Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gopher]

I'd say about 1 or perhaps 2 out of every 5 Korean males, aged between 35-55 will give me a borderline aggressive, but without a doubt hostile kind of taken-aback snarl, up and down look whenever I walk by them on the street, and I'm not talking about the drunk ones at night.

Maybe -- probably -- it's unconscious; maybe the presence of a foreigner walking down their street comes as a surprise to them and interrupts their daily routine...but aren't there other alternatives to the "who the f are you and why are you here?" look? I've come close to stopping and asking "what? what do you want?" (Some do indeed smile and say hello, by the way, but 1 or 2 out of every 5 is an awful lot to snarl.)

Do other foreign males here note anything resembling this? When I return to California it's going to come as a shock that I can walk around downtown without feeling like a despised invader...

[Harpeau]

Maybe your projecting your feelings onto them. Just a thought.

[itaewonguy]

yeah dude.. we could go on forever about this!
I was tallking to an old girlfriend of mine the other day! she is working in turkey now and she says SHE HATES IT!
im like why??? turkey is a great country with a great history etc...
she is NO NO I hate this place! turkish people are all stink! and there food stinks! and they always staring at me like I am some monkey!!

hahahahha I was like ohh really! yes I can understand that!
she says how can you understand my situation?? you are in korea!!
enough said!

[mercury]

I know what you are talking about, but remember....


behavior is recursive. Are you smiling at them? Try smiling and see what happens. Experiment.

[FlagWaver]

Suck it up marine.

[Ya-ta Boy]

When I arrived in '94 and was first out on the sidewalks, I was convinced the entire country was either angry because I was here or else they all had upset stomachs from excess kimchi consumption.

I asked my first Korean friend why no one was smiling unless they were in a group and talking to friends. He said that Koreans don't smile in public. If you walk down the street smiling, people will think you are either a babo or crazy.

Not long after that, the government had a Smile Campaign. Now the younger people smile in public much more often.

At least a portion of the ajossis you are seeing are just maintaining that old stone face in public expression. Give 'em a smile and they'll grin like the Chesire cat.

I don't care to speculate on the number of ajossis who do resent foreigners being here. There are some. The hostile, aggressive stares are proof of that. I wouldn't put it as high as 1 in 5 though.

Addendum:
Many Koreans, a huge number, are extremely good at reading emotions instantly. I always thought I was good at hiding my feelings at least as far as faking a smile. I cannot tell you how many times Koreans have called my bluff on that. It's spooky. It could be, if you are not in a good mood, then ajossis might be responding to that.

[Gopher]

[rapier]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[thebum]

[Ya-ta Boy]

[JongnoGuru]

Okay, the sunglasses are going to be a factor. But leaving them to one side for a moment....

Sure I've noticed the scowling faces (when I am or am not wearing sunglasses), but I'd lower that 35~55 age group by about five years. I don't know about the rest of you, but it couldn't be a case of me projecting my hostility on them if I'm not feeling in the least bit hostile. Indeed, I'll often get the scowls when I'm in a particularly happy or upbeat mood. I could be inadvertently broadcasting my contentment and that may be provoking resentment from Koreans who don't like foreigners or want us here. I just figure those ones have got a hard life/crap job/unhappy marriage, etc., or they've got a sister or a daughter involved with a "bad" foreigner, or they've internalised their country's inferiority complex, or whatever it is that makes some Koreans xenophobic. In any case, I'd never waste a second of my time wondering if it's me, if I'm projecting, if I'm somehow to blame. If I'm smiling or just and some absolute stranger I've never seen before is all back at me, then obviously the problem is all theirs.

In any case, I don't much care about the scowling Korean menfolk. My gripe is with the young women. Back in the early to mid-90s, you'd see them all doe-eyed, that hint of a suppressed smile or even a proper smile itself, a bit conservatively dressed on the whole, and generally a lot more pleasant and fun to be around. Self-conscious without being self-obsessed.

Today, the more I look around, every year this country seems to roll out a grimmer model than last year's. Was girl-watching with a group of male chingoos a few nights ago at an outdoor cafe. Wow, that was depressing. Sure, much leggier, much more revealed skin than ever, hotter outfits, etc. But man, what a bunch of unsmiling, hard-edged, cougar-assed biatches they look anymore.

[jajdude]

Wow

Was I deleted for my honesty?

I said Gopher hates Korea (obvious from his posts)

And he is not the only one.

And whatever else I said.... sorry to report truths.

Facts people: A lot of Koreans do hate foreigners.

Are you living in politically correct world? Where truth is to be negated because it sounds ugly?

Are we in China?

If so please delete my incendiary comments

[Hanson]

[Ya-ta Boy]