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Koreans don't smile at you in the street
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greyhound



Joined: 10 Jun 2016

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:42 am    Post subject: Koreans don't smile at you in the street Reply with quote

I have been walking around this city for 3 or 4 days now and no one seems to smile at me when I go past them. Nor do they say "hi" or anything. If I ask them a question, then they will speak alright. But how come they don't seem to want to talk to foreigners then onn the street? Laughing
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Drew345



Joined: 24 May 2005

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 2:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll give my 2 cents worth on this one.

I speak Korean at an intermediate level (TOPIK 3) and find that it is actually very difficult to talk to someone I don't know in Korean, because the word for "you" is reserved for loved ones or for fighting. The language actually doesn't have a good means of talking to strangers (for me at TOPIK 3). Language, of course, reflects the culture, so in Korean culture, there is just not much talking to strangers.

On the other hand, I recently moved to Nowon, a poorer part of town without many foreigners, and found the people to be 10x more likely to talk to a stranger than Hongdae, Gangnam, or Bundang (where I lived before). So it depends on where you live.

Finally, not having to great strangers isn't entirely a bad thing. When I go back to America now I sometimes feel a bit tired at having to make small talk with people who just happen to be sharing an elevator ride or working checkout at the store.

Anyway, welcome to Korea and thanks for giving new life to our forum.
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Steelrails



Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome to Dave's. 33카지노 Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ COU67CoM Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄

I'm surprised OP's post didn't have a Rickroll in it.
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Zyzyfer



Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just the up-to-the-minute sort of updates on things I was hoping for.
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seanfromT.O.



Joined: 16 Mar 2016

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Drew345 wrote:
...it is actually very difficult to talk to someone I don't know in Korean, because the word for "you" is reserved for loved ones or for fighting.

IMHO this kind of rationale isn't really an explanation for a perceived lack of Koreans' openness to interacting with strangers. There are numerous ways of expressing "you" in Korean that don't carry the connotations you cite.

Drew345 wrote:
Language, of course, reflects the culture, so in Korean culture, there is just not much talking to strangers.

I wonder if this is more a reflection of your own cultural influences than an accurate observation about Korean culture. Koreans have no trouble speaking to strangers when they want/need to (e.g. asking directions), so it wouldn't seem to be an issue of language.

There are likely other reasons why Koreans seem not to smile at passersby that are not necessarily tied to culture. FWIW, in Toronto I don't see too many people smiling at strangers.

Just my two cents.
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FMPJ



Joined: 03 Jun 2008

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

They smile at me all the time.

Maybe they just don't like you.
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Aine1979



Joined: 20 Jan 2013
Location: Incheon

PostPosted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 10:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I find Koreans regularly smile or nod, but other foreigners adopt the "eyes down and pretend I didn't see you" approach, which I find really strange.
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candy bar



Joined: 03 Dec 2012

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 1:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Koreans often smile and make small talk with me.

If Koreans are avoiding it may be they think…
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greyhound



Joined: 10 Jun 2016

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

some Korean man started going on in Korean about his job yesterday I think while parked outside my school building with his tam o shanker wheel barrow thingy full of stuff. A few have smiled but not that many yet. I think I'll try a bar at the weekend Laughing
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drcrazy



Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Location: Pusan. Yes, that's right. Pusan NOT Busan. I ain't never been to no place called Busan

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

FMPJ wrote:
They smile at me all the time.

Maybe they just don't like you.


Laughing
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TorontoToronto



Joined: 20 Jun 2016

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 6:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My understanding is

1) Many Asian cultures use smiling to signal social embarrassment. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smile#Cultural_differences

2) Many Asian cultures communicate emotions more with the eyes. Bigger the eyes = more positive emotions. In the West, you need to have good teeth. In Asia you need to have big eyes. Consider the difference between western and eastern smileys. Western smileys convey the emotion with the "mouth". : ) : ( : |. Asian smileys alter the "eyes" ( ^_^; ) ( -_-; ) ( ~_~; )
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Stain



Joined: 08 Jan 2014

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 4:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Try wearing your underwear as a hat. They won't want to talk to you though.
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Fallacy



Joined: 29 Jun 2015
Location: ex-ROK

PostPosted: Thu Jul 21, 2016 5:10 pm    Post subject: RE: Koreans don't smile at you in the street Reply with quote

Stain wrote:
Try wearing your underwear as a hat. They won't want to talk to you though.
Hahaha! Oh, this is so great. Still laughing. Thanks for that. Made my day.
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PRagic



Joined: 24 Feb 2006

PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 1:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cut and pasted my comment from another of the OP's threads...

"In the future, please just make a new thread titled, 'OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD AT THIS VERY MOMENT'. Instead of creating a stream of new threads with hugely irrelevant questions or comments, just update your one thread with whatever else pops into your mind that you'd like to share."

I stand by my original assessment.
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CentralCali



Joined: 17 May 2007

PostPosted: Fri Jul 22, 2016 5:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PRagic wrote:
Cut and pasted my comment from another of the OP's threads...

"In the future, please just make a new thread titled, 'OFF THE TOP OF MY HEAD AT THIS VERY MOMENT'. Instead of creating a stream of new threads with hugely irrelevant questions or comments, just update your one thread with whatever else pops into your mind that you'd like to share."

I stand by my original assessment.


Agreed. In another of his threads, I observed that the OP is woefully unprepared for Korea. (Actually, my observation is that he's unprepared to be, let alone teach, overseas.) He whined about it. That pretty much sums up his approach: whining.
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