Korean Job Discussion Forums

[periwinkle]

This is a rant from the general int'l forum- it's very entertaining:

I�m wondering what the heck I�m experiencing and if there�s anyone out there who�s also experienced this type of thing. Friends of the family flew in for a conference. My mother asked me if there was anything I wanted from home because they can bring it over for me. Okay that was really nice. My mother�s done more than a few favors for them over the years so they should feel a little obliged. I called them from overseas (at my mother�s request) to give them the scoop on local weather, what to wear etc. They asked me no questions about how I was doing. This was a bit shocking considering the fact that my mother explained to me that she told them how I�ve been going through a considerable amount of stress over the past few weeks. Furthermore, I�m right in the middle of preparing my classes for mid-term exams.

So they arrived and I arranged a time to meet them at a hotel. They said they would be in the lobby. I get there and they are nowhere to be found. I ask information to call their room. They tell me they will be right down. Over a half hour passes and they are still not down from their room. So I call up there and they say they will be right down and that they had to change clothes etc. Another fifteen minutes passes and they finally show up. There was no apology. We discuss where to eat lunch at 2pm. We sit down to eat and they are asking me all kinds of questions about the menu like I should know everything about the food I guess be cause I live in the country. They knew I had never been there at that hotel. Also, I live in a city of over 10 million people for crying out loud.

We begin to eat and I had to listen to the �ewww, what is that? That looks gross? You like that?� You know the whole culture shock experience full blast with facial expression of disgust. I thought it was quite rude. I had her try it and she did the whole �Oh, YUCK. That is so gross. How can you eat that?� You would think I was eating feces or something. I was eating a typical meal in my country. Nothing strange about it at all.

This meal was taking a while to finish as they began to talk religion. Oh boy, here we go with the bible thumping �saved R us� Christians out to save the world, starting with me. Now is my opportunity to explain to them that I can respect their religion just as I do all religions but that I have my own beliefs. I�m not willing to be converted. I ask them to respect me and they keep pressing the issue. They ask me what I do for Christmas here and I explain that it�s not celebrated here like it is back home. Over here, it�s like our Valentine�s Day. It�s for lovers. They are in shock. They say, �so it must be a very lonely time for you. You know if you joined a church here you wouldn�t be so lonely.� I�m doing all I can to keep my calm but it is getting unbearable. Finally, I say, �why on earth would I join a church when I�m not a Christian and I don�t believe in what they believe? That would make me a hypocrite.� They still did not let up on the issue.

I wanted to talk about my vacations and the one coming up next week to Thailand. That�s far more interesting. I finally was able to bring out my pictures of my vacations. The first picture was of Standing Buddha in Bangkok. She immediately says, �oh those Buddhists worship idols. It�s such a shame. If only they knew God.� At this point, I�m about ready to explode. She is being insensitive to me and a whole culture of people that I respect. This is more than I can take. I respond, �OH, you would never say such things in Thailand in front of Thai people!� Her response, �but I�m not in Thailand.� My response, �you know when I was in Thailand, it was great visiting the Buddhist temples where the people were so tolerant, helpful and full of love. Oh God, do I miss THOSE people!!!�

Conversations went something like this:
Her: So what do people do for Valentine�s Day here?
Me: Women give men chocolate. I had some of my male students get angry at me because I didn�t bring them chocolate.
Her: Well, you know if you brought in chocolate they would like you more.
Me: Lin.. I�m a university Professor with almost 300 students! NONE of the professors do that here. I�m not teaching little children.
Her: Well I thought they would bring you flowers. You said you got flowers.
Me: No I didn�t. That is not the culture here.
Her: No, you said you got flowers for Valentine�s day. Whatever. It doesn�t matter.
Me: No I never said such a thing.
__________
Her: How do you pay your rent here?�.
Me: I don�t�
Her: [interrupts and shouts] �YOU DON�T?!!!
Me: No, it�s included in my contract as part of my benefits. This is quite common in many countries where you teach ESL.
Her: I CAN�T believe that! So you don�t pay RENT! So you paid for your flight here and you get your rent paid?
Me: NO, the flight was also part of my contract too.
Her: Unbelievable!
Me: Lin.., there are some countries where the university or employer pays for the whole family to fly over AND pays for annual vacations back to their home country. The children go to private schools at the employer�s expense. These positions are in the Middle East and it�s my goal to work there in the future. I like Middle East culture too. I really miss the people from the Middle East. I know this may come as a real shock to you but this is a good profession for qualified people. I�ve seen positions open in the Middle East that pay as much as many doctors get back home.
Her: OH THAT MAKES ME MAD!!! And all you do is teach English!? How could you make that much in the Middle East?
Me: There are universities in countries like Qatar and the UAE that�
Her: [Interrupts] The UAE?! What is THAT!?
____________

