Korean Job Discussion Forums

Len8 · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Location: Kyungju

Korean boys are pampered and spoilt, so they never have to make any serious decisions throughout their lives. Their mothers make all the decisions for their kids. A Korean mother's role is to plan the future of their children at birth and spend most of her waking life making sure that a child or children reaches that certain end. Because Korean children and young adults are sheltered and protecteded they never aquire an inner sense of propriety or a proper set of values to live by. Thus the lack of individualism in their lives. They are comunity oriented, because they have never had to make a decision for themselves. If they were given a bit more freedom in the earlier years to make some mistakes and learn from the consequences then they might not be so dependent on the comunal aspect of their culture for security. We would now be seeing a lot more individuals doing their own thing, and getting away with it too.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

Case in point; the head teacher at the haggie. Once I reported how the male kids say their mom buys all their clothes. While the girls buy their own clothes. The boys find this 'boring'. They wish they could choose their own styles and colours. The head teacher responded by sighing 'too much love'. I 'countered' by remarking that isn't it so that mom's find good deals at markets, having the time being 'housewives'. But still, girls pick out their own. The HT has a fiance, they'll marry someday. He's up in Seoul studying for a public works job examination and she helps him A LOT by coaching him by email and using the internet. So it seems she's devoted to him taking the role as mother and future wife at once.
'Some follow freedom, but I prefer obedience'. This is a line from a Korean poem. Seen boadly, it can encompass 'going with nature' and the way of things, and not going against what's inevitable. 'Like a twig on the shoulders of a mighty stream' to quote John Candy acting in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles. I've settled quite alot into this obedience mode working at the haggie, and having been in Korea quite a long time. On the plus side it's serving the 'bigger picture' working in an institution such as a school is. Being that, obedient, I look around and see HOW MUCH (!) of Korea's way of things is 'plugging in'.
I don't, however, have the intricate and demanding social obligations in the off-hours. For example many friends, as Koreans seem to 'serve', whom they must speak with, meet, 'be there' for.

Not Angry · Joined: 31 Jan 2003

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

Not Angry · Joined: 31 Jan 2003

OTOH- To be fair, you did comment on his background as a North American as a basis for discounting him.

And I absolutely agree with you on the reciprication from students both the cheaters here and at home. Usually money at home. But here it tends to be more favor centered. At least that is my experience....

ThisCharmingMan · Joined: 11 Jan 2004

rok_the-boat · Joined: 24 Jan 2004

Homer · Guest

Individualism is in essence a good thing, but it can (as it all too often does in the West) be taken much too far. Then it becomes a real problem for society where people act with the sole motivation of furthering their own individually based goals at whatever costs to others.

Communialism is not necessarily a bad thing (again, unless it is taken too far and obliterates the person). It has many benefits for a society.

I think that many of us waeguks look at Korea and Koreans and after seeing just the surface, make faulty assumptions about how Koreans are in general.

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

Homer · Guest

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue

Charming Man:

re: examples. When I wrote that, I mostly had in mind the thread linked below. On that thread, someone named "jh" vehemently defends the Korean educational system as being equal, if not superior to, the west's. Now, talk about getting caught with my pants down here: I was remembering "jh" as being someone who had lived in both Korea and Canada. But when I re-read the thread, that doesn't seem so clear. I don't think she ever explicitly states that she lived anywhere but Korea, and responds negatively to another poster who suggests that her excellent command of English indicates a western education. Sooooo, the long and the short of it is I cannot provide you with a concrete example of a gyopo bashing the west and defending Korea.

I still stand by my general point, though. In examining cultural comparisons, we should avoid attaching too much importance to the biographical detail of having lived in both cultures. In Canada, you can find American ex-pats who go on about how superior Canada is to the USA. And you think "well, I guess HE knows what he's talking about, he's lived in both places". The logic seems air-tight until you meet an American who's been in Canada for roughly the same amount of time, and can't shut up about how wretched it is compared to the USA. At this point, you have to put aside biographical analysis and examine what other biases might be at play. In the case of the OP, I basically thought that the writer's ideological commitment to free-market politics(as seen in his criticism of the "collective" and his admiration for Milton Friedman) predisposed him to blame Korea's problems on a supposed lack of individualism.

Here is the link to the other thread:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=6991&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

On the other hand · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Location: I walk along the avenue