Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MESL]

VERY IMPRESSED WITH KOREAN CULTURE

Korea is a very prosperous and well developed country with civilized behavior, efficient procedures, quality products, advanced technology, an impressive transportation system, almost unlimited product availability, low cost of living, beautiful scenery, safe streets, and little poverty.

Koreans travel in cars and communicate with mobile phones. They store their food in refrigerators and heat their food in microwaves. They wear western style clothes. Korean soap operas are on TV, Korean movies are in the cinema, Korean pop is on the radio. But Koreans are still very, very Korean. Korean society is one of the best examples ever of one group of people adopting the culture of another group of people without losing their own cultural identity. They are 99% western and 100% Korean.

Meanwhile, they seem to have struck the right balance. They have national unity and universal participation without fascism. They have neither the anything goes of America nor the hyper strictness of Saudi Arabia. The government allows complete religious freedom and the church does not respond by getting involved in government.

Shopkeepers don't quote you a higher price just because you're a foreigner. Bargaining isn't an exhaustive process. Street vendors don't howl at you, jump in front of you, or grab you. Pedestrians who want to cross the street go to the nearest intersection and wait for the walk sign to flash instead of crossing wherever they happen to be and jostling with drivers. People waiting to board a subway car allow passengers to exit first. Shoes come off in most homes and in many restaurants. Restaurant tables and floors are clean even after meals. Loud voices are generally reserved for the karaoke bar. Children roam the neighborhood unchaperoned and unmolested. Shopkeepers leave large amounts of expensive merchendise unlocked on the sidewalk overnight.

Few bag ladies, bums, or beggars. Few punkers, few hippies. No gangs. Few stray animals. Korean cities have red light districts, but neither AIDS nor drug abuse are national epidemics.

Written Korean is one of the easiest languages to learn and one of the most scientific. It was invented, not developed. It is considered one of the great linguistic achievements of human history. Medical care in Korea is much cheaper than in western countries, and just as good. Subways and buses are new, modern, equipped, spacious, and clean; and run well, frequently, late into the evening, and on time. Subway stations have bilingual signs, bathrooms, escalators, phones, ATMs, and hot food. Every car on the road looks new, clunkers and even damaged cars are almost extinct species. Streets aren't trashed, though they might have a lot of motorcycle oil from meal deliveries. Drivers can be aggressive, but they do obey the traffic signals. Breakers don't flip if you use more than one appliance at the same time. Toilets are squat and BYOTP, but don't stink. Internet cafes are everywhere and fairly cheap; just as noisy and smoky as in any other country, but generally much cleaner. Neighborhood restaurants deliver to your office and pick up the dishes an hour later.

Although premarital relationships have changed considerably, Korea is still a very socially conservative and very socially structured society. Age and authority are respected. Family and home are valued. Children are cherished and nurtured. Women leave the workplace to raise children, then return after the children graduate from high school. Education is given high priority. Obesity is rare. Sightings of long hair and sightings of beards are about as frequent as sightings of Elvis. Bowing is still common. Koreans work hard, play vigorously, study a lot, and don't know what laziness and loitering are.

Koreans are among the most genuinely friendly people you'll ever meet. They are also among the most hospitable and among the most helpful. Korean companies do not import manual labor and the Korean government does not encourage immigration. So 99.99% of the people you'll pass on the sidewalk will be pure blood Koreans. Drinking is popular, getting drunk is common. Koreans are notorious for smacking and slurping during meals. A lot of middle age women smack their gum. Many men smoke, but a cigarette on her lips is a sign of a "bad girl."

Korean children are among the best cared for, physically and emotionally healthiest, happiest and most carefree in the world. They are also among the most enthusiastic in the classroom, often too enthusiastic. Teenagers are another story. Middle and high school students are under a lot of pressure to qualify for college. They are much more reserved and soft spoken in the classroom. Most of them take music lessons and learn to play at least one instrument as children. But as teenagers, it's prep, prep, prep for college.

Baseball is on the big screen in most restaurants. Tae Kwon Do is popular among the young. Golf is all the rage among the middle aged. After hosting the World Cup in 2002, Korea adopted soccer with great enthusiasm. Retired Koreans get around a lot. In America, retirees travel as couples. Here, they travel in groups of men and groups of women. Where they go, I'm not sure. Perhaps to Korea's many mountains, lakes, and rivers.

