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this kind of bad behavior from kids which seems racist okay
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thrylos

Joined: 10 Jun 2008

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 6:46 pm Post subject: Re: this kind of bad behavior from kids which seems racist o

Adventurer wrote:

I am not in the Seoul area. That never happened in the Seoul area. I am in Gwangju. No, this wasn't curiousity. One of the kids was pointing at me not out-of-curiousity. He was being rude; he was laughing. Again, it's not in the Seoul area. Jeollanamdo isn't like the Seoul area.
Anyway, I am venting. I am not saying anything about the majority of kids in Mars, Korea, or America. I am just remarking on something I never experienced in Korea before. That's all.

You live in the most 'backwards' part of the country. I'm not exaggerating or flaming, just stating a fact that most Koreans outside the 'Jeolla' have repeated plenty a time. My wife is from there and I lived there for 2 (long) years. It really is a K-redneck area (even the 'big' city of Gwangju), so your post and comments don't surprise me.
Every time I'm back there to visit in-laws and driving in my car, when I stop at a red light, I feel I am on stage. The entire car stopped next to me (kids-mom-dad) all are looking right at me, like an animal at a zoo. "Weigookin cha un-jeon" or something ascinine like that. Like it's so amazing to see a foreigner driving a car! (gasp!!) Or the 'drive by' "Hello" so prevelant there-- they wait until you're 2-3 steps past them, then scream "Hello"-- never as you're walking towards them, only once you've passed them....11 years in Korea and Jeolla never ceases to amaze me...Truly sparkling Rolling Eyes

It isn't you, it's them...

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:31 pm Post subject:

nukeday wrote:

Another spellbinding Korean tale by Adventurer!

First he saw a black dog, and this time children are talking to him on the street!

What will happen next????

Not talking, being rude, pointing, and ridiculing someone who is a stranger and foreigner. Perhaps, you'll understand that, mate.

Where did I mention a child even talking? If you, actually, read what I wrote you would see no mention of a child in this case talking to me.

plchron

Joined: 26 Feb 2011
Location: Korea

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:33 pm Post subject:

I think the best example of the kids here not having any concept of the outside world is when, a couple years ago, a kid that immigrated to canada was at public school one day and 'dong chimed' his friend. I can't remember if he got charged with sexual assault and expelled or if he got hate crimed. But a perfect example of how children's primary and secondary modes of socialization in Korea are so out of whack with the rest of the world.

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 7:40 pm Post subject: Re: this kind of bad behavior from kids which seems racist o

thrylos wrote:

Adventurer wrote:

It isn't you, it's them...

Yes, I have heard that. I've been told that it is one of the most conservative places out there. I hear you're more likely to meet people who will be upset if you're dating a Korean. I can't say I have yet heard
kids say Waygookin to me. They've mostly been nice and said hello.
However, I've only been here for three months. Many of them have said hello while I was walking toward them and some past me. Some of them do say hello after you've already past them. I have had both. I've found the kids pretty nice, generally.

However, I am not surprised by what you said above. I can believe it. Probably, prejudice is stronger in the South than say in Seoul or Cheonan or Ilsan. I would also add the people here can also be extremely friendly. I guess kind of like the South in the U.S. I see plenty of the good, too. It is definitely uncalled for for people to have behaved the way they did towards you when you were in your car as if you're an interesting object rather than a person.

De toute facon, ce n'est pas la fin du monde. In any case, it's not the end of the world.

joelove

Joined: 12 May 2011

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:09 pm Post subject:

hossenfeffer wrote:

I'm always surprised at the number of VERY little kids who point at me and say to their mother, "waygookin!" It seems like "foreigner" would be a low frequency word given the scarcity of foreigners in Korea, but surprisingly MANY kids seem to know this word. Any insights as to why a three or four year old child has added this to his/her lexicon at such an early age?

I guess it's just a very common word. On TV, in conversations, doesn't matter if any foreigners are actually present. I doubt I knew the word "foreigner" at such an age, but I guess that word isn't so commonly used in the English-speaking world. I also believe it's a kind of an automatic response to say or at least think "foreigner" (in China and elsewhere too) almost as quickly as you'd notice gender. It's really part of their everyday vocabulary. For us, it isn't. Most of the time we stand out, impossible not to notice us.

You can also have somewhat advanced students who might not know the English word even though they've known their own word from a young age.

TheUrbanMyth

Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 9:16 pm Post subject:

plchron wrote:

I think the best example of the kids here not having any concept of the outside world is when, a couple years ago, a kid that immigrated to canada was at public school one day and 'dong chimed' his friend. I can't remember if he got charged with sexual assault and expelled or if he got hate crimed. But a perfect example of how children's primary and secondary modes of socialization in Korea are so out of whack with the rest of the world.

So this would never happen anywhere else in the rest of the world?

Say Japan for example?

