Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Adventurer]

I generally don't think they are very outwardly friendly with some definite exceptions. Do you think that's expecting too much? I guess people aren't that friendly to strangers back home either with some exceptions.
What do you think about that? I generally make an effort to acknowledge other foreigners by making eye contact, but if I don't see a mutual effort then I move on as if they don't exist.

[tfunk]

You talkin' to me?

[Sine qua non]

OP, you're not from a city are you? You sound like you spent a lot of time in a small town back home.

[wylies99]

Sine, (if I may call you by your first name ), some "teachers" here are very rude. I agree with the OP. They shouldn't give everyone that "what are you looking at?" kind of glare. We get enough of that crap from Koreans.

[Missile Command Kid]

Living in Daegu, I've fallen into the nasty habit of uttering out loud, "Look, a foreigner!" every time I see one. It's gotten quite bad. I know what you mean, wylies99, about the "What are you looking at?" glare - mostly from the men, too. Huh.

[pdx]

Ha. My roommate and I live in a part of Seoul where there aren't very many foreigners, and we don't work with any foreigners, so we are constantly pointing out foreigners when we see them on the street or subway. I mean.. not pointing, but we give each other a look or say "there's a white guy". It's just such.... I don't know. We're stupid.

But then when I see a foreigner I don't know what to do. I don't want to assume they speak English and I certainly don't want to assume that they even want me to say hello. so... I don't say anything and I try to avoid eye contact.

[Homer]

I think that people are pretty much the same as back home.

You walk around Toronto for a while and I dare you to spot a smile or a friendly nod...

In montreal they do smile more in general when you greet them.

Here...well...I do not feel the need to force eye contact when I see a fellow westerner here. I mean whats the tie? Our skin color or nationality?
I will return the greeting if someone initiates.

[Bibbitybop]

Take the initiative to be nice. If most foreigners don't smile or make eye contact, walk up to them, smile and start a conversation. I have done this many times and have had others approach me.

It's refreshing because the person you think is not being friendly may be thinking the same thing about you. You reap what you sow.

[Paji eh Wong]

You know, I've noticed that US military personnel are much more friendly than other expats. I wonder why that is?

[merkurix]

When I lived in Bundang two years ago, I used to try to greet random foreigners who I would come across on the on the sidewalk where we are heading toward each other in opposite directions. I would make eye contact and say "hello." But they wouldn't respond. They would just continue to stare at me with a straight zombiefied face and not respond in the slightest; then they would break eye contact and ignore me. I don't think I smelled, and I am not really scary looking either, but a lack of acknowledgement is almost as rude as an insult. This wasn't a "one time thing" either; this has happened time after time to the point where I just "gave up" on saying hello to fellow foreigners (in contrast, some Koreans had no qualms about approaching me to test their Englihs abilities there). Maybe it was just the Bundang foreigners at the time that lived in my immediate neighborhood. Didn't get the same vibe from foreigners in other places in Korea.

[NeonRain]

[Vicissitude]

The expats in Thailand are a whole lot friendlier on average than the random expats you meet on the streets in Korea. I found it very difficult to make good close friends with people in Korea. I don't have trouble in Thailand. People are friendly when they are happy, I do believe. I just think most expats are quite unhappy in Korea, but they aren't always ready to face the fact. Most are there for the money and too proud to tell their true feelings about the place.

[SuperFly]

I was rude to a fellow student at Yonsei a few weeks ago, let me tell you why.

I was waiting patiently behind this cat for some help at the admin office of the Foreign Language Institute. I wanted to find out some information and I'd had a long 13 hour day at the company I've been working at for the past 3 months. He was taking a long time, but I didn't say or do anything to antagonize him. He finally noticed that I was standing a few feet away, so he told the advisor, "this gentleman has a question" - so he stands off a foot or two away from me while leaning on the counter watching me. This made me uncomfortable.

I started to ask her some questions, she asked me where I work and I told her. He then butts in and says "What do you do at XXX if you don't mind me asking?" I didn't acknowledge him at all. He finally gets the message and slinks off to the sitting area which is where the hell he should have gone in the first place and given me the respect and privacy to deal with the advisor.

People just don't think sometimes. Just because we're both students at the same school doesn't give anyone the right to 1. Listen in on your private conversation with an advisor. 2. Feel free to butt into a conversation to ask questions that are irrelevant to the situation. For Gods sake, I was asking about the grading system and how it works, I take a night class for business people. What I do at my company? Yes damn it. I do mind. Mind your own freakin business.


ON THE OTHER HAND

If he'd given me the privacy to ask my questions to the advisor and then approached me after I was done with her, I'd have gladly spoken to him and told him anything he wanted to know. I'm a friendly and outgoing person, I always smile and nod at a passing foreigner while keeping a respectful distance. Yesterday on the train I was standing a foot or two away from a woman with two beautiful twin daughters. I smiled at her and asked her how old they were. It was so nice to see a westerner with kids. We had a short conversation and she got off the train a few stops later. I'm not generally a rude person, but I can be rude when the situation calls for it.

[captain kirk]

[DanielP]

So do we. Can you say "Halo?"


Dan