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| Are you offended by the constant "foreigner" tag? |
| Yes |
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18% |
[ 12 ] |
| On a bad day |
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28% |
[ 19 ] |
| A little bit |
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13% |
[ 9 ] |
| No |
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39% |
[ 26 ] |
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| Total Votes : 66 |
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Message |
buddy bradley
Joined: 24 Aug 2003
Location: The Beyond
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 Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:44 am Post subject: |
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Jesus. What is wrong with you people?
No, really; I'm serious - are you all Canadian or something? |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 5:09 pm Post subject: Re: Do you take offense to always being called foreigner? |
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| Gord wrote: |
| Qinella wrote: |
| It's a little offensive, yes. What do you think? |
No. You're a foreigner. It's not a derogatory expression in Korea. |
True.
That ignores the fact, though, that Koreans outside Korea will also refer to non-Koreans in their own native lands as "foreigners".
But apart from that, from the perspective of those from North America, it does grate a bit because it goes against our practice.
Did you ever have non-Canadian citizen customers in your store? If so, did you habitually refer to them as "foreigners"? |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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I think a few people have already mentioned this, but in Korea it's not polite to refer to someone by their given name- Qinella, Bob, whatever- it's disrespectful.
The boss here in my office is referred to as Sojangnim, the software 'team leader' is Team Jang and so on. Your role at the school is "foreign teacher"- maybe you can quibble with the exact wording of it so, but objecting to someone referring to your job title rather than name is basically saying that Korean culture is 'incorrect'. |
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Wangja
Joined: 17 May 2004
Location: Seoul, Yongsan
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 7:51 pm Post subject: |
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Crisp and to the point as ever SJ.
So, far from being rude or insulting, "waegug sonsaengnim" is a politeness. |
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pet lover
Joined: 02 Jan 2004
Location: not in Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:25 pm Post subject: |
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So, in that case, they should be referring to the Korean teachers as "Hangook sonsaengnim" and not just "sonsaengnim". Unless of course, they want to refer to us as "sonsaengnim".  |
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betchay
Joined: 23 Aug 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| i'm married to a korean and while my husband's family would often say that "you're now a korean" (because they think i married a korean, and therefore i'm korean) and they truly treat me nicely, there's still that "gap"... anyway, i don't really feel offended whenever people say that i'm a "wae-gook" (or outsider)... in fact, i really like it that i'm an outsider |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 8:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
I think a few people have already mentioned this, but in Korea it's not polite to refer to someone by their given name- Qinella, Bob, whatever- it's disrespectful.
The boss here in my office is referred to as Sojangnim, the software 'team leader' is Team Jang and so on. Your role at the school is "foreign teacher"- maybe you can quibble with the exact wording of it so, but objecting to someone referring to your job title rather than name is basically saying that Korean culture is 'incorrect'. |
What do they call you in Korean then (if you know enough Korean to pick it up)? |
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DRAMA OVERKILL
Joined: 12 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:46 pm Post subject: |
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| buddy bradley wrote: |
Jesus. What is wrong with you people?
No, really; I'm serious - are you all Canadian or something? |
Canadian??? Why, no, sir!
I am an English speaking caucasian... Therefore, I am American... |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| dogbert wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
I think a few people have already mentioned this, but in Korea it's not polite to refer to someone by their given name- Qinella, Bob, whatever- it's disrespectful.
The boss here in my office is referred to as Sojangnim, the software 'team leader' is Team Jang and so on. Your role at the school is "foreign teacher"- maybe you can quibble with the exact wording of it so, but objecting to someone referring to your job title rather than name is basically saying that Korean culture is 'incorrect'. |
What do they call you in Korean then (if you know enough Korean to pick it up)? |
I hoped no-one would ask because that's where my argument falls down. They call me
"���ӽ�"
"Jay-im-suh"
or sometimes
������
 |
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dogbert
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: Killbox 90210
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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| Swiss James wrote: |
| dogbert wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
I think a few people have already mentioned this, but in Korea it's not polite to refer to someone by their given name- Qinella, Bob, whatever- it's disrespectful.
The boss here in my office is referred to as Sojangnim, the software 'team leader' is Team Jang and so on. Your role at the school is "foreign teacher"- maybe you can quibble with the exact wording of it so, but objecting to someone referring to your job title rather than name is basically saying that Korean culture is 'incorrect'. |
What do they call you in Korean then (if you know enough Korean to pick it up)? |
I hoped no-one would ask because that's where my argument falls down. They call me
"���ӽ�"
"Jay-im-suh"
or sometimes
������
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Not ��Ӹ� ������?  |
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DRAMA OVERKILL
Joined: 12 Apr 2005
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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As in the poll, yes, "on a bad day" I am a little offended...
On those cranky days, could it be that people are not so much offended by being called "foreigner", but rather because Koreans seem too quick to label us "you, the outsider, someone who is not one of us"...
Yes, we are not one of them, so the title "foreigner" is appropriate; yet this strange feeling of Koreans somehow putting themselves in a category ahead of everyone else... Collectively labelling everyone else... We all have our identities and nationalities - we want to be recognized by those individual identities and nationalities... That's fair, I think...
Here's a question... What do Koreans say when they see other Asians (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Filipino, etc.)... Are they too simply called "foreigner?" Or, are they recognized by their actual nationality? |
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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| dogbert wrote: |
| Swiss James wrote: |
I hoped no-one would ask because that's where my argument falls down. They call me
"���ӽ�"
"Jay-im-suh"
or sometimes
������
|
Not ��Ӹ� ������? |
they used to call me something that meant "shiny head"- but not since that time when I went crazy and burnt a bunch of planes |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:23 pm Post subject: |
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| tomato wrote: |
| But the majority of foreigners in Korea are white Anglophones. But the Korean language has no way to say "white Anglophone" with such economy of syllables. And �ܱ��� comes the closest. |
They could actually say ������ (Westerner). |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2005 11:32 pm Post subject: |
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| Gwangjuboy wrote: |
| tomato wrote: |
| But the majority of foreigners in Korea are white Anglophones. But the Korean language has no way to say "white Anglophone" with such economy of syllables. And �ܱ��� comes the closest. |
They could actually say ������ (Westerner). |
But then the anti-Korean brigade would go on the warpath and complain about being all lumped together. Canadians would complain about being lumped in with Americans. Americans about being lumped in with Canadians, Austrialians with NZders and on and on.
If people want to complain they will find a topic. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:39 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| Gwangjuboy wrote: |
| tomato wrote: |
| But the majority of foreigners in Korea are white Anglophones. But the Korean language has no way to say "white Anglophone" with such economy of syllables. And �ܱ��� comes the closest. |
They could actually say ������ (Westerner). |
But then the anti-Korean brigade would go on the warpath and complain about being all lumped together. Canadians would complain about being lumped in with Americans. Americans about being lumped in with Canadians, Austrialians with NZders and on and on.
If people want to complain they will find a topic. |
EXACTLY!
Back when every foreigner was called a 'mi-guk-saram'.. it seemed that slowly and surely there was a big movement of correction from the many non-americans to go with the friendlier 'way-gook-saram'.
Now thats suddenly bad? 
I also never get why people complain or have a problem with being called a foreigner when they are in a foreign country.
I don't want to be Korean.. nor do I have any desire/interest for anyone to pretend I am a Korean. I'm extremely comfortable/adjusted to my role as a foreigner living in a foreign country, and have no desire for anyone to pretend/fake/shield me from that extremely blatant fact.
Last edited by Tiger Beer on Mon Aug 29, 2005 12:39 am; edited 1 time in total |
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