Korean Job Discussion Forums

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

My 2 cents on staring. I think this is a deeply centred cultural behavior rooted in underdeveloped and uncivilised cultures. Why? I get stared at EVERY DAY in my southern Korean city. The only other places I have been stared at like this are, (1) in a Kenyan desert near the Jade Sea, and (2) in the Amazon. And I've hitch hiked and traveled through 42 countries.

I'll never forget those primitive Africans, covered in dirt and just a loin cloth (holding spears and shields), just STARING at me and my girlfriend. We really felt like we were from Mars. And I suppose we were.

And those Indians in the Amazon, similar loin cloth, no teeth etc, and just STARING, at us. Apparently, they had never seen a WHITE WOMAN.

So what's the excuse for those Korean plebs who stare at me EVERYDAY
when I walk to school. It's so bad somedays,I hike over the mountains to school to avoid them.

stevieg4ever · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Location: London, England

This is so true in my short experience in Korea. I found it ammusing more than anything.

what i also love is that when i first introduce myself using almost flawless Korean they then proceed to ramble at 100 miles an hour Confused

assuming im an expert despite my proclamation that 1년 8개월 동안 한국어를 공부했어요.

Canadian Club · Joined: 12 Aug 2006

I stare at foreigners too. And I stare at Koreans. They stare back. It's okay.

Staring doesn't bother me, following me home does...

candide · Joined: 03 Oct 2006

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Yeah that's weird, where are you? It must be hickville.

They used to stare a lot more, say before the year 2000, but now not so much. In the real sticks, rural places perhaps it goes on. I don't want to know.

I'm now used to being just another white guy, and can appreciate Korea better, looking at them individually as normal people, just like I want to be seen.

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Junior · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: the eye

The staring bothers me far less than the sheer nervousness and discomfort Koreans exhibit when around a foreigner. The way the seat next to you is often left empty, etc. Its truly ridiculous.

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

What's the matter, Junior, don't you like to feel dangerous? Just messing with you, man. Smile

Okay, staring. If I'm in a pissy mood and there are some middle aged guys staring sometimes I make myself look apoplectic and flare the muscles around my eyes so my eyes look huge and googly, and lean my chin forward for that extra few centimeters of neck reach to get a better 'gawk at them'. But I don't like doing that because it just feels so ridiculous. The guy remains impassive and I look like an ostrich. Usually I just note some sentinal dude is in position for his stare and arrange to be looking the other way, or have my back to him. And before I know it he and his stare are forgotten history.

Personally, I think their (the male starers, usually middle aged men) motivation is to feel superior. It's a mean cop look. They're probably thinking, 'huh, punk, what you doin' messing up my street?!'. Why they go to such effort to stand their ground and pout like this I can't fathom. The culture must be telling them all kinds of bad stuff about foreigners and they believe it, and believe it's their duty to make foreigners uncomfortable enough to want to leave, eventually. It may take months, it may take years, but they believe in the power of their stare. It's messed up. That and teeth sucking.

In reaction to teeth sucking (Korean males sucking their teeth and making a suction sound indicating they are in the presence of an inferior) I invented a sort of duck sound by trapping air in one cheek and suddenly squeezing it out to make a loud squelch. Then I follow it up with exaggerated teeth sucking back. The guys feel busted about it. Like, 'you stole my thunder!'. Smile

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

oldfatfarang · Joined: 19 May 2005 Location: On the road to somewhere.

So what's the excuse for those Korean plebs who stare at me EVERYDAY
when I walk to school. It's so bad somedays,I hike over the mountains to school to avoid them.[/quote]

wow you actually feel this much staring in Korea?

Strange. I doubt it is as intense as that.[/quote]

Yes, I can absolutely assure you that the staring in my suburb is very intense. And nearly always from middle aged Korean men. I teach in a hick city down south. My dong is very poor (I saw a rat on the street last week). I suspect there are many unemployed males around here. The peoples' clothes are 'poor' and the cheap apartments have a very high turnover of tenants.
When I walk past people stop talking, or their voices change pitch. Taxi drivers waiting around also stare - like everyday.

There is certainly an element of Asian male insecurity 'face - off'. "I'm tough, don't mess with me," nonsense (I've had this before with Indonesian male gangster wanabes).

But, Koreans are different when I'm hiking. When passing I dip my head, say "anyeoung haseo" and always get a "Hi" back. I was hiking yesterday and several Koreans (men and women) just about broke their neck in surprise when I greeted them. A very strange bunch.

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

What's the excuse? Hmmmm... I don't know. There's a good chance few of the starers have ever been out of Korea. They probably haven't got a clue what it's like to be such a minority, and they probably can scarcely fathom the strangeness the minority feels when they gawk like little kids at a zoo. Not many seem to really have sympathy or understanding, really getting that you are always the odd one and they never are, and they'd probably be terrified if they had to be for long. I guess that's why some are reluctant to even go somewhere where there may be a good number of foreigners.

Makes you want to say, "Damn, give up the same sameness kimchi culture once in a while and discover a little outside this closet of the world." This does seem to apply more to the "ajosshis." You rarely see them eating in a western-style restaurant unless their girlfriends, wives or families bring them. Go into a TGIFs or other, and it will usually be mostly female. Once I saw about 20 Korean girls in one, and not one Korean male customer, not that that really bothered me or anything.

Qinella · Joined: 25 Feb 2005 Location: the crib

R-Seoul · Joined: 23 Aug 2006 Location: your place

How do you say; 'it's rude to stare' - in Korean?

simpleminds · Joined: 04 May 2006

It smacks of arrogance, and the whole nationalistic insecurity thing.

It's much better now than back in 2000. I haven't had a 'Hiiiiiiieeee!' in months, although I get people staring over my shoulder to see what I have on the computer screen. Like they expect me to be looking at porn or something.