Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pest2]

first, the guy with the picket believed it was racism because there were Korean guys going to the hotplace with bad skin... who knows if it really was racism or not though.

Second, yeah, I agree, the whole, diluted blood thing is very hard to swallow. We come from places where the culture transcends ethnicity so it seems odd to us when someone says, "oh, you cannot be from country x because you do not have y parents." Korea is like this insignificant little country sandwiched between two much bigger places and in which all the people look more or less like the people from those bigger places. So they get touchy about that.... you know, its kind of similar to the way in which Canadians get touchy when people just assume they're american...

I try to stay objective when talking about cultures... in fact, learning about Korean culture while I was there was a good way to avoid getting angry and fed up with it. But sometimes you just can't escape making the 'judgement calls,' and I think this is one of those times. I, personally find it really annoying to live in a place where the mindset created by the culture is such that it defines a "must be native or non native" mentality. Regardless of the reason that Korea is the way it is:yeah, if you read this forum and you are a single person who is coming to a new country from any other country and you have a choice about where you can go, maybe you should stay away from Korea.

Finally, I dont think it would be fair to say that the situation is about Koreans and Americans and Canadians "better or worse" than each other. Its about "different" than each other. And the former has an inferiority complex with respect to the latter, so there is some kind of fear there... Have you ever met a really short guy who gets all huffy and puffy and acts more macho and aggressive just to be sure to get his point across that he isnt a "short weakling"? OK so thats like how Korea stacks up in the scheme of all countries maybe...

I think if you read between the lines of the post that preceds this one, you can see the kind of logic that leads to the 'korean national short guy complex.' It goes like, 'its not that we think we are better than you. It's that we don't like you because we are afraid you will think you're better than us'.

Ive gotta say that since I've been living here in China, I've noticed that things are totally different. Shanghai, too, is/was of a confucian, traditional origin. But you can freely and easily walk around the city with a Chinese woman and even make out on the subway and the other people there just dont care. Chinese culture DOES transcend race and Chinese have a tradition of thinking they are the center of the world. If Korea is the shortguy, China is Arnold Schwartzeneggar. However, of course, the cultural revolution changed alot of things...

Yeah, it's true, the GIs in Korea cause some problems there, but Korea is not the only place that has American GIs and yet it does seem to be one of the only places that has such an anti-american GI sentiment. And, I mean, come on.... if those GI's hadn't come to the rescue 45 years ago, Koreans wouldnt even be able to read posts on this internet site... ah the ironies of history and present...

[peony]

[JacktheCat]

[Gollum]

[Paddycakes]

I look like Ron Jeremy on a bad hair day...

[Hollywoodaction]

[Paddycakes]

What do you expect? You're oddity in Kimchie Land! Get over it!

I remember once in Canada a saw a very tall black man who was wearing quite the suit. This was in Victoria, and there are basically no blacks or ethnics there. Victoria is still pretty Waspy.

I couldn't help stare at the guy, along with everyone else.

Why? You don't see people like him everyday, and your eye sight is naturally drawn to things that look different.

It must be the same for Koreans.

You're different here. Korea is not Toronto or New York or London; it's not a multi-cultural place where you see different types of people everday.

Just be glad you're not a Filipino or a Pakastani 3D worker; if anyone gets the racist treatment in Korea it's them because I suppose the Koreans probably genuinely feel superior to them (which from a world power point of view they are).

[rapier]

Ultimately, as the different races and cultures of the world, we need to be mixing and coming together, hard process that it is.

Here in Korea we are still forerunners in this long and worthwhile process. So are mixed race kids in korean schools, etc.
But it has to be done, and hopefully one day Korea will have become a lot more cosmopolitan and open to all nationalities. Same must happen in many other countries. its a worthwhile thing. Think about that next time you suffer a bit of racism. Running home and sticking with your own, in our comfortable separate groupings, is not going to advance humanity.

[Hollywoodaction]

[pest2]

[rapier]

[eddiebaby]

Sorry Im confused

Some people talk about racism towards whites and some about Americans/Canadians. Does this mean that British people are exempt?

What about blacks?

Latinos?

In london Latinos are rare and therefore somehow seen as exotic but in madrid they are considered scum of the earth.

Whats clear is that racism is everywhere specialy if you look for it. Does this mean we should stand for it? NO, but your not going to change the mindset of a whole country by standing up to the drunk a**hole whose hurling abuse at you. Things wont change untill people realise its a problem and this takes time ie generations.

Again taking Spain as an example, people really dont think theyre being racist but in their every day vocabulary they use despective terms such as moro (refering to morrocans) and sudaca (ref to soth americans).
Its not until recently, during an international soccer friendly btwn Spain and England where monkey noises were shouted at black English players has there been some colective awakening. Even now however many Spaniards live in denial but I think things will begin to change.


I certainly dont know enough about socio-political and geographical factors regarding Korea, and maybe some of the xenophobia is justifiable, I dont know, but as I said earlier dont fight a one man/woman war aginst racism its just not worth it. Sorry if I sound cynical, but thats the way I see it.

[rapier]

[Paddycakes]

[Hollywoodaction]