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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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poet13
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
Location: Just over there....throwing lemons.
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 Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:19 am Post subject: You know you're in a small town when.... |
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...you get in a taxi and the driver you have never seen before takes you home.
That's great huh?
Trouble is, I didn't want to go home. I needed to go to a store on the other side of town and pick up some badminton birdies. I kept saying, "no, no, no, the other way",....and he kept saying, "it's ok, it's ok, I know where X apartment is."
I said thank you, paid him, let him drive away, walked around the corner and got another taxi.
I've can't kept but smile every time I think about it. |
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butlerian
Joined: 04 Sep 2006
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 1:26 am Post subject: Re: You know you're in a small town when.... |
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| poet13 wrote: |
...you get in a taxi and the driver you have never seen before takes you home.
That's great huh?
Trouble is, I didn't want to go home. I needed to go to a store on the other side of town and pick up some badminton birdies. I kept saying, "no, no, no, the other way",....and he kept saying, "it's ok, it's ok, I know where X apartment is."
I said thank you, paid him, let him drive away, walked around the corner and got another taxi.
I've can't kept but smile every time I think about it. |
Nice.  |
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Kimchieluver
Joined: 02 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 2:36 am Post subject: |
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| When you walk through LotteMart and people you don't know bow to you, say sungsangnim, check out your grocery cart, then their child (an old/current) student comes running up and actually doesn't have anything to say. |
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Satori
Joined: 09 Dec 2005
Location: Above it all
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:16 am Post subject: |
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| You know you're in a Japanese small town ( remote rural village ) when, after visiting the same convenience store two or three times a day like clockwork for one and a half years the clerk who works there every day shows absolutely no recognition of you whatsoever and a known person, not a hint of a smile or greeting, just a blank robotic stare as if you were being encountered for the very first time, and not just encountered for the first time, you're actually an annoyance, a nuisance, and hassle to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible ... |
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mytime
Joined: 15 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:39 am Post subject: |
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| Kimchieluver wrote: |
| When you walk through LotteMart and people you don't know bow to you, say sungsangnim, check out your grocery cart, then their child (an old/current) student comes running up and actually doesn't have anything to say. |
Your small town has a lotte mart?????? |
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leebumlik69
Joined: 05 Jan 2006
Location: DiRectly above you. Pissing Down
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:42 am Post subject: |
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| Satori wrote: |
| You know you're in a Japanese small town ( remote rural village ) when, after visiting the same convenience store two or three times a day like clockwork for one and a half years the clerk who works there every day shows absolutely no recognition of you whatsoever and a known person, not a hint of a smile or greeting, just a blank robotic stare as if you were being encountered for the very first time, and not just encountered for the first time, you're actually an annoyance, a nuisance, and hassle to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible ... |
So the clerk had been working inthesame store for at least 1+1/2 years!
Chances are the clerk was embarrassed that their life hadn't progressed the whole time you'd been visiting the place, and you were just an annoying reminder of that - sounds pretty normal and human to me.
As a rule, I'd cut'em some slack. A career as a clerk doesn't sound appealing. |
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MissSeoul
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Location: Somewhere in America
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| Satori wrote: |
| You know you're in a Japanese small town ( remote rural village ) when, after visiting the same convenience store two or three times a day like clockwork for one and a half years the clerk who works there every day shows absolutely no recognition of you whatsoever and a known person, not a hint of a smile or greeting, just a blank robotic stare as if you were being encountered for the very first time, and not just encountered for the first time, you're actually an annoyance, a nuisance, and hassle to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible ... |
Really ????? |
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TiGrBaLm
Joined: 28 Feb 2003
Location: Hubcap of Asia
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:48 am Post subject: |
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It's 4am, you're out of milk and not a convenience store in sight  |
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ChopChaeJoe
Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 3:58 am Post subject: |
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| Satori wrote: |
| You know you're in a Japanese small town ( remote rural village ) when, after visiting the same convenience store two or three times a day like clockwork for one and a half years the clerk who works there every day shows absolutely no recognition of you whatsoever and a known person, not a hint of a smile or greeting, just a blank robotic stare as if you were being encountered for the very first time, and not just encountered for the first time, you're actually an annoyance, a nuisance, and hassle to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible ... |
On one level there's nothing really wrong with that, on the other hand -- that's sucks. I love going into restaurants i haven't been in before where I'm the only customer. i speak very little Korean, but my pronunciation is pretty swell. So the propietor will keep making conversation with me oblivious to he fact I don't understand what's going on. Sometimes i answer what i think they are asking me and they'll try to point out how i misunderstood what they were asking, I'll try again -- maybe correct, maybe not. It's not annoying at all, but kind of strange. I'm pretty friendly, most people are friendly to me. i couldn't stand living in robot-ville. |
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crazylemongirl
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 5:59 am Post subject: |
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| when someone sitting on the seat behind you starts playing with your hair because they've never seen a foreigner. |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:10 am Post subject: Re: You know you're in a small town when.... |
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| poet13 wrote: |
...you get in a taxi and the driver you have never seen before takes you home.
That's great huh?
Trouble is, I didn't want to go home. I needed to go to a store on the other side of town and pick up some badminton birdies. I kept saying, "no, no, no, the other way",....and he kept saying, "it's ok, it's ok, I know where X apartment is."
I said thank you, paid him, let him drive away, walked around the corner and got another taxi.
I've can't kept but smile every time I think about it. |
Just 1 more reason to learn Korean.  |
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the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:20 am Post subject: |
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| When you go to a restaurant with a woman and the next day your entire ajumma class knows where you went, what you ate, and what time you left. |
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heydelores
Joined: 24 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 6:25 am Post subject: |
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| When you leave something behind in a restaurant and the food delivery guy drops it off at your apartment later. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:24 am Post subject: |
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Back in the summer of '05, when I was young and naive, I posted this about my first day in Swampville...
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I'm already famous. I dropped by BBQ (the Chicken Family Restaurant) for lunch and the guy behind the counter asked if I was the one riding around town on a scooter. Since I'd only bought it an hour and a half before, I think I learned how fast news travels around here--and how desperate some people are for something new and exciting to talk about.
I think I may have exaggerated the urban nature of Youngsan: on the north end of town is a veritable cattle ranch. That is if you can consider 4 or 5 cattle sheds a ranch. The air is somewhat less than 'fresh' in the vacinity. It smelled a lot like home |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 9:30 am Post subject: |
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| Satori wrote: |
| You know you're in a Japanese small town ( remote rural village ) when, after visiting the same convenience store two or three times a day like clockwork for one and a half years the clerk who works there every day shows absolutely no recognition of you whatsoever and a known person, not a hint of a smile or greeting, just a blank robotic stare as if you were being encountered for the very first time, and not just encountered for the first time, you're actually an annoyance, a nuisance, and hassle to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible ... |
Kiwi:
That blows...
How's it going on the other, social fronts?
Take care.
Roch |
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