Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Steelrails]

Between the "peasant" language and his "no dishonor" line, I seriously wonder what is going on the guy's head. In a desperate attempt to deal with the culture shock of being here, has he constructed some fantasy in his head where he is some sort of king or lord? Or is it too much time at home watching 'Game of Thrones' and/or playing MMORPGs?

[Died By Bear]

It's a mistake to take rants seriously on the internet.

People vent. They might be truly great people, well educated, good manners, etc. IRL, but get them behind a screen and hell, everyone is susceptible. It is what it is.

Rant on, oh soldier of the internet, rant on.

[Been There, Taught That]

[Scorpion]

What we seem to have here is a classic combination of Korean ageism, racism, antiquated superstion, hierarchical thinking, and simple rudeness. Here's my take. Everyone seems to have to be positioned higher than or lower than the next person. The people at the bottom of the hierarchy often seem to be the most sensitive to it, as well as the most resentful of the very system. They long for someone to appear on the ladder beneath them. Almost every time someone posts on Dave's about a conflict with a co-teacher it's with a female, often young. They are at (or near) the bottom rung and it irks them. In arrives the waygook. Finally, regardless of age, credentials, or years of teaching, a person lower on the ladder - a foreigner. When foreigners refuse to play the game the teacher gets resentful. In my experience I treat other teachers well and they (with some exceptions) have treated me well. Those who haven't have always been young females.

The only other group that behaves like this is what someone referred to as "the help", be it the maintenance man or the cleaning staff. While other school staff enter my classroom politely with a slight bow and greeting (as I do in theirs) the maintenance man, gardener or cleaning lady just barge in without even acknowledging my existence. Often they then start talking rapid fire Korean at me over some matter. When I show that I don't understand what they're saying they scowl and go out. At my school when I greet the cleaning lady in the hallway (I'm always the first to offer the greeting) with a "hasayo" greeting and a bow the gesture is acknowledged but no bow returned. The maintenance man just grunts. There are renovations going on at my school at present and I often encounter laborers in the second floor hallway. My greetings are basically ignored, so much so that I've stopped giving them.

What happened in the OP's cafeteria fits into a pattern of disrespect directed at us because we are "the other", and as such considered to be on the bottom rung. Others at the school have people below them. They don't need to make a show of being above the foreign teacher. Seemingly, the cleaning and maintenance staff do. It's highly unlikely that she would have spoken to a Korean teacher at the school in a similar fashion.

Smithington was right to be pissed off. Not only did she scold him for something insignificant. She did it at the lunch table -in front of other teachers. She was rude. I thought 'saving face' was big here, (or does that also go out the window?).

Ajjumas acting badly. Honestly, if we started a thread on that topic it would run a hundred pages.

[Steelrails]

Actually, when I first started, it was the maintenance people and contract teachers who were the friendliest (and spoke the best English!). I think it was because they were all dudes who liked to go out, get grub, and watch baseball and soccer. They were rough around the edges but they understood loyalty and honesty.

[tiger fancini]

[schwa]

I've always happily identified with the custodian, cleaner, office assistant, etc. Just folks doing a respectable job. A few extra smiles in my day.

[atwood]

[Scorpion]

[tiger fancini]

[Chaparrastique]

[atwood]

[tiger fancini]

[SHGator428]

These threads are what keeps this site going. You get the basher dangling the bait and then the gyopos, nationals and long timers bite and then they carry it onto multiple pages.

[atwood]