Downside: North Korea. Xenophobia. Materialism. Caste system. Government corruption. Race, accent, and age discrimination. Stricter policies - original transcripts, deportation for private tutoring and for working on a tourist visa, frequent crackdowns. 30 lessons a week and a lot of paperwork. Need ESP or a degree in psychology to know what people are truly thinking and feeling.

Dog meat? Give me a break!

[Mashimaro]

Do you work for Arirang TV?

[JongnoGuru]

[JeJuJitsu]

[HapKi]

I really haven't seen anything written like this before. I don't know who's side you're on, and thus do not know what to say.

[tomato]

Hello, MESL!

We seem to have a silent majority and a vociferous minority on this board.
According to a poll which was posted in 2003, three-fourths of the ESL Cafe denizens were happy in Korea.

If there are few posts like yours, that could be because we usually get replies like:

■ "If you see anything good about Korea, then you are not looking deeply enough under the surface. In fact, you are a naive, gullible, fool."

■ "You're a phony liberal. You're like a white person who shakes hands with every black person he sees."

■ "If you're better off here than you were in your own country, then you must have been a real loser in your own country."

■ "If you're loyal to Korea, then you're a traitor to your own country. You didn't give a hoot in hades WHAT happened on nine-eleven, do you!"

■ "So you like Koreans better than you like us, huh? All right, then, reject us! See if we care!"

■ "What right do you have to be happy when we are unhappy? Don't you know there is a Law of Conservation of Happiness?"

■ "Oh! So you're happier than we are! So you must think you're better than we are! Well, tooooouch you!"

Mashimaro's message is original, so I will add it to the list:

■ "You must be an agent from Korea Herald or someplace."

[Adventurer]

The post was more like Soviet-style propaganda. It made Korea seem like some sort of Nirvana. Yes, Korea has great gadgets, and we like gadgets. Yes, Korea has bathrooms in subways and they don't in Montreal, for example, and some other Western cities. It is true, they have nice buildings and the people do wait for the traffic light to turn green before crossing instead of jay walking.

However, so many things are missing. One, there is a lack of government oversight over the violation of the law among hagwons (for example not paying the pension or your health insurance), a lack of immigration officials who can speak English (they are kind, at least) when Koreans are not immigrating to Korea but rather foreigners are immigrating and they are more likely to speak English rather than Korean.

There is the concept of paying blood money if you get involved in a fight even if the fight was not your fault. In that sense, it makes Korea similar to Middle Eastern countries like Kuwait where Kuwaitis can use their connections to circumvent the law. Korea is basically in between a third world Middle Eastern style country and a Western country. It is better than many countries, that is true, but the application of laws in a prejudicial manner will stifle tourism, foreign direct investment and cause lots of litigation at the WTO courts. I do like many things about Korea, but because of the problems I mentioned, I would eventually have to return home, and I would not want to stay here permanently where I may feel that I would be no more than a second class citizen. The fact that
they are going to open up an interracial school in Gyongi-do province speaks volumes, I am afraid. Korea has a lot of work to do. Ask Hines Ward.

[stevemcgarrett]

MESL:

Your post, Glorious Leader, should be reserved for the Way Off Topic Forum.

"Downside" has the appearance of an afterthought to achieve some semblance of objectivity. It'd be kinda funny if it wasn't so pathetic. If you don't work for Arirang, you should. Either that or a travel agency for unsuspecting tourists from the West. Jeepers, creepers.

[JongnoGuru]

Cartographers of yore, sitting in their comfy studios back in the known & civilised world, would inscribe "Here There Be Monsters" on the watery edges of their maps. Areas they'd never seen, knew nothing about. Times have changed, but I knew we were looking at something almost as fanciful when I encouintered....

[Qinella]

[stevemcgarrett]

Jongnoguru:

Funny as hell cartography spiel.

All:

If you guys think Koreans are adroit at crossing streets in the face of an onslaught of traffic, you haven't seen the gymnastics occurring daily in any Chinese city of your choice.

Want spit? Beijing, baby. Makes Seoul seem sanitized.

[Young FRANKenstein]

[Young FRANKenstein]

[SirFink]

[Neil]

I've read that somewhere before, Korean herald I think it was....same thing word for word.