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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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| kardisa wrote: |
| To the OP: That question drives me crazy, especially considering the fact that (like you) I regularly hear it from otherwise highly educated people. I blame it on CNN, Fox News, and (to a much lesser extent) the BBC. |
Most Americans don't even regularly watch these news networks. How can they possibly be to blame? |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| kardisa wrote: |
| To the OP: That question drives me crazy, especially considering the fact that (like you) I regularly hear it from otherwise highly educated people. I blame it on CNN, Fox News, and (to a much lesser extent) the BBC. |
Most Americans don't even regularly watch these news networks. How can they possibly be to blame? |
Fox News is the #1 most watched news source in the United States. That's backed up by statistics. CNN probably comes in close second.
Canadians don't have that excuse though. The CBC is one of the most balanced, non-partisan and fair news sources I know of. When I was at home, I saw South Korea on the news pretty much every time I turned it on (it was during the Yangpyeong attacks). The same thing with American stations... they were airing it constantly (it was "breaking news" for a couple weeks and they kept playing the same footage over and over again with small inconsequential updates).
Everyone knew about what was going on but they still had so much trouble differentiating the two countries.
I also had stupid questions asked about my time in Japan. Japan is apparently 100% Anime/porn or 100% Geisha and rice paddies. Not much knowledge exists in the West beyond that. |
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morrisonhotel
Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: "Are you in North or South Korea?" |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
Has anyone ever been greatly annoyed by this question before?
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Given that one can teach English in North Korea, it's not really that much of a stupid question. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:21 pm Post subject: Re: "Are you in North or South Korea?" |
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| morrisonhotel wrote: |
| Stalin84 wrote: |
Has anyone ever been greatly annoyed by this question before?
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Given that one can teach English in North Korea, it's not really that much of a stupid question. |
How many English teachers would North Korea even have? I've never even heard of one person doing that. Also, with the amount of people from Canada going off to teaching in SOUTH Korea, people should really at least know the difference. I've never even heard of someone teaching English in NK. Sounds like a nightmare. |
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rumdiary
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:53 pm Post subject: Re: "Are you in North or South Korea?" |
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| morrisonhotel wrote: |
| Stalin84 wrote: |
Has anyone ever been greatly annoyed by this question before?
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Given that one can teach English in North Korea, it's not really that much of a stupid question. |
No |
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morrisonhotel
Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 12:58 am Post subject: Re: "Are you in North or South Korea?" |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
How many English teachers would North Korea even have? I've never even heard of one person doing that. Also, with the amount of people from Canada going off to teaching in SOUTH Korea, people should really at least know the difference. I've never even heard of someone teaching English in NK. Sounds like a nightmare. |
A handful, as I recall. I think a poster on here taught English there. If teaching was a career that I wanted to pursue, I'd probably give it a go for a couple of years up there. I think it'd be quite interesting. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:12 am Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| kardisa wrote: |
| To the OP: That question drives me crazy, especially considering the fact that (like you) I regularly hear it from otherwise highly educated people. I blame it on CNN, Fox News, and (to a much lesser extent) the BBC. |
Most Americans don't even regularly watch these news networks. How can they possibly be to blame? |
Fox News is the #1 most watched news source in the United States. That's backed up by statistics. CNN probably comes in close second. |
It doesn't matter what the most watched news station is when most Americans don't watch the news with any real frequency. News programs get totally blown away in the ratings by popular entertainment programs. Trying to blame something that the overwhelming majority of Americans spend no meaningful amount of time watching for American ignorance is silly.
Americans don't know much about world geography or politics because Americans don't care about world geography or politics, not because of Fox News or CNN. I know blaming the media for everything is currently trendy, but that doesn't make it accurate. |
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gypsymaria
Joined: 08 Jun 2010
Location: Anyang-si, Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:26 am Post subject: |
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It's so embarrassing to be an American and lumped in with those people who get all their info from TV news (or just rumors from the people who supposedly DO watch the news) and probably slept through any geography or world cultures class in school. Not all Americans are ignorant morons. Just the noisy ones, it seems. 
Though, to be fair, even some of my own family didn't know the difference between North and South Korea, so... *sigh*  |
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Jaspina
Joined: 30 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 1:42 pm Post subject: |
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I'm with the OP, it's annoying. I've been asked this so many times I've reverted to say I'll be working in the North as an undercover spy.
