“What are some popular misconceptions about South Korea that are prevalent among the foreign community?”

The KBC 9.9 with Daniel

“What are some popular misconceptions about South Korea that are prevalent among the foreign community?”

Repost from: http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/forum/topics/the-kbc-99-with-daniel-1

Click the button to hear online our exclusive interview, or download the mp3 file to your computer (13:05 min. length).

In this podcast, Daniel Lafontaine is joined by three other KBC members (Lara Tosh, Chance Barkley, Karina Chua) to discuss the week's topic.

Listen to the podcast below and then share your thoughts in the discussion below (Hint: We are looking for controversy in this discussion so don't hesitate to disagree with what other have said.)

 

For details on the new KBC 9.9 with Daniel podcast, check out this page: http://www.koreabusinesscentral.com/page/kbc-99-with-daniel

Daniel is already putting together his panelist list for future shows. If you'd like to join, email Daniel directly at d.lafontaine@glomedics.net.

Full Transcript of Podcast

Daniel:  Hi, this is Daniel Lafontaine, and here is our KBC 9.9 with Daniel with our Christmas special for all KBC members in particular and anyone who will listen to this podcast. When thinking about what to give all members of KBC, I thought this would be great to ease the transitions for everyone who moves or lives in Korea. Then that would make for a great Christmas present.

So today’s topic is, “What are some popular misconceptions about South Korea that are prevalent among the foreign community?” On our panel today, we have Lara Tosh.

Lara:  Hello.

Daniel: Chance Barkley.

Chance:  Hello. 

Daniel:  And Karina Chua.

Karina: Hi. 

Daniel:  First, a little intro. Lara, would you like to do the honors? 

Lara:  Intro: My name is Lara Tosh. I live in Seoul. I’ve been here for – I think this is year 11 now. 

Daniel:  Wow. Chance? 

Chance:  My name is Chance Barkley. I’m a recent university graduate, and I’m living in Incheon right now teaching at a hagwon.

Daniel:  Very good. And what about you, Karina? 

Karina:  My name is Karina Chua. I’m here for my MBA degree, and I’ve been here for ten months today. 

Daniel:  Very good. Ten months today, wow.

Lara:  Wow. 

Daniel:  As for me, I’m Daniel Lafontaine, as everyone knows. I’ve been here since September of ‘99, which means I’ve been here just over 11 years. So who wants to start it off? What are popular misconceptions about South Korea that are prevalent among the foreign community? Who would like to start off? 

Lara:  I thought of one good one when we were warming up before. We were talking about Karina moving out of the dorms because they needed to clean, and she moved back in and it’s not any cleaner. One common misconception that I found from a lot of people – I don’t know if others have found this – is that a lot of people come here thinking, or actually don’t come here but think from afar, that it’s really, really dirty over there and the way they live is very, very dirty. I’ve heard that.

Daniel:  I can see that. I’ve heard that, too. It’s really strange, because here in Korea, especially for my wife, she will clean two to three hours a day, just washing the floors, doing the dishes. It’s spic and span all the time. Among the foreign guys… It’s not a bad thing, sometimes. But it’s really something. 

Lara:  I think the misconception comes from the fact that there’s still a lot of washing with cold water that happens here. 

Chance:  Yep. 

Lara:  You’ve noticed that, Chance? 

Chance:  Yeah, or with no soap. Just splash it on and whirl it around.

Lara:  Yeah, with a dirty mop-head. 

Chance:  Yeah. 

Daniel:  It’s really funny, though. Karina, what do you think? 

Karina:  Yeah, there are a lot of those people who think that while it’s Korea, it’s clean and all open. This is not connected to the cleaning in the dormitory, but more on how they clean their areas, their desk, for example, since I’m in a dormitory. Most of my roommates so far, they just throw things away. 

Daniel:  They just throw things away. Really? 

Karina:  Yeah. They just throw things over their bed, their desk. When in times of move out, they just throw their things literally in the garbage can, just for the sake of not bringing it home. 

Daniel:  Really?

Lara:  Wow. 

Daniel:  That’s really something else. Another one I was thinking about is I hear most foreigners, especially the people who work in the hagwons, which I did for many years, is Korean kids study too hard. My question is, study hard compared to who? Compared to what? And is it a bad thing? 

Chance:  I don’t think it’s that they study too hard, because I know a lot of the kids that go to the hagwons, they just coast through it. I think they possibly go to school too long during the day, but I think it’s a somewhat valid misconception, in my mind, that they’re just around doing things a little bit too often sometimes. 

Lara:  I think they put too much time into it. They waste time doing it, but I don’t think there’s any more studying going on than any other place. 

Chance:  And that’s similar with the workplace. I know a lot of our Korean counterparts, just from talking to the ones that are somewhat more Westernized, they view us as lazy because we come into work, and we get in and get out. That’s their misconception of us, whereas our misconception of them is a little bit of that they’re a little bit silly and stupid because they just stick around at work all the time. 

Lara:  They waste time. 

