Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Chillin' Villain]

Your reading skills are impeccable, man. Second time you've missed important points.

I was there first, and she stood in my general vicinity. I didn't, nor am I going to, claim that she had some villainous master plan to take my cab, but the driver clearly passed me with my hand out and went straight to her with her hand out. It's the same thing when people see you standing there and go up the road a couple meters. I t h a p p e n s. Plenty of other people acknowledge the person who arrived first, and if the driver skips them, they will offer the cab. Hell, I would've offered the cab to the woman, even- I do all the time. The woman and the driver the other week were being asses, and they knew what they were doing- plain and simple.

Like I said, it's minor enough that it's not gonna spoil my generally good impression of this place, but it can be a bit disheartening. That said, I had a super-decent driver last night teach me (finally!) how to properly give directions for my apartment.

[mithridates]

I stand inconspicuously until I see a cab stop, then I run forward, open the door and jump in. Then I tell the driver where I'm going. I think it's illegal not to take someone where they want to go...Itaewonguy's tip is good, get a cop to help.

[chronicpride]

Newsflash to the paranoid and insecure: Korea is a place that is heavily judgemental on looks, and it doesn't stop at sizing up foreigners.

I've been passed by cabbies, as they pick up other Koreans. I've stood in the shadows chatting with friends, while my Korean university friends get passed up by cabbies, who go to the pack of guys in suits, down the street. Ajummas get passed, because the cabs don't want to deal with their groceries. Solo travellers can get passed, because of the possible single fare. If you are a white dude in Hongdae, you might get passed, as they think it might be a quick trip to Yongsan.

It's not just about you being a foreigner!!!

Also, did you know that the cabbie referral cashflow is alive and well in Korea? ie., At 3-4am cabbies often flock to packs of drunken businessmen in suits, as they are often onto the next place, like a high class nightclub, pricey room salon or an expensive anma. And that there are a lot of places that cabbies get a referral take from the street booker of the room salon or nightclub. Ever seen a crowded nightlife district with bumper to bumper traffic and the street bookers approach the cabs and pass them their club/room salon's business card? Do the math.

I've been with Korean businessmen and gotten into the cabs and watched the hustle, while the next destination is discussed, and have been sober enough at times to watch the referral take at some room salons and clubs. But I'm talking about the high-end ones in Jongno and Gangnam, the smaller ops don't pay out to cabs.

My point is, it's not just about you being a foreigner.

Quit being paranoid and think out of your immediate world.

[fruitcake]

[Drakoi]

HEY screw you, I just had like 50 cabs pass me tonight in gangnam and I ended up walking home. It's your dumb ass that turns it into a 'koreans hate foreignors thing'. That's complete BS. It's just a 'taxi drivers at night suck' thing.

[fruitcake]

[Chillin' Villain]

[dogbert]

[Drakoi]

great logic. so one or two examples makes it a rule for the whole population? i guess that means all white foreigners are racist, sexist, pigheaded, greedy, fat, ugly, and stupid.

The bottom line is the cabs in gangnam at night suck. Whether or not a few of them are biased, the phenomenom we're talking about isn't about that. A few cabbies are racist all the time, all over seoul, but the op isn't biatching about them. He's taking the one event of one cabbie to say that he can't get a cab in kangnam because they're all racist.

BULLSHIIIITE.

If it were any other place or time, maybe one or two pass you but then you get picked up, no big deal. But in gangnam, it ALWAYS takes a long time, FOR EVERYONE, who isn't a VIP or called a cab.

If you look hard enough, you can find bias anywhere, especially among those idiots who come here and expect things to be like their home countries. But racism doesn't explain what's going on in gangnam and it only shows your bias if you think it does.

[Drakoi]