Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rapier]

So who was the first Korean person you ever met, how did you meet them, and what did you think?

My story takes place in Australia: I was barely even aware of the existence of Korea at the time. It was 1999 and I was staying in a hostel while doing a bit of fruit picking.
"Billy" was the first Korean I ever met, sent out to pick apples in a team with me. He seemed a bit cold as a person, maybe due to his average english ability..Anyhow, I noticed how he picked even thesmaller, unripe apples to fill up his bin quicker.
At the start of that day, the girls in the team had mysteriously dissapeared to pick apples alongside him. So my team consisted of 4 guys, his was him and 3 girls.
At breaktime the girls said that he had insisted that they all pick with him and that he was trying to chat to them the whole time, and that they were really bored.
A couple of hours later I went over and said we should change teams, that I wanted a couple chicks on my team just for a change.The girls came on over. He took a hissy fit, sulked about it and never spoke to me again.
some people got a ride home with him in his car, and said never again, that he'd driven like a lunatic, and nobody was prepared to take their lives in their hands by doing so again..

It all makes sense now.....

[ryleeys]

The first Koreans I ever met came in twin form. A rather attractive pair of freshman at my university (when I was a sophomore). Very nice, very sweet. They were adoptees. They were and still are very very naive. Poor things... one of them once sent me an instant message that asked me to "c_m up to her room". It took me nearly two hours to explain to her why she should never spell the word "come" that way... it was the first sex talk she had ever gotten. They were extremely talented musicians... they were in a string quintet that received somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 per wedding performance. That's how they put themselves through college... they are also very talented athletes and just missed qualifying for the Korean Olympic team this year. We stay in touch occassionally and they're very nice people. I wish them all the best.

[Zyzyfer]

There was an air force guy who had fought in the Korean War and nabbed one of the ladies back then. They moved back to the U.S. and had two kids, and I first met the lot of them when I was a teenager, since the kids were the same age as myself. They didn't really harp on too much about their heritage, and I didn't have a clue about what it meant, so I didn't think much about it, but everyone thought that their mother was totally wacko, because she couldn't speak English and was just "weird". I think she tried to get me to try Korean food once or twice, but I seriously don't remember much about when I was around her, because I usually didn't stick around long. Had I known what I know now, though, I probably would've thought that she was really cool, because she was hardly an ajumma by any stretch of the imagination, her husband didn't seem to care about her culture, and he also had failed at the American dream and the family was a bit dysfunctional.

Unfortunately, I had a falling out with the two sons, and haven't been able to get in touch with either one in a really, really long time.

[Toby]

When I walked out of customs at Kimpo and saw my female manager and senior Korean teacher.

I grew to hate her in about twenty four hours.

He is coming to my wedding.

[ajstew]

A little off topic, but I'll tell you about the first Korean(s) I met when I came back to Korea from Canada last summer vacation. I get off the plane around 9:30/10... can't be sure exactly, and the first person who greets me is a taxi driver/pimp in the airport entrance. He asks me where I'm going and I respond Suwon. He goes on to tell me that the last bus has gone, but he'll drive me there for 100,000 won. I say, "Ah, maybe... I'll maybe get back to you." I walk out the doors and am greeted by another taxi driver/pimp and he says the same thing as the other driver... that the last bus for Suwon is already gone, but that he'll drive me there for 100,000 won. To make a long story short... I find there are still buses running, so I take a bus to Suwon for 12,000 won. Nice first impression getting back into Korea again. Such a noble people.

[skinhead]

Mine was one of those tiny decisions that changes your life forever. I was asked by a mate in one of my uni classes in '96 to come along on a week long camping trip with international students coz I had years of experience in the area they were headed. I didn't really wanna go coz it was run by a christian group at the uni, kinda pushy people I thought. Anyway, I figured $100 for a week and I wouldn't have to drive myself to my favourite place on this planet, why not. Seemed like a small decision at the time.

There were about 6 Koreans on the trip, 3 guys and 3 girls, and I was immediately drawn to their innocence, their humour, and the way they just hung together. Over the week, we bonded strongly, exchanged language songs and phrases, you know the gig. We had a great time together coz we both fucked up each others' language and it was a great laugh. So they became great friends over the next six months. Then I took another trip with the same bibley group in '97 for two weeks to Darwin and back n there were 13 Koreans on this trip. Had a fantastic time with these guys, exchanging culture all the way, got into strife with the camp evangelists for drinking with them too much . They gave me a Korean name, I learned some great swears like "mit-chonna" and I wanted to learn as much about Korean life as I could. I thought they were the coolest. My 'hyeung' invited me and a girlmate to Seoul to his sister's wedding early in '98, and that was it for me. It was my first time OS, and 14 months later I was in Seoul on a year contract. Four months after that, I met Mrs Skinny and the rest is history.


