Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ajgeddes]

Well, after 2 1/2 years of dating my girlfriend it finally happened to us. We were accosted by an ajossi. We had just finished watching a movie in Sinchon (Shrek 3, it was pretty funny) and we were walking through Idae. We were walking down the sidewalk and this ajossi ran up in front of us and said to my girlfriend, "So, you are not going to marry a Korean guy?"

He spoke half in English and half in Korean. At first, we just stood there while he was harrassing us, because to be quite honest, we didn't really know what he was talking about. Anyways, after it became pretty clear what was going on, we started to walk away, but he followed us. He never spoke to me the whole time but just spoke to my girlfriend instead.

He said things like, "your English is terrible, so you just want English lessons" (his English was actually terrible, not hers), "Someone like you gives a bad name to Korean girls", "Do not get married to a Korean man ever", "Called her a 'Western Princess'" (양공주), which in the past referred to Korean girls who would have a baby with an American soldier, so they could get out of Korea. He also called her a "Yellow Cab" (옐로우 캡) which means a girl who just sleeps around with foreigners. He also commented on our ages and accused her of dating an older foreign guy, even though we are the same age, I'm only a month and a half older.

She told him we had been together for 3 years and were the same age and he just said "whatever". He didn't seem to respond to anything we said, but would just say something different each time. The only time he ever spoke to me was to say "Don't touch me" because I was holding him away from my girlfriend.

He swore a lot of my girlfriend, but she swore a lot right back at him, so I guess that comes out even. At first, she was just trying to defend herself, but this guy was totally illogical, so she gave up on that.

The most disappointing thing about the whole incident was that tonnes of people saw this happening, but nobody said or did anything. To be honest, people seemed to give me unfriendly looks throughout this which was also very disappointing.

(I wrote this pretty quickly, so there might be mistakes)

[yesnoyesyesno]

[Cohiba]

[butlerian]

[fusionbarnone]

That was so disrespectful. I would've told him to F@@#$$$ off or fight. I used to clap my hands hard in front of red neck china men's faces when I was in China. It would work here too. In your situation being accosted means moving out of range quickly like escaping a crazy person(and saying it in Korean too for others to over hear).

I am sorry that happened to you and your lady. I like to mispronounce my Korean at times to piss them(right wing ajoshis) off "Your welcome" becomes your a w@#$$$ker.

You can't expect any sympathy other than gleeful smirks from some onlookers. Koreans have a nifty saying, "not my problem".

[Guri Guy]

Sorry you and your girlfriend had to go through that. I have been on the receiving end (and my girlfriend) a number of times too.

[Adventurer]

Well, I would not expect Koreans to really say anything. They don't even bother if Koreans and Koreans are having problems. I remember seeing a Korean fellow bashing his head at the Sports Complex Station. I told him to stop. No one bothered to even look at the guy. This guy is unleashing his insecurities on you... Look, if it were not for foreigners the capital of the whole country would be Pyongyang. I would wager his father wasn't doing much in the war while MacArthur and the marines were keeping the DPRK from swallowing the place. Frankly, the Korean lines broke. How about at least a thank you? If no thank you how about no racism?

[Dr. Buck]

Why didn't you be a man and put the guy on the pavement? If a guy said such things to my wife I would take him down (without hurting him because Korean self-defense laws are a bit screwy). Just grab the foul-mouthed idiot and plant his face is the nearest potted tree and hold it there until he gets a mouthful of dirt. It's cowards like you that make it tough for the rest. Grow a pair you fucking coward.

[Guri Guy]

Dr. Buck, What the *uck? If you are going to be a troll, at least be a good one. Ask Jinju for advice.

[kimchi_pizza]

[procrastinatrix]

no, props to you for keeping cool...if you had beaten him up it would have just worsened stereotypes of big bad western men who come to korea and steal korean girls. sorry you had to experience that.
was the guy drunk??

[icnelly]

[Dr. Buck]

I am a big bad Western guy that "stole" one of "their" girls, and even had a baby with her. I'm not here to be a cultural ambassador (way beyond that infantile stage), I'm here for now to make a living and raise a mixed race child with my wife. If a jackass were to do such a thing with me his face would be eating a bonzai tree. Have a bit of self-respect. Re-read the original post and ask yourself what the poster was doing at the time of the harrassment. Jack--fucking--shit is what he was doing.

[ajgeddes]

Honestly, I was very tempted to punch the man. At one point I even cocked my arm back to try to get him to leave, and he did take a step back. But I didn't hit him, and even though I wanted to, I am glad that I didn't. I know I would have for sure been on the losing end if I had. The man was probably 45-50 and smaller than me and it would have been no problem dropping him quickly, but what does that prove? It just shows to everybody else watching how quickly I am (and possibly foreigners) to resort to violence. I was actually holding him away from my girlfriend the whole time (after I realized what was actually happening). I did speak to him in Korean to stop, but he just wasn't responding to anything my girlfriend or myself said. In the end, what he was doing wasn't illegal, nor a crime, while punching someone is, so I am glad I didn't punch him. He is entitled to his opinion, no matter how fukced up it is. If he had hit me or her, it would have been a different story though, I think.

[butlerian]