*Disclaimer: These posts are for humorous purposes. They do not encompass the entire Korean population and a have met quite a few lovely Koreans that are the exception to all the rules.
Alrighty then. Onto part deux.
The Bad
1. Rudeness/Personal Space:
So granted, this is not completely their fault as the cities are mostly overcrowded and space is a luxury, not a right. HOWEVER it happens way too often that I will be walking down the street, minding my own business... as happens I cross paths with someone. As my parents raised me to be polite and courteous I take a small step to my right and keep walking, assuming that they would do the same and we would pass each other without incident and be on our way. Instead... WHAM, I get some short, boney Korean shoulder in the chest because they haven't moved an inch. This is an easily forgivable offence if it;s a crowded market, but when we're the lone two people on a path that's 3 metres wide it is just infuriating. This is especially bad with Korean business men because apparently they believe themselves to be divine and we should count ourselves lucky to even cross paths with them. I hit a point a good 4 months before my contract ended when I'd had enough. From then on I refused to move if the person that I was walking towards didn't show the same inclination. My tactic was to brace myself and speed up a little. In fact the high point on my runs were when I would come across a group of holier than thou Korean business men. All of the things that my highschool rugby coach taught me came right back. Drop your shoulder, elbows out, don't slow down. On a good pass I could run right through the middle of them and clip the first two real good before the rest got the idea.
2. Privacy:
Privacy is non-existant in this country. You learn that real fast when you first get here from the many questions that your co-workers ask you...
"Why aren't you married?" - Uh... cause I'm 22 and am far ways away from being responsible enough for that.
"Your arms look fat today." - Ya, well I'm 1000 miles from home and I've been indulging in some comfort eating, thank you very much.
"I brought cake! Have some." - No thanks.
"Why you no eat?" - You just said I was fat.
I brought a bag from the pharmacy into work a couple weeks ago as I had gone to pick up some bc pills. My boss being the ever so observant one sees it as I discreetly try to bring it in. "Oh, you went to the pharmacy, what did you get there?" uhh? The worst instance of this happened on my very last day of work. I had been up all night trying to get a bunch of stuff finished up. It was 9am and I had a glorious half hour of sleep that I was cherishing before I had to get up and do some more last minute trips to the bank, ect. Out of nowhere someone starts knocking on my door. Now I'm in bed, naked as the day I was born and the last time I did answer the door in the morning it was some old ajumma jehovah witness; so I ignore it, expecting the person to go away. Instead I get some even louder pounding on the door which doesn't really bother me that much as most days I could sleep through a nuclear holocaust. So I start drifting back to sleep and suddenly my landlord unlocks the door and barges into my place. As he sees me sit up startled he jumps back out the door. I'm pretty deeply annoyed at this point and what happens next? He starts knocking again, at which point I'm kind of obliged to get up and answer the door because he knows I'm in there. So I do, eyes half-closed, hair standing out at every angle and I'm sure a little drool still hanging from the side of my mouth, (You KNOW you do it too.) and in the politest way possible tell him to fuck off and please come back later.
3. Pollution:
Not much to say about this one. The smog in the city can get so bad that you can feel it blacken your lungs. Littering is just as big of a problem. They have no garbage bins around the city. I'm sure it's due to some paranoia that they would be used to start fires in some youthful, rebellious uprising.
4. Racism:
Being on the tip of the peninsula, South Korea has perhaps been a little isolated from other cultures. This has invariably, alongside their strong national pride caused them to be somewhat... wary of people from different countries Added to all of this, foreigners working as teachers can be pretty douchey a lot of the time. They drink excessively, leave messes all over the place, sleep around with a ton of Korean girls, act obnoxiously and generally re-live their freshman frosh-week for a full year, (Of course there are the exceptions to the rule, you all know who you are.) all the while making loads more money than the Koreans and working half the time. BUT! Through all of that there is still a disturbing level of racism ingrained in a large portion of the population. So behind that old ajummas smile while she's handing you that plate of kimchi and bbq-d, she's really thinking about how much she'd like to ship you out of there for good. There were way too many instances in class where a young child would see a picture of someone with different coloured skin and make a comment that I would only expect to hear out of Mel Gibson's mouth. You eat cabbage that's been sitting in vinegar out in the hot sun for the past 5 years... who's dirty now?
Stay tuned for Part III, the epic conclusion. Included in the final installment: Sexual Repression, Fashion, Safety Regulations and more!
2. Privacy:
Privacy is non-existant in this country. You learn that real fast when you first get here from the many questions that your co-workers ask you...
"Why aren't you married?" - Uh... cause I'm 22 and am far ways away from being responsible enough for that.
"Your arms look fat today." - Ya, well I'm 1000 miles from home and I've been indulging in some comfort eating, thank you very much.
"I brought cake! Have some." - No thanks.
"Why you no eat?" - You just said I was fat.
I brought a bag from the pharmacy into work a couple weeks ago as I had gone to pick up some bc pills. My boss being the ever so observant one sees it as I discreetly try to bring it in. "Oh, you went to the pharmacy, what did you get there?" uhh? The worst instance of this happened on my very last day of work. I had been up all night trying to get a bunch of stuff finished up. It was 9am and I had a glorious half hour of sleep that I was cherishing before I had to get up and do some more last minute trips to the bank, ect. Out of nowhere someone starts knocking on my door. Now I'm in bed, naked as the day I was born and the last time I did answer the door in the morning it was some old ajumma jehovah witness; so I ignore it, expecting the person to go away. Instead I get some even louder pounding on the door which doesn't really bother me that much as most days I could sleep through a nuclear holocaust. So I start drifting back to sleep and suddenly my landlord unlocks the door and barges into my place. As he sees me sit up startled he jumps back out the door. I'm pretty deeply annoyed at this point and what happens next? He starts knocking again, at which point I'm kind of obliged to get up and answer the door because he knows I'm in there. So I do, eyes half-closed, hair standing out at every angle and I'm sure a little drool still hanging from the side of my mouth, (You KNOW you do it too.) and in the politest way possible tell him to fuck off and please come back later.
3. Pollution:
Not much to say about this one. The smog in the city can get so bad that you can feel it blacken your lungs. Littering is just as big of a problem. They have no garbage bins around the city. I'm sure it's due to some paranoia that they would be used to start fires in some youthful, rebellious uprising.
4. Racism:
Being on the tip of the peninsula, South Korea has perhaps been a little isolated from other cultures. This has invariably, alongside their strong national pride caused them to be somewhat... wary of people from different countries Added to all of this, foreigners working as teachers can be pretty douchey a lot of the time. They drink excessively, leave messes all over the place, sleep around with a ton of Korean girls, act obnoxiously and generally re-live their freshman frosh-week for a full year, (Of course there are the exceptions to the rule, you all know who you are.) all the while making loads more money than the Koreans and working half the time. BUT! Through all of that there is still a disturbing level of racism ingrained in a large portion of the population. So behind that old ajummas smile while she's handing you that plate of kimchi and bbq-d, she's really thinking about how much she'd like to ship you out of there for good. There were way too many instances in class where a young child would see a picture of someone with different coloured skin and make a comment that I would only expect to hear out of Mel Gibson's mouth. You eat cabbage that's been sitting in vinegar out in the hot sun for the past 5 years... who's dirty now?
Stay tuned for Part III, the epic conclusion. Included in the final installment: Sexual Repression, Fashion, Safety Regulations and more!
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