I guess it wasn't one Korean, but the group thing that I found different. Why was I so attracted to Korean people? I really can't say. I'd met people from a dozen Asian countries before this and never felt such a strong draw to their cultures. Maybe I was Korean in a past life. Most of the Koreans who know me well think this is why. But I don't believe in reincarnation, so I don't hold that line. Who knows. But that little decision was one of the most significant I ever made. Especially since everything I'm about now has unfolded due to that small decision. Life's a trip.

[shortskirt_longjacket]

first korean i met was my supervisor who greeted me when i got off the plane here.

the first thing she said was: "i've been waiting here for two hours." like i had been wandering around the airport aimlessly, causing her to wait for me. or like i had been piloting the plane and had control over whether i was late or not. she walked ahead of me in a huff, her fake louis vuitton purse swinging on her shoulder.

she took me to this tiny box of a car (our school bus driver's personal vehicle) and said, "wow, you brought a lot of stuff. i don't know if it's going to fit in here." it was like it was the most foreign concept to her that someone who was moving overseas for a year would bring two large suitcases with her. and if it didn't all fit i could just leave it at the airport or something?

oh, i could relate stories and stories about the woman! she is still, by far, one of the strangest koreans i know. bang-up first impression.

[Eazy_E]

I volunteered for the group Citizen Advocacy for a time while I was in university. It provides companionship to adults with developmental disabilities. The head of that group provided my name (and phone number) to a Korean studying at the same university. He wanted to interview me for a project. He called my place and my roommate answered, describing him as some "crazy East Indian guy". He never could pin down accents very well...

Anyways, this Korean was a mid-30's to 40's type guy who lived on campus with his wife. I think the interview was about half an hour, after which he said that people who volunteer usually have a "good heart". I asked him how he was doing with learning English, and his response gave me some idea of how difficult it must be.

At that time I had no inkling that I would ever end up in Korea and come to understand the problems of people living in a foreign country....

[Neil]

One of the students I was teaching on my CELTA course, her husband had moved to London at the request of his company and she was stuck alone in a strange, new city with no friends or company.

She was morbidly shy and I felt sorry for her.

[Son Deureo!]

[justagirl]

First Korean I met was in high school. Sam was a Korean adoptee with Caucasian/American parents, going through identity crisis, doing drugs, getting arrested, getting into trouble all over the place.

Looking back, I can see he just didn't know who he was, why he was, or where he was going. Last I heard he was in jail.

Second Korean I met was also a Korean adoptee with many of the same problems. Unfortunately my brother was married to her. After she broke his nose while he was holding the baby (punched him in the face), threw a 28 oz. can of tomatoes at his head, and various other problems, he decided it would be best for him and his son to get out of that relationship. Thank God!

[SweetBear]

It was a young Korean American in our office. Her voice was very loud, she would use the F word whenever any minor problem occured. I remember she had a major crush on 50 year old gay man. She once flew from Boston to Seoul and back for the weekend with her buddies just for kicks. A loon spoon!

[Falstaff]

The first Korean I met was in high school. He was the most gifted natural athlete I have ever met in my life. He ended up earning six varsity letters. He decided he wanted to play golf, so he learned, taught himself, and in six months was shooting par. He was adopted by one of his teachers as his family had abandoned him for reasons I never quite understood (it had something to do with his mother's mysterious death and his father's quick flight back to Korea). He wasn't very bright, but wickedly funny. A good first impression.

[nev]

Good thread.

The first Korean I'm aware of meeting was in Bulgaria, three years ago. Myself and a friend were on a daytrip from Sofia to a relatively nearby monastery. While waiting for the bus back, by the gates of the monastery, he approached us with good English.

I remember instantly forgetting his name, something I continue to involuntarily do with all Korean names, but do recall he was a finanical journalist on TV. He was about 40 years old and very friendly, and was on a month's holiday in Bulgaria. He said little about Korea and so the impression left was more about the man than where he was from.

[Kimchi Cha Cha]

The first Korean I ever met was a guy in high school, who hung out with my friends for a year or two. He was pretty quiet and didn't know a lot of English but was fairly cool in his own way. I felt a bit sorry for him since when he first arrived he was about the only Korean at our school. But, eventually more and more Koreans came to our school (there was an influx of Korean immigration in my area) and he eventually started hanging out with a group of Korean guys who drove nice cars.

Korean guys at our school got a reputation for being tough and not to be messed with after a couple of high profile fights at the school. One or two of the guys were quite handy at taekwondo. There were a few Korean girls but they were quite shy.