Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bobbyhanlon]

i've done the small town thing, and now i live in seoul.. for those of you who have also done this, do you find the attitude to foreigners from seoulites is much more hostile than those of provincial koreans?
maybe it's because there are lots of foreigners behaving badly in seoul, i don't know.. but i find that where people were inclined to be kind to me in my old town, people are often completely distrustful here. i'm not even talking about a more cosmopolitan we-see-a-thousand-foreigners-every-day thing, but rather out-and-out distrust. anyone else got any opinions on this?

[uberscheisse]

i think you're right. it's just a bigger city, we're less of a novelty here. and there's also that 'drunk jarhead in itaewon' problem.

it's just a big city. i get hostility and rudeness from other waegooks here too.

[VanIslander]

I've heard that before. One of the many reasons I'm midway through my second year without having yet been to that city.

That said, some people in big Busan are much ruder to me than anybody has ever been on this island. But the only two times I've had bad experiences there, very nice Koreans have observed them and gone out of their way to rectify the situation.

I can draw similar parallels of the urban-rural (and East-West) divide in Canada from my past residences: People on the streets of Toronto were much ruder and less kind than those walking and working in small B.C. towns I've also lived in.

Being a foreigner is just another excuse for cityfolk to do what they do.

IMO.

[weatherman]

Koreans talk about this too. It isn't a foreigner thing at all. Big cities are in general a lot less personal at the macro level, and this is what you are confronting.

[PEIGUY]

[kangnamdragon]

sometimes I miss living in a small town. It was much quieter, but the money is not as good.

[Derrek]

[tokki]

Small town are better. Big city people suck. Too pushy and aggressive. Small towns are friendly and relaxed.

[shawner88]

[sadsac]

Country living beats living in the larger cities by far. People are so much more hospitable and lifes a lot less stressful.

[Holden]

I agree. Busan is the worst. Many times the guys would say something to my girlfriend walking by.

[Swiss James]

After living in cities for a while there's no way I could stand to move back to a small town or (God forbid) the country. I need to be in a place where if it gets to 4am and I'm hungry I have a choice of places to eat within easy reach, or where the nighlife options go beyond "We could go out to the local or stay in".

Loving cities like I do means I kind of associate all the pushiness, and lack of patience with the hustle and bustle that make up part of a cities buzz.

[buddy bradley]

I've found the opposite to be true: people in the cities here seem more friendly than those scowling country bumpkins.

[the_beaver]