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Leslie Cheswyck
Joined: 31 May 2003
Location: University of Western Chile
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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:14 am Post subject: |
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| You're all class, Yaya. All class. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 5:58 am Post subject: |
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| Leslie Cheswyck wrote: |
| You're all class, Yaya. All class. |
Yeah, I read that comment and wondered what the hell prompted it. Are we all dumbasses if we don't see any laundromats in Korea or hear anyone mention them, after months of living here, and we assume based on that fairly extensive observation that there are no laundromats in Korea? I'm guessing the insult had more to do with Gopher's general disdain for Korea than him not knowing that laundromats do exist (though there are so relatively few that they're practically nonexistant).
Mr. Cheswyck, if you couldn't be sarcastic in your response, what else might you have said in your post? I couldn't think of something non-sarcastic to say, so I decided I wouldn't post anything. I mean, until after you did. |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:11 am Post subject: |
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| Interestingly enough, I saw my first western style laundromat about 2 weeks ago in a friend's neighborhood. It looked like it was brand-new. I guess I should get out more. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:15 am Post subject: |
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| Thunndarr wrote: |
| Interestingly enough, I saw my first western style laundromat about 2 weeks ago in a friend's neighborhood. It looked like it was brand-new. I guess I should get out more. |
Yeah, dumbass.
Kidding!! But you won't be getting out too much after you get that projector. |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:25 am Post subject: |
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| T-minus two months and counting. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:38 am Post subject: |
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Are those in Seoul only or throughout all of Korea?
Secondly, I don't know which is worse...that I didn't know about laundromats after living here, and actively looking for them for months...
or that the Koreans I talked to about this at length (about seven or eight Koreans, who've lived here all their lives) who swore that laundromats don't exist in Korea, only drycleaners. |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:50 am Post subject: |
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Interestingly enough, I find foreigners to be a lot more knowledgeable about certain aspects of Korean life than any Korean I've met.
For example...There is a new trend of western style rib restaurants spreading across Seoul. I'm talking about actual racks of ribs here, not just plain old galbi. Grilled outdoors. 7,500 won/serving roughly.
This may be old news to some of you. In any case, I asked some of my Korean co-workers what they knew of this phenomenon. I'm not sure of the actual outcome of this story, as I became so enraged after 20 minutes of convincing them that A) I know what galbi restaurants are and B) I'm not talking about galbi restaurants and C) I'm freaking talking about western style rib restauraunts, that finally I started smashing my head with a brick and subsequently lost consciousness for 2 months. True story.
In any case, none of my co-workers knew what I was talking about. This can and does happen, I've found, with a lot of newer trends. So, the laundromat thing may fall under that heading. |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:30 am Post subject: |
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Probably does.
The Koreans I talked to about laundromats range in age from about 20 to 45.
First, they didn't even understand the concept of a laundromat. Upon grasping the concept, they all said that laundromats don't exist in Korea. And they said it with finality.
Indeed, one of them, a Korean teacher at my hogwon, is something like 0 for 5 on questions about Korea. (Where's the post office? When is it open? Is there a pool around here where I can work out? When is summer vactation? etc.) |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:38 am Post subject: |
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| Indeed, one of them, a Korean teacher at my hogwon, is something like 0 for 5 on questions about Korea. (Where's the post office? When is it open? Is there a pool around here where I can work out? When is summer vactation? etc.) |
Well, here's one for you. I received a water bill, for one month mind you, for 170,000 won. I took it to work, assuming that every K-teacher I showed it to would be understandably outraged by it. To a woman, all 4 of the K-teachers I asked could not see a problem with a single foreign male running up a 170,000 won water bill in one month. Analyzing this situation would have driven me insane with rage, so I just stopped thinking about it and settled it on my own. In any case, there are times when Koreans are not the best judges of what happens in Korea. |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 8:52 am Post subject: |
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| Conversely, I remember being shown all sorts of places downtown I had never been to before in my hometown by a Japanese friend who had lived there for six months. Here's where to get Vietnamese coffee, here's where the cheapest videos are, here's that cheap cafe on the top of some building with a really good view, etc. etc. |
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Thunndarr
Joined: 30 Sep 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:03 am Post subject: |
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| Which I suppose may have something to do with viewing a new city with fresh eyes I suppose. Who knows. |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:14 am Post subject: |
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Okay, there's a great difference between a visitor knowing the latest "in" places in your town (you'd whoop their arse in any history quiz on the town) and Koreans not knowing the basics of living in their own town or country. ('A 170,000 won monthly water bill? Nope, none of the four of us find that the least bit odd'. <-- would be freaking if their water bill doubled from 8,000 won to 16,000 won next month)
| Gopher wrote: |
The Koreans I talked to about laundromats range in age from about 20 to 45.
First, they didn't even understand the concept of a laundromat. Upon grasping the concept, they all said that laundromats don't exist in Korea. And they said it with finality.
Indeed, one of them, a Korean teacher at my hogwon, is something like 0 for 5 on questions about Korea. (Where's the post office? When is it open? ... |
Same thing here!!
"When does the Post Office/Bank/Gu Office close?" "How late are they open on Saturdays?" One girl (whichever I happen to ask) inevitably doesn't know, asks the other, she guesses/isn't sure, one of them calls mom, calls a friend, pokes around the Web, makes phone calls...
I can ask for exact same information four or five times a year, and the reactions are always, always, always the same -->  
'But Guru, they're probably just confused because of the recent introduction of the 5-day workweek'.
No, I've been asking these same couple of questions since the 1990s. (And yeah, I do know the answers. I'm testing them, and they keep failing.)
'Well, your secretary is probably young, and young Koreans tend not to know these things. Her mother certainly would know'.
I had a secretary once who was a grandmother. And while she generally had a ready answer for everything like that, it was often wrong. She was absolutely sure 100% of the time and was absolutely wrong about 50% of the time. Her dead certainty and dead wrongness about things cost me dearly in a few instances. 
'Then you've just had dumb secretaries'.
No, they're really quite intelligent and capable in the areas for which I hired them. But they're no less clueless (and forgetful!) than the average about things like this.
'Okay, you're just making all this up. You've got it in for the Koreans and you're forever looking for ways to denigrate them. You ... you racist, you!'
Get stuffed. 
Just want to clarify something. How I feel about Korea and Koreans. If you love someone and they have a few warts, you don't have to deny the warts are there in order to love them. And I never expected Korea to be perfect just because I fell in love with the place. |
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pegpig
Joined: 10 May 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 2:37 pm Post subject: |
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Ok! It's settled then. The next Dave's get together will be at a laundromat. Bring your own dirty clothes and byob. Actually, you can probably just buy the booze at the laundromat.
That made me think. Awesome business idea!  Have to run over to 'Awesome business ideas' thread.
What was this thread about ? <Quickly scrolls to the top> Doh! |
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Gopher
Joined: 04 Jun 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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I'm afraid I spoke too soon on the air conditioning issue.
My director turnted the AC on on Monday, but quickly turned it off again. Kids left the front door open and she felt that it was too much of a waste. We're back to drowsy classes and teachers, open windows, and fans at full blast.
I'm going to start wearing shorts to work. It's just too groggy in this hogwon these days. |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2005 2:17 am Post subject: |
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| I would complain Gopher. My first hagkwon did that too, until I started complaing to the K-teachers and then finally the director. Just don't raise your voice. |
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