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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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 Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:21 pm Post subject: ARE MANY KOREANS JUST PLAIN RUDE OR IS IT CULTURAL? |
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You decide. Are the following often recurring behaviors just plain rude or an expression of cultural difference?
1. Koreans waiting at a bus stop. You're riding your bike on the designated sidewalk. They see you coming from a distance but don't move one centimeter.
2. You approach them in a store with their children and kneel down, smile, and coo. They either ignore you or pull their children away after whispering into something into their ears.
3. You're trying to get out of the elevator in the lobby. But you have to wait for three students to come in first. Likewise, you're trying to get onto the elevator. You've been waiting some time. Someone who's just arrived manages to find a bit of space between you and the door and wedges in there.
I could go on...
Last edited by stevemcgarrett on Sat Apr 21, 2007 7:06 am; edited 2 times in total |
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toddswift
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:30 pm Post subject: Re: IS IT JUST PLAIN RUDE OR A KOREAN CULTURAL TRAIT? |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
You decide. Are the following often recurring behaviors just plain rude or an expression of cultural difference?
Let's see how long this thread lasts before it is mysteriously deleted and then you receive notice that it does not exist when in fact it did or was moved to another forum when in fact it was not.
1. Koreans waiting at a bus stop. You're riding your bike on the designated sidewalk. They see you coming from a distance but don't move one centimeter.
2. You approach them in a store with their children and kneel down, smile, and coo. They either ignore you or pull their children away after whispering into something into their ears.
3. You're trying to get out of the elevator in the lobby. But you have to wait for three students to come in first. Likewise, you're trying to get onto the elevator. You've been waiting some time. Someone who's just arrived manages to find a bit of space between you and the door and wedges in there.
I could go on... |
1. No bike, but when I walk THEY MOVE, I PROMISE YOU, THEY MOVE. I still remember the poor fellow who did not move wincing in pain grabbing his collar bone. Hey, it was his fault.
2. Never done it, never will.
3. Standing, feeling my pecs getting tense, arms bulge, doors open, I am
off, score todd one, koreans zero.
if you are not so big just shout BACK OFF, BACK OFF and move forward full speed. |
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Newbie
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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#1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it
#2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you.
#3) you have a point. they have no idea how to use an elevator. However, I find the grownups are worse than children.
Dude, if you're gonna mock Koreans at least focus on things they are acutall guilty of. |
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endo
Joined: 14 Mar 2004
Location: Seoul...my home
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:33 pm Post subject: |
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| Why are all your thread titles is caps? |
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toddswift
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Newbie wrote: |
#1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it
#2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you.
#3) you have a point. they have no idea how to use an elevator. However, I find the grownups are worse than children.
Dude, if you're gonna mock Koreans at least focus on things they are acutall guilty of. |
When I read #1) I thought of pee wee herman for some reason. |
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Newbie
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| toddswift wrote: |
| Newbie wrote: |
#1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it
#2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you.
#3) you have a point. they have no idea how to use an elevator. However, I find the grownups are worse than children.
Dude, if you're gonna mock Koreans at least focus on things they are acutall guilty of. |
Sweet! That's the look I'm always going for.
When I read #1) I thought of pee wee herman for some reason. |
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toddswift
Joined: 26 Jan 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Newbie wrote: |
| toddswift wrote: |
| Newbie wrote: |
#1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it
#2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you.
#3) you have a point. they have no idea how to use an elevator. However, I find the grownups are worse than children.
Dude, if you're gonna mock Koreans at least focus on things they are acutall guilty of. |
Sweet! That's the look I'm always going for.
Not too smart................................
(11-16) 04:00 PDT Los Angeles -- Actor Paul Reubens, better known as Pee-wee Herman, was arrested and charged Friday with misdemeanor possession of obscene material improperly depicting a child after a yearlong investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department.
Reubens, 50, who gained tabloid notoriety after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor indecent exposure in connection with a 1991 arrest in a Florida adult movie theater, surrendered to the LAPD. He was booked at the Hollywood Division station and released on $20,000 bail.
The arrest comes a day after actor Jeffrey Jones, whose roles have included the principal in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," was booked on a more serious felony count of using a teenage boy in sexually oriented pictures or films and misdemeanor possession of child pornography.
An LAPD investigation into Reubens and Jones began last year after a 17- year-old boy made a complaint to authorities.
Police said Reubens was booked based on evidence gathered by detectives last November when they served a search warrant at his Hollywood Hills home and seized his large art collection, which includes erotic images. Investigators also seized Reubens' personal computers.
Blair Berk, Reubens' attorney, said the misdemeanor charge is "untrue and without merit." Reubens, she said, "has never at any time knowingly possessed any artwork from his extensive vintage and antique art collection even remotely related to anything improper."
District attorney's spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons said the office determined that the evidence seized did not warrant a felony prosecution and referred the matter to the Los Angeles city attorney's office, which prosecutes misdemeanor offenses.
City attorney's spokeswoman Ana Garcia said the criminal complaint filed against Reubens charges him with misdemeanor possession of material depicting a child under the age of 18 engaged in sexual conduct as defined by California state law.
In 1991, Reubens pleaded no contest to an indecent exposure charge after being arrested in a Sarasota, Fla., movie theater. After that, his children's show was canceled and his star faded.
This article appeared on page A - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle
When I read #1) I thought of pee wee herman for some reason. |
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RJjr
Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Location: Turning on a Lamp
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:56 pm Post subject: |
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The only thing that I've seen that I would classify as a Korean cultural thing would be the headshake/wave off, but I think it's possibly some sort of fad. I got here in June and had never seen it until November or so, but now I see it all the time.
