Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Alyssa]

How do you put up with all the "bragging" here? Last night I went to the house of the Science teacher at my school. She lived in Georgia for a year, and the WHOLE night was centered around the great things Korea has done. I just sat there and listened to her husband tell me about some Korea soccer players, then some baseball players, then on the news they showed some kid who won a piano contest, then they kept telling me about some scientist who discovered this or that or whatever, how popular koreans were on asia, etc...etc... THEN they brought out their daughter and she played half an hour on her clarinet, and they kept watching me to see how I would react to her.... What did they want me to do , stand up and start singing the Korean national anthem? I mean, usually when my family invited other people over for dinner we talked about THE GUEST.


I guess I just want to rant about that. What causes this, even my co-workers seem to say things like "Korea is special because of fall," or things like "In korea all the people can read", or "in Korea our golf players are the best" I am so tired of this.

I think maybe it comes from what I call WEST ENVY, I see that they are running after the west, baseball, soccer, basketball, golf, all the sports here are copies of the western countries, they are all learning English, I always pass this HAZZYS poster with 4 white people in the center doing something, after all the T.V commercials there is a white guy who always "endorses" the product by saying it in English ,Everything I see is just a copy of the western world, the commercials show scenes of Europe, music, art from the western world...........then............. THE NEWSPAPERS are always trying to just show how some Korean won this, or beat this country, or invented this, or was popular in Japan..............

What do you say to people who brag so much?

You are SO GREAT?????????

[Qinella]

Yeah, I think it's about time this issue comes out in the open here at Dave's. Koreans' insecurity about their national identity is something that has been ignored by the foreign community for far too long.

[jinju]

[laogaiguk]

Yep, no other country does this, right? Every country does this. Every country has rabit nationalists, Canada, America, Britian, Japan, China, etc... Ever heard a Canadian go on about Canada? Or an American about what America has done for the world? Or a Brit talking about how the Empire was the start of everything? Or an Aussie who goes on about how their ancestors were all men's men and such? Or the Japanese who suddenly appeared upon Japan? I won't even go into the Chinese

I just ignore anyone who brags about their heritage or country. Sometimes it actually comes up and it's fun to talk about, but the braggers just get ignored by me. Or I start asking detailed questions if I am in a bad mood

[flotsam]

Alyssa. It's ok. You're great too.

[djsmnc]

I like Alyssa. I bet she's pretty hot

[periwinkle]

[billybrobby]

[Axl Rose]

I dunno about hot, but she could be one of those girls who's sexy yet not goodlooking, and I bet she's GREAT in bed - a right little goer!

[flotsam]

So the consensus is that Alyssa probably is great. In all meanings of the word.

[rawiri]

[quote="laogaiguk"]Yep, no other country does this, right? Every country does this. Every country has rabit nationalists, Canada, America, Britian, Japan, China, etc... Ever heard a Canadian go on about Canada? Or an American about what America has done for the world? Or a Brit talking about how the Empire was the start of everything? Or an Aussie who goes on about how their ancestors were all men's men and such? Or the Japanese who suddenly appeared upon Japan? I won't even go into the Chinese
quote]

Yeah every country has rabid nationalists, but it seems there are a whole lot more per head of population in korea than in many other countrys. Fair enough though, they do have a lot to prove, in 5000 years it's not like they've contributed all that much.

The sense of nationalism seems to be bubbling under the surface of many koreans i've met in my time here, they take any opportunity to tell you the latest and greatest whilst hiding the flaws.

[Hyeon Een]

[jinju]

[bobbyhanlon]

praising one's country could be acceptable if it also came with an admission of whatever faults there are, but in the case of korea, i don't think it often does.

[Mashimaro]

It's usually the insecure people (and probably countries) that brag the most.