|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
|
 Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:33 pm Post subject: Korean students at U.S. univ. to demand pube dryers? |
 |
|
Just kidding, but had to think it possible when I read about the Muslim students at the University of Michigan getting foot baths installed in restrooms, causing a heated debate:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070605/SCHOOLS/706050368/1003/METRO
Next, we'll be reading about the Korean students demanding pubic hair dryers be placed in the gymnasium locker rooms !
BTW, while on the Korean way thing: Was in the student commons yesterday on the local uni campus and walked past a Korean restaurant they've got in there (along with Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Phillipine, Mexican, Arabic, Italian, Nepalese, Thai and Brazilian). I take a peek in. It's early morning and the aujumma and aujulshi are preparing the day's bulgogi meat and miscellaneous vegetables - - - ON THE FLOOR !
Yeah, they had some tarp rolled out and there they were squatting as Koreans do, hacking away at frozen chunks of bulgogi, veggies all around. The meat they chopped off the frozen blocks was being transferred to a table top - unprotected, uncovered table top.
Business as usual. 
Would have loved for the health department to come in at that moment!
Back on the foot baths thing: My opinion: Better to let them have the foot baths than have to put up with these students hiking their stanky feet up into the wash basins! When I was in undergrad, we had a group of Saudi students in the dorm I stayed in and there were signs on the dormitory bathroom mirrors . ."Please do not wash your feet in the sinks!" . . (And signs on the dormitory bulletin board "Please do not hunt and eat the ducks and squirrels!" . . for the Sudanese students we all presumed!)
Still, I do think the university is treading a line on this matter. But, . . . ugh, the foot washing in the sinks thing . . .
The ACLU has apparently even agreed that even though it appears to be a church-and-state issue, . . they won't argue against it this time . . the health issue outweighs the former concerns.
Last edited by charlieDD on Tue Jun 26, 2007 1:28 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 12:48 pm Post subject: ... |
|
|
| Quote: |
| Dearborn agrees to spend $25,000 of public funds during very tight budget times to build foot baths to accommodate Muslim students ("College's foot bath plans spark backlash," June 5). Then a group of Christian high school students sue Farmington Public Schools to start a Bible club ("Student group sues district for right to start Bible club," June 5). They are seeking the same privileges other clubs have. Both situations must be either considered acceptable or wrong under our secular progressive culture's enforcement of politically correct rules. They can't have it both ways without appearing blatantly hypocritical. |
As far as I know, universities are allowed to have religious organizations (as opposed to high schools), so this is a poor comparison. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gatorchick82
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 2:22 pm Post subject: Foot baths |
|
|
| If you read the article, you would see that the foot baths are used for religious purposes. Muslims wash their feet, hands, etc. before praying. It has nothing to do with having "stinky feet." I think it was inappropriate and ignorant of you to compare that religious ritual to something like pubic hair dryers in Korea. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
thepeel
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:11 pm Post subject: Re: Foot baths |
|
|
| gatorchick82 wrote: |
| If you read the article, you would see that the foot baths are used for religious purposes. Muslims wash their feet, hands, etc. before praying. It has nothing to do with having "stinky feet." I think it was inappropriate and ignorant of you to compare that religious ritual to something like pubic hair dryers in Korea. |
Awwwww. Did the sensitivity police have a good cry? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:14 pm Post subject: Re: Foot baths |
|
|
| gatorchick82 wrote: |
| If you read the article, you would see that the foot baths are used for religious purposes. Muslims wash their feet, hands, etc. before praying. It has nothing to do with having "stinky feet." I think it was inappropriate and ignorant of you to compare that religious ritual to something like pubic hair dryers in Korea. |
You are certainly entitled to your opinion, even if it reveals your knee-jerk reaction and the real ignorance here.
If you read the article more closely, you will see that as far as the university is concerned, this is a hygiene issue, not a religious one.
The university can justify spending money on the foot baths because it is a hygiene issue. The hygiene of those who will use the wash basins for their intended purpose - - to wash their hands and faces - - is being put at risk by those who, refusing to adapt somehow to their new surroundings (uh, ever heard of wet towlettes? uh, ever heard of bottled water?***) will use them to wash their feet. Apparently unable to persuade these hygiene offenders to desist from the unacceptable behavior, the university has decided to cope with it and spend money on foot baths in order to protect the hygiene of the general population; not much unlike cities coping with diseases spread among drug users by spending money on needle exchange programs.
