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optik404
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
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 Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| The latest episode of Anthony bourdain's travel show is in Tokyo. The metal/hardcore band he interviews is interesting. They said during a performance the audience just stands there watching and when the song is over they clap. Great episode y'all should watch it. |
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Jodami
Joined: 08 Feb 2013
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:54 am Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| Dude, what's wrong with wearing glasses? If you really think there is something "wrong" with that or that that is cause to mock someone, then you are really a pathetic little man. |
SR you're badly rattled, aren't you?
Glad you only disagreed with one of the things on the list.   |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Jodami wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
| Dude, what's wrong with wearing glasses? If you really think there is something "wrong" with that or that that is cause to mock someone, then you are really a pathetic little man. |
SR you're badly rattled, aren't you?
Glad you only disagreed with one of the things on the list. |
Dude, for a bunch of people who whine about superficiality and 14th century thinking, you should look yourselves in the mirror and not cast stones.
There was another thread where this came up, and some poster was saying similar stuff. The poster Fox took exception, pointing out how attitudes such as this belong back in the Dark Ages.
Seriously, grow up and leave the playground behind. |
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misher
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:18 pm Post subject: |
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Actually, based on medal counts at the Olympics, they do quite well at sports.
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Yeah Korea strikes me as a culture crazy about trap shooting and short track. because you know, every Korean is given a pair of skates when they're little.
C'mon.
Korea on the whole IS NOT a sporting nation like Germany, Australia etc. They specifically choose 2-3 obscure sports that have a high medal haul (shooting, archery, short track) potential in order to get on the medal board. Countries which much smaller populations dominate Korea across the board in terms of significant representation. You could make the argument that archery has cultural significance like skating does in Canada. However, I don't know of a single Korean that goes to the archery range on the weekend.
From what I've seen, the average Korean (particularly women) does not shoot a bow, trap shoot or has ever put a pair of skates on in their lives unless they are handpicked from childhood to go into their government sponsored East German sports academies. Heck, the average Korean can't even swim well or even at all which surprised me given its geography. This isn't a knock, but there is some cultural fear of water here or it is considered what "poor people" that dwell on the coast do.
You can accuse the Australians of pumping the medal count with swimming but swimming is a big deal to the average Australian due to its geography. Canada puts a lot of effort into skating but then again, I don't know a single Canadian (2nd generation or more) that doesn't own a pair of skates or skiis or both.
The only thing I see in Korea with sports is soccer amongst the younger guys. They're pretty good and that is owing to role models like JS Park and Cha Du ri etc.
And no, Hill walking amongs the ajossis and ajummas doesn't count as a sport. I don't care if you're wearing 5 million won worth of North Face gear. Yes, it's better than the 250+ lbs people do in my country but I'm not going to consider it a "sport." |
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hiamnotcool
Joined: 06 Feb 2012
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 3:24 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
| Quote: |
Actually, based on medal counts at the Olympics, they do quite well at sports.
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Yeah Korea strikes me as a culture crazy about trap shooting and short track. because you know, every Korean is given a pair of skates when they're little.
C'mon.
Korea on the whole IS NOT a sporting nation like Germany, Australia etc. They specifically choose 2-3 obscure sports that have a high medal haul (shooting, archery, short track) potential in order to get on the medal board. Countries which much smaller populations dominate Korea across the board in terms of significant representation. You could make the argument that archery has cultural significance like skating does in Canada. However, I don't know of a single Korean that goes to the archery range on the weekend.
From what I've seen, the average Korean (particularly women) does not shoot a bow, trap shoot or has ever put a pair of skates on in their lives unless they are handpicked from childhood to go into their government sponsored East German sports academies. Heck, the average Korean can't even swim well or even at all which surprised me given its geography. This isn't a knock, but there is some cultural fear of water here or it is considered what "poor people" that dwell on the coast do.
You can accuse the Australians of pumping the medal count with swimming but swimming is a big deal to the average Australian due to its geography. Canada puts a lot of effort into skating but then again, I don't know a single Canadian (2nd generation or more) that doesn't own a pair of skates or skiis or both.
