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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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 Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:41 am Post subject: |
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| jaganath69 wrote: |
| mindmetoo wrote: |
| W.T.Carl wrote: |
| What an arrogant, ignorant racist. Who are you to determine what should be "universal truth"? |
I can't take this guy seriously. He transports me back to my Canadian University Press days...
C'mon take off the earthshoes for a second and admit things like female circumcision and discrimination based on sex/race/sexual orientation are probably not a good thing in any culture. |
I spent a year as an elected official for my student union (with the left) and must admit that the kind of moral relativism you cite is half the reason I am now a libertarian. Well said. |
I like many of the ideas the Canadian University Press held dear, ie no discrimination. But the problem became when everyone believed the same party line and the only way to seem alpha smurfy was to be more hardcore in your beliefs and application of those beliefs. It got to the point where our press organization was banning the reading of certain major newspapers at national conferences because they didn't agree with CUP politics. Newspapers banning newspapers... sigh.
Yes, if Koreans value male children over female children, hey, whatever. It's their culture. But if they believe in jailing people for homosexuality or packing them off to camps, well, I'm not so sure that's great idea for a nation that wants to take its rightful place on the world stage.
And more to the point, where do we get off teaching Koreans about Western morality and pointing out where it comes in conflict with their 5000 year history? Well, it strikes me that's part of our job. We're not teaching a language in a vacuum. We're here to teach about Western culture and how Koreans can interact in said culture. Homophobia and sexism are not exactly a way to win friends and influence people you want to do business with in the west. It's our job to give them a heads up on that, no? |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 2:47 am Post subject: |
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| Tiberious aka Sparkles wrote: |
I'm waiting for the day that there will be a commonplace Korean word to replace the adoption of the English word "gay" in Korean.
Korea, embrace your gayness!
(For a laugh, I typed gay into Google's translate tool, got ������, translated it back to English and got Eastern characteristic child
See? All Korean kids are gay; they just don't know it yet.
Sparkles*_* |
There is a Korean word for "gay". It is �̹� |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:02 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
We're not teaching a language in a vacuum. We're here to teach about Western culture and how Koreans can interact in said culture. Homophobia and sexism are not exactly a way to win friends and influence people you want to do business with in the west. It's our job to give them a heads up on that, no?
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Yes, but teaching them how to interact in the west is not the same thing as telling them that Korea itself should be more like the west. In the first case, you're simply giving factual information. In the second, you are propagandizing your own pet cause.
If a Korean were teaching the Korean language in Canada, it would be a good idea for him to tell his female students that if they ever go to Korea, they might encounter some hostility if they smoke in public. That's just a fact, and the female students would probably be happy to know that. But if he were to tell them that Canadian women should refrain from smoking in public, he'd be lucky not to get his head kicked in. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:02 am Post subject: |
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Deleted, double post.
Last edited by On the other hand on Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Tiberious aka Sparkles
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:33 am Post subject: |
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| kangnamdragon wrote: |
There is a Korean word for "gay". It is �̹� |
That's slang. ������, which I mentioned in my post, is the correct term. But Koreans tend to use ����, because, as we all know, homosexuality is a western thing.
I wrote "a commonplace" Korean word for gay.
PS - Naming a student "Ivan" is probably not a smart move.
Sparkles*_* |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2005 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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| W.T.Carl wrote: |
Why should they follow a bunch of arrogant fascist westerners? It's their culture. Who do you think you are to try to impose your values on them?Do they try to come to west and force you to put dog soup on your menus? No.