Her: How much is the whopper jr. meal?
Me: It�s � See the number 3
Her: Well, what about the cheese?
Me: You have to pay extra for that.
Her: What! It doesn�t come WITH the meal? This is ridiculous. Back home�
Me: Lin.. It�s only 20 cents more and you DO have to pay extra for it back home if I remember correctly.
Her: Oh geeze, it should be included with the meal.
Me: Lin�, it�s ONLY 20 cents more.
Her: How much is that here?
Later,
Her: You know I never eat this stuff back home because it�s so fattening. These fries are really bad for you.
Me: I�m not worried about that
Her: This is really good. Thank you for bringing me here. [that was the only thank you I ever got]
__________
We go to an amusement park. This is an all day thing that costs 30 bucks. We get almost there and she tells me she only wants to spend three hours there. I tell her that I planned to spend the rest of the day there. I�m not spending three hours traveling to and from this place along with 30 bucks just to stay for only three hours. I tell her she can find her own way back if she wants to leave early. That day she winds up borrowing money from me. I lent her 28 bucks. Never mind the fact that her husband is a surgeon from the upper class of society who makes a LOT of money and they live in a home back in the states that is worth over a half a million. Then when I try to ask for my money back several days later, she tries to pass off 8 bucks as fair. I had to insist on getting back the full amount and teach her about the money. She realizes that I now owe her 2 bucks and she demands it back then tells me she doesn�t have much money left. We were on our way to the RACE TRACK!!! Oh she�s going to borrow my money at the race track. I don�t think so. Now I begin to ask for the picture that I paid for at the park. It was 10 bucks and she kept it. She refuses to give it back. She wants to sent it in the mail even though I explained that my mailbox isn�t big enough to fit it and the post office will probably bend it. The BEACH doesn�t care. I left her in the Burger King eating French fries. She can keep my damn picture that I paid for! I tell ya, after this experience ��I don�t want to be around another Christian for a LONG time, especially while I�m overseas. GRRRRRRR

[RACETRAITOR]

That story made me want to pull my hair out.

[ajgeddes]

[cdninkorea]

Very entertaining. But no, I don't know anyone like that (and if I did I'd probably kill them)

[happeningthang]

[seoulsucker]

I had a friend visit me here and totally freak out on a drunken 아저씨 because the got a little too close for comfort. He was convinced the guy was homersexual, etc. It got pretty ugly.

[Corporal]

So the gist of that story was that some family friends bring some stuff over for this person and he/she has to babysit them for what, a weekend? And aww, waah, they weren't interested in his vacation? Life's so tough.

Plus, they're Americans, right? That right there has more to do with the irritating factor than the Christianity.

[Nambucaveman]

God Perwinkle, my condolences. From the sound of your post I would have rather gotten a root canal then sit through those conversations.

[Qinella]

Except for the part about the amusement park, that's pretty much how my family is.

[Nambucaveman]

I don't think it's an American thing per se, but maybe it makes it sound worse because they are American.

Many people have never been outside their own country, so they are clueless about what other cultures are like. All you can do is feel bad for them that they are ignorant in terms of what the outside world is like.

A teacher, I always hope my students will get to see some of the world to get a better perception of what life is like outside Korea. If they don't visit my home country, no skin off my back. I just want them to have a good knowledge of other cultures.

[jinju]

[RACETRAITOR]

[jinju]

[ilovebdt]

[periwinkle]