The only thing I see in Korea with sports is soccer amongst the younger guys. They're pretty good and that is owing to role models like JS Park and Cha Du ri etc.
And no, Hill walking amongs the ajossis and ajummas doesn't count as a sport. I don't care if you're wearing 5 million won worth of North Face gear. Yes, it's better than the 250+ lbs people do in my country but I'm not going to consider it a "sport." |
Archery has a deep history in Korea. Even if it didn't, don't fault the country for devising a strategy for getting medals that works.
I always thought the sports thing was pretty serious here. I stopped playing sports competitively after college. A common question I get when I meet someone is what kind of sport I do in my free time. I would reply exercise or maybe a little hobby I've picked up here or there, and then I would hear about how this guy is on a baseball team, badminton team, squash team, don't even get me started with the volleyball. It seems to be more of a social group than a sport though. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:01 pm Post subject: |
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| misher wrote: |
| Quote: |
Actually, based on medal counts at the Olympics, they do quite well at sports.
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Yeah Korea strikes me as a culture crazy about trap shooting and short track. because you know, every Korean is given a pair of skates when they're little.
C'mon.
Korea on the whole IS NOT a sporting nation like Germany, Australia etc. They specifically choose 2-3 obscure sports that have a high medal haul (shooting, archery, short track) potential in order to get on the medal board. Countries which much smaller populations dominate Korea across the board in terms of significant representation. You could make the argument that archery has cultural significance like skating does in Canada. However, I don't know of a single Korean that goes to the archery range on the weekend.
From what I've seen, the average Korean (particularly women) does not shoot a bow, trap shoot or has ever put a pair of skates on in their lives unless they are handpicked from childhood to go into their government sponsored East German sports academies. Heck, the average Korean can't even swim well or even at all which surprised me given its geography. This isn't a knock, but there is some cultural fear of water here or it is considered what "poor people" that dwell on the coast do.
You can accuse the Australians of pumping the medal count with swimming but swimming is a big deal to the average Australian due to its geography. Canada puts a lot of effort into skating but then again, I don't know a single Canadian (2nd generation or more) that doesn't own a pair of skates or skiis or both.
The only thing I see in Korea with sports is soccer amongst the younger guys. They're pretty good and that is owing to role models like JS Park and Cha Du ri etc.
And no, Hill walking amongs the ajossis and ajummas doesn't count as a sport. I don't care if you're wearing 5 million won worth of North Face gear. Yes, it's better than the 250+ lbs people do in my country but I'm not going to consider it a "sport." |
Actually skating is pretty big in Korea. Odds are your elementary school has a serious rollerblading program which serves as a feeder for skating. As someone else mentioned, archery has a pretty strong tradition here, and outside of the USA and a few third world countries, I can't imagine many places where shooting guns is a regular past time for children, so I don't see how that invalidates their medals there. Also, as for your swimming claim, there are swimming pools everywhere here and people regularly swim, as the overcrowded beach at Haeundae suggests.
Korea has medaled recently in baseball and soccer, and also gets medals in weightlifting, boxing, swimming, gymnastics, wrestling, fencing, judo, taekwondo, gymnastics, badminton, table tennis, and handball.
That's a pretty diverse portfolio and some pretty major sports in there.
I also love the whole "children thrown in sports acadamies". Americans/Anglos tend to throw this out when their countries lose as a way of saving face. Pretty funny in the case of the US where sports programs are given carte blanche over things like law and order, where football coaches get paid more than university presidents, where sports draws more funding at public schools than textbooks (I loved having a brand new scoreboard, but textbooks that talked about Gorbachev in the present tense and software that says "For Apple II/Tandy"), drug scandal after drug scandal, grade fixing, and so on.
I don't think your claim holds water. I think you should educate yourself more about sports in Korea and sports abroad. |
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markness
Joined: 02 Jan 2013
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Brooks wrote: |
Yep, Markness. Must agree.
Japanese sure can be boring, partly because they take everything so seriously. In fact I prefer interacting with them when I am drinking or drunk, since they are easier to deal with.
That is why I prefer Japanese comedy on TV, since people are actually smiling. Day to day in Tokyo, look at the expressions on people`s faces.