If you don't like it there, go back to Canada and starve. Who are you to say which culture is more or less advanced? |
If this is what total immersion in the culture does to the Western mind, then I will spend my next (possible) stint in Korea eating burgers, flushing my toilet paper, blowing my nose in public, shaving 3 times a week, randomly taking photographs and saying "Bloody hell, that's amazing!", and very visibly putting on my seatbelt whenever I am being driven anywhere. |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 12:03 am Post subject: |
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| Why would you only shave 3 times per week? Is that a Western thing? |
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coolsage
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: The overcast afternoon of the soul
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| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 3:37 am Post subject: |
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| Well, this has turned into quite the pissing contest. That being said, there seems to be an abundance of willful ignorance in this land, or denial; it shakes out the same. The five thousand vaunted years of history have yet to generate a people who are tolerant, socially civil, and, franky speaking, happy. This is a country that's way overdue for its Summer of Love.. |
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Guri Guy
Joined: 07 Sep 2003
Location: Bamboo Island
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| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 4:06 am Post subject: |
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To be totally fair to Koreans, they have endured a lot in the last century. Japanese occupation due to weak and incompetent leadership. The dividing up the country arbitrarily by the victorious powers. A bloody civil war that killed hundreds of thousands of people. Having to endure years of dictatorial and military rule. Finally, having to put up with freaky foreign English teachers. 
So I can see why Koreans maybe aren't the happiest lot recently. To be honest, I am not sure what their happiness level was like in their other 42 centuries of history though. Maybe their summer of love will start with economic prosperity? |
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rapier
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 5:48 am Post subject: |
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| coolsage wrote: |
| Well, this has turned into quite the pissing contest. That being said, there seems to be an abundance of willful ignorance in this land, or denial; it shakes out the same. The five thousand vaunted years of history have yet to generate a people who are tolerant, socially civil, and, franky speaking, happy. This is a country that's way overdue for its Summer of Love.. |
Out drinking last night with a Mongolian, a canadian, and a Korean. The Korean seemed threatened by the Mongolian, as if he would steal away his 2 cool western friends, and seemed to make subtle implications of Korean superiority over Mongolia. Then the Mongolian started talking about the great history of his country, and how pretty his Korean girlfriend is etc. So I gently separated our group into two separate directions as i could see they were'nt going to get on.
Koreans really seem to dislike other Asians...and their current economic standing is the only criteria they apply to rate themselves higher than other Asian nations.
On another night, the same guy pretended to be Japanese in order to pick up korean chixx..haha...and then wants to hang with westerners in order to increase his cred. So long as he keeps bringing Korean girls along its fine by me  |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Sun Feb 20, 2005 8:08 pm Post subject: |
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| kangnamdragon wrote: |
| Why would you only shave 3 times per week? Is that a Western thing? |
The point I'm trying to make is that I would do anything - ANYTHING - to avoid becoming like W.T. Carl. Even if this means spending every weekend at the local expat bar, followed by an hour or so in the nearest noraebang, then spending the rest of the night watching Hollywood blockbusters at a DVD bang in a grog-induced stupor. Better to be a hedonist than a Stepford zombie. |
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coolsage
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: The overcast afternoon of the soul
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| Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| rapier wrote: |
| coolsage wrote: |
| Well, this has turned into quite the pissing contest. That being said, there seems to be an abundance of willful ignorance in this land, or denial; it shakes out the same. The five thousand vaunted years of history have yet to generate a people who are tolerant, socially civil, and, franky speaking, happy. This is a country that's way overdue for its Summer of Love.. |
Out drinking last night with a Mongolian, a canadian, and a Korean. The Korean seemed threatened by the Mongolian, as if he would steal away his 2 cool western friends, and seemed to make subtle implications of Korean superiority over Mongolia. Then the Mongolian started talking about the great history of his country, and how pretty his Korean girlfriend is etc. So I gently separated our group into two separate directions as i could see they were'nt going to get on.
Koreans really seem to dislike other Asians...and their current economic standing is the only criteria they apply to rate themselves higher than other Asian nations.
On another night, the same guy pretended to be Japanese in order to pick up korean chixx..haha...and then wants to hang with westerners in order to increase his cred. So long as he keeps bringing Korean girls along its fine by me |
'Koreans really seem to dislike other Asians.' Well, it's mutual; other Asians seem to dislike Koreans. Perhaps it's the nouveau-riche condescending attitude that they project abroad, combined with their Troglodyte social behavior. |
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