Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mercury]

Or, an explanation (which is what the word means in Greek)

I have got one more theory!


Here it goes!




THE CHEAP THAI BUFFET



Okay, ever since I joined this board I noticed that not only me, but a lot of people have really gotten a bunch of flak for posting ANYTHING negative about this place. Sure, it has good things, and bad, but I really found some people took any negative thing personally, and I sort of came up with an analogy to help explain why.......



The last time I went to Thailand I went to this big Hotel, it was called the Diana, and in the evening they had an all you could eat buffet. I read the menu, it had everything listed, steak, chicken, all the Thai foods, and it started at 5pm. I did not eat all day, I was starving! So, I went to walk around at the mall and came to the buffet at about 5:10pm. The place was already starting to get full. Now the Diana hotel only costs about 10 bucks a night. The buffet was about 5 bucks. And what I noticed from the tables was the fact that there were a lot of strange people at the buffet. Some were HUGE, some were deformed, some had drug induced gazes, some seemed really poor. Well, I stood in line for the buffet, behind some guy with a Doors shirt on. As I approached the food I noticed all of the fat guys really putting the food away. It looked so great! I loaded my plate, and went to a table. I took the first bite and everything tasted like...........nothing! The food was terrible! Bland! I really felt like I got ripped off! Well, soon these sort of preppie looking rich people came in, and they walked over to the buffet. One of the guys was trying to taste some of the Food while his friend kept looking at the freaks! Soon they were laughing and putting down the food. They were like "lets just go eat at the Sizzler, this place suuuuuuuucks!"
Well soon after, these guys eating the food started yelling at them! There was almost a fight! I felt angry as well. I was like "how dare those guys come in and insult the food, by insulting the food we all look stupid!"


And so, I now see why alot of the posters really feel angry when negative things are posted. The first group seems to be the married westerners.
Especially those with a kid or two. I think they seem to feel like they are being judged if somebody does not see this place as heaven. I can understand how they feel. They 'bought' into this country. They cannot change. They will be a part of Korea for the rest of their lives. Did they make the right choice? They seem to want to believe they did, but if there is anything negative from some newbie, they get really defensive! Once I posted a thread about Japanese girls compared to Korean girls and they were really angry. Well, they were just like those angry guys in the restaurant. They did not want to hear about a place that might be better.

And................... well, this place is kind of like the Diana Hotel. I mean, anybody, yes, ANYBODY can get a job here. We do not doubt that. Hogwans will hire anyone, any size shape or form. Degree, or no degree. This board has some very intelligent people, but....... a lot of the teachers are like the freaks at the buffet, they really are freaks because they could not get a job anywhere else and so they are blind. And so........don't put down the "Diana Hotel". NO more negative things about Korea, remember...........there are people eating!

[Cthulhu]

[saharzie]

Good post; you are right. The most defensive on this board are the married expats or the gyopos. And lo and behold anyone says English teachers are wasting their lives, then the 99% of the board get freaked out

[steroidmaximus]

interesting post, but as I'm one of those married guys with child, I don't appreciate your gross generalization. I'll say sh-t about Korea just as I'd say sh-t about any place I'm at where there is sh-t. If I was at the Diana hotel and the food sucked, I'd say it sucked. I wouldn't sit there and complacently eat it as you suggest I'd do.

to use a common example found on this board: if I was having problems with a coworker, I'd moan about the idiot to my wife and friends, but I wouldn't use that experience to make a generalization about all Koreans. Back home I ran into plenty of idiots, too. No matter where I am, I usually only find a few people I'd want to associate with; Korea is no exception as far as that is concerned.

I do think that more than 50% of the whining I hear is from inexperienced wanks who don't really know that much about life, so don't have a decent baseline from which to compare or analyze their experience. A lot of what I hear people whine about in Korea is just silly ramblings of maladjusted miscreants. There is bad, I won't try to cover it up or rose tint it; how you deal with it says much about you. Whining is a necessary vent, but there are plenty of posters here who make it their life to constantly degrade and defame Korea, who wage war using a slanted and skewed view, who obviously have problems adjusting and just being. I'm not talking about Real Reality; I actually find his posts useful.

Also remember that any trash talk married people spew about Korea is inevitably going to start a skirmish with the k-spouse. . . if you were married, you'd understand that trash talking a spouse's nationality is going to ensure you don't get any that night. . .saying nice things means you get special treatment

[fidel]

[Corporal]

[Swiss James]

OP- have you stopped to consider that some people might just be enjoying their time here and that maybe you're not making the most of your situation?

I'm not an english teacher or married, can leave more or less whenever I want to (i.e. I'm not on a fixed term contract), am working here as part of my job back home - (so employability isn't an issue) and would still brand myself as an 'apologist'.

Sorry if this ruins your theory

[tzechuk]

I don't think your theory works.. tbh.

I am, as most of you know, married to a Korean man and has a baby. The one thing my husband always says to me, as if it were really true, is that I hate Korea. Some of the times I really do. I don't LOVE Korea like I *should* according to you, just like I don't LOVE England because that's where I am from. I look at things with perspective. There are good things and bad things about Korea and I have no hesitationin bashing Korea if they do certain things that are stupid.

Please don't generalise.

[Hanson]

[billybrobby]

For somebody who came up with such an imaginative analogy, mecury, you seem to really suffer from a lack of imagination concerning other things.

For example, you seem unable to imagine that anybody could simply enjoy being in Korea. Do you really think 'apologists' are faking it? Sometimes people like stuff you don't.

You also don't seem to be able to imagine why somebody would find one of those j-girl vs. k-girl threads to be tiresome and crass. Why you can't imagine this, I can't...well...imagine.

[pollyplummer]

Mercury, I like your analogy. And your avatar... it's hilarious! It's like the embodiment of bravado. I agree for the most part. The people who get upset and defensive are the lifers who are making their home here. This is understandable. They have to live here, they choose to live here, SO they must be justifying it to themselves and have good reasons why they like it here. They must also keep a positive attitude to have a nice life here. In the same way, if I wanted to make my home in the States, I would need to try to maintain a positive outlook and defend my reasons for making it my home. But for most of us, we are doing a job that recruits people for short term (1-3 years or so) employment. The success of their schools and the students' interest in English is somewhat dependent on having a fresh face. Many of us who come here are not making a life/home here. (which is not an excuse to whine excessively about Korea)... but we endure to a specific end, whatever that may be: adventure, money, experience, etc. It's not easy, and it's often not enjoyable, but it's doable with the help of others who understand this kind of life. That's one reason for Dave's.

[mercury]

[steroidmaximus]

bump

[Son Deureo!]

[thorin]