Korean Job Discussion Forums

[demianamar]

So I'm on the bus this morning and I'm sitting at the back on the bench that's much higher then the seats in front of me. I drop my umbrella with in reach of an ajumma. She looks down at the umbrella, looks back at me and rudely turns back to stare at nothing. I now have to re-adjust all stuff in my hands, step down and get my stupid umbrella. Though not surprised at her passive, unhelpful behaviour it was too early in the morning for me not to still get annoyed. So, when I picked up my umbrella, I gave her dirty look, shook my head in shame at her and impolitely said "thanks"!

WHY???? Why are people so freggin' rude. You have to understand that I'm CANADIAN, and if that happened on the bus at home, there's no doubt that I would've had the umbrella handed back to me WITH a nod and a smile within 2 seconds! Yes, I know this isn't Canada. Yes I know Aummas are on foreigner's lists for having done much worse. BUT, I can't help but miss the politeness, the cordiality and the, perhaps excessive, common decency for fellow human beings! Say what you will about all the flaws in Canada, but I won't be looking back on S.K for more then 2 minutes on my way out of here.

[Captain Corea]

Could it be that it was just an individual act (or lack there of)?

[ajgeddes]

[periwinkle]

Maybe she thought you were throwing it at her^^ Seriously, though, I'd say 99% of people (regardless of nationality) would've picked it up. If I were you, I would've asked her to give me it after she gave you the dirty look. Pu ha ha!!

[Zyzyfer]

Man, all because of an umbrella.

[caniff]

She was probably still pissed about that perm she got.

[demianamar]

funny you should mention the perm. I did make note of how horrible her broom stick perm looked!! And, after the 'incident' I had all these visions of me getting off the bus before her and accidentally poking her foot with the end of my umbrella...lol. Of course, I took the high road...by default, since she got off the bus before me. Normally I'd have brushed the whole thing off, but after having gotten little sleep because my neighbours decided to celebrate the big win all night long I was just not getting off to the best morning to begin with!!

Here's to putting up with the ajummas and the ajossies!!

[blaseblasphemener]

OP,

I hear you.

I'm from Canada, and I feel 99.9% sure that anyone, anyone, in Canada who that happened to, would pick up the umbrella and hand it to you. It's telling she looked back at you, and then made the decision not to hand it to you. If you were another ajuma, rest assured you would get it back.

Why make excuses for things that piss you off? If the shoe fits, wear it, and in Korea, a lot of people make decisions to be arses when it comes to common courtesy, for whatever reason. Sometimes, we have to get these things off our chests. Thanks for sharing.

[caniff]

Where I come from, discourtesy can be downright bad for your health. Happens all the time.

People are either kind because they really are, or they just know they're probably gonna hear about it if they're not. Safer to be cool. The umbrella example is a mild one, but I've seen stuff blow up between strangers for less than that.

Sounds absurd, and I guess it is. That's the world, sometimes.

[demianamar]

I would like to add another incident that I've never gotten over...sorry, while we're on the topic!!

I'm at the gym, my md player falls in the middle of the aisle right in front of an ajossy. He stops, looks at it in annoyance that something has obstructed his right of way, he looks at me, STEPS OVER IT, and walks on by.

I may just be a clutz, but the reactions/lack of actions by these people are quite telling of character around here I think. Maybe I'll conduct a social experiment! Stand at a busy shopping district, drop something say, 10 times, right in front of randomly selected people, including foreigners and see who reigns supreme in having good old fashioned manners!!

Though, I don't think I need an experiment to prove that.

[periwinkle]

[ed4444]

What we need here is some statistics from Real Reality to illustrate how few Korean Ajummas would be willing to pick up an umbrella dropped by a foreigner.

[tacon101]

since you're on the topic of umbrellas:

i 'forgot' mine on my way this morning (happen to like walking in the rain and if i have one and dont use it, the people i work with think i'm nuts...so instead they just think i'm quite forgetful and ignorant about cloud types and grey skies)

well i'm walking back home and as i stand on the street corner getting drenched in happiness and waiting for the light, some rude korean man comes up and covers my head with his umbrella

hello...cant he see i was enjoying getting soaked?

(i was enjoying it, but nice people make me even happier

)

[Satori]

Two things...a) ajuma's are not people, b) come to Japan...

[casey's moon]

I have honestly suffered more from acts of well-intentioned but misdirected kindness in this country than indifference or rudeness, although I've experienced quite a few doors swinging closed in my face when I expected the person ahead of me to hold it open.... I let the little stuff get to me to sometimes but I've mostly found it easier to shrug that stuff off and appreciate how wonderful many Korean people are to me.

Also, I've heard that Korean people who go to Canada or other countries are sometimes hurt/offended by our selfishness with our personal food and belongings. Canadians, for all our politeness, don't really like to share that much. We do, however, hold open doors, let people go ahead of us in line ups if it is at all debatable who was there first, and pick up stuff other people drop. Politeness comes in many forms, I guess.

The funny thing is, WE are being rude to Koreans all the time, whether we realize it or not -- especially newbies. But Koreans are generally very forgiving, recognizing that we come from a different culture!