Korean Job Discussion Forums

[matthews_world]

I was just wondering this very question.

I see small children with their mothers on the street and they never seem to point or mutter to their mothers, "Oma. Waygookin saram."

Perhaps when they are in school or have higher cerebral intelligences, then they begin to know.

And besided that, when do children begin to stereotype foreigners?

[turtlepi1]

I don't know but I had a similar thought not too long ago...(looking at watch...)

First though I will comment on the little kids...they may not know what to call you, but they notice you are different they seem to love to look at me with the shock and awe...so that's that...

BUT...I was thinking about my teaching style. I won't teach them like Korean teachers so why should I expect them to respect me like a Korean teacher.

If we don't want to send a consistent "parenting" message we shouldn't be so proud of the "look at me I don't hit my kids" attitude.

Hitting kids sucks but the experts will tell you that inconsistent styles make it even worse for children to know boundaries...

Nope won't hit my kids. Even though it makes my life shit on some days. It's a problem for me both ways though...

[thorin]

Toddlers. Man is that scary.

[mindmetoo]

I was walking through a park and these two little girls were playing. One girl at one side of the park's field saw me and just started screaming "MI GOOK SARAM! MI GOOK SARAM!" and running towards her friend.

It was like "Plague carrier! Plague carrier!" or something.

[casey's moon]

[canadian_in_korea]

[Sage Monkey]

[Real Reality]

Casey's Moon,
Are you serious? (Watch some of the videos found at the site below. The children in the videos are excited, too.)

Videos
http://www.areastudies.org/usinkorea/videos_2.html

'Anti War' Class Material Not Proper For Classrooms
An official from the Education Ministry said Tuesday, "We asked the Korea Institute of Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) to analyze the anti-war class materials, and the KICE concluded that there are some problems with the materials." He also said, "The Korea Teachers' Union (KTU) said that the materials were collected from newspaper articles on Iraq including the troop dispatch, but the analysis showed that the content was mostly from anti-American and anti-troop deployment viewpoints. It is also found that many materials resort to emotion rather than logic, thus causing concern that they may instill prejudiced ideologies in students."
Chosun Ilbo (June 29, 2004)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200406/200406290044.html

"Whenever pressed to discuss anti-U.S. and anti-USFK issues, too many people, both Korean and foreigner, especially the governments and media, say it is limited to the "radicals" and university students. But you can't keep pumping out generation after generation at the university and not have it become widespread. Recent polls show that over 70% of college educated adults don't like the U.S. It is part of Korean culture. It starts early."
http://www.geocities.com/usinkorea2/teaching.html

Lesson
http://geocities.com/usinkorea2/lesson.html

http://www.areastudies.org/usinkorea/GENERATIONS_XED/Korean_Generations_Xed.html

[mithridates]

I've told this story before but it deserves to be told again.

In the playground where we used to play when I was really small, one da a new girl came in from out of town. We hadn't seen her before but somebody told us that she was a French'un. (I don't know why we said Frenchun instead of Frenchie) Every time she'd try to use the swing or something people would say 'Don't let the Frenchun use the swings!' and we'd all pile on. She got really upset and said "I'm not from France, I'm from Belgium!"

There was a bit of puzzled silence until somebody said, "Shut up, Frenchun!" and everybody started back up with the Frenchun nonsense again.

Conclusion: don't expect too much from kids.

[sparkx]

[Real Reality]

mithridates,
You and your friends went to anti-French rallies with your parents. You and your friends sang anti-French songs with 25,000 other people. You and your friends burnt French flags in large cities.

Videos
http://www.areastudies.org/usinkorea/videos_2.html

[turtlepi1]

I find the kids doing this adorable.

If you don't want to be pointed out as different what the heck are you doing in an asian country to start with.

The reason it is more rude in Canada when the little shits yell, "mom, it's a foreigner" is because a lot of the time it isn't filled with childhood innocence. It is filled with the underlying (bigotry-maybe too strong a word) that many show towards foreigners...maybe not hating them or disliking them..but something different than the children show us here...

Another thing that is sort of similar...when white children see a black man for the first time they often will ask their mother about why the person is different...(chocolate man...etc...etc...) I find it a sad commentary on our society when the mother becomes embarrassed by the question. The question isn't filled with racism it is filled with childhood wonderment. The mother's reaction starts the feelings that different is bad...(sure not all mothers do this but many caught off guard within earshot of a black person will.)

Your different and that is fascinating...too bad society has turned that into a bad thing.

[casey's moon]

[mithridates]

[gomurr]

Just got back from Pagadian, Philippines and while I was in the local department store I heard a couple of little High School girls yell "Hey Joe". It happened again at the Bus Terminal only it was a group of policemen toting around their M-16's. On another occasion it was "Hey Dude". I got a kick out of it because it was like something out of a movie.