A reader emailed me and asked me if foreigners ever said stupid things. My reply was "Hell yeah!"
It is just a way of ignoring the fact that you are an oddity in South Korea. You are the exhibit in the zoo, where people come to point and stare. In some cases, especially with the South Korean media, you are an object of derision.
Rock star my ass. Get the rose coloured glasses off and face reality.
Amen! I'm sick of hearing it both both ways - as something to complain about and misinterpreted fame. When I first came to Korea in 1999 and taught in a smaller city with less than 50 waegs, we got "noticed" but rarely stared at. These days, Koreans don't care. And why should they? There's enough Chads, Dereks, and Jennifers waiting in the checkout line at E-Mart to make is much less of a panda sighting, and more like seeing a deer in Wisconsin.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am guilty of complaining about it. Although it is the more extreme stuff that irks me.
ReplyDeleteOn second thought ... to be honest ... there are days when it the basic shit did get to me.
ReplyDelete