Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

I like rants- they are the first thing I look for. I guess it's because I usually have an opinion about whatever the subject of the rant is. I think message boards can be a bit boring w/out them, as they are sure to create debates.

[SuperFly]

When I was in Korea teaching, there was only the old Daves cafe where your post would have to first be approved by an admin/mod in the states before it was posted. There was no place to rant or rave or complain or ask questions. We had only our close circle of friends to trade information, etc. Sometimes I wonder if the information people get through this site does more harm than good.

It's nice to have a place where newbies can ask questions, get together, post their grievances, and hook up with other like minded individuals while they're doing their time in Korea.

IMHO, I think every rant has it's silver lining. You should never feel hopeless because difficult times always lead to better days.

[VanIslander]

I like it when someone makes "a rant" and calls it such because then they realize that they are reacting out of momentary anger and they are well aware that their words are only fully meant in that context. It's a form of venting rather than a fully reflective image of one's views. Most of us are reasonable people. A rant is an opportunity to get something off of one's chest when it irks one the most.

Guys like Real Reality need to rant more. His latent undercurrent of negativity and resentment toward Korea and Koreans can't be good for his health and it sure gets tiring after a while.

A good rant is gold.

And I say that as one of the more positive-minded posters here at Dave's.

[periwinkle]

[quote="VanIslander"]I like it when someone makes "a rant" and calls it such because then they realize that they are reacting out of momentary anger and they are well aware that their words are only fully meant in that context. It's a form of venting rather than a fully reflective image of one's views. Most of us are reasonable people. A rant is an opportunity to get something off of one's chest when it irks one the most.

quote]

Well said. I think I'm the queen of rants here. Too bad people think I 'm like that all time, but whatev.

[Swiss James]

I'm totally with what VanIslander said.

I've spoken to a lot of people who look at Dave's once, see all the negativity and then never come back, but can see why some people enjoy getting it all off their chest.

[Barking Mad Lord Snapcase]

[JongnoGuru]

I think the OP started this poll because of what transpired on another one of her threads. True, rants can lead to debates which can be instructive and useful, but they quite often lead to name-calling and insult-hurling. The longer I live in Korea the less I feel the urge to rant. Lots of reasons for that. You learn to anticipate and avoid the things that set you off, you (ideally) carve out a productive, satisfying niche for yourself and get on with the business of... well, business in my case. Whatever it is that you want to be doing with these years of your life.

The process is automatic and without a script. Korea/Koreans and their problems are still there, and there are always new reasons for a good loud rant. It's not a matter of "making peace" with or accepting Korea's rougher edges, or pretending they aren't there or they're really not all that bad. No, it's more that you just -- or rather I just -- get wonderfully sidetracked by other things that I need or want to be doing.

This isn't to say I don't enjoy a good rant. They are golden, as Van Islander says. Nor is this to say that time will always and in every case reduce an expat's desire to rant about this place, as foreign friends of mine who were already here years before I arrived would put the worst ranters on Dave's to utter shame. (And what they'd do to the defenders, apologists and cultural-relativists here doesn't bear contemplating.)

I'm not all that surprised when I see people on Dave's who've been in Korea, oh, five or so years feel the need to give "the ranters" the old eye-roll and the tut-tut. I consider eye-rollers and tut-tutters to be simply a more advanced stage of "newbie". Though I might not post it, I regularly tut-tut at the tut-tutters, and he who tut-tuts last tut-tuts best.

However, I am a bit mystified that so many of the "older hands" on Dave's are so intolerant of rants. Despite what I'm sure they'd have us all believe, this doesn't for one minute suggest to me that they're any more well-adjusted or getting on in Korea than the ranters are. Indeed, it can suggest quite the opposite.

When I read a rant on Dave's or I encounter an expat ranting in RL -- no matter how off-base the rant may be -- I know the only smart thing to do is just sit back and enjoy it. Picking apart their rant isn't just completely missing the point -- it's broadcasting what an insufferable bore you are.

[Swiss James]

[RACETRAITOR]

On my other message board, we have the best ranter. There's this American skinhead who came here all gung-ho about Bush and spreading freedom and Il Duce and the ideals of fascism. It was a pretty big mess.

-We had one rant in which he comes to the realisation that the US military serves only the rich, and concludes at the end that he should be a national socialist.

-One about his new fundoshi (that's that diaper-thing that Japanese people wear) and how he bought it to help him learn Korean.

-One where he contemplated getting a neck tattoo so he could get a dishonorable discharge and get out of the army.

-One about the Koizume war shrine and how he thinks that all wars should be glorified, and he said that he would be honoured to be killed in battle.

-One where he announced that he loves independent films and wants to make a bunch of really weird films.

-One where he ranted about how fighting is awesome and he thinks there's nothing more respectable than beating the shit out of someone for no reason, or getting the shit beaten out of you.

-One where he claimed that Koreans look like fish

-Oh yeah, and he started a poll about whether you think the male form or the female form is more aesthetic, and he detailed why the male body is better.

I'm going to compile them into a book.

[JongnoGuru]

[periwinkle]

[seoulkitchen]

I wonder how many potential newbies this board has scared away from coming here?
In that sense, ranting serves it's purpose as we don't really need any more whinging noobs creepin' around here, eh.

As the late great Buddy Holly would've said had he been on Dave's:

"Rant on!"

[Moldy Rutabaga]

I've said stupid things on this forum that I said in the heat of the moment.. but I think a genuine, pointless, hotheaded rant can be really fun.

That being said, what's so hot about uranium? Just because it has a sexy name it thinks it's so great. I happen to think molybdinum or whatever the he-- it's called is a more useful element, but nooooo--- that f--ing uranium is always what people think of when they consider the periodic table. Sure, you could go with a bad boy element that plays by its own rules, or you could go with a safe, reliable, law-abiding element like carbon or even that happy-go-lucky argon instead of that bloody I'm-such-a-rebel uranium. Thank you.

Ken:>

[livinginkorea]

Ya rants are fun. When I came here in the beginning I wasn't interested in them but now they are the first thing I look for. Especially when it's between a few poster. Then the fun really starts!

[seoulkitchen]