Korean Job Discussion Forums

[normalcyispasse]

There's a lot of native-poking that goes on on these boards -- I know, I'm often guilty of it myself -- and it's easy to lose sight of some of the wonderful things that Koreans do. In that vein, why don't we take advantage of this Hallmark holiday and post stories of positive experiences with the locals?

[normalcyispasse]

I'll go first. I have two stories, both involving motorcycle mishaps.


The first occurred in January 2006. I'd been here a few months and had saved enough to buy a real bike. I went to Masan to purchase a Ninja ZX7R. I got there and bought the bike but it overheated on the way home and the girl I was dating and I were stranded on the side of Highway 2 at 10:30 at night, still hours away from Yeosu. I parked the bike and we hopped a guardrail and hiked to town to try to find lodging while we figured out what to do.

We were in the middle of nowhere so it was late when we finally found the first sign of civilization, a restaurant which was closed but still had a light on. We entered and exhorted the owner-ajumma to help us. At this point my Korean was pretty poor (well, worse than it is now) but somehow I figured out that the woman's husband spoke Japanese (being of a certain age, you can guess why). Since I speak Japanese, she called him and had him come over; I was able to explain the situation to him, and the couple helped us out. They found us a motel and helped us get set up for the night.

At this point it was almost midnight. I called my co-teacher -- I didn't want to disturb my hagwon owner -- to see if she had any ideas. She didn't, but she called my boss. Around midnight Mr. Kang, my employer, called me. "Brandon?" he said, "you have trouble with motorcycle?" I explained the situation to him. "Okay," he said, "I will come tomorrow, 8:00." I thought he would call in the morning and said so. "No, I will come there." Surprised, since this city was at least a 3-hour drive from Yeosu, I acceded.

At 8AM Mr. Kang showed up. We drove to the restaurant first to thank the couple for their help, and they gave us breakfast and snacks for the road. Together Mr. Kang and I straightened out the motorcycle problems, with him arranging a Bongo truck to cart the bike back to Yeosu. Then, instead of going home, Mr. Kang asked the girl and I if we liked skiing. "Sure," we said. At that point Mr. Kang told us to relax and drove us to Muju. He paid for our food, lodging, equipment and lift tickets and treated us to a weekend of skiing and good times.

I'll never forget that, and I firmly stand by my statement that Kang Cheol-su is one of the best and most generous men I've ever had the privilege of knowing.

[normalcyispasse]

The second story is more recent.

Last summer I was in the mood to carve some corners. I zipped on my leathers and drove my GSX-R to a bike shop in Suncheon that serves as a hangout for sportbikers and convinced a couple of the guys (all Korean, of course) to go riding with me on Sangsa dam. They called a few other guys and we headed out; I'd met only one of them before, and the rest were all new acquaintances.

After riding and tackling some awesome corners with knees down and balls hanging way out, we stopped for lunch. We had a hearty meal and the Koreans paid for my food. After leaving the restaurant we continued on with the ride. A couple corners later we entered a curve and, while dragging my knee and boogeying at full tilt, I hit a patch of sand. My rear wheel slid at 120kph and I took a sick lowside.

After picking myself up (my leathers and race gear absolutely saved my hide, figuratively and literally) everyone else stopped to help out. They made sure I was okay and then called the owner of the bike shop to come pick up my bike. The shop owner came all the way out -- on a Sunday, his only off day, and for free -- with his flatbed to drive the bike and me back.

We all headed back to the shop and drank coffee and swapped stories of accidents and mishaps in Korean. Eventually we piled into the back of the shop owner's van, and I was given a free ride all the way back home (about 50km) with everyone keeping me company.

Instead of ignoring the accident or doing the minimum, these guys -- many of whom I'd just met -- rallied together to help me out the same way they would have if I'd been a Korean. They treated me not as a curiosity, but as a family member or close friend. As we rode home, I felt very little regret about binning my bike simply because I was happy to have such good company.

[nicholas_chiasson]

-if nothing else we have learned...
YOU SHOULDN"T BE ON A HOG!

[Night Ranger]

My most heartwarming Korean story....ahh...it was the time when a Korean man broke a glass hite bottle over my head outside the local chicken hof. I immediately fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. While I was laying half-conscious, this gentlemanly fellow proceeded to defecate all over my face, neck, and collarbones. Everytime I think about it it brings tears to my ears..

[kingplaya4]

I don't have any amazing heartwarming stories of my own, but I have seen the following two clips on youtube, which contradict the behavior we often see when Koreans are strangers to each other. And if you're not much into the heartwarming stuff, you see some amazing close calls in the two cips.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVAWva0QXl8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebRVSZioMj4

[normalcyispasse]

[Lekker]

[kiwiduncan]

Those two videos are very cool.

[Mi Yum mi]

[caniff]

[kingplaya4]

Terrible stuff for all the subway workers who have to deal with it. Still a lot better than what seems to be happening back home with take a few with you before your take yourself out.

Anyway, on a more positive note, I'd love to know if these people took a split second to think of their own life, or if there first instinct is just to help right away without even thinking of the danger. I once saw a guy passed out on the yellow lines of a busy road (which had rapid and heavy traffic). I helped him as soon as there was a bit of a break in the traffic, but I definitely waited until I was probably out of danger. Bit of a different situation, but I doubt I could've dashed out there like those guys or that women did, I bet the subway bell had already rang, and even if they didn't consciously think of it, I'm sure they knew things were going to be awful close.

[caniff]

[fancypants]

[Morton]

I saw a guy lying on the tracks a couple of weeks ago. I would have jumped in to save him but I had a good suit on and didn't want to get dirty. Fortunately some poorly dressed Koreans pulled the man back onto the platform.