Bomb English #3 – Foreign Perspectives on Korea - Part 2

Jennifer: Another really unique blog with a unique perspective and point-of-view is ‘Gusts Of Popular Feeling' (http://populargusts.blogspot.com/) which takes a very, sort of, academic… Michael: A little more academic… Jennifer: …and very historical view of what's happening, including contemporary events. And it's very very thoughtful and well-researched and its comment section is remarkably civil. Michael: Yes, it is. And, um, he just is a very neutral person interested in certain topics. He's also interested very much in Korean urban development. Jennifer: Right. He puts up fabulous pictures. Michael: I think a lot of Korean folks who don't know very much about the city of Seoul could learn a lot from that blog. There's a lot of interesting history of the city in there. Jennifer: Right. Michael: Another blog that is not necessarily, it doesn't have very much perspective at all, um, in terms of the commentary but it translates Korean news stories into English. It's called ‘Korea Beat.' (http://www.koreabeat.com) And ‘Korea Beat' is a useful window for foreigners into what Korean news media is talking about. Jennifer: And that's just it! What Korean news media reports in Korean is sometimes very different than what's going on in the English media produced by the Korean media. So foreigners sometimes have this sort of skewed perspective on what's going on and what Koreans think because many foreigners rely on the English news media. Michael: Yes, and often times certain stories don't get translated into the English language Korean newspapers. Jennifer: Right. Michael: And often times the stories that are about foreigners, he he he. And on my blog, the ‘Metropolitician' blog (http://metropolitician.blogs.com/), one of my personal gripes, the ax that I have to grind… Jennifer: He has many, many axes and he runs… Michael: I have a whole set in my closet! Jennifer: He keeps running out of millstones. Michael: He he he. So I have many axes to grind. Jennifer: Do you grind on a millstone? Michael: No, I just grind on my brain. Jennifer: Grind on a grindstone, you grind on a grindstone! Michael: He he. Um, is about the very skewed and biased and very prejudiced representation of foreigners in the Korean media. Because the foreigners you hear about are… Jennifer: Drunk. Michael: Pot-smoking. Jennifer: Canadian. Michael: Aids-having. Jennifer: White. Michael: Korean-women-deceiving. Jennifer: Men! Michael: Who have fake degrees, and much much, more. And depending on the administration foreign bad guys have changed. Before, if you were foreigner, you'd not want to be mistaken for a military GI. But now the GIs don't, don't, right? They don't want to be mistaken for an English teacher! Because English teachers have the bad reputation. So anyway, these are some of the perspectives. There's a whole different way of looking at Korea that I think a lot of Koreans might find interesting. So, one example of this difference of point-of-view, it has to do with 김치. Jennifer: What about 김치? Michael: Um there are certain things that are just annoying, irritating to hear. And it's not that someone's right or wrong, it's just irritating to me. It irritates me when people ask me, after knowing I've lived in Korea for 5 years, “Do you eat 김치?” Jennifer: Ahhhhh I hate that question! Michael: Can you eat 김치? Jennifer: No, I'm physically incapable. I get a rash when I think about it. Ah, I just hate that question. Michael: Ah. Or “Oh, You use chopsticks well.” Jennifer: We have chopsticks in America, too. It's like being surprised… Michael: And most people can use them, somewhat. Jennifer: Yeah, it's like being surprised that a Korean person could use a fork. Michael: Yes, I say, “Wow, Korean friend, you use forks well.” Jennifer: You call your friends ‘Korean friend?' It's like in ‘Ratatouille,' “Hey, tiny chef!” Michael: But, he he he he. But I think that's what people are thinking about. They say, “Hey, foreign man! You can do something unexpected well.” And I think, from the foreigners' point of view, how can you not eat 김치 if you live in Korea, or are in Korea? Jennifer: Especially since it's going to be served to you at every meal! Michael: Yes, um, or… Jennifer: Well, when people visit my apartment they're always really surprised because I have a Korean roommate. And they come into our room and they see a bed and a 요. And they look in our refrigerator and they see, you know, 김치, different 반찬, different vegetables and things and then they see, you know, yogurt and ketchup. Michael: And what do they assume? Jennifer: And they assume that my Korean roommate is the one sleeping on the 요, eating the 김치, making the 볶음밥, and it turns out that it's entirely backwards. I sleep on the 요, there are multiple reasons for this. Mostly I sleep on the 요 because I think it's comfortable and I think it's more comfortable than the western-style beds I've slept on in Korea. Michael: In Korea. Jennifer: And maybe not at home. I like my bed at home. But, you know, in Korea, it's just, it's more comfortable. Michael: Yeah. Jennifer: And my roommate can't cook most Korean foods. Michael: Your… Jennifer: She, well, she doesn't cook much at all but she really can't cook Korean food. So if you come to her house and you have 된장찌개 or 김치볶음밥, I'm probably the one who made it, and… Michael: And you make it pretty well. Jennifer: Yeah, well a couple reasons for that, once again. First of all, if I try and make western food in Korea, you can't. I don't have an oven, the ingredients aren't the same. If I make western food it tastes really strange and very bad. And, you know, I learned to cook. Most people learn to cook in America when they're college age or just out of college. Well, when I was in college and just out of college, I was spending a lot of time in Korea, so I learned to cook Korean food. But people don't make that assumption when they visit my apartment. And it's not to brag and be like “I'm more Korean than my roommate,” it's… Michael: Well the one thing is, we, both you and I, have lived the majority of our adult lives in Korea. Jennifer: Right. Michael: I've lived as an adult longer in Korea than I have in America. And one thing that I think is a constant assumption or constant way of looking at foreigners is that foreigners are “perpetual tourists” in Korea. Jennifer: Right. Michael: And I wish people would see that even someone living here from a year can become