Korean Job Discussion Forums

[hari seldon]

I definitely recognize the overbearing and cloying aspects of Korean hospitality. When I got laid low with flu-like symptoms and called in sick, the only way I could get any rest was to turn off the phone. Otherwise, I was constantly pestered with calls from my boss, her boss etc. who wanted to drop off their home remedies.

[jungeun]

The article seems quite biased and needs some Korean perspective so here I am. I am new to the forum so be gentle with me.

When I first moved to U.S. to attend the graduate school I got sick in second week. I was getting fever and chills. School hadn't started and I was busy tryng to find a place to live and settle down, so I ignored it for a few days. In addition, I didn't know how to go to the doctor either (I don't know if it has changed, you can just go in to doctor's ofice without appointment). After orientation the fever was so bad and I could move about much so I called the school nurse and she arranged an appointment at a doctor's office. At that time I didn't have a car so I had to walk about a mile to get to the bus stop, changed to another one after 30 minute wait. it took 1 hour 15 minutes to cover about 12 miles. Doctor told me I had kidney infection and was very sick. After the doctor's visit, I had to ride a bus back home and stopped to fill prescription, with 105 temperature. When i finally got home it took five hours all together.

After I came home and laying in a room in foreign country without knowing anybody, how I wished somebody would call me to see if I was still alive ( because i wasn't even sure), or better yet those overbearing korean ladies would show up with some home remedies and something to eat. Although the home remedies might not have cured my illness but the thought of someone out there who cared about me enough to take their time to come see me would have made me feel better. I got better after the medication, 12 pounds lighter, 20% of my right kidney damaged.

With that experience, I realized I was really in America, and I was really own my own. That realization made me strong, but sad.

I know Korea needs to change in many things, but I hope they do not change on this custom. It is one of the things that I miss the most about Korea.

If the author of the article went into the Korean experience with more open mind, she would have had a better time.

[lastat06513]

Jung Eun

~~ After reading what you wrote, I can agree, in some cases.
For the first 2 and half years I was here, I was under the safety blanket of the US military who looked after its soldiers pretty well. If I need something off-post, I could have gone to the ACS and gotten a referral or recommendations as to where to go for something (but almost everything a person needed was basically on base anyway) or at least just stepped outside the gates to the local stores.
But when I returned as a teacher, I had no idea about where anything was or how to go about getting things done. So I relied on people alot in my first 2 years. But after I learned to read and speak a few words of Korean, things got alittle better.
I welcome any kind of help that is given to me, although there are times I just want to be left alone.

I just the people who helped this person was trying to use what Koreans call "Jeong"

[chiaa]

Nothing wrong with people checking up on you when you are ill. BUT, calling in sick and then have the school owner hand out your home phone number to all the students to see if you are ok is not. Yes, that happened to me.

In America, if you had any friends yet, I am sure they would have helped you out. They might not have brought you some home cooking, but they would have done a McDonald's run for you.

[jungeun]

By any means, I was implying that Americans are not hospitable. I have had many American friends( in fact, 90% of my friends are American)also married one, too. I know for sure American would come and help if I ask. My experience I mentioned in the previous post was almost 15 years ago ( hope you got the respecting the elders thing down by now!) and I didn't know a soul in U.S. at that time. But it really stuck in my mind that I was in a country so big, and so different, and i did feel pretty lonely.

I understand some of the things that Koreans do baffles many westerners. When I was in Korea, I worked as an assistant to a western manager in a Korean company (before that, I was a Hagwon teacher like many of you!!!). I had seen many things that drove my boss crazy. Especially the stuffs that Korean labor union brought on to the table were pretty petty and nonsensical. So not many western bosses would last more than 1 year contract, which meant new boss for me every year. So that was the end of my job and I left for U.S.

There are many things about Korea and Korean that make me cringe, but there are also many nice things about them. At least, you have Dave's Cafe to vent. Think about the guys who went ahead of you. What you have now isn't ain't so bad, comparatively speaking.

[Rock]

I found this article to have too much hyperbole. Koreans are hospitable, but only if you're part of their group. Yes, they'll be kind outside of their group and in society as a whole, but I'd rather think what this writer wrote was too exaggerated.

On the other hand, it is a nuissance to be doted upon as a foreigner. I learned this quickly my first few weeks here(or maybe months.) It makes you feel less independent. Being an American, independence is part of our nature.

Whether or not this hospitality stems from Confucianism, I don't know. I do know that Taiwan was as inhospitable as an igloo, and they're supposedly so Confucianistic that you have to count every hair in society to make sure it fits the right-robotic head.

[eamo]

Funny, but for every teacher who comes here and complains their boss/co-workers are too clingy and interfering, there's another teacher who will complain that they got picked up at the airport, brought to the hagwon, given a schedule and told to start teaching!! And then never given any support.

Either Hagwon bosses are bad at getting the right balance or it's the teachers themselves who are different. Some need and appreciate the support. Others find it overbearing.

[thorin]

The author of the article has been in Korea for about six months, just long enough to notice some cultural differences but not long enough to accept them.

[weatherman]