For those who don't know, it is rude to talk to/approach people that you don't know (unless for directions or some such).
It is rude and pretty much unheard of for a worker of a store or business to stand up to a customer.
Koreans are also taught something like, not lifting a finger or speaking out in a fight or argument.... or basically doing anything that would involve them.
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Story 1:
I went drinking on Friday night. It should have been fine since my friends and I hung out in foreigner bars. The first bar we were at was great. But then my friend met some people who told her about another bar, and since she didn't want to go home, we went there: bad idea.
There were some Koreans there: the usual girls who date white guys and then some middle-aged woman and her Korean husband (two Koreans with no purpose, why there?)
The Korean woman decided to be not very Korean and came over to my friend started causing trouble. I noticed the second time, turned around and told her stop and leave my friend alone because she was being rude. So she and her husband left. However, we also decided to leave after that. That and the bar owners husband was rude as heck. (Bar owner = a Korean lady, husband = white ass)
We convinced my friend to leave and our other two friends (Koreans) went out with her while I made sure the tab was paid. The crazy Korean lady left about 5 minutes before us, but apparently she was waiting outside to attack my friend again. When I went out, there was a loud argument going on between the two. And don't get me wrong, I love my Korean friends, but they did nothing. They were just standing there watching like scared children when they should have taken our friend straight out!
So I went over and pushed my friend back and away from the crazy lady. Then I turned around and put my hands up and told her to stop, that it had gone too far. Then I turned around to calm my friend and when I looked back I realized the crazy lady was trying to take pictures of my friend on her phone! So I went over and put my hand out to block her and told her to stop. When she put her camera up again I pushed it down (making sure to only touch the phone--since it was a flip up phone I just pushed it down again hoping it would turn off). She got mad at me, but the bar owner (lady) came out and told me to stop. So I told her that she if she would keep her from taking pictures we would leave, so she talked to the woman. Then I grabbed my friend and took her to the stairs where she proceeded to go UP! After going to the top and realizing all the doors were shut and locked she sat down to breathe.
I went back down to check on things because she told me to. The crazy lady was there still and yelling at the bar owner, so I told my friends we needed to leave.
The crazy lady said "You can't leave, I'm calling the police!"
"Why are you calling the police? You started this."
"Because you pushed me and hit me, so I'll have you arrested!"
"I never even touched you and you know it, why would you lie?" Okay, I asked everyone out there, I never touched her. I only touched her phone.
*and this is the part that really gets me*
She said to me, in ENGLISH, "It doesn't matter because they will believe me. It won't matter what you say because you are a foreigner and I'm Korean, so of course they'll believe me." Which is basically admitting that, yes, she is lying. But apparently since I stopped her from screwing over my friend, I was the next best thing.
....I feel sick every time I think about this, because I've read/heard enough stories from foreigners in Korea, and Koreans with foreign friends.... It's true. There is nothing here to protect or give any right to a foreigner.
Anyways, my friend came back downstairs and we decided it was time to leave. Meanwhile, thought the owner and the guy who invited us there were trying to distract and get between us and the crazy lady, she grabbed my arm as I turned away and tried to pull me back. She even dug her nails into my hand and scratched my arm when I pulled away before we finally managed to get out.
And just to make the evening better, all the white assholes who were in the bar came out just then, because there was a fight. (I swear about 99% of foreigners here are just whores and frat boys.) They had no idea what was happening, but they yelled after us, "You whores are just causing problems just get the hell out."
Really? Is Korea just full of rednecks from all over the world?
The worst part was the idea that, since I know the crazy lady was right... since I know I have no rights or voice here, I could be arrested, fired, fined, and deported whether or not I do anything here. If some Korean just decides someday that they want to ruin my life (like the crazy lady did with my friend) they really could.
It's really ridiculous that such a thing could happen.
If Korea wants to kick me out for something I didn't do: it will be war.
I won't go home. But I also won't go down without a fight. And if I have to be one of those asses that would slander a whole country, I will. The laws here are barbaric. Not because I'm American, because no country should be able to claim it's "foreigner friendly" but then let its laws support people who would randomly start a fight and then flaunt to those foreigners that their country has no laws to protect them or even consider them in any way.
Grow up Korea.
Americans may be teenagers to the world, but what does that make this place? About 5?
Like the 5 year old student who threw a fit because the new student had new crayons and pitched a fit wanting the new student to have to leave or give over her crayons.
It's the same thing.
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Story 2:
I have an American girlfriend who is married to a Korean guy. She has lived in Korea for almost 5 years and speaks pretty good Korean. However, English is still her first language and her husband is an English teacher, so they usually talk in English.
They went out to karaoke with another Korean friend (who also speaks English). Her husband ordered the room and all in Korean, but then he turned back to her and they all talked in English. The karaoke worker jumped on them and told them off in Korean that "you are Korean and you are in Korea, so you need to speak Korean".
This is incredibly rude to do in Korea, but since they were being "un-Korean", politeness is not needed when talking to them apparently.
What this actually was is that, in Korea, they LOVE eavesdropping on everyone's conversations. When they can't, they get annoyed. It happens to me all the time. I've seen several people leaning in towards me to hear and getting annoyed when I talked too fast.
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Story 3:
My co-workers friend is a foreign guy here. He and another foreign guy were walking with a Korean girl friend of theirs on the street. Suddenly some old Korean man in front of them turned around and started yelling at the girl in Korean,
"What the hell is wrong with you, you are Korean! Why are you with these foreigners? And you are dressed like a whore! You should be ashamed!" and so on.
If she had been with Korean guys, no one would say anything even if her butt was hanging out, but since she was with foreigners...
Apparently one of the guys was really big though, so when the man saw him he ran away, but it's ridiculous.
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Story 4:
A friend was telling me that someone they knew had been out riding their bike. They went through the cross walk when it was green but they were hit by a car that ran the light (big surprise here...)
The car driver called the police and claimed it was the bikers fault; of course he was a foreigner, so the cops went with it. So he was about to be charged and fined! The only way he got out was that the place next to the light was a business and the owner (an older lady) came out and spoke on his behalf. (Mind you, nice, but not totally to be nice.) Apparently this guy ran the light every day and she knew about it. She got sick of it, so she used the situation to her advantage. Mind you, she didn't have to, so it was nice she chose to do it.
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These are only the stories I know from recently. My co-worker has heard four more like them in the last week.
Welcome to Korea: A "foreigner friendly" country!