This is what happens. You see someone you know who is usually friendly. You say, "Hello," and they shake their head and wave a hand. The next time you see them, you'll naturally not want to bother the person by speaking to them. But, then they'll come up to you and be social and friendly and want to talk at length about whatever topic.
Adults and kids both do this. I could understand if there was a time issue as if to say, "I don't have time to talk right now," but even if you just give them a hello in passing in the hall or on the sidewalk, they shake their head and wave a hand, only to be as friendly as any person you could ever meet the next time around.
I've never seen that done anywhere else in the world.
Last edited by RJjr on Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 8:57 pm Post subject: |
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Newbie wrote:
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| #1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it |
If you're new here, you're likely still in the honeymoon stage of cultural shock. I do ring the stupid bell. It doesn't matter. And I'm 6'3" on a high mounted seat. Some older Koreans move. Most younger ones don't.
| Quote: |
| #2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you. |
Funny, never had this problem in the Philippines or China. And they do it to my Asian wife, too. And I use hangul. So I don't think it's just me. Indeed, the kids often want to mingle but the parents won't let them or they're skittish. Then again I'm not in Seoul or Incheon, so this could be provincial behavior. Maybe 1 out of 10 parents is warmly responsive. And, no, I don't have a sloping forehead, hairy warts on my nose, or a gap between my front teeth.
As I said, I could go on and catalog complaints but would rather others post here... |
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Newbie
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:08 pm Post subject: |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
Newbie wrote:
| Quote: |
| #1) I ride my bike to school every day. They always move. Here's a hint: that little shiny thing on your handlebar will make some noise if you play with it |
If you're new here, you're likely still in the honeymoon stage of cultural shock. I do ring the stupid bell. It doesn't matter. And I'm 6'3" on a high mounted seat. Some older Koreans move. Most younger ones don't.
| Quote: |
| #2) If I have one more Korean throw their baby/kid at me I'm going to lose it!. It's just you. |
Funny, never had this problem in the Philippines or China. And they do it to my Asian wife, too. And I use hangul. So I don't think it's just me. Indeed, the kids often want to mingle but the parents won't let them or they're skittish. Then again I'm not in Seoul or Incheon, so this could be provincial behavior. Maybe 1 out of 10 parents is warmly responsive. And, no, I don't have a sloping forehead, hairy warts on my nose, or a gap between my front teeth.
As I said, I could go on and catalog complaints but would rather others post here... |
Been here 5 years.... been on the honeymoon and back about 10 times.
Am usually the first to point out Koreas many flaws.... yours are just rare.
Bell works like a charm for me. In fact, if there are any people that DON'T move, it's the old folk. Kids tend to jump out of the way like I'm a 10 tonne elephant.
Strange how we differ. Don't wory, I'm sure once you've been here longer you'll get a better understanding of the country. (how's that for arroagant and condescending!  ) |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
. Koreans waiting at a bus stop. You're riding your bike on the designated sidewalk. They see you coming from a distance but don't move one centimeter.
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I couldn't agree with you more! When I leave my door, I set my trajectory and anyone in that line had better know that that is MY path and they have no right whatsoever to violate my jehovah-given space. The nerve of some people. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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Newbie:
Just for the record, I never badger old people to move. I'll get off my bike before I do that.
I have as of late "bumped" into some surly types who didn't heed my bell and had ample time and we're aware I was there (staring tends to confirm that).
I lived in China a decade and the Philippines three years but what I don't like here is the willful indifference in these situations.
And I won't stay here long enough to grow accustomed to it, either.
Curious, though, what you and other find especially rude behavior? |
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MrSeoul
Joined: 15 Apr 2007
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:37 pm Post subject: Re: IS IT JUST PLAIN RUDE OR A KOREAN CULTURAL TRAIT? |
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| stevemcgarrett wrote: |
You decide. Are the following often recurring behaviors just plain rude or an expression of cultural difference?
Let's see how long this thread lasts before it is mysteriously deleted and then you receive notice that it does not exist when in fact it did or was moved to another forum when in fact it was not.
1. Koreans waiting at a bus stop. You're riding your bike on the designated sidewalk. They see you coming from a distance but don't move one centimeter.
2. You approach them in a store with their children and kneel down, smile, and coo. They either ignore you or pull their children away after whispering into something into their ears.
3. You're trying to get out of the elevator in the lobby. But you have to wait for three students to come in first. Likewise, you're trying to get onto the elevator. You've been waiting some time. Someone who's just arrived manages to find a bit of space between you and the door and wedges in there.
I could go on... |
In another foreign country you're only a foreigner if you feel like one. If you act as if you're on Mars people will treat you indifferent. If your compfortable in your surroundings people will pick up on that. I guess living in Canada I don't diffrentiate myself from the rest when i'm in Korea. If they do that's their problem, there's enough Koreans in my Country and all other parts of the world, that I feel I can go anywhere and feel like a local. Especially in Korea, since there are so many Koreans in Canada. |
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stevemcgarrett
Joined: 24 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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Sorry, Mr. Seoul:
I think this is grasping at straws, however well-meaning. I think the child thing is a prime example of xenophobia.
I've lived abroad more than I've lived at home over the past two decades, so I know how to adjust.
Naw, this is a problem. |
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samd
Joined: 03 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| And I use hangul. So I don't think it's just me. Indeed, the kids often want to mingle but the parents won't let them or they're skittish. |
You write it down?
STEVEMCGARRETT shows his ignorance again.
ToddSwift, what's wrong with you? Learn how to walk in crowds. People like you give foreigners a bad name.
You guys need to learn how to live in high density areas where people are used to having less personal space. Then maybe you will relax and start to enjoy yourselves a bit more. |
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