Chance:  Your working hard here is more based on loyalty and being around if somebody needs you, whereas we come into work and get out. I know that they… 

Daniel:  I think when you look at that aspect, yeah, they’re always around, but isn’t that part of being a good employee, just being there so that if anything does come up, we can help out? I actually picked up that Korean habit of just showing up to work a half an hour, an hour early, first of all, so the boss doesn’t have to worry about you, that you’re sick or something.

And then the other idea, it helps if there’s a person who wants to come in or if there’s a certain job that needs to be done, there are people there to get it done. Then a third aspect of this –  I think it’s the most important – is the fact that be there early or being there for X number of hours or much earlier allows you to just do... When you start class, you’re not rushed. You’ve already settled down. You’re prepared. You have a calm mind. You’re going to class, and you do a great class. 

Chance:  I completely agree with you. I don’t know how your workplace is, but our workplace, a lot of them stay two, three, four hours extra, and they’ll play on their phone, waiting around for their boss to tell them to do something. 

Lara:  Yep. A lot of that happens in a lot of Korean corporations as well. People have to create the appearance that they’re working really, really hard, and I think there’s a lot of creating the appearance that, “Oh yes, yes, I’m working so hard. I’m working so hard.” But if you look at actual quality of what’s going on and what they’re spending their time doing, there’s a lot of working hard and putting in the hours and putting in the time and doing stuff, but there’s no working smart. 

Daniel:  Karina, what do you think? 

Karina:  I totally agree with Lara. They put too much time and effort into doing one simple thing. But then, for example, in another point of view or another person’s stand, it can be done in just a quick. For example, in my case, I see a lot of college students here. They put a lot of effort and time studying for final exams to the point of not going to sleep and just napping for a while inside the library. On the regular days, they don’t study. 

Daniel:  Now here’s another misconception. What about foreigners who think Koreans are rude? They don’t say hello on the elevator. They’re agressive driving. They cut you off any time you’re driving, or they don’t say sorry when bumping into you on the street. 

Chance:  This is one that I definitely struggle with, but I think it’s important to note that misconceptions usually exist because they’re a prevailing theme. But this is the one I really struggled with because I did find Koreans, especially when I came here, to be quite rude. But on further examination, I found that they’re very a tradition-based society, and they actually are, I believe, very polite people. But up front I would say they are possibly less friendly than Western people, but once you get into a circle, they are very, very polite and mannerly.

Daniel:  What do you think about that, Lara? 

Lara:  Well, I think that it has to do with how you’re judging certain behaviors. The behavior of not saying excuse me every time, you can’t judge that by North American standards. It’s another culture. You can’t be saying excuse me every time you’re about to bump into somebody. 

Chance:  A hundred times a day. 

Lara:  More than that. You’d say it thousands of times a day. 

Daniel:  For people who never lived in Korea, you’ve got to remember there are 47 million people, and the country is actually 100,000 square kilometers. For every person, you have absolutely no freaking room. This country is completely packed.

It’s just like when driving. I drive, and in Canada, I used to be a taxi driver going through university, to survive through university. I was a maniac as a driver in Canada. When I came to Korea, I was normal, non-crazy in Korea. The thing is that the roads are too small. There’s no right of way. I’ve asked many Koreans, “Do you understand the concept of right of way, and the person on your right goes first?” They said, “It’s not our culture. We never developed it.” 

Lara:  It’s like whoever steps on the gas goes first. 

Daniel:  Exactly. Just the idea of people cutting you off. That’s not really a misconception, because that’s what they’re taught in driving school, in driving class, or on driving tests. You have a written test, you have a course test, and you have the road test. The course test is you’ve got to keep your car between two lines, and you’re going through these curves of a course. They’re teaching you to play by instinct and that’s what they do when they get on the highway. The roads are too small, and there are so many people that if they cut you off with three inches, that’s plenty of room. 

Chance:  Which is interesting because out of most developed nations, Korea has the most motor vehicle deaths out of the developed nations per capita.

Daniel:  Per capita, but there are 110 million cars in the small area. It’s going to happen. One last thought; we’re running out of time. Lara, what do you think? 

Lara:  What do I think? I think any time you judge a culture, you need to do it by its own standards. 

Daniel:  Exactly. Expect to judge Koreans as Koreans judge themselves or expect to be treated like they treat themselves. That’s true. Karina, next.

Karina:  I agree with Lara that everything has a standard base in the culture, and likewise, we as foreigners, we have our own standards, which is why we have these certain perceptions: “Oh, they are rude.”

Daniel:  Exactly. And Chance? 

Chance:  I completely agree that it’s a big problem when you go to another culture or you’re judging another culture and you project your own values onto it. It’s caused many a corporation and people in countries to get into hot water over history. 

Daniel:  This is Daniel Lafontaine. This is “KBC 9.9 with Daniel.” I hope you have a great Christmas everyone. Joyeux Noël, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas. 

Lara:  Merry Christmas. 

Chance:  Merry Christmas.