Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ruthdes]

Ok, this is my friend's story, but I found it so unbelievable, I had to post it on here.

Some back story: My friend is half Korean half American, and spent quite a few years of her childhood here growing up. As a result she is bilingual. She lives in a villa with her boyfriend who is also my friend and was my coworker. She originally got the apartment from the hagwon that she was working for for her first year here, then when she quit to become a freelancer, negotiated with the landlady and the hagwon to take over the lease. She could do this easily because she can speak Korean. She has been on good terms with her LL for the duration of her stay here.

So it's now time for them to leave and they were trying to find another teacher to take over the lease and take their stuff so they don't have to lug all the furniture down the stairs from their 6th floor apartment (!).

They found a new coworker of mine who was willing to take it, but her LL then started ringing her on Wednesday telling her that she was worried about letting another foreigner take it because of swine flu....then she got another call...the LL's still worried. Then Thursday morning, my friend was woken up by her LL saying that the replacement tenant couldn't move in because the other tenants had threatened to move out if another foreigner moved in. In addition, a real estate agent had told the LL that they have been refusing to find apartments for foreigners b/c of swine flu!

My friend was understandably furious, as was the man who had thought he had an apartment sorted. Even more stupid is that even if there is a small risk that someone just off the plane might be infected and endanger the other tenants, the man who was supposed to take over has been in Korea for a year, and is from South Africa, which apparently hasn't had any swine flu cases! And just to make things more ironic, the person who is supposedly going to move in instead, is a Korean who is back for the summer after studying in America!!!

I'm really having trouble finding words to describe this...it's just so STUPID!

[eamo]

Your co-worker is a victim of ajumma-science..........

[Ultimo Hombre]

With all the hooting and hollering about swine flu and the prejudice and what not going along with it, I haven't gotten one strange look from anyone. I know the government is stopping travelers and all, but nobody has really ran for the hills if one of my friends or I cough around them. I really must have it relatively easy here.

[Adjumas Cheekbones]

[michaelambling]

[I-am-me]

I really dont understand how 20 foreigners at a hagwon have H1N1, but no mention of the korean co-workers or even the students!! That is really incredible. I dont think even a whole group like that has been found in the US. Sounds fishy to me.

[Forward Observer]

Face it, we're living in a country that has a fair amount of xenophobia - you gotta roll with it. Don't let the bad ones get you down. If someone stares at you funny, or doesn't want to sit next to you on the subway, just walk by them and sneeze really hard in their direction!

[bassexpander]

[PeteJB]

Common mistake, this is not a modern and developed society. Not when it comes to social development, anyway.

[Teelo]

http://xkcd.com/574/

[Adventurer]

[traxxe]

[Adventurer]

[saw6436]

doubleJJ: You forget that, though SK is a developed country in terms of infrastructure and what not, it is a relatively NEWLY developed country. Most Koreans just came off the farm within the last generation or so.

The vast majority of locals are basicly peasants in suits. The term "nouveau riche" sums up the locals. The old ways die hard.

[Adventurer]