Korean Job Discussion Forums

[malysahhh]

I have noticed a strange closed off ness from waygoogen to waygoogen on the streets of downtown seoul... I wonder what thats aboot.

My korean friend thinks i shouldn't learn Korean and just hang out with Foreigners...

I think "why come to korea and hang out with foreigners"

I believe these thought fragments have some connection...


If you see a non-korean raced person, do you tend to
A.) Look the other way
B.) Do a one-second smile
C.) Treat them like any other stranger (same as A)
D.) Run up to them and hug them, ask them where they are from...
E.) Act like a korean seeing a foreigner and stare subtley...
F.) None of the above
G.) Experience some complicated emotions and move on...

I'm just wondering what uh, ya'll think[/b]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[JAWINSEOUL]

In my experience there is a definite avoidance of other ��Non Korean�� people. Why do I think this happens (not in my case ��.. just suggestions)
1. People want to avoid presuming that any non Korean person speaks English.
2. They want to keep their feeling of independence, although everyone needs help at some point it��s less of an issue to post on Dave��s than to ask someone.
3. They are neither a teacher nor soldier and like to distance themselves from those groups.
4. They have said hello to someone who was not accepting of their greetings
5. Do not feel it��s proper to say hello just because their foreigner.
6. Think that talking to or spending time with ��no Koreans�� will lesson their personal cultural experience.
7. They hate themselves and all other people from the west.

I��m not sure how many of these are valid, but perhaps to a degree they all have merit.

[tweeterdj]

well i live in Mokpo (city with VERY few westerners) and when you see another westerner on the street you do a double take!! And then you say hi, just because it's familiarity. Maybe just because I've only been here 2 months but that seems to be how it is in the sticks

[rapier]

I always have a quick wave or smile for other foreigners in the street or a conversation if we happen to be stuck in the same lift or whatever.

On the subway I tend not to bother as you may easily get trapped next to someone you don't like.

The only real problem with waeguks is working with them, if you happen to dislike eachother.
To some extent Koreans are easier to work with as they are formulaic: once you know how and why they operate, its relatively simple. However the "international community" throws an unpredictable mixed bag of nuts at the korean educational establishment from time to time.

[desultude]

Even in Daegu, there are enough foreigners that there is no real need to say hello- do you say hello to everyone back home? If you sit next to someone or are in real close proximity, of course acknowledgement is in order, but otherwise I just assume that they are off to their business and I to mine.

[mindmetoo]

This is an often discussed phenomenon. The reasons are various, and probably combine several:

1) Political Correctness: I wouldn't say hi to you in my home town. Why should I say hi to you just because you're white?

2) Christ, I'm not unique? We tend to think we're trail blazers and rather rare. "I must be the only white guy they get in this Starbucks..." It hurts to think we're not as special as we think. If we ignore the other whitey, he'll go away.

3) Christ, do I look as geeky as that nerd? Let's face it, most of us aren't alpha males back in North America. Seeing another dweeby foreigner is a painful reminded of how dweeby I must look.

4) Confusion: Does he expect me to say hi? Will he give me a dirty look? Oh well, I may as well just pretend I don't notice him.

5) Not wanting to make it seem like "they all stick together" to Koreans. We spend our life snickering at Chinese people in North America who only move in packs and don't integrate. Now, we're the ones moving in packs and not integrating...

[Ya-ta Boy]

This has been discussed quite a few times before, and no one seems to really have a good answer, as far as I'm concerned.

I was home for 8 months this year and it was so nice to be back where people wave (or at least flicked a couple of fingers) to total strangers while passing on the country roads. Where I'm from, 6 cars at 5:30 constitutes heavy traffic.

I had a debate in a chat room a couple of years ago with someone I consider to be a dysfunctional human being . It was his contention that a stranger who waved at another stranger is 1) invading his privacy, and 2) insincere. My contention is as I stated: the chatter is a dysfunctional human being.

Why do I consider them dysfunctional? Only dysfunctional people get defensive about a smile and a hello from another human being. There is something deeply strange about you if you are one of these people.

[Kuros]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[tacon101]

most of the time i'm speed walking or in a daze

the rest of the time they're bigger than me and creepy looking

but then there are an occasional few that stare like they want to get something out...don't i don't stop for them either i guess

no wonder i have no friends

whatever...i like books

[JongnoGuru]

I don't encounter too many foreigners who I don't know... at least not in a situation were I can say hello. When you go out to the usual weygookin haunts of Itaewon, Shinchon, etc., of course you're going to meet new people and talk to a few strangers. But this "walking along the street and suddenly another weygooker pops up".... That doesn't often happen to me. When I do see them, they're usually diminishing little specks in my rear mirror as I fly through Seoul on the motorbike at the speed of sound. No time to stop and say hi (without causing massive traffic fatalities in the process).

[mishlert]

In Kyogidan there are US soldiers, ESL teachers, embassy workers and foreignh business people, so seeing a foreigner on the street is the norm and we just go on with our day.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Depends where I am. I know all the foreigners who live in my small town, and if I see a new one of course I'll ask where he's from and what he's doing. In Daegu or Seoul, who cares, it's just another whitey.

[malysahhh]

nice theories everyone... i really like this forum.. actually i was not sure why i am so uncomf when i see a foreigner.. i guess its a combination of a few things ppl said.. and mabye i should just lighten the (*&* up. cuz.. ya know.. I guess alot of folks i know from US wanna escape their country and bail on their families friends and government... this is a really popular attitude i come accross.. I had it when i was thirteen.. and here i am in Seoul... not stickin it out and voting in my own damn country.. but i really hate that... I really hate that irresponsible - lets just ignore the problems around us and move on, to another suburb or country or paradise, and let the pattern spread to other innocent bystanders... is western culture a disease? i don't know.. maybe they'll have a special about it on 20/20... though i will never know..