Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zeus]

1. As opposed to throwing garbage on the street or in the river, the Japanese have conveniently placed trash recepticles for your garbage and recyclables.

2. Manners. Rather than plow through you like a linebacker as though you aren't even there as the ajummas do here, Middle-aged and older Japanese women are very polite and will excuse themselves if they happen to run into you.

3. Manners contd. Let's talk about common sense. Koreans don't know how to form a line. They simply see what they want at the counter and will run straight to it rather than wait for the person in front of them to go. In Japan people will go out of their way to be polite or assist a foreigner if they have a question.

4. Patience. Koreans have none. Elevators, subways, boats, it doesn't matter where, a Korean will always try to get on or off before politely waiting for others to do so first. This doesn't happen in Japan. Whenever Koreans get on or off the train at a busy station it's like watching a herd of pigs run for a recently filled trough.

5. Simple things like baseball. Going to a baseball game in Korea is like going to a soju drinking contest: Who can pass out or get in a fight first! Most Koreans are so wasted by the fourth inning they probably don't even know the score. In Japan the fans are attentive, know the rules of the game and treat fellow fans as they would want to be treated. Food and beverages are sold at the game for a reasonable price, there is no need to bring a giant cooler full of lukewarm fried chicken, squid and diarrea inducing Hite beer.

6. Architecture: Korea has none. If there is an aesthetically pleasing or well designed building in Korea I haven't seen it. In Japan the quality, design and upkeep of the buildings are that which you would expect from an advanced nation. Korea seems to use the same formula over and over, make it tall, make it concrete and make it so it will only last 35 years.

7. Fashion seems to be an issue as well. I just can't even describe what an older gentleman in Korea wears on a Sunday as an form of fashion. Forget fashion Korean men struggle to learn how to match colors. In Japan you will find well dressed and well groomed men. (No Homo)

8. Work ethic. How are you supposed to be a productive nation if you are out until 4 am drinking soju and report to work by 8 or 9 still drunk? This needs to be addressed, and again is not something the Japanese seem to struggle with.

9. Sewage system. What part of designing a fuctioning sewage system did Korea miss? Let's place wet carpets and towels over sewage grates instead of using manhole covers that would solve the stench of shit problem in this country. The air in Japan is clean and crisp. My sinuses loved it.

10. Social problems. Advanced nations don't treat their women the way Korean women are treated. I can't wait until there's finally a women's liberation movement in this country to put all of these old school, blasted on soju, philandering, wife-beating, Venereal disease carrying, chain-smoking, chauvinistic ajjoshis in their place.

11. While we're talking about a women's lib movement why don't Korean women respect themselves? Apparently it's just "culture" to accept that one year after marriage your no better to your husband than a baby factory and just their to raise his kids and make his rice and kimchi while he goes out cheats on you right and left. Start respecting yourself! It's time to stop selling your bodies for Gucci bags and covering up your natural good looks with expensive cosmetics. Sure Japanese women are far more beautiful on average but that doesn't mean that you have to have sex with ten discusting guys a night just so you can afford plastic surgery!

12. Let's talk about parenting. A Japanese child cries, the parents are attentive to the childs needs within reason. If a Korean child cries they are just yelled at and asked why. Time to institute some parental bootcamps to add to the flourishing hagwon industry.

13. Buses. On a Korean bus the driver jerks in and out of gear while weaving through traffic. When it comes time for you to get off, you have just enough time to get through door before he speeds off again. A Japanese bus driver handles the bus well, drives safely and is courteous to you as you leave the bus.

14. Taxis. Korean taxis are sometimes dirty and more often than not the driver will scare you half to death getting you where you want to go. A Japanese taxi is spotless and the driver will get you to your destination on time without scaring the shit out of you with his sub par driving skills.

15. Food. Why can't Korean's stock their convenience stores with anything edible or nutritious. It's just row after row of shitty snacks, chips, ramen, soju and beer. Japanese convenience stores supply many nutritious meals to go along with a much wider selection of products than two different brands of soju or ramen noodles.

[Orchidelirium]

So true -- Koreans should be forced to read why foreigners like Japan so much more than Korea. I wonder what they think of it?

[asylum seeker]

[Css]

Someones got a bit of japanophilia going on..

