Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chickenpie]

Not sure what to make of this piece.

I seem to a agree with a lot of what has been written but it feels too close to the truth.

http://klownisms.wordpress.com/

I’m a lucky guy, I’ve been told. Lucky to have the opportunity to be part of such an old culture by living in Korea.

Lucky me.

Because Korea is such a tiny and relatively insignificant country (both physically and in terms of necessity), and because most world travelers (understandably) give this place a pass, what most people outside of Korea (and virtually all Koreans inside of Korea) know about the country’s culture (aside from ‘Gangnam Style’ and that there was a war here) is what is advertised by Koreans about how wonderful Korean culture is. In these (often bland and poorly conceptualized) ads, Korea is a “world class” country, worthy Olympic host and home of a completely unique and ancient culture.

Again. Lucky me.

And how dare I think any differently? How dare I argue that Korean culture is NOT unique, NOT beautiful?

What Klowns would have you believe about Korean culture is that:

It is unique
It is ancient
It is “world class”
It is something that other people are interested in and is “popular”
It is based upon some collectivist respect and thus “beautiful”

But the reality of Klown Kulture is:

It is almost entirely ripped off from other cultures, predominantly the Chinese and Japanese, but basically any of their historical conquerors. There is very little that is unique about Korea, from its architecture to its food to its music. Those aspects that are unique are generally uninteresting or disgusting, such as fecal wine, decomposing cabbage and things that aren’t really original but bastardized copies, such as the hambok, pansori and k-pop.
Pretty much everything advertised as “traditional” Korean culture was developed (copied) within the last couple of hundred years, which makes “Korean culture” no older than American culture. That which is older is either blatantly copied or selectively ignored (such as the Korean totem pole, a connection to the shared heritage with North American aboriginals).
“World class” would suggest that people around the world both respect and seek to emulate a culture. Aside from some functionally-retarded Koreaboo K-poppers and those paid to smile and say Korea is great, there is nothing “world class” about Korea’s “unique” culture. About the closest was a nod from Obama about the education system producing results, but bear in mind that is the enormous failure that is the US education system making a nod to the unbelievably inefficient Klown education system.
Paying for a full page ad in the NYT times or on a billboard in Times Square does not make you “popular”, it makes you desperate and pathetic. I’m sure there are some third-world shitholes where Klown seems a step up since they have flashing lights and shiny cars, but “popular”? Klown is about as interesting as Psy. That is to say it’s a sideshow that gets 5 minutes of your attention because it’s so fucking loud and insistent, but really it isn’t anything to write home about.
There is absolutely nothing “respectful” about Klown kulture.

Klown Kulture is the Human Centipede, and that’s pretty much all one needs to know to understand it.

[Smithington]

Are you the author of the blog referred to. If so, I found your spoof on the ferry disaster to be indecent. Admittedly I only read the first part of it, but I stopped reading because it was immensely insensitive to the victims and their families. I'm no defender of Korea (I agree with a lot that you say in your post above) but your ferry post was ill-advised. That is if indeed you are the author of the blog. If you aren't, feel free to ignore this post.

[edwardcatflap]

Quite amusing in an over the top way. I'd change a couple of things. The CEO would be drinking JohnnyWalker Blue, not single malt and I'm no biologist but I think there's an inherent flaw in the human centipede experiment. How would you start it off for one thing?

[chickenpie]

[cj1976]

Any truths the article contains are immediately overshadowed by the vile and abusive tone of the author. He strikes me as an insufferable bigot - ironic considering the criticisms laid down.
Even so, there were some harsh truths in there. Community, dignity and honesty are all victims of the desperate urge to improve one's standing. With less spiteful invective, the author may be an insightful and entertaining analyst.

[joelove]

That was some hate-filled writing. Couldn't read much of it.

A part of me understands the culture anywhere whether or not I've been there because culture is trivial in a strange way though it consumes us. It's obvious that it consumes everybody. There are just simple basic things that all humans seem to be influenced by. I might say thoroughly conditioned by, even, but that's just really repeating some philosopher's words that I don't understand. That seems to be happening to every person on the planet.

Then there's things I find hard to fathom. And without saying they're good or bad I just have to go back to the idea that, well, everybody is deeply influenced. I don't understand it, but I'll accept it.

So, Korea is not unique, nor is anywhere else. There's influence on us all from all over the world. To think that one is much different is silly. It seems that way, and people act that way. That's frustrating at times. Fundamentally though we are all similar. Culture creates us and we live on the same basic principles of fear or pleasure. Again, I'm just repeating some philosopher.

[wishfullthinkng]

a sad and pathetic one, that writer.

[Lucas]

[atwood]

The humor gets lost in the invective.

He needs to check out Bad News Hughes.

[3DR]

These people are just as bad as the overboard apologists.

Both are like overzealous religious freaks. It's not enough that they feel a certain way about Korea. They have to make sure that evverrrrybody else feels the same way in some sad attempt to either bring other people to wallow in their shallow negative world view or to validate their shallow opinions.

If someone activiely harps on and on about something in a vein attempt to get others to see the world the same as they do, more than likely, they feel very insecure about their beliefs and opinions and need to feel validated by other people.

Most normal people have a middle ground and just go on about their lives.

[nicwr2002]

[Steelrails]

This really shows the difference between the slice of life ExpatHell and a near-hate site. Kudos to everyone for their revulsion at it.

[tob55]

The person writing things on the aforementioned blog has some serious anger issues regarding his/her time and/or association with Korea, its people, the culture, and the customs and habits taking place within the Nation. It was more than I could take or read, especially given my current status as a naturalized citizen of the country. If someone hates Korea and anything to do with it, then they should probably be done with it for many reasons in my opinion.

[Captain Corea]

[northway]