Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Smithington]

When I go into youtube these days I try to type in my search request as quickly as possible. I just can't endure that advert for ramyen. You know the one with the baseball clown slurping up his noodles and having a food orgasm. It makes me queasy just watching it....Then when I get to my desired youtube page I first have to endure another Korean advert with some dude slurping up his noodles. This time I think it has to do with air freshener or something. Honestly, do Korean parents not teach their offspring any table manners whatsoever?

Honestly, how can so many Koreans have such repugnant table manners -and find it so normal that they depict it in their commercials?

https://www.youtube.com/

[Underwaterbob]

[rollo]

You should go home
You will not have to deal with the uncouth Koreans. Planes leave every day/

[Hokie21]

[Smithington]

[matthagwon]

[Underwaterbob]

[John Stamos jr.]

Yeah, they can be pretty sloppy, the older men especially. But I also very briefly dated a girl who thought it was cool to throw a pootissue in the garbage can in the bathroom. Can't have any business of that nature going on. They also do stupid stuff to pass as manners like that touch your own arm bs. Why do I have to do that, because I'm younger than you? That shit makes no sense. Nothing more than a control mechanism. I know people everywhere have little idiosyncrasies like that, but you need to start trimming the fat off the stupid cultural shit tree at some point. I also thought that ramen commercial was strange, but they're strange. This made me think of that stupid psy #2 video where all he does is pull three stooges pranks on girls to make them fall down. Really? You have "the most famous song in the world," and that's how you endear yourself to your new international audience in your follow up? By pushing girls on the ground and spraying beer on people? Whose idea was that? An early 90s Beastie Boys music video producer? No one understands the lyrics anyway so it's not like you're putting the music into some kind of context. I think the real context is that it's still the hermit kingdom at the end of the day, and they seem to always find a way to make themselves appear to be almost as strange as they really are.

[Captain Corea]

I'm with the OP on this (at least to some extent). I don't dig the table manners shown in that commercial. I'd like to say they are simply there for commercial effect, but unfortunately I've sat along side a number of people here who actually eat like that.

To remedy this - I simply don't eat with them. I turn down their invitations. If they press too hard, I'll tell them why.

That being said, in the past week I've had lunch with two foreigners who had abysmal eating dining habits. Made me shudder.

[byrddogs]

The slurping is supposedly the equivalent of the western trait of blowing on hot food before consuming it, so my Chinese wife says at least. With that being said, she has cut down on the habit since we've been together .

[radcon]

[schwa]

Good thread to revive this old gem:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhJSGKggicI

[Captain Corea]

[EZE]

I'm sort of the opposite. I don't get grossed out or offended by the table manners of Koreans, but I always feel so self-conscious because my manners often make them so uncomfortable.

Here's a perfect example. A couple of years ago, I showed up to work one morning and we were all informed the mother of a bus driver of my hagwon died and the boss was having us donate money. Teachers were pulling out green notes, so I donated 11,000 won, which was all I had on me that morning. My supervisor was offended by the blue 1,000 note and handed it back to me, and the boss was demanding more. That night, there was a funeral, and most of the Korean staff and all of the foreign staff created reasons not to go, but I decided to go ahead and go. A lady at the funeral home said I couldn't bow to the dead lady because I was underdressed. I was wearing jeans and a leather jacket, but it wasn't like I knew I was going to a funeral when I was getting dressed that morning.

Then there was the funeral dinner. We ate for at least an hour. After sitting Indian style for so long, my legs were falling asleep, so I resituated my legs to where my feet were both to my right, in order to allow blood to circulate in my legs. The wall was to my right, which was another reason I sat that way, as my supervisor was seated to my left. She was upset about the way I was sitting, telling me to sit Indian style. I told her I would soon, but my legs had fallen asleep and I was just trying to get blood flowing again. She said, "But you're sitting like a girl!" I told her it would be alright. She repeated again, "But you're sitting like a girl!" I told her I was the only person in the place with a shaved head and facial hair, that no one would realistically think I was trying to be a girl. She told me to put my legs out straight. I'm 184 cm, so I sarcastically asked, "In our boss's lap?" since our boss was sitting directly across from me. Meanwhile, my boss kept telling me in a very demanding fashion, "Pour my beer!!! Pour my beer!!!" since her glass kept going empty while my supervisor and I were talking about my sitting position.

At the next workplace dinner, the other foreign teachers were there and an American teacher was upset that I passed a dish to a Korean teacher with only my right hand. She lectured and asked me sarcastically, "Are you older than Kay!? You can only do that if you're older!" I sort of wondered how Kay felt about what the American teacher said, since I actually was older than Kay.

Some older Korean guys asked me to sit down and eat with them recently. These guys were really nice, and they didn't critique my table manners. However, I did receive a lecture on how I was improperly greeting them anytime I saw them in town. I had been giving them a cheerful "Annyeong haseyo" but they said I was supposed to add "Hyung" to it, and they had me rehearse it several times right there in the restaurant in front of everyone until I got it right. These guys are so nice, but it was still awkward for me since I'm sort of a private person.

Girlfriends and their relatives have always been a blast to eat with. And my current workplace is tolerant of my barbarian manners, too. They actually have exceptionally good manners by Western standards, so much better than mine.

[yodanole]

Schwa, I knew which commercial you had linked as soon as I read your post. That video was a hot topic around here at one time. I clicked on it anyway, for purposes of nostalgia.

Thanks for digging that up.