Korean Job Discussion Forums

[R-Seoul]

Well everybody�s been giving their 2 cents worth on was that/ wasn�t that Korean racism so I thought I�d share an experience I had this weekend.
On Sunday a Korean friend invited me to the theatre, the venue was the B-Boy theatre in Hongdae, we buy tickets and guess what W30,000 for my Korean friend and W50,000 for me. Um, come again!?? Because I am a foreigner we are told. Yes that�s right folks the theatre has adopted a racist ticketing policy. In a daze I buy my �foreigner� ticket and during the performance mull over the reasons for their policy. Was it to avoid the �ugly foreigner� syndrome? We aren�t talking about a place on Itaewon high street this was a hard to find underground theatre where some knowledge of Korean or being invited by Koreans would be imperative. Was it because the theatre felt the performance may be hard for foreigners to understand? Nope, ironically this was a non-verbal celebration of American street culture with breakdancing, hip-hop beats, English lyrics and I counted at least two dancers wearing basketball shirts with the words USA emblazoned on the front. No, as far as I could make out the only reason behind the policy was to embarrass, offend and humiliate any foreigners hoping to attend, something they achieved perfectly in my case...

[khyber]

I went into U-Para (like a game room with bowling, batting cages etc....) and paid half of what my korean friend paid.

[denistron]

This can go both ways sometimes. When taking the fairy to Jejudo I didn't have to wait in line or go through a metal detector like all the other people. I was taken to the front and put right through. But why!?

[butlerian]

I was overcharged for medicine at a pharmacy in Cheonan at the weekend and didn't get the customary free drink until my Korean friend pointed it out to the owner who had tried to charge me for it.

[laogaiguk]

Ya, good things and bad things. They should get rid of both ofcourse. But in China, I never had to go through metal detectors or have my bags searched. I got into 200 kwai entrance fee clubs for free, etc etc. Ofcourse I also hit where some people just wouldn't talk to me because I was a foreigner, etc. Good and bad, should be wiped out, but unless it really affects us, I am not going to do anything but complain, and be happy when it helps us out.

[denistron]

Yeah, I went ti U-para with a korean firend. She had to pay to get a membership while I went in for free. Strange.

[dogbert]

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Why didn't you just get your friend to go to the ticket booth himself and buy two tickets and then just give one to you?

[aldershot]

[bobbyhanlon]

yeah i had a similar experience with that lousy NB club (the one in kangnam, not hongdae). my korean friends were asked for 10,000, and me and my english friend (who had just that very day come over to visit me) were asked for 15,000.

so... i said, screw this, i'm not going! i felt especially bad for my friend, since this was his first trip out anywhere in korea and no doubt gave him a really bad impression.
one of the people we were with, a girl i knew, got really mad at ME for 'ruining' the occasion and not just paying up. after that she refused to speak to me for several months. later she went to study in australia and ended up apologising to me after experiencing some prejudice about something there and realising what its like to be treated like that. i've often had this kind of experience- i find myself sympathising when my korean friends go to my country and face prejudice, but when i complain about something like that here, i just get some ridiculous 'ah, but that's korean culture', or the 'ahh but there are many bad foreigners in korea' response.

anyway.. whether we like it or not, as foreigners we will occasionally face overcharging or rejection of our custom in bars, shops and so on. boycotting such places will just give them what they want, but i don't see what else we can do. its certainly better than forking out the extra money, which would just make us look totally spineless. 99.9% of places will accept our custom, so there's no reason to pay up for this crap.

[chronicpride]

[ajgeddes]

When I went to Lotte World with my girlfriend, my ticket cost more than hers because it was the foreigner fee. I don't know if that was normal, but whatever, she was treating me for the day, so I didn't care.

[laogaiguk]

[charlieDD]

CHRONICPRIDE WROTE: And not only that, but another discriminatory thing that Koreans do that drives me nuts is when they pay 2.2/mnth to work 30hr/week, free accommodation, and airfare to 22 yr old college grads from the West who have no formal teaching experience or education and they turn around and pay 1.5/mnth to Korean teachers with degrees in English Ed with experience and make them work 40-50 hrs a week, having to also do peon jobs like cleaning the school, consulting with mothers on the phone, etc...


<><><><> I Write:

Supply and demand. Market forces.

[cdninkorea]