Korean Job Discussion Forums

[GJoeM]

Jazzmaster wrote "Koreans are very negative people due to many factors. The typical Korean lifestyle is very tough and this results in the majority of Koreans being unhappy with their life. I've encountered so much passive-aggressive, and often outright aggressive, actions that I consciously try my best not to let it influence my thoughts and actions at all.

When you live in Korea you need to protect your mind and moral compass. I often see people attempting to justify the unjustifiable, in the attempt to remain positive. When you try to justify these things your mind starts to perceive them as acceptable actions. This is a slippery slope.
Keep your chin up and your head straight. And most of all, don't let the f@ckers bring you down."

Well said that man. When Koreans spend their whole lives in harsh, severe competition with each other,and human qualities such as sympathy, empathy, kindness and softness are held in contempt, then how would they ever see value in showing open ness and softness to foreigners or other people around the world?

We see empathy, softness and sympathy for others as a way of reaching out to, and contacting others -- Koreans see it as weakness and madness and a waste of time, and it short circuits their nationalism, which is on a par with a heresy and sin here.

It's a tough one --

We all learn to navigate it in our own way.

[Adventurer]

[Died By Bear]

Whenever Koreans are passive-aggressive towards me, I stab em in the heart with my expensive umbrella. I paid $800.00 for that umbrella, and I might was well get some use (and satisfaction) out of it. After than, I usually piss on their shoes to mark my territory. I'll be damned if my umbrella ever has to share the bucket with low class-made-in-China, cattle car umbrellas.

[Steelrails]

[Captain Corea]

Yeah, I could see that. Seoul is definitely a harsh machine at times.

[Roman Holiday]

[Adventurer]

[Chaparrastique]

[GJoeM]

Chappa, just posted the same on another thread, but it's relevant here --

And as for those who say, "just leave man" -- what a stupid thing to say -- once you factor in wife, child, then it isn't so easy to just do that.

And anyway, why should we 'just leave?' We are doing a responsible job here, and we aren't taking anything from society in subsidies or welfare or perks. And we aren't any kind of 'social problem' here -- we aren't violent drunks, political agitators or a drain on the state and we don't even demand any wider profile in society or the media ( where we are invisible besides a few stand up clown acts with big noses ) and neither do we demand to ostentatiously make our mark on the culture here,say, with places of worship, cultural centers, clubs, large shops or whatever -- so why are we on the receiving end of so much passive aggressive hostility and coldness?

Why is our very presence our very visibility such a pain to Koreans and such a sour experience for them ?

I can't count the number of sour, embittered faces I see here when foreigners step on a train, or are in a dentist waiting room with Koreans. Most of the time, it's not out and out confrontation -- it's expressed in chilly, barbed atmospheres, not meeting the eyes, ambiguous and hesitant facial expression. As the years go by, that gets really wearing. And it doesn't make integration with Koreans any easier, because each time you make a gesture to reach out to them, or you spend more time studying their language and history etc, you just get another cold look or more avoidance.

The points we complain about regarding life in Korea are hardly unreasonable or demanding. They are very real problems that we have every right to wish to express and address.

[atwood]

While I agree with the two posts above regarding Korean negativity, the advice to stay on the good foot is still worth taking IMO.

Accentuate the positive!