Being a foreigner in Korea

What was it really like to be a foreigner in Korea?

WARNING!!!!

This is a sensitive topic that I am covering. Everything I say is based on what I have heard and what I have experienced personally. Not everyone in Korea is like that. It is not meant as an attack towards Korea or anyone in it. Do Not Kill Me.

Firstly, for those of you who might not know, I am currently doing my major in German language and linguistics. So I took a couple of German classes there and I distinctly remembered one of my professors telling me that there were still less than 1 percent of foreigners living in Korea.

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 Like this, if Koreans were the sardines, and foreigners were the odd floating starfish.



So you can imagine that many Koreans are probably still not used to seeing foreigners around. So if you are a foreigner coming to Korea, you will probably experience a lot of staring, mostly by children and senior folk. All of my non-Asian friends have experienced it. Most of them didn't like it at first, but they shrugged it off after a while, sort of how you would shrug off this gawking intern at work that you can't stand, except the gawking intern is every adjumma* you meet on the subway.

Since my Chinese face fits perfectly within the sea of Asian people, Koreans didn't seem to notice that I wasn't one of them, hence I never had that problem (To all non-Asians, the next time they give you flack for not being able to differentiate between Asians, just remember - We can't tell each other apart either). But whenever I hung out with my foreign friends or spoke English with them, then I definitely received my fair share of stares.

Maybe I was being paranoid. Maybe they were looking over me to stare at my more noticeably foreign friends, who couldn't fit in no matter how much toppokki they ate, or how short their short skirts were. But on the other hand at least I know the glowers I got if I happened to be with a white guy was especially reserved for me. I kid you not, I could almost feel their gaze burning a hole in the back of my head. Or the front of my head since they were staring unflinchingly straight at me.

You have no idea.

This really funny thing happened to me once when I was with my friend from Mexico. We were sitting in the subway train minding our own business when we noticed this ahjumma sitting across from us positioning her phone at a really awkward 90 degree angle straight at us. As we were trying to figure out what she was doing, we heard the clicking sound of her camera phone going off. And as soon as she was done taking pictures of us, she got up and went to sit in the seat further away from us. Because that makes it all the more subtle.

A different, slightly less humorous incident happened with another friend of mine who was waiting for the bus. When the bus driver came, he opened the door, took one look at her face, yelled out "씨발 외국인!", which roughly translates to '"F--king" foreigner!', slammed the door in her face and drove off.

I wasn't there, but I like to imagine that this was her expression.

Question: If you were a blonde-haired, blue-eyed individual and you were approached by a old Korean gentleman who asked you, are you Russian, what would your initial reaction be? If you say no and punch him in the face, then that would be the accurate response. However if you happen to actually come from Russia and you answer yes, I hope you're prepared for the next part of the question where he asks you how much it costs to have sex with you.  

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In other words, when he crosses the threshold from kindly old man to creepy gross dude.

That was one of the issues my Mexican friend faced in Korea. An old man came up to her in the subway and asked her if she was Russian. Now she had done her research and knew what he meant by that so she said no, please go away. But instead of contemplating where his life was headed if he was reduced to stalking foreigners on subways, he sidled closer and asked, "How much?" Needless to say, she got extremely offended. I don't  know what she did to discourage him in the end, but I like to imagine it involved groin kicks and eyeball jabbing.

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Admittedly these were the more severe examples. I'm pretty sure the same thing would happen anywhere if the locals aren't used to seeing people who are different from them. And besides, I'm not saying that all Koreans are like that. I have honestly met the nicest, friendliest people since I've been here. I remember this one time me and my roommate were out shopping for boots, and she was talking to the shop owner in Korean about how I was an exchange student and I came to Korea about three months ago at the time. She told me later that he actually felt really sorry for me because he imagined that my life there must have been really difficult, which wasn't the case at all. And he gave me a huge discount on my boots because of that. Awww <3

Another example: My friend's laptop broke down a couple of days after she arrived in Korea. So I went with her to the computer shop to get it fixed. Now the computer guy told her initially that there was a problem with her charger so he would order one for her and she could just come and pick it up when it arrived. But when he got the new charger and tested it, he realized that the problem wasn't with the charger after all, but with the laptop itself. So he asked my friend if she still wanted to get it fixed, but she said no because it was too expensive. So even though he ended up paying for not one, but the two chargers he ordered only to end up not making any money, he wouldn't stop apologizing to my friend for not being able to help her and offered her free coffee.

So if you ever come to Korea, yes, you may get some looks if you are not Asian. But really, try not to take it too seriously. Again, not everyone in Korea is like that. I'm pretty sure that if you came to Korea, you will find that most of the people are generally nice and really helpful. That's all I'm going to say about this topic for now. Until next time guys, peace out.

