Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kermo]

Here's a colourful and over-long anecdote from last night. I thought I'd share it because it could very easily happen to anyone, it might have turned out worse, and it's good to think about how you would handle it ahead of time.

I was riding a bus between Yongin and Bundang with two of my gal pals (let's call them S and C) at 7:30 in the evening. Two of us found a seat together, and across the aisle there was a middle-aged fellow occupying both spots on a double seat (there was a wheel-well taking up a lot of the leg-room.) He didn't move over so the third girl could sit beside us, so she perched behind us.

It was S's last night in the country, so there was a giddy atmosphere as we looked forward to making the most of the evening at an Irish bar. We chatted and joked. The bus was pretty quiet, but we kept our voices to a reasonable level.

We noticed that the fellow across the aisle was staring at us, but we ignored him. We discussed different ways of saying "Stop looking at me" and "What's your problem" in Korean, but didn't address him directly. He didn't get the message, because after a while, he poked S in the shoulder and asked us (quite rudely) where we were from.

This isn't the sort of guy we would talk to back home, and he was interrupting our conversation, so I told him (please pardon my spelling) "아저씨, 이아기 안하고시퍼요." (Wait a minute, that can't be the right spelling, as Google-translator told me that means "The uncle and this baby overlook Higher Civil Service Examination it ladles.") Okay, it's "이야기" and I know the rest is wrong, but the idea was to say "Mr, we don't want to chat."

Anyway, he understood, and it enraged him. He replied "Well, if you don't want to talk to me, then stop talking altogether!" He then tried shushing us, admonishing us, gradually building up to shouting at us. We were embarrassed but saw no reason to give in to his uncouth demands, so we just continued to have a normal, giggly conversation and pretend he wasn't there at all. We found it pretty ironic that while we were continuing a civil conversation, he was making a terrible racket while insisting on quiet.

Eventually, the bus driver called out from the front of the bus, and encouraged him to keep it down. The fellow in question started to describe us in rather unflattering terms which were in Korean but would be bleeped out if I tried to render them in English, and refused to acquiesce. He must have gotten under the driver's skin, because the driver pulled the bus over, and told the guy to get off.

A stand-off ensued between the apoplectic adjosshi and the irate driver. I couldn't translate much except some very colourful insults which I have learned throughout years of watching movies and sitting in PC-방s. The bus was at a standstill, the passengers were frozen, watching the two go back and forth. Some young ladies in the back row caught my eye, and I apologized to them-- they reassured me, and didn't blame us, I suppose.

To his credit, the driver didn't try to physically hurl the man off the bus. He just backed off, went back to the helm and continued the conversation as he drove.

Unfortunately, our stop wasn't for another 45 minutes or so, and though we hoped the guy would get off the bus, we had to sit beside him and listen to him mutter angrily to himself. C had a good idea lest he decide to follow us off the bus-- she phoned up her burly American boyfriend to meet us at the bus stop, just in case. It was reassuring, but ultimately irrelevant, as the adjosshi took no notice of us when we finally got off.

In retrospect, I might have added a "I'm sorry, but..." or just ignored him completely, as I didn't expect him to get so riled up. I was genuinely worried that he would get physical with us, because just last week I saw a guy shamelessly choking an ajumma on the street in front of my apartment, and I remembered that story about the noise complaint in the restaurant (it was called "typical ineptitude, but I can't find it at the moment)-- there doesn't seem to be the same sort of taboo here against lashing out against women.

I think that Confucianism probably contributed to the problem as the fellow might have thought he was entitled to certain courtesies due to his gender and age, though he didn't extend them himself. However, Korea doesn't have a monopoly on jerks, so please don't mistake this for an anti-Korean rant. The brave driver was just as Korean as the miserable ajosshi.

Wherever you go, there will always be egos and booze and a surfeit of each.

[SeoulShakin]

Good story Kermo - you tell it well.

I'm on a positivity thing lately, and I think it's good that we tell stories about positive experiences as well as our negative ones.

[jinju]

He was probably angry you mangled Korean. Back to the books, kermo.

[ED209]

Sorry Kermo I had a bad day and don't like people sitting next to me on the bus.

[Luna]

[SuperFly]

Ah, I got it...it's OK to speak English, as long as it's with a Korean...otherwise stfu right?

[SuperFly]

[The_Eyeball_Kid]

[kermo]

[JongnoGuru]

[mindmetoo]

Good story indeed. I look upon those guys with a lot of pity. That bus and his clip-on tie is about all he has in life. He has nothing to look forward to other than the rising price of soju and Russian hookers. He can't speak english so he'll never rise to the top. He goes home to a piece of cement Koreans mistakenly refer to as "homes" when in fact they're what we'd breed rabbits in. He gets a very generous 4 day a year vacation. He had no opportunity to travel in his youth, like you. He'll never live near water. He'll never have a backyard. He's made a sorry bed for himself and we're terrible reminders of the big wonderful exciting world he's never going to play in. And as women, since you weren't immediately in American porn mode, he now has to conclude a) porn movies have lied to him b) American women, known brazen hussies who will bang anyone, have actually rejected him. Clearly you've spotted his 3" go chu and it's turned you off. Immensely.

Really the best insult for the guy should have been "if you don't like it, why not buy a car? Can't afford one? Why should I talk to a man that has to take the bus and can't even afford a car. I bought my own when I was 16. What kind of example are you?"

[kermo]

Oh, Jongnoguru, you are absolutely full of mischief this afternoon. I'd be surprised if you had a gin-and-tonic to excuse you, so if this thread goes where I think it's going, you've got a serious spanking coming to you...

[GoldMember]

My Karma is totally screwed up. Too much fornicating, and scumbagging.
I know that I am going to be severely punished.
My greatest fear is that in my next life, I will face the ultimate punishment, a punishment that is the most horrible of the horrible.
In my next life I fear I will be coming back as a bus riding Ajoshi.
It's a cruel cruel world.

[kermo]

[The_Conservative]