Korean Job Discussion Forums

[funplanet]

has anyone ever noticed how shoddy the craftsmanship is in this country...or should I say.....does it even exist?

everything is balli balli...simply no care taken in doing things right...case in point-I spent 2 mill getting my apartment up to my standards (it was new!) cabinet doors not lined up, flooring not tacked down, and a list of other things....if this had been in the states the previous owner would be responsible for taking care of all that if I made an offer to buy...

some good friends of mine (rich and chaebol connected) bought a 600 mill apartment 2 years ago in one of the most sought out addresses and guess what.....it took them 3 months to get all the bugs worked out...same crap-crappy craftsmanship! and the builders did a crappy job of cleaning up (same as in my apt)

and my friends said this is common place...wtf??

[captain kirk]

You all may be western, but I suspect you're most UNcivilized

[joe_doufu]

Seriously though, I'm from America, so I've always thought of Europe as "Eastern" and China etc as "Western". And Los Angeles as the center of the world.

[pollyplummer]

Ahhh... LA.. no wonder you're defending Mexican food.
Yes, I'm probably most uncivilized, especially by Asian standards. I prefer to use a FORK whenever I have the chance. *gasps of horror heard around the room*

[agraham]

I'm going to miss Korean style. I like the brightly coloured EXR stuff on girls. I like the short vest over over the long shirt (slightly reminiscent of the hanbok. I wonder if that's concious). I like the miniskirt plus mukluks in the winter.
Deriding other people's clothing style is just dumb. Clothes style is a 90% artificial construct anyway. I just shake my head at people who think thiers is somehow 'right' and sparkly bangles are somehow 'wrong'.
There may be some inherent 'rightness' to having a black couch instead of an orange one, but I can't see it.
Now crappy construction is something different. My school is only two years old and I belive how run down it is.

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[Hwajangsil Ajumma]

[ed4444]

The lighting comment is interesting. I brought a Korean student to study in Europe and he complained that the lights in his room were not strong enough for reading (80Watt) and that the streets were too dark without neon everywhere.

My apartment in Korea had strip office lighting on the ceiling. I didn't like it personally but eventually one part of the light gave up working and then it was ok.

[canadian_in_korea]

Well....I must admit....I as ever so surprised when I arrived home in Canada...only too see most of the "fashion" thatis also in korea. THe difference....the teenagers wear it here....in korea women of al ages wear it. I also remember in the 1980's when the guys wore pink shirts, my dad always used to point out how "fruity" it was....that was until my mother reminded him to look at their wedding picture from 1972.....lo and behold he got married in a pink shirt... fashion is recycled.....before i left for korea a year ago ....in canada you could buy those old frilly skirts from teh 80's. The furniture....I don't really think korea people but their furniture for the same reasons we do.....IF they even have furniture in their living room its very rarely used....so I don't think they care what colour or style it is....just that it is there...most walls are white....so no need to colour coordinate. I guess i never really thought in terms of "tackiness" in korea....now....some of the places i've been in canada.....its just sad...tacky with a capital T.

[The Man known as The Man]

[Apple Scruff]

Koreans may be the tackier dressers, but the westerners in this country are just plain sloppy.

[mack the knife]

When my old man came over for my wedding I put him up at the Crown Hotel in Itaewon. The first thing he said upon entering the room: (chuckling) "Jesus, this looks like a French whorehouse." I didn't bother asking how he would know.

Donald Trump built his Tower Palace residences here because he is the King of Gaudiness, and Koreans eat that s**t up. They think it's high class. They're noveau riche so they fail to realise how gauche (and white trash) it all is.

[Moldy Rutabaga]

Some of our opinions reflect our upbringing. We would call bright orange on a house gaudy, but this color is normal and respectable in India.

But I can dig the comments on cheap construction. I enjoy taking pictures of everything and anything when I'm out on the weekend, and a few times when a building under construction is in the frame I've been warned away by an anxious foreman. He doesn't want photo evidence of the building code being ignored used by someone.

Ken:>

[eamo]

[Cedar]

It all horrified me once... and I still can occassionally feel the "fashion police" in me raising its whistle to its mouth... but really, who cares?