very familiar with this culture, um… Jennifer: And comfortable in it in a lot of ways. Michael: Yes, and people see me often as a foreigner first and are surprised when I can do basic things such as direct the taxi driver, I tell the taxi driver to go, turn left, I tell the taxi driver to turn left outside my house and the taxi drivers all say, “Oh, but you can't go through that alley! There's no exit!” And I say, “Just turn left” and they're like, when they go through the alley and realize I'm right – because I live here, I live in this area, I've lived in this area for 5 years, they're so surprised, “How do you know? You know traffic so well! You're a foreigner, how can you know better than me? !” Jennifer: Duh, you lived here. Michael: Yeah, I live in this area. You know, this is my neighborhood. And, you know, it's very difficult to see me as a person who is just another person in Korea who happens to be a foreigner. Not “You are a perpetual tourist.” Jennifer: Yeah, it's always assumed that we are here short term. Michael: Yeah, and the mistake that I think a lot of the Seoul city government makes is it cannot see foreigners as anything other than tourists and temporary visitors. So they spend more money on having clean bathrooms or more effort… Jennifer: Now personally, I appreciate the clean bathrooms very much. Michael: Sure. But… Jennifer: Keep up the good clean bathroom work. Michael: But I would rather not have some silly program designed for so-called foreigners, I'd rather have Korean websites recognize my foreigner identification number. Jennifer: Oh god! Michael: That's a whole other story! Jennifer: That's a whole other story that we'll get into someday about how tragic our lives are because the Korean internet is basically closed to us. Michael: Exactly. And the, it's all from perspective because no one makes policies or plans, it seems, based on looking as foreigners as people living here as opposed to “Oh, you're all tourists! We'll smile for you, we'll accept your money, but we don't think of you as neighbors.” Jennifer: It kinds of reminds me. I grew up in Oregon and for awhile Oregon had this sort of crazy motto for the tourists. Went something along the lines of “Welcome to Oregon, have a great visit and then go home!” I'm very loosely paraphrasing it but the gist was thanks for the visit, now go on your way. Michael: Well I think that the Korean, the Korean unstated motto is “Thanks for coming to Korea, spend a lot of money, and please leave.” Jennifer: I don't know that it's so much “please leave” as it is “Eh? You would want to stay?” Michael: Yeah, people ask me all the time, “When are you going back to America?” And I say, “I don't know, when I go!” But there's this assumption that I don't make my home here. Jennifer: Right. Michael: Yeah, um…And you know a lot of frustration amongst foreigners comes from that fact. I wanna say to a lot of Korean government officials or, you know, people I meet, “Hey, you don't have to treat me any differently, you don't have to give me special, you know, clean bathroom campaigns…” Jennifer: You can give his clean bathrooms to me! I will accept them happily. Michael: But I'd rather have basic things, I want to be able to um… Jennifer: Use the Internet, get a credit card, make train reservations… Michael: I can't make a Cyworld page! You can make one but you have to copy your foreigner's identification number… Jennifer: I have a Cyworld page because I made it before they realized that many foreigners would want Cyworld pages and made extra requirements. Michael: Yes, so now to get a Cyworld page, I have to send my foreigner's identification card, copy of my passport, and fax it to them and wait for them to look at it. I think finding out about what foreigners are thinking is, can be a very interesting thing for Koreans to do and this is one thing our podcast wants to help along. Jennifer: So Mike, what will you actually do this ‘Lunar New Year' break? Michael: Um, I'm going to watch movies, do some work, and go to lots of restaurants, and enjoy the silence. Jennifer: So, so it'll be a typical week for you, plus you'll be doing some work. Michael: Yes, not much change except, well, the streets will be far less busy, so…So what are you going to do? Jennifer: Well, usually I would go down south to 경상도 and spend the holiday with my host family and extended family, but I've become very much like all the young women I hang out with here in 서울, and instead of going home I'm going to go to Shanghai this holiday. Michael: Ahh, China! Jennifer: Well, my college friend is getting married so I'm going to go to her wedding. Michael: Oh, nice! Jennifer: It will be nice, I've never been to China before. I've got kicked out of China once but… Michael: That's another story. Jennifer: That's another story. Michael: So, that should wrap things up for this week! Jennifer: That will indeed wrap them up! We'd like to remind everybody that links to all the blogs we've mentioned today will be available on the website. Michael: Under our show links. Jennifer: Under our show links, and also in the transcript. Michael: Yes. Jennifer: One more thing we'd like to mention in this podcast before we sign-off is that if you have a study group of 5 or more members… Michael: 5 or more, please. Jennifer: Feel free to contact us about having an in-person consultation with your study group. What does that mean? It means Mike or I will schlepp out to where you are or you will maybe schlepp to where we are… Michael: Yes, and maybe… Jennifer: Mike is lazy. Michael: And maybe while having dinner (hint hint) we can talk about how to better use this podcast with your study group. Jennifer: Michael thinks with his stomach. Michael: He he he he. And one person on the site asked, “What do you guys get out of this?” Jennifer: Do we get money? Michael: No, we don't get money. But we do want to help promote the podcast and if that means happy listeners who will be very eager to tell their friends and their colleagues, “Listen to this podcast, it's a good resource, it's helping us.” That helps our podcast as well. Jennifer: So check the links, check the comments, let us know what you think. This is BombEnglish.com signing out. Michael: Signing out until after the holiday ends, and we'll come back with some more substantial interviews and content for you. Jennifer: Happy New Year! Michael: Happy New Year! Jennifer: 새해 복 많이 받으세요! Michael: 네~ Transcription by Eun-Gyuhl Bae