| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
mateomiguel
Joined: 16 May 2005
|
 Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 12:03 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| JongnoGuru wrote: |
Well that was one damn short soap opera.  |
Well she's sticking around for 2 more weeks all professional-like so there's plenty of time for more shenanigans.
| thebum wrote: |
| time to hook up with her |
Hrm... she DID say I was sexy  |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Privateer
Joined: 31 Aug 2005
Location: Easy Street.
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
| About how old is this guy? I keep hearing that Korean men can expect to be worked into the ground and then made redundant at 40 to 45 these days. If it's true maybe he'll be the next out the door. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:24 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Privateer wrote: |
| About how old is this guy? I keep hearing that Korean men can expect to be worked into the ground and then made redundant at 40 to 45 these days. If it's true maybe he'll be the next out the door. |
Like I say, he could just be upset that at this stage in his life a woman is his boss (rather than the other way around). Certainly not the Korea he was raised to expect. Sure, there are plenty of women in the upper reaches of Corporate Korea these days. But it's different when it's a huge organisation and you're not running into "boss lady" every day. In the closer confines of what sounds like a small office, I can easily see this fact -- coupled with this Westernised, "uppity, lippy little girl" getting in his face -- rankling the old guy. Whither Man's World? (no, I'm not siding with him) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thebum
Joined: 09 Jan 2005
Location: North Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
| mateomiguel wrote: |
| JongnoGuru wrote: |
| Well that was one damn short soap opera. |
Well she's sticking around for 2 more weeks all professional-like so there's plenty of time for more shenanigans.
| thebum wrote: |
| time to hook up with her |
Hrm... she DID say I was sexy |
she wants you! go for it! otherwise, give me her number (not that i need help meeting women  ) |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Junior
Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Location: the eye
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 2:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
Nice one miguel! Go for it!!! In a month you can have her wait outside the gates to meet you after work, where you can kiss publicly in front of the old codger as he shuffles out.
Do it!!
Her leaving is a blessing in disguise as you'll be able to date her without having to see her 8hrs a day.
yep...hitting a woman is one of the few things that absolutely garantuees a strong reaction from waygooks... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Col.Brandon
Joined: 09 Aug 2004
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 4:05 am Post subject: |
|
|
Damn, is there any creature more useless in this world than the adjosshi? What do they contribute that could justify them taking up the planet's precious resources?
Recycle an adjosshi! That's what I say. Maybe we can think of some ways to put them to good use and stop them wasting space.
-Pour truckloads of them into the sea and reclaim some land.
-Mulch them up and spread them on the fields as fertilizer after all the toxic contents have been purged out of them with gallons of kimchi enemas.
-Seal them in resin like Jabba the Hut did to Han Solo and use them as building material for sidewalks and corporate office sculptures. Before they get sealed up we could arrange them in humorous poses.
Just thinking out loud here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
princess
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: soul of Asia
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 3:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kimchi_pizza wrote: |
The girl was wrong regardless (talkin back to her elders...she should know better especially in Korea).
And advice for you: Don't get involved. You already said this guy makes more work for ya. Imagine the work he'll give ya if he's pissed. It's a Korean thang, you wouldn't understand. Ignore it like everyone else. |
Yeah, more work for the same pay is something you don't want by getting involved! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mateomiguel
Joined: 16 May 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I'll never understand people who advise "don't do anything." Why do you want to avoid life? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mateomiguel
Joined: 16 May 2005
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 8:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Someone sent me this PM, I guess because they didn't want to discuss this in public. I think its relevant tho so I'm going to post it anonymously for them.
| anonymous PMer wrote: |
| hi, i'm just reading your thread about the office thing. i'm not going to say that hitting women is not wrong or anything, but you come across as this great morally superior man in korea to educate the silly koreans on your great western culture, i don't know if you are doing that but that's how you come across as. before you take anything further (in the office or with anything else you see "wrong" in korea), let me remind you who's country and culture you are in and also the fact that those koreans probably wouldn't take you seriously no matter what anyway. see everything rationally, good luck, don't embarass yourself |
Lets break this situation down two ways.
1. one coworker argued with another coworker and hit them in anger.
2. my friend was hit in anger by someone who is not my friend.
In both of these ways the gender and cultural issues have been stripped out, but they are still enough for me to give a warning to the hitter. Cowokers hitting each other? unacceptable. Someone hitting my friend? unacceptable again.
Now lets put the situation back together.
1. My coworker argued with my other female coworker who is my friend and hit her in the face with paper in anger.
I don't think this is about teaching foreigners my great western culture at all, I think this is about the expectations of workplace conduct, which tends to be the same all over the world due to international business.
In addition, if I ignore this and do nothing, then I am a failure as a friend, failure as a coworker, and a failure as a man. Only the last one can be related to cultural issues, since my role as a man is defined by my culture.
But no matter which country I am in, I am still a western man. trying to act in any other way will only end up with me parodying another culture, which is just awkward and ultimately useless because I'll never get it right. So I'd better stay true to my own culture and upbringing no matter what other country I'm in and no matter what other cultures expect of me.
