Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack4289]

It's hard not to feel foreign all the time here because it's so obvious you're a foreigner. But from my experience in Busan and Yongin/Seoul, I'd have to say playing basketball makes me feel the most out of place. The weak fouls, the even weaker defense (weak zone defense- why play zone in a pickup game?), the clapping when the other team makes a shot- all showed up in PNU in Busan and in Suji and Seohyeon. It's like they're trying to kill the competitive buzz. I've only found one regular game where the Korean guys aren't shy about wanting to win and don't break into giggle fits when the games gets a little physical.

Besides the general pansiness of most of the players, there's the fact that I haven't seen a "winners" system at any court. If you're playing a game where you know if you lose you're going to be sitting for a while, it makes it a lot more competitive and (for me at least) a lot more fun. But in Busan and here, it seems to make no difference who wins or loses. You rarely see one team stay together for more than one game.

Also, if you have 12 guys waiting to play on one court, you won't have 10 guys shoot to see who gets in. You'll have two half-court games of 3 on 3. Seems fair, right, but fair is lame sometimes. A bunch of guys playing basketball together shouldn't be that worried about being fair to each other.

It's funny because when I play in the US, I was usually pushed by my coaches and other players to be more physical since I played too passive a lot of the time. Now I come here and I feel like a thug.

[darkhorse_NZ]

yeh the average korean doesn't seem to be too physical in sportsmanship.

it's probably beacause they're on average smaller that they've used skill from a young age as opposed to chucking around weight to play sports.

but you're absolutely right, the pansiness is really annoying...if they wanna compete on the global stage they're gonna have to learn how to take (and give) a good elbow.

they take the term 'non-contact' sport a bit literally

[Rapacious Mr. Batstove]

[darkhorse_NZ]

yeh i heard they're good rugby players, just lacking a bit of size and nous but apart from that.

i mean even in non-contact sports (supposedly) back home, there's still a good amount of contact. but here, man, it's letter of the law with soccer, basketball, street hockey, etc. it's frustrating as all hell, but i'd love to have a crack against some koreans at the oval ball game

[billybrobby]

I feel most foreign when I leave a place and I go to put my shoes on. Koreans just slip them on, but I gotta bend over and pull my on.

[mrsquirrel]

When I was last back in the UK in the land of giants. Massive men and women towering around me. I felt meek and scared.

[darkhorse_NZ]

i feel most foreign in the halls of my school when the younger kids point and yell "aaahh waygoogin"!

[Doogie]

When don't I feel very foreign!? Yea, I know.....time to leave. Eight weeks and counting.

[Binch Lover]

They're utter pu$$ies at soccer too. I've played against a few korean teams and they just don't seem to consider soccer a contact sport. Also, the referees don't help by blowing the whistle every time there's the slightest bit of contact. The refs can also be terrible cheats when they think that a Korean team is going to lose to a foreigner team. Generally an affront to the game of soccer.

[ajgeddes]

[mack4289]

The two really frustrating parts about playing with Koreans who play like pus*ies are:

1. they can't understand you when you call them pus*ies.
2. none of the Koreans say anything when weak fouls are called. Even some Koreans who are really good players call these really weak fouls.

I'm glad I know "namja" is boy and "yoja" is girl (right?) I always ask if we're namjas or yojas. That sometimes gets them to cut down on the phantom foul calls.

If I could change a few more things about basketball here:

1. I can understand the numbers in Korean so I know the score is rarely called out. It should be called out after every basket. Sometimes I try to call it out in Korean after every point but if some other guy calls it out for the first time in the middle of the game and if it's different than my count I get overruled.

2. I've played with very few guys who call out picks. It seems intuitive to me that if a guy is waiting to get in your way, one of your teammates would give you a heads up. But it's very rare to find a guy who does.

3. Cut the games down to 11. Especially when people are waiting. Play to 10, then a break, then play to 10 more doesn't make much sense, especially when the break means half the guys have to have a smoke or use their cellphone.

4. Shoot one time for first ball. If you miss, the other teams gets first. Trading a few sets of free throws over first ball is a waste of time.

5. If there is a fight (or a near fight), seperate the guys, take a minute or two, and then start playing again. The two near fights (I wasn't involved in either- I was waiting to play when both of them happened) I've seen here resulted in the police coming once (because one of the guys called for them on his cell phone) and the other time the guys took about a 15 minute break. Don't be drama queens about it. Sh*t happens when you play sports. Get over it and start playing again.

About the police incident- one guy kneed the other in the head, apparently intentionally although it's hard to say. There wasn't even any blood and I figured they'd push each other a little bit and then get back to playing. Instead, all of them go to half court and wait, including four guys who weren't even playing in the game. One guy calls for the police and they come after about 20 minutes. Then the police take all twelve of these guys to the station, two of them were involved and the other ten went as witnesseses. I don't know whether they went on their own iniative or because the police asked them to. But that knee to the head, which, at worst, gave the guy a headache, wiped out the entire game.

[SeoulFinn]

I think I felt most foreign in Korean sauna. Imagine this... if you dare:

You are sitting in a sauna in your birthday suit, surrounded by number of Korean men and there are no other foreigners around. Probably you are the only foreigner who has ever graced this particular sauna with his awesome foreign presence.

After living here for a while I can completely ignore the stares from other patrons. I can almost ignore even what they are talking about me as well, but I am quite not yet there. *^^* Anyway, the comments have been quite complementary... even though we certainly do not comment other men's bodies/units back at home.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

In the supermarket, when everyone is staring into my basket to see what the strange foreigner buys.

Once as I was checking out a lady standing behind me asked what I wanted to do with the soy sauce I'd bought. I then pointed to the bag of dumplings on the counter. I know she was just trying to be helpful, but sheesh...

[blondebecky]

When a child spontaneously burst into tears looking at me at a baseball game a couple of weeks ago. I felt like a (non-friendly) alien from outer space

[Harpeau]

It seldom ever happens in Seoul. Usually on the BUSAN subway. People stare at me like I'm the freak show!