Korean Job Discussion Forums

Cedar · Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 7:22 am Post subject: Stupid Questions....

Actually this cracked me up for the past two days, but I get variations all the time:

I am in grad school, I do my research in Korean. Now that I am studying, I have to read books in Korean on a frequent basis...

So, I am taking the bus to Daegu and we are the rest area. The inside of the bus was really hot (putting me to sleep), so at the rest stop I decided to sit outside the bus in the nice fall sunshine and read.

Man comes and looks over my shoulder.

Man: (in English) "Can you read Korean?"
Me: (looking at him and waiting for him to realize the lack of logic in his question)
Man: (in English) "Can you speak Korean?"
Me: (still staring at the man)
Man: (startled) "Wait, are you Korean?"
Me: (shaking my dark blond haired head with large eyes and freckles)(in English) "No, I am just looking at the book but can't understand anything."
Man: (in English) "Korean is a very hard language."
Me: (in Korean) "Really, do you think I wouldn't be able to speak or read and I'd be sitting here making notes in the margins?"
Man: (in Korean) "Oh, sorry, excuse me, uhh, sorry."

What about the rest of you (who speak and read Korean decently), any funny stories?

ThePoet · Posted: Sun Oct 31, 2004 4:33 pm Post subject:

I'm no rocket surgeon, but by the looks of that conversation, he was trying to start a conversation with you probably to get to know you better...He might have been shy and it was the first thing he could think of.

I remember about 20 years ago I was at a movie and there was a really beautiful girl in front of me at the refreshment line. She was looking back a lot and smiling. I was way too shy to even say boo. When she got to the front of the cue, she looked back and down and said "Oh I see you have a bus pass too". My brilliant come back: "Uh huh" and then I proceeded to order my snacks. -- sigh.

Poet

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

Nice post poet.

Ralph Wiggam (or is it Milhouse) has a crush on Lisa Simpson, so one day he says, "'So, do you like... stuff?"

We have all been there I think, when it comes to "wannabes" missed.

marista99 · Joined: 05 Jun 2004 Location: Incheon

I like that..."Wait, are you Korean?"

Definitely never had anyone ask me that!

shakuhachi · Joined: 08 Feb 2003 Location: Sydney

Circus Monkey · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree

intergalactic · Joined: 19 May 2003 Location: Brisbane

I have a Canadian friend who is married to a Korean man. They have 10 month old twins. One twin looks asian, one looks caucasian. My friend told me that in Canada, people would approach her and ask about the babies. When they heard the babies were twins, they sometimes asked "Are they identical?"

Circus Monkey · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: In my coconut tree

I've had Koreans walk up to me while I'm with my son and blurt out "Mi-gook baby!" You're right. Ignorance can be found everywhere.

J.B. Clamence · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

It sounds to me like the guy was curious how you learned Korean well enough to read a book, so he wanted to strike up a conversation and didn't know how else to start it (Kind of like how someone might say, "Wow, it's pretty cold, isn't it?" when it's -20). Maybe his ice-breaker wasn't worded the best way, but that doesn't make him an idiot. IMHO, you handled it pretty rudely. He was just trying to be friendly.

Cedar · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 7:55 am Post subject:

JB,

I don't think that was rude, I waited for him to figure out what he was saying didn't compute... I could have said something rude, but all I did was make a remark that could be interpreted as funny "No I am just looking at it" and he took me seriously and said that Korean was a hard language (no argument from me on that count). I mean, this guy seriously believed I was just sitting around staring intently at a book and marking things in the margin...

I've said "No I am just looking at the book" in the past to other Koreans and they've gotten the joke in it and laughed.

cheem · Joined: 18 Apr 2003

Cedar · Posted: Mon Nov 01, 2004 2:30 pm Post subject:

It comes down to this... we all see people on the subway or bus or other random "waiting" places reading English books (often ones that are obviously for language aquisition) and not one of us would ever consider asking the person "Can you read English?" Of course they can.

I can't see as how this would be a legitimate conversational opener. Why not? Because when I am reading something in Korean, lots of other Koreans have looked over my shoulder and then asked me in Korean something along the line of "Are you studying ___subject of book__?" or "Is that book interesting?"

cheem · Joined: 18 Apr 2003

anae · Joined: 13 May 2003 Location: cowtown

When my Korean husband and I were dating, we had a waitress ask us if we were brother and sister. I guess that would make me the albino member of the family. Laughing

casey's moon · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: Daejeon

Anae, that was obviously the person having no idea how to ask if what your relationship was and going about it the dumbest (and funniest) way ever!!! I can't believe how many people just go ahead and ask what relationship my husband and I are... so bold, but they can't help it because they are sooo curious.

I don't think Cedar was rude at all, considering the fact that the person who approached her was actually quite rude to interrupt her without apologising in the first place. If someone needs my help, it's fine for them to interrupt me while I'm reading or studying on the subway, but if they just want to satisfy their own curiousity, it's plain rude. During my first and even second year here, I would always go out of my way to make anyone who tried to talk to me feel comfortable, even if I had something else I needed to do. But now that Korea is my (possibly) permanent home, I have realized that I also need to feel comfortable and need to be treated with respect, like any other person who calls Korea home. I'm still very polite to anyone who approaches me in an appropriate and polite manner, but interrupting me while I'm busy to ask an incredibly stupid and unnecessary question is NOT polite or appropriate.