[Young FRANKenstein]

[kermo]

I noticed you didn't mention the role of women in Japanese society. I doubt it would shine in comparison to Korea.

I think your comments about child-rearing were pretty unfair too. If anything, Korean parents are too attentive to their children's whining.

I've been to a baseball game and it bore no resemblance to what you described.

Korean buses are a pretty wild ride, but they're cheap and they go everywhere.

You can fault Korean productivity, but the Japanese shouldn't be held up as a model, as they routinely work themselves to death.

You did bring up a few good points, like Japanese convenience store, but you've run a bit rampant with this one.

[OnTheOtherSide]

The only reason why I am even in Northeast Asia at all is to pillage and plunder.

Avast yee matey, where the gold be at? Korea, not Japan.....

I'm just saving up some cash to go to some REALLY cool places and then i'm saying Adios mi Amigo to this whole part of the Earth.

By the way.Japan is racist and hates white people. I couldn't even get a hotel room and I got the cold shoulder at a few other places for being white. I slept on the street in fact, because every hotel freaked out about me and wouldn't give me a room. Fun....

[oskinny1]

You did pretty well with the first 7 (though I find the beer, 700 yen, to be pretty expensive at a Japanese baesball game, not to mention the cheapest ticket is 1800 yen), but completely blew it with the others.

Gender equality in Japan?? Ha!

They work about as hard as Koreans. When I am riding my bike home after work it is a chore to not hit a stumbling salaryman.

It is already starting to smell here and it hasn't even gotten hot yet.

About crying kids. It is completely the opposite here. They have a name for them, "Monster Parents". Their little snowflake is the greatest thing in the world and they get whatever they want.

Taxis cost 700 yen just to get in. 5 minute ride cost me 2500 yen. I would rather get in a cheap dirty taxi.

Don't eat at convenience stores.

[sojourner1]

Yes, of course Japan is much more pleasant than Korea, but it's expensive.

[ESL Milk "Everyday]

I think a lot of this is pretty accurate... I'm not saying Japan is better overall but it does have a lot of things going for it, and cleanliness, attention to detail, and manners are the big ones.

On the other hand, last week when I was waiting to get onto the bus and letting all the Koreans push past without acknowledging that there even is a line or could be one or that they would even exist anywhere, even in that mythical place known as 'the universe outside of themselves'... there was a single woman at the end who watched me let them all go by without pushing or shoving like they were, and then smiled at me and said 'you can go first, it's okay'.

I know it makes for a really boring story, but that kind of thing hardly ever happens here so I thought it was actually really special, and it also makes me realize that even though the vast majority of people here are hopelessly awful narcissists, there is a minority with manners who realize that in a society it is also important to be aware of the needs of those around you and not just think of your own.

[Yesterday]

[jkelly80]

I think a fair amount of blame as to why there is no architecture here can be placed on the shoulders of the Japanese and their 'social experimentation'. Japan had sucked a decent amount of wealth and talent out of this country while they were here, to say nothing of the outright destruction they caused once they realized that they weren't an invincible nation of hive minded god-men in 1945. A little context would be nice the next time you decide to bitch.

The civil war six years after liberation didn't help matters either, however.

[Pooty]

OP, there's a very popular website that both Koreans and Japanese go to where they type in their language and it comes out in the other language...and they discuss a lot of controversial issues.

There's a raging thread over there that's been going on for awhile now...

The Japanese titled it "Citizenship" - and it's about most of the things you mention in your post. Interesting huh?

[komerican]

Koreans say this also. I always ask, "Well, why can't you be more like the Japanese?" That usually throws them for a loop.

Why can't the English be more like the Irish? Why can't the Italians be more like the Germans?

Why in the world can't Americans be more like the Japanese? What can't Americans be more like the Iraqis? Why, why, why?? so many whys....

It's a silly question, imo.

[pkang0202]

I'm thinking the OP lives in Korea, but only stayed in Japan for a week.

Japan has got a lot of problems too. Obvisouly, they are ahead of Korea in many ways due to their geographic size and population. After WW2, the Japanese didn't continue to have the threat of war, nor did they have mandatory military service for the men.

The OP are trying to compare apples to oranges. Take a look at the both country's history in the past 60 years. Which country had a smoother ride to grow and prosper?