Korean Job Discussion Forums

[VanGuy]

After months of preparation I am finally here in South Korea! It has been one interesting week for me and I just wanted to share with you three experiences that happened just yesterday, and ask the question....Is this normal behaviour for Koreans or did we just have a bad day??

1. My boyfriend and I visited Everland and after a fantastic day headed to the bus stop to catch a bus to Seoul. As we got to the stand we noticed a long line waiting for the buses. We tried to determine where the end of this line was and waited for the bus to arrive. As the bus pulled up and we walked forward to what we believed to be the end of the line, my boyfriend was grabbed from behind, by his back pack and jerked backwards with great force. I turned around to see what the problem was and saw a Korean man pushing my boyfriend screaming Korean in his face. Thinking that this man was trying to steal his backpack my boyfriend tried to push this man off him and a struggle of pushes, screams and angry voices followed. Everyone around us was shocked and I was hoping someone would help my boyfriend but nobody would. I too tried to get this man off my boyfriend asking what he was doing. Finally he stopped, pointed further down the stand and told us in English that the end of the line was further away. I couldn't believe how rude and agressive this man was. All he needed to do was tap us on the shoulder but he chose to be extremely agressive. This shocked us both as we never thought Koreans acted in this way. Not only that but once we moved to where he told us was the end of the line, he continued to look at us and started smirking and laughing. I am sure he wouldn't of done this to us if we weren't foreigners.

2. From Everland we thought we would check out Itaewon and went to Helios for a few beers. We found two seats and sat down. Half an hour after being seated in our seats a staff member from Helios came to us and told us that two girls had complained to them as we had "stolen" their seats. We explained that we had been there for half an hour and that the seats were empty, and there were no drinks on the tables or bags/jackets on the chairs so therefore they were available. The two Korean girls stood nearby with big sad looks on their faces pointing at us and then pointed out to the staff member a plastic bag leaning on a post opposite from the table. Apparently this plastic bag leaning on the post next to the table was meant to save them these seats for however long they were away. We were asked to move, but I refused. The staff member was really nice and understood the situation and let us stay, but the rest of the night we had to put up with the stares and angry frowns of these two princesses.

3. From Helios we thought we would call it a night and caught a cab home. The taxi driver got completely lost and had to stop and ask for directions many times before finally getting us to our destination. Despite this I still gave him the full fare. I couldn't be bothered with any hassle. However he started yelling and pointing to the meter saying "double double". He then tried to tell us that we had to pay double of whatever was on the meter as we have to pay one way to get us to our destination and then the same to get him back to where he picked us up from. What????!! I have never heard of this in my life!!! We told him no, but he started to get angry and kept yelling at us to pay double. Of course there was no way we were going to do that and we got out the taxi and sprinted into our apartment.

Is any of this normal Korean behaviour, or was it just one bad day for us?

[uberscheisse]

wow.

the everland guy was a random fruitcake. i've never seen that from anyone. dude should be caned for being unreasonable and uncool.

the princesses? perhaps that happens more often, but if they're dumb enough to leave a bar, they're dumb enough to lose their seats. don't pay them any mind, it's not like empty seats don't get snapped up at a much higher rate in this country. ride the subway during rush hour and you'll see what i mean.

the taxi driver was full of shit. i would have taken a dump in his cab.

edit - i think that i should add that perhaps you guys somehow look like you're not seasoned korean vets. it's possible that if you look like newbies, people may attempt to exploit any naivete (sp?) they detect.

this does of course look like just a (very) bad korea day. we all have bad korea days, but this one looks pretty harsh. i doubt you'll have too many days like this one.

as well, i'm pretty certain that korean 'face-saving' sort of dictates that if you lose your temper in public, you're losing face... and that anyone who loses their temper in public is a little bit cuckoo. so chalk it up to a few crappy coincidences. most koreans seem even-tempered and shy away from confrontation, i think.

[Gopher]

Was the guy involved in the bus incident an older Korean man, say mid-40s to late 50s? If so, Korean men in this age group are not necessarily known for their courteous, civilized behavior and tact...

[chiaa]

Pretty much, yes.

Welcome.

[inkoreaforgood]

Hi Vanguy,

Sounds like your luck has turned to crap here in Korea. I've known several people who've had the same craziness happen to them too. My wacko theory is that some people, for no reason discernable to anyone, just attract the crazies here. They can have the most perfect manners in the world, look and dress very decently and follow Korean customs and whatnot, but the crap gets flung their way. It's really weird, but have seen it happen to buddies of mine often enough.

Too bad that your weekend was soured by some arse rags, but don't let it dominate your stay here. As for taxis, if the meter is running, just pay what is on the meter. Some of the taxi drivers are working without a proper license (mounted on the dashboard on the passenger's side, if you can't see that, or make out the picture, then it's an illegal taxi for sure. Anyone else know other telltales?). They pull alot of crap with foreigners, especially those fresh off the plane. I hope you at least left some money, ie the actual amount on the meter.

