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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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Swiss James
Joined: 26 Nov 2003
Location: Shanghai
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 Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 9:52 pm Post subject: |
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When a group of korean guys went to our office in Manchester, there wasn't a korean restaurant so they ate in McDonalds every day.
Sort of flips the stereotype on it's head. |
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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 21, 2003 10:26 pm Post subject: |
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| On the other hand wrote: |
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| many of them retain their insular, narrowminded ways and patterns of life regardless where they go. |
So, if someone prefers his native country's cuisine to that of another country, this automatically makes him narrow-minded and insular? Isn't that kind of a superficial critieria? If these Koreans are so narrow-minded and insular, why are they travelling overseas to begin with?
Also, how do you know that the Koreans you see in Korean restaurants in the west don't also patronize western-style restaurants? |
You're missing the point. The point is that no Westerner would presume to walk up to a Korean eating Korean cuisine outside of his home country and say, "Hey Mr. Kim, you really should be eating Western food, tsk tsk!" But Koreans, because many of them ARE insular and narrow-minded, see nothing wrong with deciding that that waygookin needs to be told he shouldn't eat at McDonalds'. |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:10 am Post subject: |
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I prefer going to a Korean restaurant (in another country) and seeing a bunch of Koreans eating in there. Makes me feel like I'm back in Korea again. I'd hate to go in there and see a bunch of white folk chomping away.
When I do see a bunch of white folk in the Korean restaurants abroad.. I always listen in real close to hear if any of them mention 'well back when I was teaching in Korea....' |
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Gord
Joined: 25 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 1:02 am Post subject: |
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| Corporal wrote: |
| You're missing the point. The point is that no Westerner would presume to walk up to a Korean eating Korean cuisine outside of his home country and say, "Hey Mr. Kim, you really should be eating Western food, tsk tsk!" But Koreans, because many of them ARE insular and narrow-minded, see nothing wrong with deciding that that waygookin needs to be told he shouldn't eat at McDonalds'. |
?
I know this guy named Gord. Nice guy once you get to know him. Loves to share punch and pie. Anyway, he used to run this game store. Now game stores tend to be big draws to Asian exchange students as they are a piece of home as many of the games he sold were from their home countries. And near the game store of Gord was a Japanese restaurant that Gord ate from frequently. Oh, can we guess where this story is going?
Anyway, since dinner was going to be brought over anyway, others would order in as part of a larger order. Wasn't always Japanese food, but for this example we will use that food product for today. So there we were, in the social area of the game store of Gord eating Japanese food. Japanese students, Taiwanese students, and of course healthy caucasians. Frequently a customer would make a comment "why don't you try eating Canadian food?" as they were under the impression that eating eastern food was all the people of Asian background did, not withstanding that eating Japanese food was not something the Taiwanese students had really done before in any great amount.
Does this little story that repeated itself over many times mean that even a majority of Canadians are insular and narrow minded? Or is just that some people are genuinely curious about people from other countries and would like to share with them a valued part of their culture? |
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Barking Mad Lord Snapcase
Joined: 04 Nov 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:38 am Post subject: |
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| Corporal wrote: |
| You're missing the point. The point is that no Westerner would presume to walk up to a Korean eating Korean cuisine outside of his home country and say, "Hey Mr. Kim, you really should be eating Western food, tsk tsk!" But Koreans, because many of them ARE insular and narrow-minded, see nothing wrong with deciding that that waygookin needs to be told he shouldn't eat at McDonalds'. |
Whatever keeps you away from the public squat pots is OK by me, whether Western or Korean.
If these Koreans glanced around the store they were in, they would see that 95% of the diners are Korean. Thus they are asking you to be more Korean than the average Korean.  This is a classic cultural mistake of taking one tiny snapshot out of context. Both cultures are guilty of such generalizations. However, Westerners are taught to at least be aware of the reality of change. While many Koreans share this awareness, there are still those who exhibit the "eternal now" syndrome. "You slow today" = "You always slow"; "You angry today" = "You always angry" etc.
Once I was in a Korean pub reading the book "Culture Shock: Korea". I was jokingly discussing the subject matter with an American teacher, saying that I should have read this months ago. "Same here," he half joked. Obviously, I was reading it just to work out what made this culture tick - precisely because I disagreed with it. This is a very Western motivation for investigating something.
Within minutes, a young Korean woman who knew some English started reading over my shoulder. "You interested in Korean culture?" she asked. I tried to explain to her that I was trying to understand it. She put her arm around my shoulder and pointed enthusiastically at the "Confucianism" heading, which I was reading because (to me) it represented the pinnacle of undemocratic wierdness. It would have been virtually impossible to explain my motives or interests to her - the delicious irony of the situation was so far removed from the traditional Korean way of "face value" thinking that communication could only remain awkwardly superficial. My Korean co-workers who knew me better could discuss such matters with openess and humour; but to the stranger you meet on the street, it is a different story. |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:23 am Post subject: |
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On the other hand wrote:
Quote:
many of them retain their insular, narrowminded ways and patterns of life regardless where they go.
So, if someone prefers his native country's cuisine to that of another country, this automatically makes him narrow-minded and insular? Isn't that kind of a superficial critieria? If these Koreans are so narrow-minded and insular, why are they travelling overseas to begin with?
Also, how do you know that the Koreans you see in Korean restaurants in the west don't also patronize western-style restaurants?
