Korean Job Discussion Forums

[seoulmon]

Why does Korea make people so cynical? I got to thinking about this when I was reading one of my favorite blogs...

Quote:

So, out of all the comments we got, I only had to delete two, and I reported each to their IP's abuse e-mail, but they were both in Korea and probably writing from a PC room. I don't know what it is about that country that makes certain people so nasty and bitter. I'm glad it never made me that way, at least. Sometimes I look back on my life there. I had a lot of great times and great experiences. But my life has improved so much since leaving and I very rarely miss it, despite having spent over 4 years in kimchi-land. I can't recall once thinking, I wish I was back in Korea. Still, when I lived there I felt happy for the most part. I realize now that my job here has made all the difference. I love it. I am totally satisfied teaching at my school. The kids are great, the money is great and nobody bothers me ever. It really is the perfect place to work.

There seems to be two groups. There is the "life is so bad. Things are just getting worse..." crowd and the people who walk around with a pasty smile on their face and repeat to themselves over and over "Korea is wonderful, Korean is wonderful..." Both groups are really the same, the second group hides it better behind their cult like devotion.

Of course, not all poeple are like this. I know lots of people who are happy. Still there is that negative element to Korea. Why is that?

[numazawa]

Simple: there are only two kinds of people in this world, those who think there are two kinds of people and those who don't.

And then there are the intuitive spellers...

[Ya-ta Boy]

I think I would have worded the question a little differently:

Why do some people have such cynical reactions to their experiences in Korea?[/i]

[Hater Depot]

The most charitable explanation is because without realizing it, they have lived a life of privilege back home and are both in their first job since graduating college and experiencing discrimination for the first time.

Offline I've only met one person that I would describe as a stereotypical negative Dave's poster. He was obviously a loser with nothing better to do than feel superior to everyone around him.

[nautilus]

[denverdeath]

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cynical

[billybrobby]

[numazawa]

[JongnoGuru]

'round and 'round and 'round, step aboard the carousel that never stops.

I've seen plenty of foreigners become cynical here. I've seen Korea make politically correct foreigners lose their religion. I've seen liberal-leaning foreigners begin to say something fairly harsh & judgmental, stop in mid-sentence, gaze downward or to one side, slowly shake their heads, and then say something like, "My God, I can't imagine ever thinking this way five years ago ", or "Guru, what has this place DONE to me!?? " Now, given my own personal convictions, I really should be revelling and wallowing in that moment, or at least snickering. But I never seem to feel like doing that when it happens. I just feel kind of sad about it. Like seeing a kid crying when they learn there's no Santa Claus, you don't feel gleeful seeing that.

We'll read on Dave's where the bright-eyed neophyte arrives in Korea and promptly gets done down, done over, done sideways by their hagwon. Then they graduate to a school, where things will be much better, oh yes they will. But things become bad in different ways. Oh, but now it's the university. Yes, their troubles are finally at an end. Koreans at the university level are genetically different than all the others before. Then comes the hagwonisation of university jobs. From their comments on Dave's over the months & years, I think many tend to become cynical.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[JongnoGuru]

[the eye]

you get out what you put in.

people that come here and make no effort to learn the language or the intricacies of the culture are destined for frustration and disappointment. the frustration leads to ignorance, and the ignorance leads to cynicism
another thing to do is STOP COMPARING Korea with your home country.
that's my biggest mistake.

of the people i know, those that are happiest tend to diversify their activities beyond drinking and watching AFN.

[Old fat expat]

This is brilliant
Jongo-guru:

[Ya-ta Boy]

nautilus,

Are you saying that happens to everyone? Not true.

Even the OP noted that some people are happy here. I'll guarantee they are not the people who have been screwed over. No one enjoys that. There are even people who get screwed over and get angry and cynical about that particular situation and find a way to move without the bad experience coloring their whole life.

My point is that 'Korea' is not just one generic experience and we waygookin don't have just one generic experience. Different people have different experiences and all react differently to those experiences. One of the reactions for some of the people is cynicism.

Certainly living as a foreigner in Korea is an in-your-face experience. It brings out the strengths and weaknesses that were always there, but maybe not needed before. I know I've learned alot about myself living here.

I always wonder about people who 'suddenly' change. Is it a change or is it a revelation of a trait that was always there? I've already said what I think. Civilized values are only a veneer. In a crisis, the barbarian inside comes out--or not.

I guess I'm just more cynical about the cynics than I am about Korea.

[xingyiman]

I think lots of people come here with a Cynical attitude to begin with.