When I saw this story on the news, I was comically reminded of the Korean odd behavior of using hair dryers to dry their pubic hairs because at the university I am visiting this summer here in the U.S. I see Korean students doing this. I've even seen one Korean young man pull up a chair to stand on so that he could get his pubic hair areas and the crack of his arse up nice and close to the hand dryer. While there probably are no hygiene implications, some may think there are. It's not a major issue in reality, just wierd to the average American who's never experienced this Korean behavior. . . . But what if it did become an issue and the Koreans simply wouldn't stop doing it, claiming it was an important ritual in their daily oblutions that was essential to their sense of wellbeing? I suppose the university could spend money on special pubic hair dryers!
**** (You'll note above the three asterisks. Here's what they are for: How do Bedouin Muslims living in the desert wash their feet and other body parts before prayer? . . . The answer: With clean dry sand. And how do I know this? I have lived and worked in Saudi Arabia and have camped with Beduoins. I've seen it firsthand. You see, the use of water is not essential. There are other ways to wash; what's essential is that you wash.
The Muslim students who refuse to adapt are simply being obstinate, and . . to use your rubber stamp, . . i g n o r a n t . . completely i g n o r i n g the cultural sensitivities and the health and well-being of the university community as a whole.)
Last edited by charlieDD on Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:12 pm; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 6:53 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I say don't install them. It's the muslim students that have to adapt to the cultural norms of North America. They chose to come and study in America, they should be willing to adapt because of this choice. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jvalmer wrote: |
| I say don't install them. It's the muslim students that have to adapt to the cultural norms of North America. They chose to come and study in America, they should be willing to adapt because of this choice. |
There are no Cultural Norms in America, not really anyway. There are Christian Norms and Jewish Norms, and other stuff like that, but no Universal American Cultural Norms. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ChimpumCallao
Joined: 17 May 2005
Location: your mom
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Well, we can say that washing your feet before you enter a place of worship is not a traditional American custom.
Plus, there are American values and there IS American culture.
That is not the point though, separation of church and state indicate that government shall not pay for religious institutions. This is wrong. Just like George Bush giving gov't funds to those 'faith initiative' programs- government should not fund religion.
If it is a matter of hygiene because the Mulsim students were washing their feet in the sink there is a better solution.
Fine those that wash their feet in the sink. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
gatorchick82
Joined: 24 Oct 2006
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 9:25 pm Post subject: Foot baths |
|
|
| I didn't say that I agree with installing foot baths in the university. I just thought comparing Muslims washing their feet to Koreans drying their pubic hair was inappropriate. That was my issue. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
|
| Posted: Tue Jun 26, 2007 10:24 pm Post subject: Re: Foot baths |
|
|
| gatorchick82 wrote: |
| I didn't say that I agree with installing foot baths in the university. I just thought comparing Muslims washing their feet to Koreans drying their pubic hair was inappropriate. That was my issue. |
But could you possibly see that they could be viewed as quite comparable . . . . from the strictly hygiene angle that the university needs to approach it from?
Strip religion out of the equation and, if the Korean pube hair drying behavior became an issue of the scale the Muslim students' foot bathing behavior apparently became at the university, you could easily categorize each as a subgroup of the same type of cultural clash (and with the same obstinance, disregard, and ignorance exhibited by the "offenders") |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sundubuman
Joined: 04 Feb 2003
Location: seoul
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:30 am Post subject: Re: Foot baths |
|
|
| gatorchick82 wrote: |
| If you read the article, you would see that the foot baths are used for religious purposes. Muslims wash their feet, hands, etc. before praying. It has nothing to do with having "stinky feet." I think it was inappropriate and ignorant of you to compare that religious ritual to something like pubic hair dryers in Korea. |
Do you really think the original Islamic exhortation to wash feet before praying has nothing to do with "stinky feet"....
What could Mohammed have been getting at? Feng Shui?
