Things Koreans Do in Public to Annoy Foreigners (Or So it Seems)

This post is not to be taken too seriously and for any Koreans reading this I hope you are not offended, these are just things that I notice and have thought annoying or just funny. To start off I would like to talk about children. It is kind of like I am a walking zoo exhibit at times because I draw so much attention being a foreigner. The children sometimes treat me as if I'm some scary person or monster or they think it's time to practice the few words of English that they know. I find that the children who have not seen many foreigners are the ones who are scared and they stare at me until I have passed. I think sometimes if I were to say 'boo' they would run off screaming bloody murder to find their parents.

The other children who have been to some sort of English acadamy or have had a little English tutoring are the ones who can be really annoying or really cute. The ones that I find annoying are the ones that like to do a walk by conversation, as I like to call it. They are the ones who will say 'hi, how are you, I am fine' all in one breath are they walk by and do not stop for an answer. It's as if they don't know how to carry on a conversation properly. The ones who are cute are the ones who actually wait for you to say something back. Then when you ask them another question they do one of two things. They will either answer or they will stare at you with this blank stare and not know what to say.

Then there are the children who go around and when they see a foreigner they will use a swear word such as the 'f' word and think that they are cool in doing it. For example, one day I was out shopping with Susan in E-Mart and this little boy, about the age of 9 or 10, walked by and said hello and then started repeating the 'f' word over and over again. I was appauled because of this. I also couldn't believe that a child that young was swearing at me. You know that they learn these words off of the English movies that are played on tv.

Let's not forget about the girls who are probably junior high or high school who will say hi as they are walking by and when you say hi back they laugh and giggle like you saying hi was really a big deal and you are the celeberty that they have been dying to meet.

Now onto Korean adults. The adults don't really try to talk to you, they will just stare at you or they might give you a smile, but they keep to themselves, unless they are the brave taxi driver who knows a little English and tries to ask questions. I find that adults tend to do the most stupid things. One thing that I have found terribly annoying is when you are going up the escalator and it is crowded behind you and the person in front of you with 3 children and a cart decides to stop at the very top of the escalator to arrange something and blocks the way so no one can go around. Meanwhile the escalator is still going and the people behind you are almost piling up on top of you and it's not as if you can tell the lady to move cause you can't speak the language. Then when you try and push through the lady looks at you as if you've done the worst thing in the world. It's so annoying.

Another one is when you are standing in line and have stood for about 10 minutes for one item and then this old lady with one item comes up from nowhere and wants to pay for her item and there is a line that she has totally ignored. Then the lady at the cash just rings her through and you see that all she was buying was beer. How annoying can that be!

Something that I find unusual, and that can be annoying if you are also trying to get to the same location, is pushing through a crowd of people. If someone wants to get through a crowd and there is the slightest opening for them to try and get through they will litterally push you out of the way so they can get through. Then you find that they get stuck again and you are the one passing them because you took a different route. I find that people are not courtious enough to stand at the sides of asile when looking at something, they like to stand in the middle and block the way so no one can get through.

Something that girls tend to do that can be a little annoying is whine about the smallest thing, if something doesn't suit them, or if you tell them something they don't want to hear. They can through a huge whining fit over the most stupid things. This can be found in teenagers along with some adult ladies.

Something else that can be annoying is Koreans allowing their children under the age of 5 to run wild and do almost anything they want. There are a lot of spoiled children in Korea. If a child wants to do something and you say no, he or she might break into a screaming spell or start crying, even though what they were going to do would have hurt them or would harm something that someone has made. I find that most Koreans will give the child what they want or they will allow them to do whatever they want just to avoid a scene.

One last thing that people in Korea do that can be annoying is treat you as if you are worthless. I have been told that Koreans are not a racist people, but I think that they have their own form of racism. I have not had it too bad, but I have spoken with someone who is teaching in Korea and has darker skin, and he has had a hard time. The person whom I spoke with said that Korean children were the worst because they were the ones who really show what they are feeling. The children will call this person dirty and treat them with no respect. Adults look down upon this person as if they don't belong in Korea. What I get is people thinking that I am less than them and that they can do anything they want, like push in line in front of me or give me dirty looks if I'm just minding my own business.

These are my observations.