Eye Openers - Page 16

On November 01 2011 12:20 NeverGG wrote:
I've never been denied service in a shop/restaurant here (Seoul) before (I guess it's got something to do with being a woman and therefore not so easily identified as being in the military.) However, it's always fun when a taxi driver tries to stop me from getting into their cab. I just sit there repeating my destination in Korean, and if they feign ignorance then out comes my hangul subway map to point them in the correct direction. It doesn't happen often, but some people here can be quite aggressive for no good reason (Myself included if I get shoved on the subway.)

On the flip side there have been people who've gone out of their way to help me (finding directions, giving me random freebies etc.) So it balances out when placed next to the ones who think they can cut in line infront of me (and not get called on it lol) or push/elbow etc.

On November 02 2011 04:33 Rekrul wrote:


Of course many times customer-less taxis have just driven past because I'm a foreigner (though generally when I'm with 1-3 other white people when I'm alone it rarely ever happens). They are not being racist, they simply just don't want the hassle of having to deal with a communication barrier.

I can't remember a single time like you describe where a Korean taxi driver wanted me to get out of their cab simply because I was a foreigner.

Their reasoning is always one of:
1. They are near the end of their shift and only want to go in a specific direction. (a nice tip can fix this)
2. They are long distance cabs only. For example those cabs in kang-nam that only want to go to bun-dang. (a nice tip can fix this)
3. They are from far away due to a ride they just gave or just recently moving to Seoul and don't know the lay-out of a the land at all. (telling them where to go can fix this)

So it's probably you being ignorant to the language / their needs instead of them being racist.

Korean taxi drivers are incredibly well mannered. I've only had one try to rip me off once and I'm sure he never tried to rip off another foreigner after that.

On November 02 2011 04:33 Rekrul wrote:


Of course many times customer-less taxis have just driven past because I'm a foreigner (though generally when I'm with 1-3 other white people when I'm alone it rarely ever happens). They are not being racist, they simply just don't want the hassle of having to deal with a communication barrier.

I can't remember a single time like you describe where a Korean taxi driver wanted me to get out of their cab simply because I was a foreigner.

Their reasoning is always one of:
1. They are near the end of their shift and only want to go in a specific direction. (a nice tip can fix this)
2. They are long distance cabs only. For example those cabs in kang-nam that only want to go to bun-dang. (a nice tip can fix this)
3. They are from far away due to a ride they just gave or just recently moving to Seoul and don't know the lay-out of a the land at all. (telling them where to go can fix this)

So it's probably you being ignorant to the language / their needs instead of them being racist.

Korean taxi drivers are incredibly well mannered. I've only had one try to rip me off once and I'm sure he never tried to rip off another foreigner after that.

On November 02 2011 09:06 NeverGG wrote:


Nice way to spin it as being my fault.

I'm not talking about the ones who tell me they only want to go to certain places due to their shift ending. That's fine by me. It's the ones who pick me up by choice and then pretend they can't understand a word I'm saying/get aggressive towards me. (For example when my Mum and I took a short cab ride to Myeongdong and were chatting. The taxi driver tried to drown our voices out by turning the radio up louder and louder until we couldn't hear eachother.)

There's no communication barrier if I've got the name of my destination written in hangul (which I always do incase.) Plus my language level isn't so low that I can't communicate the name of my own home station. I'm hardly ever out at night so these are cabs being caught during the afternoon or morning. Not all of them are incredibly well mannered as you put it - I find most of them to be efficient, but silent. Some are lovely (one even gave me a bottle of ginseng drink when he saw I had a cough, and I've had plenty who want to chat.) However, that's kind of a sweeping generalization both about myself (Thanks for the 'You're ignorant of the language' dig there. How do you know my language skills? I've not spoken to you in over a year.) and taxi drivers in general.

Remember just because something hasn't happened to you doesn't mean it doesn't happen to other people.

On November 02 2011 09:10 Rekrul wrote:


LOL that wasn't ur fault either rite

On November 02 2011 09:31 NeverGG wrote:


It's wrong to talk at a polite level with my mother after not seeing her for over a year? Yeah, shit - I'm such a bad person I guess >.>

On November 02 2011 09:32 Rekrul wrote:


brits r all loud and annoying without trying to be u should know that

On November 02 2011 09:38 Rekrul wrote:
I'm just trying to help/educate NeverGG. I don't like it when people attempt to blame racism or whatever when they live in another country and don't speak the native language. You either gotta adapt or gtfo!

Not that Koreans aren't racist because they certainly are LOL (though since 2000 it's gotten wayyyyy better)

Their reasoning is always one of:
1. They are near the end of their shift and only want to go in a specific direction. (a nice tip can fix this)
2. They are long distance cabs only. For example those cabs in kang-nam that only want to go to bun-dang. (a nice tip can fix this)
3. They are from far away due to a ride they just gave or just recently moving to Seoul and don't know the lay-out of a the land at all. (telling them where to go can fix this)

On November 02 2011 09:57 Rekrul wrote:
lol

Really you can understand these things in Korean now?



I'd be impressed if so!

On November 02 2011 10:36 Waxangel wrote:


you're trying to have fun at her expense more than you're trying to teach her anything, you can at least be honest about that

On November 02 2011 10:33 NeverGG wrote:


Once again - it's been over a year since we've spoken so of course my Korean has improved a bit. It's still not great, but I can understand basic exchanges provided the topics (like public transport/food etc) are familiar.

On November 02 2011 11:37 Rekrul wrote:


I feel bad when Koreans have to deal with dumb white people in general. This has nothing to do with having fun.

If someone can't handle a tiny amount of criticism they probably shouldn't be posting in my blog LOL