Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nautilus]

The evidence?
exhibit A:
Hamel's journal of 1653-66
http://www.hendrick-hamel.henny-savenije.pe.kr/holland5.htm

Looking through this, the parralels are striking and reminiscent of scenarios visiting foreigners find here today:

a) Foreign hogwon teachers made to perform like clowns
To the custom of the country he invited us accordingly to amuse him with dancing, singing and clownish behavior. Though we fulfilled this obligation with little talent and as little enthusiasm, our performance was to the liking of the king and his court.

b) Lifer/veteran waeguk expats resigned to being here long term:
He said that if we were birds, we could fly to there. They don't send foreigners from this country. They will provide you with a living and for clothes and in this way you will have to end your life in this country.It was remarkable that this man, of 57 or 58 years old, almost had forgotten his mother tongue, so that we hardly could understand him

c)National service
The male population is, until a certain age, being enlisted six months a year as a warrior....Who doesn't fulfill military service, has to perform replacing activities, and that during three months per year. Cavalry and infantry in cities and villages have to hand over three pieces of linen

d) Koreans admire white skin
They admired the whiteness of our skin. The possession of it is being regarded at as something desirable.

e) Stares and curiosity
we couldn't show ourselves on the street or a crowd was following us, or people were surrounding us and were gaping at us.

f) Notions of fairness
The army commander said that, if one decided to kill us, it had to be in a man to man fight, in which each of us had to fight against two Koreans

g) Corruption in Government: Mass pardoning of corrupt businessmen.
In the beginning of the year 1657 the governor was withdrawn from his post because of bribery. He was very loved by the people and both representatives of the nobility and the people requested the king to treat him mildly. Thanks to their mediation, he was not put to death. He received another function.

h) Midnight run to escape indentured slavery.
We didn't feel like doing slavery work for the rest of our lives. That's why we decided to sneak off as soon as possible. We fled with eight men, because we knew that the king would never let us go.

g) Women at a social disadvantage.
A man who kills his wife goes freely if he can proof that he had a good reason for that, for instance adultery or having failed in her marital duties.
The Koreans treat their women as slaves, whom they can repudiate for a futility. If the man doesn't want the children, the repudiated woman has to take them with her. No wonder this country is so densely populated.
A man may have as many wives as he can maintain and, if he desires, go to the whores.

h) Noraebangs/barber shops..
The well to do often go to a monastery to spend their leisure time. These are pleasantly situated in the mountains and between the trees. They often take whores with them to amuse themselves, and drink often a lot of strong alcoholic drinks, so that many a monastery looks more like a brothel or a cheap joint then a place where one can repent.
In all cities there are many joints and brothels where men go to see the whores dancing and where music is made and singing is done

i) Heated floors/ondol
Under the floors of the rooms they heat continuously, so that they are always warm like a baker's oven.

j) Get married at a suitable age to someone your parents approve of
There is no engagement time, because marriages are arranged by the parents when the children are only 10 to twelve years old.

k) Private tuition = $$
Noblemen and well to do give their children a good education. They hire teachers to teach them reading and writing.

l) Hogwons do not discipline students
The children do not receive education with strictness but with gentleness.

m) Passing an exam is everything

Many parents also have to grab deep into their wallet, to pay for the study of their children. Too many never get the high administrator post for which it all started in the first place. But the bare fact that their children succeeded in passing the exam, give the parents so much satisfaction that the sacrifices they had to do are highly compensated.

n) Graves are mounds in the hills
To bury the dead, much care is taken. Fortune tellers determine what the most suitable burial place is. This is most of the time in the mountains, where no water can reach it.On the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the grass on the graves is mowed and a rice offering is made.

o) Preference for Sons
After the death of the parents and after the burial rites have been performed, the eldest son gets the house and the accessories. The remaining properties, lands and goods are being divided amongst the other sons. Daughters never inherit anything, not even if they don't have brothers.

p) Not payment of severance/ fired in 11th month..
Koreans are not very strict when it comes to mine and thine, they lie and cheat and that's why they can't be trusted. They are proud if they have cheated somebody and they don't think that's a disgrace.

q) Koreans are naive
On the other hand the Koreans are very gullible. We could fool them with anything.



There you have it. Korean attitudes have not changed for centuries..

[Guri Guy]

Ha ha! I have read Hamel before. Good stuff.

Did you mention where Koreans told the Dutch if they went to Japan that they would be beaten to death upon arrival? The Korean propaganda machine hasn't changed either.

[nautilus]

[Mr. Pink]

The air quality has certainly changed. I'd rather have cleaner air to go with my daily dose of Korea.

[Ya-ta Boy]

The OP forgot to list the bit about picnics in the country that Hamel mentions. That hasn't changed either.

[Gwangjuboy]

That's the first time time I have read the diary in such detail. It was a great read! This passage disturbed me though,

A woman, who kills her husband, is buried alongside a road on which a lot of people pass, in a way that only her head sticks out of the ground. Next to her they put a wooden saw, with which everybody who passes her, except the nobility, has to saw one time on her head, until she dies.

and this,


Who is guilty of manslaughter, is punished as follows: the corps of the body is washed with vinegar and dirty water. This mixture is poured into the mouth of the criminal with a funnel. Then his swollen belly is beaten with sticks until it bursts.

[jkelly80]

[komerican]

I doubt that a korean ending up in the west at that time would have been treated any better, actually far worse. He might have been accused of being a devil worshipper.

Keep in mind folks that around this time Westerners were having fun with the Salem witch trials

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials

[nautilus]

[jdog2050]

[i4NI]

Another thread where a foreigner is bitter, complaining, and/or feel above Koreans. Another thread where a foreigner is trying to attack Korean people and make generalizations. Dave's has not changed one bit either!

[endo]

[endo]

[sjrm]

[quote="komerican"]I doubt that a korean ending up in the west at that time would have been treated any better, actually far worse. He might have been accused of being a devil worshipper.

Keep in mind folks that around this time Westerners were having fun with the Salem witch trials

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salem_witch_trials
[quote]


Keep in mind that things in the west have actually changed since then.

[Yu_Bum_suk]