You're missing the point. The point is that no Westerner would presume to walk up to a Korean eating Korean cuisine outside of his home country and say, "Hey Mr. Kim, you really should be eating Western food, tsk tsk!" But Koreans, because many of them ARE insular and narrow-minded, see nothing wrong with deciding that that waygookin needs to be told he shouldn't eat at McDonalds'.
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Corporal:
Quit trying to re-write the thread. Your opening quote about insularity and narrow-mindedness was a response to Gord, who had been discussing the issue of Korean eating habits abroad. You even used the phrase "regardless where they go", which clearly indicates to me that you were not talking about Koreans in Korea pestering foreigners to try Korean food. Please do not insult our intelligence by taking your own words out of context to distort their meaning. |
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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:31 am Post subject: |
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[quote="On the other hand"]
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| Quit trying to re-write the thread. Your opening quote about insularity and narrow-mindedness was a response to Gord, who had been discussing the issue of Korean eating habits abroad. You even used the phrase "regardless where they go", which clearly indicates to me that you were not talking about Koreans in Korea pestering foreigners to try Korean food. Please do not insult our intelligence by taking your own words out of context to distort their meaning. |
Um...
I was responding to Camel's situation where he described how a Korean was pestering him (a foreigner) to try Korean food. There are many many more Koreans where that one came from. That's what I was talking about.
But hey, if you want to re-write history so that Koreans are a xenophilic, open-minded society, that welcomes foreigners and differences with open arms and hearts, go right ahead. I wonder just how many of us will laugh at you? |
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HardyandTiny
Joined: 03 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:33 am Post subject: |
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Lotteria is the best
yeah
Lotteria has the best hamburgers in Korea.
I love that. |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:35 am Post subject: |
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| Corporal wrote: |
| xenophilic |
Are those the people who like to screw dead strangers? |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:38 am Post subject: |
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Corporal:
Here is Gord's post:
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Corporal wrote:
I think we should all stalk the Koreans back in the West who eat in Korean restaurants. Go after them when they leave the restaurant and say, "I think you eat here too much. You should really have a hamburger once in a while." Hypocrites.
Have you met many Korean outside the country? Or when you stand around in restaurants and see Asians, do you walk up to them and request they identify what country they are from?
I ask because you're damning them all. I also ask because in my limited dealings with Koreans outside the country, we never went to a Korean restaurant for meals when discussing business.
Battle of the anecdotal evidences! She has hearsay, he has eyewitness accounts. Magic is in the air. |
Last edited by On the other hand on Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:40 am; edited 1 time in total |
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On the other hand
Joined: 19 Apr 2003
Location: I walk along the avenue
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:39 am Post subject: |
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And here is your reply:
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wrote:
in my limited dealings with Koreans outside the country....
You just admitted you have only limited dealings with Koreans outside the country. There are many posters on here who have had considerable dealings with Koreans outside the country and have testified to the fact that many of them retain their insular, narrowminded ways and patterns of life regardless where they go. I tend to believe those who have more experience, as should you since you seem so down on anecdotal evidence.
Oh, and my post was intended to be lighthearted rather than "damn" all Koreans as ignorant hypocrites, but you knew that, you're just playing your favorite game again. Have fun, Captain Nauseous!
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Now, are you seriously going to tell me that you were not responding to Gord? |
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Tiger Beer
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 5:52 am Post subject: |
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| the_beaver wrote: |
| Corporal wrote: |
| xenophilic |
Are those the people who like to screw dead strangers? |
Mesmerizing word I agree. I did a search for it, its not in any dictionary.. but found it in a few other webpage texts:
http://korgy.kokoyashi.net/arukaibu/2003_08.html
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| The strongest cultures in history have always been the ones that were xenophilic, that were curious with respect to other cultures and always interested in finding out how other people did things to see if their way was better or not, and if it was, to adopt it. The increasing links in global communication and tendency towards 'globalisation' are accelerating this process and making it more inevitable. |
http://www.1x2x1.org/fiction/karan_seraph/another_version_of_events62.htm
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I know." Heero lowered his head again, though his eyes were still aimed toward Duo. "I like how you look more than those tanned and sun-kissed boys."
Duo grinned. "I don't know whether I should be offended by your xenophilic fixation with me or not?"
"My xenophilia? Duo? I know your types."
"Hey! I like some White people very much!" Duo laughed.
"You like all kinds of people very much."
"Heero. You don't have to say it like that. I was never a complete *beep*!"
Heero laughed. Duo was acting as least twice as hurt as he really was. "Mm. Now it is up to me alone to deal with your sex drive." |
Among others.... INTERESTING! I never heard the term myself until now. I'll have to adopt it into my vocabulary.  |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 6:17 am Post subject: |
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| Tiger Beer wrote: |
| INTERESTING! I never heard the term myself until now. I'll have to adopt it into my vocabulary. |
Roger that. That's a good word. |
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little mixed girl
Joined: 11 Jun 2003
Location: shin hyesung's bed~
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 12:52 pm Post subject: |
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......
Last edited by little mixed girl on Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:23 am; edited 1 time in total |
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katydid
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2003 9:07 pm Post subject: |
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Xenophilia....that is a good word. I know plenty of people who love the world that is outside the one they live in. It's weird. -philia means love for, and there are things like well, only nasty examples come to mind like necrophilia and paedophilia, but...then there is also hemophilia, which is not the love for blood. Interesting language we have here.  |
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