Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lepid gecko]

..not directly in my face but about half a meter away from me in my direction. He caught my attention, knowing he was about to sneeze and then sneezed without covering his mouth or moving away. had a big grin on his face and thought it was funny. dang that made me mad. i barked and put him in the corner for the rest of the lesson. but in retrospect he seemed a bit suprised that i reacted the way i did....so what's the etiquette about sneezing in korea? i know they don't make a big thing of it, but this just seemed downright disrespectful.

[marista99]

How old was the kid?

[lepid gecko]

ahh yes, that would make a difference. he's about 12, so old enough to know better i reckon. any younger and i would've brushed it off.

[marista99]

Sounds like you did the right thing then. This kid is old enough to know better, and I can think of no reason why sneezing in someone's face would be any more polite in Korea than it is anywhere else.

[SweetBear]

Used to have it happen to me all the time. Sneezing and coughing. Hey they're just kids and frankly they often aren't taught these things by their parents. You'll notice it happens in the street amongst adults. Usually a horrified look on my face and a stern warning is enough to keep them from doing it to me a second time. I wouldn't punish a kid extensively for this.

[inkoreaforgood]

KILL HIM!!!

I hate it when kids sneeze in your general direction. They DO know better, they ARE taught to cover their nose or something. Every time a child sneezes in my presence and they cover their nose, or sneeze away from me, I praise them. Good Johnny, now go get a tissue! Eeww, I hate it, that rain of germs.

[lush72]

[kangnamsock]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

No, sock. It is still downright foul. Throw the kid out the window.

[matthewwoodford]

I don't think it matters whether the kids know any better or not. They'll know better in future from your reaction. Let them know how disgusting their behaviour is and that you're serious and they won't do it again in a hurry.

That doesn't mean flying off the handle cos that could have just the opposite effect.

[sparkx]

I have a system for this problem..

If a kid coughs in my face I belch in his face
If a kid burps in my face I sneeze in his face
If a kid sneezes/belches in my face I fart in his face (bare assed w/ nose placed at the ring singularity)

[Zed]

The same kid would probably call you dirty if you had a cold and blew your nose on a tissue. Dirty teacher! But a middle aged man picking his nose unabashedly in the midst of a crowded kamjatang restaurant is not a problem, as sneezing on others also isn't. I wish this discrepancy could be explained to me.

[dogbert]

[Zed]

"Relish" is good. Now I get it.

[wylde]