Korean Job Discussion Forums

[toomuchtime]

A few years ago I was crossing an intersection with a gigantic black cloud over my head- had just fought with my wife, and a little Korean girl was crossing in the opposite direction. I was scowling like mad, but she stared at me and said, meekly, 'ahn-yong...' It melted my heart. I smiled at her and said 'hi' back.
(I know, not English, but an anecdote, nonetheless).
My own (semi-embarassing) latest reaction to an annoying pre-teen boy who was yelling crap (innocently, granted) at me was to yell, "shut the @ck up!" He immediately imitated me almost perfectly and shouted it up to his mom who was apparently near the window at the time. He seemed oblivious to the fact that I was angry at his behaviour, but was just happy to parrot what I had said. Really shocked me. Have to be careful of how I respond to these little people.

[schwa]

A preschooler outside the supermarket, evidently unsure of the protocol, tried this one on me: Hello haseyo.

[Cedar]

I simply ignore the greeting unless it is accompanied by my name or title, or made when the speaker has made eye contact with me. That's quite simple.

Incidentally, I teach my students to say "Good Morning" "Good Afternoon" and "Good Evening" because it SOUNDS so much more pleasant- and it's real hard to rudely shout "Good Morning" the way you can Hello.

[Corporal]

Just had the middle school thing happen to me yesterday. I usually ignore it but this time I didn't. I was looking out the window of our ground-level building. Four girls were walking by, noticed me, and a couple of them muttered the snide "hi", "hello", but not loud enough to warrant a reaction, and then they all giggled like it was so funny. I decided the hell with that.

Me: Ya!

Girls: (stop in their tracks, startled looks) Yeh?

Me: Iri-wah-ba!

Girls: Yeh?

Me: Bballi wa!

They approach me tentatively, looking at each other in obvious confusion, staring at me in surprise.

Me: Insa-hae, dokbaro. (greet me properly)

Three of them just continue to stare, but the one girl in the middle immediately bowed respectfully and said "annyong haseyo" clearly, then dipped her head again. I said, "That's better," and let them go on their way.

I doubt they learned anything permanent from it, but it improved my mood, anyway.

[Zyzyfer]

[katydid]

For me, whether I say hello or just grunt, or even on rare occasions yell back and annyong depends on my mood entirely.
The little kids..the really little ones can be sweet and it makes my day to practically make their day by having a small conversation with them. They always seem so proud of themselves. I remember in Kyoungju a girl who was so happy to tell us that her dog's name was Franklin..."with an F!" and a boy down the street from the uni I teach at now was so happy he could tell me his name.
Shame though that then they morph into the practically annoying middle schoolers who think "Hellohowareyounicetomeetyou" is the funniest thing on the face of the earth. I was out with a guy today and we went to see a movie. Before we got on the elevator, he asked me how I liked the movie. In the elevator, which happened to be full of middle school girls (shock and cringe) I said "I liked the movie." OK, maybe the middle schoolers thought I was just talking to myself, but they just took a nutty and started giggling and "practicing" their English which means they said every single random phrase they knew. Ugh....it was so embarrassing and we had to go down 10 flights and we stopped practically on every floor. Jeez!
What disheartened me the most is the first few days when I arrived here, as a university professor....I found myself subjected once again to the Hello chorus. I thought by then, people would have grown out of it. Sadly, that is not the case.

[billbile]

Well, my whole take on the 'phantom helloer' situation is as follows:

if they are old enough to have more clues, I do one of the following:

him/her: "Hello!"

me: "Konnichi-wa!"

(as far as they know, I could be German, so as far as I know, they could be Japanese)

or, I look all confused, and follow the general direction of their gaze behind me, and still wondering who it is they are greeting, I retain my confused visage.


It can be a mistake to going to certain restaurants and eateries alone which are frequented by foreigners. I like being alone when I eat lunch, but every time I do it seems to just send a signal that I'm very sad and lonely and need someone to come and join me and ask me where I'm from and whether I am married and embark on the standard subsection 12 paragraph 9 conversation about his or her (not particularly) exciting life!

Yes, I believe people actually lurk in these places an entire day waiting for a foreigner to join so that they can practice English.

Can't blame them though, really. But it means I have to find somebody else to have lunch with to block this from happening.

What is doubly scary about this is that the entire place becomes deathly quiet: everyone there watches and listens to the conversation that ensues.

Aaaargh. All I want is lunch in peace and what I don't need after many upon many hours of conversation class is another conversation with a Korean.

I know I'm very rude and selfish and whatnot.

[Manner of Speaking]

You need to turn it around. Recently whenever I go into a pc bang, and if there are kids staring, I smile, wave and say 'hi'.

To all of them.

Try this one, too. Point to their shoes and say, 'I used to have a pair of those (point to one kid's shoes) when I was a kid, but I never had a pair of those (point to another).'

You'll have them all looking around at the floor.

And if there's a kid playing starcraft intently, 2 or 3 kids, I come up RIGHT behind their chair and say, 'hey, are you winning? Good job!'

Great fun.

[denz]

[The Bobster]

I live near a middle school and have to walk by it to and from work. Gaggles of adolescent female students congregate on the sidewalk and I get the "hello, how are you" thing usually from one or two in the group while the others titter ... it's just one of those things. Haven't figured out yet it's never the guys.

Yesterday afternoon the Korean ladyfriend and I were out at the Seoul Arts and Performnce Center (probably got the name wrong, it's out by Nambu Terminal) and we're eating sandwiches outside on a picnic table near the Design Museum ... a group of middle school students walk by and we get the same performance.

ME : It's cuz I'm handsome, right? They think I'm really jjang, mochida, like a popstar, huh?

SHE : Of course, chaggiya, what other reason could there be?

ME : Right answer. I guess you can stick around a while ...

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Zyzyfer]

[chigtiymerdekh]

nerds.



look!!!!!!!! it is simple
IT IS WEIRD AND UNNECESSARY TO GREET PEOPLE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHEREVER YOU ARE IN ANY URBAN SITUATION ....enough already ..ignore the little bar stewards

[ratslash]

you should go to indonesia!!! the teachers there teach the children to greet every foreigner with a big "HALLO MISTER!!!". even if you are a girl or a boy.

and if this is your biggest worry in korea then you are a lucky man. i find a group hi, a smile and a wave does the trick. you know, maybe use your common sense and do whatever you think is right in that situation.

[Corporal]

And then there's always the "yes sir!" addressed to you even when you're female...