And please remember that the korean people in my office reacted very negatively to this as well and it was a Korean guy who got to the abusive loser before me and grabbed him by the arm and made him sit down. And then my boss called them both into the office, closed the door, and talked to them for an hour. I wasn't sticking out as a sore thumb of outrage here. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
i_teach_esl
Joined: 07 Sep 2006
Location: baebang, asan/cheonan
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
i do agree with the "this is not our country" mantra, but hitting a woman... we dont need to treasure and practice EVERY aspect of korean culture.
im glad you took action, OP. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 9:30 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ignore the PM. I say when it comes to defending women, this country doesn't do enough. Men need to fear what will happen if they touch a woman wrong. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| kimchi_pizza wrote: |
The girl was wrong regardless (talkin back to her elders...she should know better especially in Korea).
And advice for you: Don't get involved. You already said this guy makes more work for ya. Imagine the work he'll give ya if he's pissed. It's a Korean thang, you wouldn't understand. Ignore it like everyone else. |
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm glad I wasn't bitten by the Culture Bug.
| Quote: |
anonymous PMer wrote:
hi, i'm just reading your thread about the office thing. i'm not going to say that hitting women is not wrong or anything, but you come across as this great morally superior man in korea to educate the silly koreans on your great western culture, i don't know if you are doing that but that's how you come across as. before you take anything further (in the office or with anything else you see "wrong" in korea), let me remind you who's country and culture you are in and also the fact that those koreans probably wouldn't take you seriously no matter what anyway. see everything rationally, good luck, don't embarass yourself |
If this PMer equates Korean culture with this sort of behaviour, then he is essentially calling Korean culture worthless. If Korean culture is supposed to be like this, then let Western Imperialism and Japanese finesse replace its identity with something more advanced. If not, then let South Korea evolve on its own terms.
Last edited by Barking Mad Lord Snapcase on Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
uberscheisse
Joined: 02 Dec 2003
Location: japan is better than korea.
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:17 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| kimchi_pizza wrote: |
The girl was wrong regardless (talkin back to her elders...she should know better especially in Korea).
And advice for you: Don't get involved. You already said this guy makes more work for ya. Imagine the work he'll give ya if he's pissed. It's a Korean thang, you wouldn't understand. Ignore it like everyone else. |
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm glad I wasn't bitten by the Culture Bug. |
i've said it before and i'll say it again. i'd rather look like the weird foreigner doing the wrong cultural thing than not be able to live with myself for being a pu^^y who doesn't stand up for what he believes in.
had the OP decided to thwack the girl in anger he would have been pummeled by every male member of the staff. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
happeningthang
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:21 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| mateomiguel wrote: |
Lets break this situation down two ways.
1. one coworker argued with another coworker and hit them in anger.
2. my friend was hit in anger by someone who is not my friend.
In both of these ways the gender and cultural issues have been stripped out, but they are still enough for me to give a warning to the hitter. Cowokers hitting each other? unacceptable. Someone hitting my friend? unacceptable again.
Now lets put the situation back together.
1. My coworker argued with my other female coworker who is my friend and hit her in the face with paper in anger.
I don't think this is about teaching foreigners my great western culture at all, I think this is about the expectations of workplace conduct, which tends to be the same all over the world due to international business.
In addition, if I ignore this and do nothing, then I am a failure as a friend, failure as a coworker, and a failure as a man. Only the last one can be related to cultural issues, since my role as a man is defined by my culture.
But no matter which country I am in, I am still a western man. trying to act in any other way will only end up with me parodying another culture, which is just awkward and ultimately useless because I'll never get it right. So I'd better stay true to my own culture and upbringing no matter what other country I'm in and no matter what other cultures expect of me.
And please remember that the korean people in my office reacted very negatively to this as well and it was a Korean guy who got to the abusive loser before me and grabbed him by the arm and made him sit down. And then my boss called them both into the office, closed the door, and talked to them for an hour. I wasn't sticking out as a sore thumb of outrage here. |
I don't think the OP's actions have anything to do with culture. It's an overreaction to a minor dispute. Personally I would have expressed my disapproval and left it at that, instead of trying to puff myself up into a "defender of women". "Don't you hit women in front of me". Ridiculous and self aggrandising Mateo, maybe this condescending crap plays in Okie land, but you're in the wider world here. Get a grip. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
|
| Posted: Fri Nov 03, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| uberscheisse wrote: |
| Barking Mad Lord Snapcase wrote: |
| kimchi_pizza wrote: |
The girl was wrong regardless (talkin back to her elders...she should know better especially in Korea).
And advice for you: Don't get involved. You already said this guy makes more work for ya. Imagine the work he'll give ya if he's pissed. It's a Korean thang, you wouldn't understand. Ignore it like everyone else. |
I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm glad I wasn't bitten by the Culture Bug. |
i've said it before and i'll say it again. i'd rather look like the weird foreigner doing the wrong cultural thing than not be able to live with myself for being a pu^^y who doesn't stand up for what he believes in. |
My sentiments exactly. The "Culture Bug" is what I call the moment when the expat looks around himself (usually HIMself) and says: "Aaahhh! Beautiful wise Corea! How simple and pure thine art! How unblemished by the greed and avarice and violence of Western barbarians! I shall defend thine honour with mine own dying breath!" |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
