Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Cedar]

1. Spitting. I hawk and spit on the street. Not really loudly like some old guys, but I do it. Without thinking twice. Of course, I have had a cold all winter. I wouldn't do it without the cold.

2. Pushing. I only apologize if the contact was hard enough to bother me, and I don't really think much about it the rest of the time.

3. Toilets. Find Western style sit down toilets disgusting. They may smell better, but who wants to sit where someone else just splashed?

4. Feeling obligated to bring back (tacky) presents for everyone when I leave the country, even if I don't like them very much.

5. Shoes. I never wear lace-ups unless I can slip them off. At this point only own one pair of lace-ups.

6. Circles. I spend my free time with my "circle"s (dongahri).

7. Winter Clothes. I don't bat an eye at brand name jogging suits as good winter weekend wear.

8. Kimchi. With most meals. And make it at home, made a huge batch on Saturday.

9. Hitting Students. In my martial arts classes I do hit or otherwise punish the students physically (like make them jump up and down repeatedly). I never hit them in anger, and I do not strike hard enough to leave a bruise, but a good smack on the rear does a lot to keep a 3rd grader from goofing off. I do not hit my English students, except when they are late, and then I always give them a choice of the left or right shoulder. And they are university students, so they should be able to read a watch.

10. Questions. Frequently ask people their age and marital status and tell people my own age they'd better hurry up and get married.

11. Bowing. To everyone, even other foreigners.

12. Juggling. Fluidly to hand over things only with the right hand.

13. Sports. Follow all the overseas Korean and ethnic Korean sports players (plus the Williams sisters).

Probably more but i have to get to my chayyukegwan.

[PootyTang]

[Cedar]

Pooty Tang,

you mean this isn't home?

just kidding. But that list does show a lot of reasons why it'd be hard for me if i ever went back to the West... doesn't it?

[rudyflyer]

[Ody]

nice post. really. kudos 2 u!
besides the circles and sports parts (and the specific teaching circumstances) i might have written it myself (no need to now).

[bignate]

While I was there, in the subway, I learned to watch out for the Agumas and there pointy little elbows, it ment hunkering down (I am 6'3") and givining as good as I got (as all of you know there is strength and then there is "Aguma" strength). I usually got yelled at, but in after all the cackling died down in the end I could see a look of respect in those beady little black eyes .

I also learned to hand over everything with my right hand, while politely touching my elbow. I still do that now in Toronto now (I really have to stop that).

I have learned to sleep without a fan, since as my wife has said, and everyone else knows, I may die of suffocation or some such garbage .

And the most important thing that I learned was, never, ever, ever, turn your back on a Korean child with out expecting the obligatory ddong-chim express -

[weatherman]

The two that I can add are that I have become more tolerant to noise and have become something of a night person. Ever notice how nothing is open in the early mornings?

[Dr. Buck]

Engage Korea on your own terms. Take the bull (and the s**t) by the horns.
--Walk in your own apartment with your boots on (yes, you can do it, really).
--Become a master gourmand in your kitchen after the ultra-lack of variety of Korean food gets you down (kimchi and rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner--yeah right! Talk about an insulated palate--what a loser cuisine.)
--Find a secret spot out in the hills that nobody ever goes to and use it for your own relaxation.
--Become a master of defensive driving, have some class with road rules, but also know when to be a *beep* and crowd a taxi into the cement wall.
--Say "No" more often
--Have your own agenda, stick to it, and try not to care what anyone else on this peninsula thinks about it.
--Become a master of Korean etiquette and customs, yet now and then in the right time and place, tell your Korean buddy to drop the B.S. because this time the he can serve himself a beer.
--Beg forgiveness, not permission

[spankypants]

1. I stare at foreigners. I try not to, but I don't seem them very often, so I just can't help myself.

- I do same thing. Sometimes, I smile at them. I just can't help myself.
I am a volunteer tour guide(for foreigners in Korea) and I don't have much chance to do with this job. So I just like to help foreigners, if there is something I can do for them. but they seem always fine and don't need any help from me.

[steroidmaximus]

Dr Buck said:

[rapier]

Positively expect koreans to act stupidly or annoyingly all the time, and then occasionally they will pleasantly surprise you. By this i mean theres no point getting all worked up every day by their ways. They're not going to change in your lifetime, and don't waste your energy trying to change them or teach them a lesson because every day will be a nightmare. Just roll with it, and it'll cease to be such a problem.
I went through the "I'm going to barge into every korean too" phase. More stress than its worth. Besides, I believe in treating others as I would be treated, so i'm not about to change my behavior and become an a***
just because the majority of other people are.

[Marathe]

[crazylemongirl]

Umm a little embarssing but my korean style "living room picnic" (although as I live in a one room box not actually living room per say). Where I put what would normally be put on plate into separate dishes and do the whole lettce parcel thing even with bangers, mash and Baked Beans while watching something appalling on tv.

CLG

[SuperFly]

Wow. The only people on this thread that are still in Korea are Ody, Dr. Buck and steriodmaximus. And me, I used to be Pootytang back in the day. But I wasn't in Korea then...had left several years prior...

what ever happened to Cedar?

[Sine qua non]

OP:

It sounds like you're a champ. You've adopted so many local traits that you seem to have degenerated a few levels of civility.

I've seen you teach. I've seen you in an English Cafe in a university where the student workers of the cafe are there working and have earned a scholarship because of their interest and dedication to learning English.

I've seen your making a university student cry due to your aggressive, rude scolding because the student failed to use the correct English preposition in a sentence she spoke to you; I've never seen a Korean teacher make a student cry, so you must have gone further than the locals in this case. The student's name is O-jin; maybe you don't remember her name because you think Korean teachers don't rememeber student names (they do).

I'm the guy from Texas who lived down the hall from you there.

It's a shame you are so proud of having discarded adherence to ethics in favor of lazy selfishness. You have greatly misinterpreted Korean culture and guessed that the worst represents the ideal.

Good luck in your future work to understand the local society.