Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cj1976]

Korean people do seem to have a culturally-ingrained lack of thought for strangers. Perhaps this is due to the low-trust values in Korean society, or a run-off of struggling to survive harsh social conditions and crippling poverty.
It is very much a 'go for self' frame of mind here, demonstrated in everything from concepts of personal space to getting on a bus.
My wife is Korean and she is often reluctant to go on holiday where other Koreans flock to, simply because of the sheer noise they make.
We were in Malaysia a few years ago and were staying in the same hotel as some boisterous Korean high-school kids. My missus couldn't sleep because of their noise so she shut down their party quick sharp haha. In fairness to them, they didn't try to sass her when she told them to STFU.
If I had done that to some British kids, they would probably have just told me to *beep* off!
As for flying with Koreans, they are always the first to stand up after landing - completely ignoring the request to stay seated. I flew BA to London last summer and the air crew were having none of it. It was like watching children being chastised. My wife was quite embarrassed.

[optik404]

The worst thing I ever saw on a flight from KR-US was before departing the korean dude next to me was trying to put his bag in the overhead compartment. But there was already a bag up there taking most of the space. So to make his bag fit, he started punching it with full force to squeeze his bag in to it. Finally the owner of the bag, this big black US military dude who was sitting next to me stood up and said hey man be careful, the Korean guy said sorry and put his bag in and sat down. It was hella awkward the entire 15hr trip cause they were seated next to each other across from the aisle. He was cool though. We got to talking and he was super happy to be leaving Korea rofl. Said he never left base the entire time and just stayed in his room.

[Scorpion]

[Steelrails]

This is why I schedule my flights at peak times that have a great chance of being overbooked so I can fly the next day after getting upgraded to business class. A little pricier on the initial ticket, but boy nothing like that free upgrade.

Enjoy the peasant compartment with all the riff-raff.

If I'm forced into economy I think I'd just pop a bunch of pills beforehand, liquor myself up, and blast loud music in my headphones if any of that ridiculousness started.

[Smithington]

[Steelrails]

[optik404]

[Mix1]

[Mix1]

[Captain Corea]

Very much agreed, mix1. That mirrors a lot of my experiences as well. Especially if I'm surrounded by a package tour or a group of teens being brought overseas for the first time.

Ya can't call everyone on their %$#@ every time, we know that. I was more curious if other people did it as well though.

[Otter]

[Steelrails]

[Hokie21]

On my last KR-US flight I sat next to an extremely old Korean couple and aside from their constant bathroom breaks it was great. Honestly I think I prefer sitting next to Asians as I'm 6'2 and they are generally fairly small so that leaves more leg room for me....also they rarely attempt to talk to you.

Oh, and the only thing which is almost as bad as being stuck near a crying baby is having to sit next to a really fat westerner who won't shut up for 12 hours. When I was waiting in the terminal in Inchon a 6'5 chubby ginger wearing a Larry Bird jersey and a really thick Boston accent sat next to me and for some reason decided to introduce himself and tell me his life story. I sat there praying I wouldn't get stuck next to him.

[cj1976]

I think the point being made here is that a lot of Korean tourists are quite inconsiderate, and this stems from a socially-conditioned selfishness. Too many Koreans simply do not seem to understand, or care, how their actions may affect others. This is obviously a generalization, but the perception of strangers and how to behave around them is quite different in Korea to what we are used to.
Saying that, I think some people on this board are very preoccupied with their Korea-hate, and they focus on finding faults in Koreans. People can be annoying - no matter where they are from. Getting on a plane and going to a popular tourist destination is always going to be testing.

[jvalmer]

I've found that Korean airplane behavior has slightly improved in 10 years. Remember when I first got here. Once the plane landed, and was heading to the terminal, almost every Korean was standing getting their bags. Now it's like 20% of them. And if your on a foreign airline, they are much better behaved as opposed to flying a Korean carrier into Korea.