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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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ajuma
Joined: 18 Feb 2003
Location: Anywere but Seoul!!
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 Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:13 am Post subject: |
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rapier wrote:
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| I mean in Itaewon I have had good conversations with Germans,Mexicans, Thais, Russians, Austrians, Indonesians, Hawaiians, |
Um...last time I checked, Hawaii was still a part of the US!  |
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royjones
Joined: 26 Mar 2004
Location: post count: 512
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| Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 9:45 am Post subject: |
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| chronicpride wrote: |
| peppermint wrote: |
I do find the English speaking people here more openly judgemental , that's a definite difference from my home. |
True. As I have said before on here, I find that the expats are more harder on themselves and each other, than the Koreans are on us.
I still don't get the 'stare straight ahead, don't say anything' act, when expats see each other. Even in the middle of nowhere. I remember walking down a street in a small town outside of Gangneung, and we walked by 3 foreigners. 'Hey', was all we said, out of friendliness and surprise, due to both parties being in the sticks. Nothing. Not even an eye-twitch.
I'll buy the 'I don't say hi to every white person back home, so why here..' bit, if you're in areas in Seoul, like Itaewon, Hongdae, Apku, and stuff like that. Or popular foreigner areas in other cities. But the middle of nowhere? And not even an response, verbal or physical, after we say 'hi'? I don't know if this is expat behavior in a lot of other countries, but it's really lame here. |
What is even worse, is when you say "hi", they make eye contact than quickly turn their head away without saying a word. I have met friendlier people in Vancouver and Toronto. |
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uberscheisse
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Location: japan is better than korea.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 12:27 pm Post subject: |
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i do my best to high-five a foreigner whenever possible. if you got high fived by a stranger in a club it was probably me.
no idea what the point of this post was... i would just like to make seoul the exact opposite of vancouver. it already kinda is, but manners-wise it needs an upgrade. |
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mslaoshi
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: Si-heung
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| Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:28 pm Post subject: They don't know what I am |
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Great responses...even from the person who said to be "more consise." I didn't know Dave's posts were being graded!  Loosen up!
It is even funnier for me to be in this country because I am half Asian. If I am with a white waeguk, of course people look...but they stare at me...especially on the subways.  They think I am a strange creature...as if "Who let the giraffe or zebra onto the train?" It is pretty funny.
Many times I go unnoticed because of the fact that I could be a mixed Korean...even though I am not. When I first got here, I tried to speak Chinese to a few people who were surprised (because I don't look Chinese either, even though I am) and who spoke back to me in Chinese.
i don't revert back to my other 2nd language anymore...I try to speak Korean.
My school has many foreigners who work nights, while I work days...so I spend a lot of my time with the waeguks. But...the Koreans accept me, as well as the other waeguks. Whether they are more accepting of me because of my mix, I don't know. It seems about equal to the others...I have run into weird perceptions of what an "American" is based on the fact that I am not white...but this is another topic.
mslaoshi |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Higly unlikely that they accept you more because you're mixed. Half Koreans have a very rough ride here, far worse than the "pure" waygooks. Awful as it sounds there's a lot of pressure to maintain "racial purity" here and until recently, an accusation that an entertainer was mixed could end a career. |
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just because
Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964
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| Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2004 7:20 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with the OP,
I've had minimum hassles since I arrived here. Nothing that wouldn't be comparable to anywhere else I've been in the world.
I'm not sure if some of the people here are just having all their bad luck at once or something |
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