Korean Job Discussion Forums

[nicam]

Man, I remember being REALLY young, and the mere sound or sight of a foreigner made me giggle. Their talk sounded soooo funny, and the clothes they wore seemed soooo silly and tight. My brother and I would giggle everytime an immigrant walked in the restaurant, or room, or whatever, of wherever we were.

Now, I still giggle uncontrollably at things others probably wouldn't find funny, and I can be a real dick sometimes, but now I know how those immigrants felt when we laughed at them and I feel kinda bad, and hell, I was like 8. So what's up with three months later and 30 year-old Korean PS co-teachers still uttering my name amidst a storm of Korean and hyenic laughter? And gimme a friggin break -- I just said good morning. It's really not that funny.

I can laugh at myself, and enjoyed the whole fish out of water comedy routine at first, but now it's just OLD. Am I the only schmuck in this country, or is anyone else wondering what the hell is so funny?

[jkelly80]

They're not rude, they're just shy. Or nervous, or they need to take a rest. And so on and so forth...

It's cultural.

[bundangbabo]

Yep! Though I feel superior when they do it and this saves me losing my
temper.

All in a day in the Childrens Republic of Korea - If an English staffroom extended such behaviour to a visiting Korean teacher there would be cries of RACISM!

[EzeWong]

Well,
Even though I know Jkelly is being sarcastic here, I was told it actually is a cultural thing.

Apparently, laughter is used to deflect embarassment. More so than it is in the west. I don't know if anyone else has noticed this but as soon as another Korean tries to speak English or make some attempt, they'll start laughing. It's not because they think English is funny but they are merely embarassed.

In your case though, I think they may just be really being jack offs. I got this one Korean teacher who everytime sees makes it her job to crack a smile (not a good one). She thinks my hair's funny (It's like a david beckam style, or as I like to call it, Goku from Dragon ball Z). It's annoying because it's quite predecitable...

But let me ask you, Are you saying GOOD morning in English? or Korean? That could be the reason right there....

[jkelly80]

If they can't get it that saying someone's name and laughing in another language is rude, their culture is deficient.

[hwarangi]

Do you have one teacher you get along with? Perhaps you could tell him/her that a) it's rude in your culture; b) it really makes you feel uncomfortable. I bet that teacher would tell the others.

[nicam]

Sometimes I say good morning in Korean, and sometimes in English.

I know it's a cultural thing and I really don't think they mean anything by laughing. And it's usually the ones I really like that do the laughing, the ones who engage me and tell me they are relieved I am so easy going (through English co-teacher translation of course). The ones who don't speak to me or return my greetings won't even crack a smile in my presence. Seems like it's an ice breaker, or shyness, or embarassment (all of the aforementioned). So, I don't think it's rudeness at all.

Also, like I mentioned, usually I am laughing with them at myself because I am a bit of a clown by nature, and it does break the ice and make for a better encounter, but sometimes you just get tired and cranky and you don't feel like performing or being on display, etc. It's hard to just blend in here, and it's nice to be a wallflower when you are exhausted and can't be bothered.

[nicam]

Sometimes I say good morning in Korean, and sometimes in English.

I know it's a cultural thing and I really don't think they mean anything by laughing. And it's usually the ones I really like that do the laughing, the ones who engage me and tell me they are relieved I am so easy going (through English co-teacher translation of course). The ones who don't speak to me or return my greetings won't even crack a smile in my presence. Seems like it's an ice breaker, or shyness, or embarassment (all of the aforementioned). So, I don't think it's rudeness at all.

Also, like I mentioned, usually I am laughing with them at myself because I am a bit of a clown by nature, and it does break the ice and make for a better encounter, but sometimes you just get tired and cranky and you don't feel like performing or being on display, etc. It's hard to just blend in here, and it's nice to be a wallflower when you are exhausted and can't be bothered.

[nicam]

Sometimes I say good morning in Korean, and sometimes in English.

I know it's a cultural thing and I really don't think they mean anything by laughing. And it's usually the ones I really like that do the laughing, the ones who engage me and tell me they are relieved I am so easy going (through English co-teacher translation of course). The ones who don't speak to me or return my greetings won't even crack a smile in my presence. Seems like it's an ice breaker, or shyness, or embarassment (all of the aforementioned). So, I don't think it's rudeness at all.

Also, like I mentioned, usually I am laughing with them at myself because I am a bit of a clown by nature, and it does break the ice and make for a better encounter, but sometimes you just get tired and cranky and you don't feel like performing or being on display, etc. It's hard to just blend in here, and it's nice to be a wallflower when you are exhausted and can't be bothered.

[mheartley]

None of mine care, they don't pay attention, they're all in "I hate this crappy job and I'm just counting down the minutes till I can go home" mode.

On the street I got it the other day though, walking home. Some well-to-do couple (or at least trying to look it, you know, decked out in shiny designer clothing) was walking by, the guy turned and looked at me at let out one of those annoying through-the-nose laughs, I was dressed totally normally so I don't know what his problem was...but anyway after a long day's work I just felt like slapping him one.

[verve]

To the OP: yeah, it is cultural. The explanation I have tried to fathom, but I'm not sure I'll ever fully understand Korean culture.

Someone mentioned making your feelings known. Good idea. I do this: take a teacher who I know is more understanding and empathetic than the rest (often the one who's been abroad) and tell her it makes me feel uncomfortable and isolated when said Korean teachers laugh/giggle/... Count on the fact that gossip will circulate.

Don't say you think it's rude - that's being ethnocentric and judgmental and a recipe for disaster when living in a country with a culture as dissimilar to one's own as Korea's. That is, if you want to get along with Koreans.

If that doesn't work, ignore it. Most of the Korean teachers I've worked with rarely are more mature than their students. Phase it out, be above that.

Third option: waegookin revenge. When Korean teachers do the "ooh look monkey waegookin in a cage, let's poke him!" I rapidly counter-attack by engaging them in a conversation about their weekends or school, whatever. For this, you need fluent Korean (really not hard to learn the basics).

Some of the staff were so intimated by me when I did this, that I've even taught them to stop saying "sorry"!

[EzeWong]

[caniff]

[jkelly80]

[mnhnhyouh]

The guys I mostly used to get this from were in the male teachers staff/smoking room. Now that I have teased them individualy many times in Korean, and made the others laugh when I do so, they dont do that stuff so much.

One day, we were watching golf. The guy sitting next to me, same age, gently tugged the hair on my arm, and said rough. I didnt understand him at first, but then got the golf reference.

I touched his arm and said green. They laughed. Then in broken Korean I told him that foreign men have hair there (I used fur not hair) and that foreign women dont. They expressed surprise.

Again I touched his arm but this time I asked him if he was a woman.

They burst out laughing, and he gave me a really hard slap on the back.

After that my life got much easier in the room, which is handy because I go there nearly every hour.

h