Korean Job Discussion Forums

[peppermint]

[T-dot]

question.

so, if you say Hi to all foreigners, does that really mean ONLY caucasians?

If you feel it necessary to say hi to every foreigner, why not say hi to every korean too. there's a chance you might be saying hi to a gyopo.

[chronicpride]

[sparkx]

[Manner of Speaking]

[JongnoGuru]

I'm really not up to reading 8 solid pages of ranting right now (might be fun later when I have the time), so I don't know if other posters have already voiced opinions similar to my own.

First of all, to each his own. That a person doesn't respond to a "hello" from a stranger is not incontestable proof that he or she is unfriendly, a misfit or a malcontent. They may simply be in a hurry, preoccupied with their thoughts, or perhaps in a particularly foul or otherwise uncommunicative mood. It happens to each of us every so often, and probably oftener in Korea. It's just not fair to judge a person so harshly, as some posters do, based solely on that single encounter. They must be given the benefit of the doubt.

Personally, even though I might not often initiate it, I do try to respond to every friendly "hello" from a stranger (ex-pat or Korean) "in kind" or with a smile and a nod. But sometimes it either comes at an awkward moment, catches me unaware, I'm lost in my thoughts, or it happens so fast & unexpectedly that I haven't time to respond before the "hello-er" and I are already out of eye/ear-range.

I've almost pulled a muscle on occasion as I'm dashing down the street in one direction and suddenly spin around to say "hello" back to someone walking in the other direction. (It is usually a foreigner. If it was YOU, sorry! Didn't mean to appear rude . Honest!) Otherwise, I will always say "hello" right back. I don't consider the "hello-er" to be rude or presumptuous, either -- I'm just not expecting it most of the time.

Also important to note is that not all Western societies are (or were last time I checked) the same. I recall having to overcome a (very) mild case of "culture shock" at university in America, where people are certainly more informal and less reserved than I was used to.

In the U.S., all kinds of strangers -- students, faculty, customers at coffee shops, passengers on buses, joggers -- were saying "hello" to me and to each other. And then there's the whole toothy-grinned "Hi there! I'm Jeff, and I'll be your waiter today!" thing. I just wasn't used to it or prepared for it. For a long while, I considered it all one big disingenuous put-on. Later I got used to it, and then began smiling, nodding and "hello"-ing at strangers myself.

In my experience, most outgoing and friendly-to-strangers foreigners in Korea are those other than North Americans & Western Europeans. Aussies & Kiwis, Russians & Romanians, Africans, Latin Americans, South Asians -- almost always very friendly and willing to greet me, an utter stranger. Americans and Canadians are a mixed bag, Europeans typically quite reserved, though certainly not "stuck up". Least gregarious and most impenetrable: Japanese & Chinese men (less so their womenfolk).

The Guru

[Gregarious Monk]

[Apple Scruff]

Listen up, ESLers:

If you freak out because someone says "hello" to you, you're a douchebag.

If you freak out because someone failed to respond to your "hello", you're a douchebag.

Stop being douchebags.

[AndersonKrause111]

[the eye]

[Zyzyfer]

[Patong Dong]

To keep it simple; if you think about whether or not you should say hello to a foreigner you need to occupy your time a little better. I don't search out people to talk to but if I pass a foreigner where I live we will say hello and keep moving at the least. I don't give it a thought, why would I?

For those who don't say Hello to someone who talks to you, what do you do, stand there with a gaping mouth while you mull over the reasons why you might deign to greet this stranger? By that time they have walked on and you're left standing there looking like a half-wit.

And the logic behind the argument that you wouldn't talk to them back home is somewhat flawed. If you are on a plane or train and the person next to you starts to chat do you ask them to please stop as you are not familiar with them from home? We do have something in common here, regardless if you want to be left alone because you don't want anyone to expose the fact you're in reality a misfit, we are at the least foreigners.

[the_beaver]

I was thinking about this thread today as I was going up an escalator. Some white guy was coming down and I had a mental battle -- what do I do? I saw him but he didn't make eye contact so obviously there was no opportunity to say 'hi.' I was thinking about the helloing folks on this board and I wondered how they'd handle it.

Should I have just kept staring in the event that he'd eventually look at me and give me the opportunity to smile? Should I have called out "hello" to break him out of his reverie for him to notice me? Should I have done an Impulse Body Spray commercial action and jumped over the median between the escalators and given him flowers?

How do you helloers handle these situations? I'd like to know because I'm generally the guy in the reverie and have never really thought that other people expect helloes and smiles. *beep*, for me walking is a chance to think about things and I can't guess how many people I've walked by without noticing.

[Swiss James]

[Gregarious Monk]