Good luck.

[babtangee]

[plato's republic]

Some Koreans are wackos, that goes without saying but then there are wackos all over the world. Sounds like you had a bad day!
I would have spat in the taxi drivers face, what an A-hole with a capital A.

[Ya-ta Boy]

You definitely had a bad day. The bus incident man was way off base. You're right that it wouldn't have happened if you were not an identifiable foreigner. Ajummas cut in line everywhere every day and no one challenges them. At the bar you were right that a bag leaning up against a post a few feet away does not qualify as having dibs on a seat. Princesses are princesses everywhere. Ignore them.

Taxi drivers will normally ask for double before you get in the taxi. Korean passengers sometimes offer double when waving down a taxi by holding out two fingers. The fact that he had to stop several times to ask for directions to get you home might have prompted me to pay what he asked for. Might, I said. He did put out extra effort to get you home.

Just keep Scarlett's words in mind.

[rumpolestitskin]

Just a bad day.

Some people here are cavemen. - Man at bus station

Some people were spoiled and never disciplined as a child - Girls at the bar.

Some just think that they can take foreigners for a ride. - Taxi driver.

On the plus side - Lots of Koreans are unbelievably freindly to foreigners.

Everyone has days where they love this place and days where they hate it. It's like everything in Korea 50-50; just the luck of the draw.

[peony]

i remember some years back when i spoke korean with a heavy accent, inevitably most people would end up asking where i was from and it'd be found out that im not a native

i took a taxi once at night and the guy didnt turn on his meter and went down some country road, i was basically sh!tting bricks, it was scary but it was ok, he did take me to my destination and charged me 20.000 won for the ride. i didnt think anything of it and went inside and upon telling a korean relative what happened, was told that the ride was typically only about 6-7000 won on the meter and that it was because of my accent and general air of being a newb "foreigner" that let me get ripped off

i learned real quick to pretend like i knew what i was doing and to keep my eyes peeled, some people will take advantage of you when you have the aura of being a newbie


its really unfortunate what happened to you. i dont think that you should draw any negative conclusions about korea or its people based on them however. during your stay there you will meet some great people along with the insane. chalk it up to bad luck and think that hopefully, that will have been the worst day out of the time you will spend there

[Gopher]

There is one ajoshi who sits in front of a kind of stationary/toy store one building over from my hogwon. He is one of the children's grandfather, say, approx. 48-52 yrs old. This child's mother apparently owns this stationary/toy store.

I must pass this ajoshi to get to my hogwon every morning. But every morning he acosts me -- same routine. He sees me approaching, he stands in my path, and starts saying something in angry Korean, pointing at my hogwon, saying the same thing, again and again, in an increasingly loud voice, clearly frustrated that I do not respond as he wants me to. I hold up my hands and say exactly this: "dude, I don't speak Korean." As I walk past him, he continues ranting and pointing at the hogwon, turning to continue facing me as I walk away.

The only way to avoid him is to go all the way around the block from the other side, which strikes me as nonsense.

Approximately two weeks ago I brought this to my director's attn to no avail. I just wanted to know, what is he saying?, because this is about ri-goddamn-diculous. She told me she has no idea what he's saying, but he's just an ajoshi, and I should pay him no attn, as ajoshis aren't nice or polite, that's just how they are. (I'd venture to guess that she's afraid to talk to him.) Maybe he wants me to bow to him every morning, maybe he's just intollerant of my sunglasses.

Who knows? It occurs to me, however, that many Koreans are irredeemable in their churlish ways, at least it seems.

[itaewonguy]

you've had an impressive first week..
ohh dont worry to much things like this will probably happen ummmmm
lets see once or twice a week..
not to much to burden you .. so its best to just ignore any situations you get into .. just walk away.. never pay anything more than you have too
dont argue with koreans, dont even talk to them.. but dont give them the satisfaction either.. if someone tells you do something which you think is not offencive to anyone dont do what he says.. keep doing what you are doing.. you meet many korean older men like this.. and if a korean men grabs your breastss slap him in the face! and shout at him.. many girls here just ignore it.. but DONT! when korean men offer you money for sex becuase they will think you are russian.. just insult them back with something. maybe like im sorry I dont like small size!
something like that.. becuase looking at your picture this will happen to you often im sure..

apart from the negative points.. you will met many nice koreans who will try to help you so in those cases be nice kind etc.. but if you ever have a situation like everland again.. dont back down! tell that person to F O as a girl he will not hit you.. dont let your boyfriend get involved.. you just tell him F O they know what that means..

also if your boy friend gets into a fight.. dont let me punch first!!!
the person who punches first is the guilty one! and if he does get hit.. dont fight back, witness will see , call the cops and you can sue him..
thats kroean way..
of course if you can smash his face in with no one around and thats the only way.. go for it..

yeah.. welcome to korea..
stick up for yourself here..

[flint]

Stupid double posts. Sorry.

[flint]

[peony]