And it seems to me that the taxpayers of Michigan should not "foot the bill"  for this.
And no, I'm not toeing the line, and please, don't call me a heel.
It's time we stop playing footsie with Islamists and their apologists. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Hollywoodaction
Joined: 02 Jul 2004
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 6:53 am Post subject: Re: Korean students at U.S. univ. to demand pube dryers? |
|
|
| charlieDD wrote: |
Just kidding, but had to think it possible when I read about the Muslim students at the University of Michigan getting foot baths installed in restrooms, causing a heated debate:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070605/SCHOOLS/706050368/1003/METRO
Next, we'll be reading about the Korean students demanding pubic hair dryers be placed in the gymnasium locker rooms !
BTW, while on the Korean way thing: Was in the student commons yesterday on the local uni campus and walked past a Korean restaurant they've got in there (along with Japanese, Chinese, Indian, Phillipine, Mexican, Arabic, Italian, Nepalese, Thai and Brazilian). I take a peek in. It's early morning and the aujumma and aujulshi are preparing the day's bulgogi meat and miscellaneous vegetables - - - ON THE FLOOR !
Yeah, they had some tarp rolled out and there they were squatting as Koreans do, hacking away at frozen chunks of bulgogi, veggies all around. The meat they chopped off the frozen blocks was being transferred to a table top - unprotected, uncovered table top.
Business as usual.
Would have loved for the health department to come in at that moment!
Back on the foot baths thing: My opinion: Better to let them have the foot baths than have to put up with these students hiking their stanky feet up into the wash basins! When I was in undergrad, we had a group of Saudi students in the dorm I stayed in and there were signs on the dormitory bathroom mirrors . ."Please do not wash your feet in the sinks!" . . (And signs on the dormitory bulletin board "Please do not hunt and eat the ducks and squirrels!" . . for the Sudanese students we all presumed!)
Still, I do think the university is treading a line on this matter. But, . . . ugh, the foot washing in the sinks thing . . .
The ACLU has apparently even agreed that even though it appears to be a church-and-state issue, . . they won't argue against it this time . . the health issue outweighs the former concerns. |
I heard that some Korean-owned restaurant in Canada get nailed for the same little mistakes over and over again, year after year (stuff you see here all the time here but is a no-no back home, like keeping the spoon used to scoop the rice out of the cooker in a bowl of water). So, apparently, they are being targeted by the inspectors.
Last edited by Hollywoodaction on Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:43 pm; edited 2 times in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
|
| Posted: Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject: Re: Foot baths |
|
|
| sundubuman wrote: |
| gatorchick82 wrote: |
| If you read the article, you would see that the foot baths are used for religious purposes. Muslims wash their feet, hands, etc. before praying. It has nothing to do with having "stinky feet." I think it was inappropriate and ignorant of you to compare that religious ritual to something like pubic hair dryers in Korea. |
Do you really think the original Islamic exhortation to wash feet before praying has nothing to do with "stinky feet"....
What could Mohammed have been getting at? Feng Shui?
And it seems to me that the taxpayers of Michigan should not "foot the bill" for this.
And no, I'm not toeing the line, and please, don't call me a heel.
It's time we stop playing footsie with Islamists and their apologists. |
Just curious. What is the difference between an "Islamist" and just a regular ordinary muslim? Or are all muslims those scary, dirty and dangerous Islamists?
It's such a small thing, really. Say a bunch of Mongolians settle in the area. There numbers increase over the years and many of their children are attending a university. They ask for a special place to wash their elbows because it's their tradition. School agrees. "Sure, why not. There are enough of you here we don't mind accomodating your little request." Uproar from the usual suspects......? I suspect not. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
I know the happy medium:
1. Install the foot wash machines.
2. pass the cost onto the muslim students. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
|
| Posted: Thu Jun 28, 2007 12:29 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ilsanman wrote: |
I know the happy medium:
1. Install the foot wash machines.
2. pass the cost onto the muslim students. |
Here's why that wouldn't work.
1. Makes sense
2. No one would have a problem with that.
3. Does not lead to the natural conclusion that wacky, insane muslims are out to destroy our way of life. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