Google "Kancho".

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:19 pm Post subject:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

plchron wrote:

So this would never happen anywhere else in the rest of the world?

Say Japan for example?

Google "Kancho".

The first time I went to Japan was when I was kid many years ago. Some Japanese kids saw my family and said something. They said we were foreigners in Japanese, but they weren't making fun of us. They were simply pointing out that we were foreigners. It still wasn't appropriate, but it's not as bad as someone ridiculing someone for being a foreigner, especially from a youngster. I don't know how it's like in Japan today in comparison to that time, so I can't comment, but I wouldn't be shocked if pointing out foreigners that way happens, but ridiculing foreigners is another matter.

metalhead

Joined: 18 May 2010
Location: Toilet

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 10:31 pm Post subject:

Korean kids are definitely the rudest kids (not all, obviously) I've encountered in Asia, but unlike, say, the kids in London, they aren't threatening at least. I suppose the rudeness wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't spend so much time around them at work. It's a constant effort teaching them basic manners such as saying 'thank you' and to not sneeze on me. especially in my face. And kids will be rude in the street in any country, that's not the problem of the kids it's the problem of the adults, who should put a stop to it. *When I say the rudest in Asia, I mean compared to Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and Japanese kids. I have no idea what the kids are like in Indonesia and Bangladesh.

ZIFA

Joined: 23 Feb 2011
Location: Dici che il fiume..Trova la via al mare

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2011 11:51 pm Post subject:

Plchron wrote:

children's primary and secondary modes of socialization in Korea are so out of whack with the rest of the world.

This is one reason FT's are valuable in Korea ( although many Koreans don't realise it). If we can at least moderate their behaviour by a certain age then we have helped them in their potential future lives.
I can't count the number of Koreans i 've known who left korea still doing something so elemental as eating noisily with their mouth open.
And then I've also seen these Koreans when abroad. They tend to struggle to integrate to any meaningful extent. Its a shame.

metalhead wrote:

It's a constant effort teaching them basic manners such as saying 'thank you' and to not sneeze on me. especially in my face.

And kids will be rude in the street in any country, that's not the problem of the kids it's the problem of the adults, who should put a stop to it.

I think we're all doing our best to bring students behaviour into line with international standards but often you will find a lot going against you, management-wise for trying to do so.
Bosses see our role as purely dispensing english, yet what I am forced to do most of the time is basic parenting.

Who's Your Daddy?

Joined: 30 May 2010
Location: Victoria, Canada.

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:20 am Post subject:

ZIFA wrote:

I think we're all doing our best to bring students behaviour into line with international standards...

I'm just taking the cash.

PatrickGHBusan

Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:29 am Post subject:

T-J wrote:

Ha. Yea, this used to bother me too circa 1994. It's something you will get past or you won't. Good luck.

Indeed. Quite true.

PatrickGHBusan

Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:31 am Post subject:

ZIFA wrote:

Plchron wrote:

children's primary and secondary modes of socialization in Korea are so out of whack with the rest of the world.

metalhead wrote:

Thanks Mr Cultural trainer and ambassador. Do you also travel about with your colonial administration staff when you venture to come into contact with the unwashed natives?

Good lord... Laughing

Munniko

Joined: 04 May 2011

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 4:31 am Post subject:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

plchron wrote:

So this would never happen anywhere else in the rest of the world?

Say Japan for example?

Google "Kancho".

I don't know Kancho is done among friends....where as random children in my school will come over and grab my boob, actually had one kid lead out of line to flick me in the boob the other day Shocked

never had that happen in Japan when I was teaching.

Adventurer

Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:02 am Post subject:

Munniko wrote:

TheUrbanMyth wrote:

plchron wrote:

So this would never happen anywhere else in the rest of the world?

Say Japan for example?

Google "Kancho".

I don't know Kancho is done among friends....where as random children in my school will come over and grab my boob, actually had one kid lead out of line to flick me in the boob the other day Shocked

never had that happen in Japan when I was teaching.

I can't relate. I don't have boobs. Shocked

All joking aside, one of my friends who has large boobs did have her boobs touched by young kids when she taught at a hagwon in Cheonan. That's definitely inappropriate.

Munniko

Joined: 04 May 2011

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2011 6:23 am Post subject:

Adventurer wrote:

Munniko wrote:

I don't know Kancho is done among friends....where as random children in my school will come over and grab my boob, actually had one kid lead out of line to flick me in the boob the other day Shocked

never had that happen in Japan when I was teaching.

I can't relate. I don't have boobs. Shocked

All joking aside, one of my friends who has large boobs did have her boobs touched by young kids when she taught at a hagwon in Cheonan. That's definitely inappropriate.

Yeah I actually watch a couple of kids when they come and give me hugs because I believe they are trying to aim higher than my stomach for face burying...I may ask the lead teacher what I can do about this.

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