Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Qinella]

Usually I just give a polite smile and eye contact, because there's no point in pretending we don't notice each other. If s/he says hi to me, I'll respond likewise. Also, I notice the western chicks I see are way less likely to say hi, or even return the eye contact and smile, than the guys. I'm not sure what it is -- maybe defensiveness from lots of western dudes hitting on them because they're desperate for some afro-between-the-leg-less rollaround?

Dunnae, but ladies, you sure don't look too happy when I see you buying flip-flops in E-Mart or waiting for that cross-walk light to change! Lighten up a bit, will ya? Try to hop around when you walk and maintain a cheery foreigner look when you're out and about. We need more than just 20-something Canadian guys working on our image~

[xingyiman]

Usually I ignore them.

[peppermint]

it's got very little to do with Western guys. Think about how many times you've heard/ read us complain about students trying to look up our skirts, adjoshis asking if we're prostitutes and random freaks following us home because white girls are easy. Nothing personal, its just a minor defense mechanism.

[CaptainConjunction]

[kangnam mafioso]

1. Stop
2. Avoid Eye Contact
3. Back away slowly

[caniff]

I run up to them and say "HELLO!!" in a prepubescent voice.

Then my friends in the background start giggling and pointing.

Then we all run away.

[sadsac]

I generally say hi, but often there is no response, so I just keep on moseying along.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It all depends on where I am. In a big city I don't really care. In my small town I know all the foreign residents, and if I ran into one I didn't know I'd probably stop to ask what he's up to here.

[HapKi]

[xingyiman]

Western guys and gals I have noticed don't go out of their way to be friendly, but neither do I for that matter. I have my circle of expat friends (very samll) and thats enough for me. In my opinion we are all running from something back home whether it's lack of lucrative job opportunities, failed relathionships etc.. so maybe it has something to do with avoidance based on our insecurities? When I first arrived in Korea I was what you could describe as downright unfriendly to most Western women but after a while I realized that the women who were here, unless they're in the military are a different cut than the run of the mill, in your face femenist thats back home. Thats why they're here. I have met some of the latter types but in my experience they take about a month of the traditional Korean treatment of women and they run home crying for mommy Hillary.

[SPINOZA]

I'm quite shy of strangers and sometimes I'll just pretend I haven't seen them. Yet sometimes I'll stare right at them, smile and say hi. Depends how friendly they look. Ended up having a big chat with an American guy in my area recently - we don't get too many foreigners in my area and we were both waiting the customary 5 hours to cross the street, so a conversation (which I started) was essential. Sometimes someone just doesn't look like 'my type of person' and I won't go out of my way (which is judgemental, I know, but there you go) and I hate it when you're friendly to someone and they then tell you they're missionaries. In that case it's "oh, that's nice. Bye".

[seoulsucker]

If I'm not wearing/using both, I either have my sunglasses or my mp3 player on at all times outside of my apartment. That's on a pedestrian level, though.

In a bar or at a party, I'm actually very outgoing.

[bellum99]

I scream Meeeeguk!!! Then my friends and I stare at the westerner all we want. We have the right to make him uncomfortable anytime we want because we are Korean. Then we randomly say "hi" very loudly so that other people stop and stare too.
We can point and discuss what we don't like about the westerner in Korean because the westerner is too stupid to speak Korean. They don't know we are saying "pig" or "stinky" or "dirty" in Korean. They aren't human because only Korean people are human (waeguk), so it is okay to say and do what we want to them.

[periwinkle]

[merlot]