Korean Job Discussion Forums

[amcnutt]

I've heard very different opinions as to how koreans treat foreigners. Some people say that koreans loved them while they were there. Others say that foreigners are treated very badly by locals.
I was wondering, in your opinion, what is the ratio of friendliness/non-friendliness that you have received while staying in korea?
of course, there are racist people in all countries so i'm not looking for a generic answer explaining that there are all kinds of people.
But in your personal opinion and experience , what percentage of people have been kind vs. rude to you because of your nationality?
Do you find men or women are treated worse, or the the same?
I just want to prepare myself for when i go over....

Also, is there any difference in tolerance between the urban and rural areas?

[Globutron]

Probly depends where yer livin'.

For me, Anyang, It's a cross between treating me like anybody else (85% of the time) and running up to say hello and asking where I'm from in the best English they can manage (15% of the time, either night time tipsy people, or high school kids usually).

I've not had any bad experience with grumpies or the like here in Anyang or in any of Seoul or other cities I have explored in the last 3 months of living here.

The only thing I'd say is that we have less rights as humans, such as when I went into E-mart, a guard stopped me to check my receipt, and then tagged my bag to basically say 'I'm a foreigner, but not a criminal', which is then removed when I leave the building. But none of that bothers me in the slightest.

All in all people are far, far kinder here than in England. You wouldn't get a nod and smile walking past an Englishman if you were a foreigner. Or another Englishman. You might get a shove out the way though.

[Tundra_Creature]

I was pretty much either treated very nicely or treated like every other person around. Only issue is with taxi drivers overcharging you, but I've gotten that in the home country as well.

No frightening experiences, thankfully.

[tfunk]

Koreans are generally quite pleasant towards foreigners, particularly considering that foreigners, on average, seem to have poor Korean language abilities.

Your own attitude can influence other peoples opinions of you and your opinions of them. When I was on vacation in Korea I thought everybody was very friendly, when I was working in Korea (after a tough day) I thought the people were all soulless drones. Nobody was ever violent towards me.

[rkc76sf]

I guess it depends on what you consider rude. If getting the cold shoulder or being ignored in your school is rude, then expect about 80% of Koreans to be like that. If getting dirty looks, but not actually saying anything bad to you is rude, then expect about 25 to 30% of Koreans to be like that. Also, rude vs. annoying, kids that run up to you to only say "Hi" and then "well ok, bye" can be annoying, but not rude. It all depends on you. After a year or five of getting dirty looks, you'll swear all Koreans are rude. I've never actually had anyone come up to me and say bad things in english, although I'm sure they say it in Korean to themselves (or out loud- not that my Korean is good enough to know). I've had far more instances of Koreans showing kindness that shows the goodness in all people.

[brento1138]

Ya'll should read the book "The Koreans"

Good read.

[oskinny1]

2% rude/assh*le
8% kind/adoring
90% indifferent

[nukeday]

I went hiking on Bukhansan the other day. I'm not too athletic and the 5 hour hike nearly killed me. An older Korean fellow saw this and offered to split his apple with me. Nice enough. Earlier a nice lady helped me with directions. However, on the bus ride home a drunken older man decided to sit next to me on the empty bus and bother the hell out of me in English and Korean. I guess it depends on your definition of rude, but sitting next to someone on an empty bus, someone who is exhausted from a hike, and breathing your soju breath on him might not be considered polite, despite whatever his intentions were. You can guess which experience 1) lasted the longest and 2) had the greater impression on me.

[bde2]

I think perceptions of Korean rudeness/kindness depend a lot on where you're coming from.

If I had come to Korea directly from the states, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal... but I came over from Japan, after having spent a couple of years teaching there, and it was much more of a culture shock than I had anticipated. People are much more polite in Japan, and friendlier as well. That is, of course, a topic for a different thread... my point is just that the level of friendliness/politeness where you're coming from will affect your perceptions of these traits in Korea.

I still get frustrated with their rude behavior, particularly when it comes to things like getting on buses/trains, getting dirty looks when I'm with a K-girl, and cutting in lines... Maybe I've been ruined by Japan.

[ThingsComeAround]

I'd say the kindest people are outside on the streets

The rudest I've had the displeasure of working with/having to do business with (banks for example) are where you need them least

[eamo]

A**holes who have crappy lives can be rude to foreigners and one or two of your neighbors might be always on the look out for you to put a foot wrong so they can make a fuss about something. But I'd say the immigrants in my home country probably get a lot tougher treatment.

Those occasional shouters and yellers don't really bother me......

...........what you'll notice a lot more over time is the Korean inability to act in a natural way around foreigners. The gormless smiles and predictable questions (do you like Korea?) can be tiresome......but it's done with no malice.....just down to their inexperience with non-Koreans I suppose.

[Welsh Canadian]

My parents came to visit me when I was in Korea.

Because they looked like tourists the Korean people were uber friendly to them and very helpful.

[crossmr]

Well let's see
2 years in I've never felt like anyone was excessively rude to me. No one has yelled at me. I think one very very old guy stared a little and my korean friend and I on the train (not subway) once.
I've had the odd server in a restaurant be less than polite to me, but upon observation it seemed like they were treating everyone in the joint the same way.

more people have been exceptionally polite to me than rude.

But most people have seemingly treated me no different than anyone else.

[oskinny1]

[crossmr]