*Note: The Korean adjumma is just a general example.

Long or short pants?

This post is not in anyway a complete and flawless depiction of any country, race, religion or political stand as a whole. Do not get offended, this is NOT meant as an insult or to offend anyone from any society. I am merely stating my personal opinion based on my personal experience on each cultures.

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Good. Here's a bunny.

Despite what the title might have you believe, this article is less about pants and more about the difference between the idea of appropriate dressing, particularly for students. And for anyone who thinks that this topic is inconsequential, you obviously have never been on the receiving end of someone giving you the eye (You know which eye I'm talking about), or screaming blue murder at you just because your pants were an inch short of the required length in your university's Constitution of Respectable Pants (*Not actually a thing). Let me just give you a quick rundown of the average university dress code from my country. Most universities in Malaysia have a pretty strict dress code. Basically its no shorts, spaghetti tops, belly shirts, miniskirts, or pajama bottoms.

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No.

Its especially enforced when you're in the university library. Or any library for that matter. It's a perfectly acceptable request, and I had no problem with it. So when I came to Korea, I naturally assumed that they pretty much followed the same dress code. After all, Korea was a considerably conservative country as well. Which is why when a friend of mine told me that she had to make a quick stop to the library, I told her I couldn't go in with her since I was wearing shorts* and sandals at the time.

She didn't know what I was talking about, so I explained to her that back home, we weren't allowed into places like the university library if we were wearing inappropriate clothing. She looked at me like she couldn't tell whether I was being serious or not, before telling me that she had never heard of such a rule in her life. Of course you can wear a miniskirt in a library! What is wrong with that?

And we both stared at each other in a mutual omg-that's-so-weird moment.

You'd think that since we were both from Asian countries, we'd have some similar ideas about appropriate dressing. But no. In Korea, it is totally acceptable to wear shorts to class, to the library, basically anywhere you want in the university. Forget the students, I had even seen some of the dorm management staff sporting knee pants during their office hours. This atrocity would have never occurred in Malaysia.

I told her that we don't really consider shorts as respectful dress, and she asked me what did looking respectful have to do with going to the library. It wasn't as if there was a particular person that we had to show respect to in the library. And she had a point, of course.

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Pictured: No one to respect.

Back where I come from, although the dress code isn't strictly enforced in most places, I have known universities that charge fines for inappropriate dressing on campus, as well as university buses that would refuse to pick up students who were wearing short pants or skirts. It is especially important if you were attending a special event, like say, your university orientation. They would specifically request that you dress respectfully and even if they don't, it's kind of hardwired into our heads anyway, so we just reach automatically for our jeans. That was why during my orientation in Korea, I wore jeans all day, even for the after-party which was held in a bar. And my roommate could not for the life of her understand my obsession with said piece of clothing.

By the way, this rule was way tougher when I was in high school. Usually we wear a uniform so it isn't an issue, but on the rare occasion that we are allowed to dress casually, NO ONE wears shorts or mini skirts to school. This one time after the exams, my high school had a spring cleaning day and we were allowed to wear casual clothes. I wore shorts that day because honestly, nobody does spring cleaning in jeans. In the end, not only was I the only student in school who wore shorts, there were even a bunch of slimy punks who ogled me all day long and tried to take pictures of my legs.


                                           

I can see why they would be turned on though.

All because I was wearing shorts. The fact was that it was so uncommon to see a student wearing shorts in the school compound that everyone suddenly acted like they'd never seen legs in their lives. But in Korea, you can wear shorts to attend class or seminars or workshops and no one even bats an eyelid. Here is an interesting fact: Most Malaysians like me don't wear shorts to be fashionable. I prefer shorts because of the most obvious reason ever: I can't stand the heat. Imagine having to walk in the stifling Malaysian heat in jeans, and you will understand my point of view. On the other hand, Koreans obviously do not have this problem, and yet they are free to wear any manner of shorts at any time of the year they please.

Maybe it doesn't seem like a major issue to some people, but I think that this is just a representation of how conservative we are that we cannot even tolerate the barest hint of exposed skin. And we try to impose this conviction on everyone else by shaming or penalizing people who dare to go against it. Even now, this habit is so ingrained in me now that I can't shake it off. In fact the first time I went to the library by myself, I was actually at the front door before I remembered I was wearing shorts. And I went back to my dorm to change into jeans.  To this day, my roommate still finds it hilarious.

I wanted to go on talking about the differences in fashion but that would take too long, so I'm posting it in another blog. Be sure to check it out. I hope I didn't make anyone angry, but this is a pretty neutral topic so I don't see how anyone could get offended by it. Peace out.