Mostly frowns and scornful looks.
Lots of social rules here. In fact it feels like living in Tokyo is like living in the military, because there is such a hierarchy. It is not surprising that this country was fascist, due to all the conformity and always following sempai`s lead.
But actually there is more keigo in Korean than Japanese.
Lots of foreigners who are just here for the money, just mercenaries, but they lie and say they are interested in some aspect of Japanese culture. Lots of social misfits who can`t fit in to their culture, but the British and Canadians have given up on their countries and actually think life in Japan is better.
Lots of cliques here. Americans who prefer to talk to people from their own state, especially west coast people. |
Yeah, I was just throwing it out there because I hear people complaining about things in Korea and how they make things seem so glorious in Japan. I have had 2 friends who were there for a good amount of time and there sentiments are similar to what you've said. The thing that made me lol the most was the whole "civilized" aspect. You'll find some slobs who spit/fart/vomit in public too just like in Korea. And I found it the funniest because my friend was saying the opposite as to what the people who are saying that Japan is so amazing. I suppose people should stay where they are happiest |
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Brooks
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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The main thing I see is platform pizza, which is slang for vomit here.
Or just walking in my neighborhood, I would see ramen which someone threw up. Lots of salarymen like ramen after an evening of getting sloshed.
If you are drunk, social rules don't apply.
But when people get really drunk, it is annoying.
Japanese have two faces. If they drink, they can be rude.
At work, they have to feign politeness.
The culture, especially around Tokyo is fake and can be insincere.
There is probably less spitting here than Korea but I sometimes notice it.
Koreans are more vocal, and Japanese are passive-aggressive, and they repress their emotions. |
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Scorpion
Joined: 15 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Brooks wrote: |
| There is probably less spitting here than Korea but I sometimes notice it. |
LOL.
I wish spitting was something that I "sometimes notice" in Korea. In any country, even where spitting is frowned upon, you'll "occasionally notice" a person spit. That's not exactly what we're complaining about in Korea now, is it? As has been often stated on this forum, what makes Korea so disagreeable, and so different from Japan, is that its nasty aspects are mass phenomenon. Millions of people spit in Korea. You can't walk to the corner shop without encountering it. That is not the case in Japan. And don't get me started on the caveman sounds that accompany the spitting in Korea. Comparing Korean spitting culture with the occasional spitter in Japan is just retarded. |
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Brooks
Joined: 08 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 7:40 pm Post subject: |
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It might be worse in China, at least that is what the Russians would tell me.
They said Chinese smokers tended to spit. |
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sendittheemail
Joined: 15 Oct 2008
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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The only people I saw spitting on the street in Tokyo were Chinese or Korean. It's not a major crime, and doesn't bother me as I've lived in Korea for years and have become accustomed to it, but I can't help but judge when I encounter it on such a regular basis here.
I remember before they put up suicide barriers at most subway stations, as reliable as clockwork, local men would line up next to the tracks and spit spit spit spit down onto them, clearing out their nasal passages in front of everyone.
After the suicide barriers were installed, I've noticed the farmers and other spitters tend to use the clear rubbish bins as spittoons, which is pretty nasty, considering how many people must spit into them per day, and the poor saps who have to lug giant clear garbage bags full of mucus out of the subway station each day.
My only concern with spitters (aside from the fact that they are disgusting morons) is that they also spread tuberculosis, a disease which is more common in Korea than any other OECD country. In fact, Korea is somewhat of a hotbed for TB, and several big pharma companies run their TB clinical trials here because the country is reasonably developed, while at the same time having a relatively high rate of TB for a so-called developed country.
If I were a parent with a small child, or a child in a stroller (here in Korea), I'd definitely install a spit-guard on the stroller, to protect my child from spitters and TB. If however, I lived in Japan, I don't think the spit guard would be necessary, unless I lived or worked in Koreatown. |
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Smithington
Joined: 14 Dec 2011
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| Posted: Mon Nov 11, 2013 11:02 pm Post subject: |
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| Please understand their unique 5000 year best number one hygeine culture. |
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