Korean Job Discussion Forums

Snowmeow · Joined: 03 Oct 2005 Location: pc room

Today seems to be the first of several rainy days according to the weather forecast and with so many people with umbrellas on the sidwalk, I wonder is there some sort of etiquette related to umbrellas?

A lot of the time it seems that if I am approaching someone with an umbrella, I am the only person that makes an attempt to move my umbrella out of collision range, whether by raising it high, or tilting it at an angle and moving to the side a bit.

I figure there is a rule of age here so the older person has the right of way, is this the case?

It's all amusing to me and no big deal I am just noting a trend.

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

It's more like a game of Chicken. You see them coming, they pretend to not see you coming, but really they do. This is the best part, can you do it, can you win the game of chicken? It's really gut-check time, do you have what it takes. Of course, you can always fake them out. Pull out your mobile and pretend to be doing something and 4 out of 5 times, you will win and they will move. The other time, well..... you just don't want to know and it is just a bit to gruesome to explain. Goodluck! Laughing

sjrm · Joined: 27 Jul 2005

i'm sure the age thing is the case, but it's still fun to play bumper cars with umbrellas with people who refuse to move out of the way just a little. it gets annoying for me to be the only one who has to play the part of one of those balls in a pinball machine.

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

etiquette in korea? Laughing

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Even funnier, there's kind of a superstition in Korea about umbrellas and virginity. Give a girl an umbrella while she's sitting if you want to see if she's a virgin. If she holds it between her legs, she's not a virgin. If it's not between her legs, she's a virgin.

So if you're a girl and a Korean guy ever gives you an umbrella, feel free to put on a show.

identity · Joined: 22 Apr 2006

i usually hold my unbrella in my mouth when it's not in use, gently sucking off the moisture. does that mean anything?

Milwaukiedave · Joined: 02 Oct 2004 Location: Goseong

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

What you have to understand is you're living in a different culture. Different cultures have different ideas about things. Even things you think there could be no difference of opinion on. For example, in the west, we have this idea about how two solids act when they meet. When two solids meet, they bounce off each other. If they're travelling quickly and one of those solids is a bullet-shaped old lady with a 90 lbs bag of onions, one or more of those solids is going to be hurt.

Koreans, however, have a very different idea about how solids react when they meet. In Korea, it is believed two solids behave more like a gas. They simply pass through each other.

It sounds unreasonable but when you begin to reason that this is how Koreans understand how solids react, LOTS of things start to make sense.

crystal · Joined: 04 May 2006

Njord · Joined: 12 Jan 2006 Location: South Korea

Well, I'm tall enough that my umbrella will go over almost anyone else's. So the issue is whether I walk around their umbrella or they move in order to avoid an collision between their umbrella and my chest. I really don't think about who moves (isn't this just something people do without thinking?) but I imagine it is about 50-50.

Novernae · Joined: 02 Mar 2005

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

When I first moved here, I'd try to move to avoid people. It rarely worked. After a couple of years, it seems like the less I try to move out of people's way, the less I get bumped. Or maybe I've started to move in the same patterns as Koreans. Either way, I'd recommend walking Korean-style, as if you're the only person on the street. For whatever reason it seems to work.

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Here's a secret: Koreans walk on the left side, so if you're walking on the right side, you'll always bump into them. They probably think you're being pushy.

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

Actually, I usually find it pretty funny that everybody tends to walk on the left, but the entrance to things tends to be on the right, so you get all the fun of criss-crossing with the people. The best example is at subway stations. People all walk up the stairs on the left, then they get to the gate and have to go to the right, and then once they are in, they tend to migrate back over to the right again. Really, there is no problem in this, except for that everybody coming the opposite direction is doing the exact same thing creating a crash'n'derby. Guru Digital Complex station is mental at peak hours because of this.

(I should also add that I don't think people here tend to walk on any side, but rather they walk in the middle. When two people are about to meet, usually there isn't a compromise, but rather one person just does all the moving.)