It's funny the observations people have about other countries. People think we have kangaroos as pets in our backyard in Australia. Yep, we do. I rode one to school every day. |
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rumdiary
Joined: 05 Jun 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Instead of getting annoyed we should all start telling awesome exaggerated stories of our experiences teaching in North Korea. I was a private tutor to Kim Jong Il's grandchildren and appeared regularly on North Korean television. My Saturday morning children�s show was the second highest viewed show in North Korea's history. |
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Captain Corea
Joined: 28 Feb 2005
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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| UknowsI wrote: |
| I haven't encountered this much myself, but I find the opposite more offensive. I have South Korean friends who complain that they are asked if they are from South or North Korea when they are abroad. Do they just assume that there doesn't exist any North Koreans outside of North Korea? There are thousands of North Koreans outside of North Korea, and I find it more disrespectful to ignore these. |
How many have you met?
I've met some on an occifial trip to Canada, but for the most part, all the others I've met were working in China. Let's be realistic, the vast number of North koreans travelling outside of the DPRK do so in a pretty limited function. The average Westerner isn't going to run into them. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:52 pm Post subject: |
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| UknowsI wrote: |
I haven't encountered this much myself, but I find the opposite more offensive. I have South Korean friends who complain that they are asked if they are from South or North Korea when they are abroad. Do they just assume that there doesn't exist any North Koreans outside of North Korea? There are thousands of North Koreans outside of North Korea, and I find it more disrespectful to ignore these.
Similarly, there are foreigners who work in North Korea. Although I have to admit the number is quite small, I don't find it ignorant at all if someone wonder whether you are one of these or not. If you explain that you work at a day-care centre or in a kindergarten, then I guess it's rather obvious that you are working in South Korea, but I wouldn't consider someone ignorant just because he doesn't know the exact working situation of expats in each country. It wouldn't even surprise me if there are some foreign English teachers in North Korea. |
So, by your logic, its wrong for me to think black bears have black fur because there are a couple albino black bears in existence?
I would say there is a 99% chance that when someone says they work in "Korea", they are talking about South Korea.
Also, there maybe thousands of North Koreans abroad, but there are MILLIONS of South Koreans abroad. I don't know too many North Koreans with the money to be traveling around the world either. Outside of China, you'd be hard pressed to find any North Koreans outside of those people who left the country circa 1950's. |
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Free World
Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Drake Hotel
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 4:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Stalin84 wrote: |
The CBC is one of the most balanced, non-partisan and fair news sources I know of. |
Is that a joke?
CBC's distaste for the Conservatives is well documented.
Even though CBC is a public asset and should remain nonpartisan, they consistently support the Liberals. |
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Stalin84
Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 6:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Free World wrote: |
| Stalin84 wrote: |
The CBC is one of the most balanced, non-partisan and fair news sources I know of. |
Is that a joke?
CBC's distaste for the Conservatives is well documented.
Even though CBC is a public asset and should remain nonpartisan, they consistently support the Liberals. |
Yeah, that's exactly what I've been saying. It's the most non-partisan and fair news sources I know of. 
The conservatives voted themselves into redundancy so pointing out their faults and inadequacies is fair game. What with "Fox News North" and it's Tea Party-like followers forming their base in Canada. CBC needs to keep being the way it is. Don't give those r-tards a voice. We don't pay much attention to the Communist Party in Canada either. |
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earthquakez
Joined: 10 Nov 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2011 7:35 pm Post subject: |
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[quote="UknowsI"]I haven't encountered this much myself, but I find the opposite more offensive. I have South Korean friends who complain that they are asked if they are from South or North Korea when they are abroad. Do they just assume that there doesn't exist any North Koreans outside of North Korea? There are thousands of North Koreans outside of North Korea, and I find it more disrespectful to ignore these.
quote]
Why "disrespectful"? Koreans are famous for keeping to themselves outside Korea.
In the US and Canada their enclaves are well known and the fact that older (not just old) Koreans have never seen a great need to learn English in the countries they live in permanently (while we are told on our one year visas that we should learn Korean when most of us don't get any permanent residence in Korea), says more than any idea that everybody else should know about Koreans and the difference between the North and South etc.
I have friends in just about every European country, in Scotland, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. Koreans are not noted for integrating in those countries. They like to live in their communities of Korean churches, Korean stores, Korean this and Korean that, emphasising Korean over the host country's language.
Given I have been told "England is the same as Ireland", "No, what United Kingdom? You come from England", and many Koreans I have taught or worked with or met have no idea about most countries other than the US and Canada, why is it 'disrespectful" when others aren't concerned with Korea? |
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