Korean Job Discussion Forums

[David76]

Are you too cool to say hello to other foreigners? Why or why not?

[jlb]

Definitely not too cool. It never hurts to be friendly.

On the other hand, to not make that contact might be a missed opportunity for a friend, someone special or a job opportunity or something of the sort.

[ballewja]

Me too...

I say hello usually, or at least smile at the other person.

[Grotto]

Its a typical expat mentality that I have noticed.

First 3 months you are friendly and introduce yourself to any new faces as you desperately try to network and find some people that you are willing to associate with.

Next 3-6 months you are still open but have your little circle of friends and are quite happy.

6-9 months some friends leave but you dont replace them that often as you are bored and its just too much effort to greet new people.

Last 3 months of your contract you are getting ready to leave, you nod sagely and chuckle to yourself at the difficulties all the newbs are having in the knowledge you will soon be free of your current situation.

The other slice of this scenario are the expats that have become lifers due to marrying into the culture and are there full time.

After a few years they get tired of hearing the same culture shock horror stories and biatch fests that are the meat and potatoes of the short timers and newbs. They know that most people will be moving on in a year or two and that they will seldom if ever hear from them once they leave Korea, so putting in alot of effort to form a strong friendship gets tiresome after a while as there is little return for their investment.

For some strange reason some expats over here seem to be afraid that if they smile and nod or say hi. the person that they greet will want to be there lifelong friend so they turn their heads, avoid eye contact and quickly hurry out of earshot.

[Qinella]

When I first arrived here, I was as Grotto described - typically wide-eyed, smiling, anxious to meet other foreigners, etc. Where I live, there are really no other foreigners, so when I went to Daejeon, I would see other whities and smile and say hi. I found out real fast that people don't like that. Most would give me a courtesy hi back, but they'd look at me like they are freaked out by my greeting.

Now I sorta feel like it's strange to randomly approach people just because they are also foreigners. I'm of course friendly to others that do it to me, but a lot of you people are weirdos and unnerve me a bit.

Cheers,
Q~

[bobbyhanlon]

i think it depends on where you are... if you're out in a country town with almost no fellow waygook saramdeul, it would be strange not to say hello..
but in seoul, its almost the opposite. especially in places like kangnam or jongno, there are so many of us that if one said hi to me i would think it a little weird.

[Swiss James]

I live in Seoul so this question seems weird to me. Am I really going to walk around town saying 'Hi!" to every foreigner I see? I can't actually remember the last time I said "Hi" to someone I didn't know but was just walking past doing my day-to-day business.

[Hater Depot]

I lived in a town small enough that I knew almost every other foreigner, so I said hi whenever I saw one (at least one who wasn't obviously some army brat). If I live in any bigger city I doubt I will.

[SuperHero]

[funplanet]

It's called "networking" my friends...you never know what may transpire from a friendly "hello."

Jobs....$$$$ opportunities....chicks....chicks....oh, did I mention chicks or just a good friend....

You can't be too cool to network....

[CustomX]

I agree with Grotto...the first 6 months here I was usually friendly to most of the other foreigners I saw. I usually just smiled at them or nodded....but I noticed most would either completely ignore me, look off in the other direction, or give me a scowl...After this happened a lot, about 90% of the time, I decided to give up with trying to be nice.

[hojucandy]

actually these days i can't tell who is a foreigner and who is korean. everyone is just peoples...

most of the time i don't even notice foreigners... they are just part of the crowd. if i do notice i generally don;t say hello. i am friendly if they say hello to me - just as i am if a korean says hello to me. i am just as likely to say hello to a korean person who looks friendly.

really i don;t get the difference. its not a matter of being cool - its just that a matter of not making a distinction.

[Captain Corea]

I see about 50+ foreigners a day. I don't think they expect me nor want me to say HI to them.

[the_beaver]

[Red]

I give the "Hey" head nod.