Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ilsanman]

I wil try to make this long story short.

Last night myself and a few other foreigners were doing 7-11 drinking. We were joined by an old Korean guy (about 55) and his mistress. She was 33.

He blabbed abd blabbed. He was remotely interesting, but super disrepsectful to his woman. He said she was not beautiful and he loved his ex-wofe more, right to her face. No one stepped in and said anything, but we were all shaking our heads.

A little later, he saw me looking at some attractive young women walking by, and starting trashing me in Korean. I wanred him and told him to can it, but he continued. He didn't have any basis of argument, he just insulted me a bunch.

I started replying to his insults with some Korean, of course, speaking in ban mal. He figured it was ok for him and not for me., He preached abotu being an eastern person, and being older, and a lot of other old confusionism ideas.

Finally, he'd had enough, and he got up and walked around the table to fight me, I guess. He tried to grab me and I yelled 'man ji ji ma' at home a few times. He then basically rubbed his hand over his girlfriend's face, humilitating me again. He tried to grab me, or hit me, I am not sure. He was so drunk. I shoved him with medium force and he fell down like a ton of bricks, through the plastic picnic table.

Before all you gords and other idiots blast me for this, think of this guy's mentality. Good for the goose and not good for the gander. I didn't feel like taking moral high ground on him. I already had it. I wasn't about to punch an old man, even though he was bigger than me anyways. A shove was enough.

I wonder if he learned his lesson?








































Nah, probably not.

[On the other hand]

Bit of a bait-and-switch there, Ilsanman. Your thread title promised something along the lines of a sociology thesis, but instead all you give us is some drunk idiot threatening you at the 7-11.

Was the guys behaviour really attributable to Confucianism? Okay, he seems to have Confucian ideas, and he was defending those ideas violently. But I've seen drunks back home pick fights over politics, sports, and whether or not I was laughing at their cars. And I'm sure none of these guys knew Confucius from a hole in the ground.

So, what's the point of your story? The guy has reactionary ideas? No argument there, but such ideas will hardly come as a news flash to anyone who's spent an apprecialble amount of time in Korea. And of course, a mean drunk is always going to give you the most obnoxious presentation of any belief system. Or are you saying that his violent behaviour was attributable to Confucianism? If so, point unproven.

[jajdude]

Yep I agree with the title of your post. It's a pile of manure. But what are ya gonna do? Lots of things are manure. Organized religions dividing up people. nationalism, racist crap. and so on. Confucianism is just another headache in a troubled world. I'm not sure the people (mainly Koreans, Chinese and Japanese I would guess) born into this way of thinking can see it as silly like a foreigner can. Critical thinking here is not high on the list I guess. Perhaps there are a few good things about this Confucian stuff, but I would say the bad far outweighs the good.

Adeline Yen Mah (I think that's her name), a well-educated Chinese women, wrote a good book or two about Chinese culture. She claims Confucius was a mysogynist (sp?). But the value put on parents/family and education may be good....

[Ilsanman]

Yes people pick fights over stupid things, and sometimes for the sheer reason that they think the other person is weak and vulnerable.

I think a combination of a few things prompted this idiot to try to squeeze an inch in on me. Last year, when I was fresh in Korea, and feeling very optimistic about this place, I may have backed down to avoid humiliating him, and I could take moral high ground.

News flash buddy: I have been here 15 months with almost no vacation. I am in no mood to put up with stupid crap from a total hypocrite.

Maybe gawking at women is rude, but a lot worse than what he was doing. If he knew me at all, he would know I treat my girlfriend like gold.

Another thing, what made him think he could take on a young guy? He was a bit bigger than me, but twice my age, and alot more intoxicated.

[mithridates]

A few thoughts on this:

-I almost got into a fight with an old man on the subway last week that just ended with a shove, much like yours. I won't give the details of the story but though he definately deserved a shove or much more, I still shouldn't have let him get to me that much.

-This story could happen in the west, though it would more likely happen with a person who is high up in a company than an old person. Some hotshot young president, self-made millionaire who let it get to his head, etc. I could see a Korean concluding that the west needs more Confucian thought to keep young people from getting too arrogant.

-Confucius' most important tenet was the golden rule, to do unto others. He talked about that when one of his disciples asked him what he considered to be the one tenet people should keep above all others. We could say that this old man was very non-Confucianist in his disrespect towards you and his second wife.

[On the other hand]

Ilsanman wrote:

[panthermodern]

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

[Blind Willie]

"Some drunken jackass acted like a drunken jackass and I got into a fight."

"Confucianism doesnt work."

Like others I'm having difficulty in seeing the connection... aside from you trying to blame your bad experience on all them barbaric slanty-eyed folks like a lot of expats do when they realize they're no longer at the top of the food chain here.

[mithridates]

[jajdude]

[quote="panthermodern"]

[Yaya]

[quote="jajdude"]

[Harin]

I think the title of this thread should be corrected; Alcohol, necessary evil or positive good? or Ilsanman is losin' it; yes, Alcohol is evil or no compromise with drunk ajushi; they are evil. Lol

[jajdude]

[Wangja]