A friend and I were at a bar and met a Korean friend. She brought another friend, a guy, with her. When the guy found out my friend was dating a Korean woman he asked questions that almost got his ass kicked.
"Do you have sex with your girlfriend? Do you like to fuck her?"
To top it off my friend is more than a little homophobic and the Korean guy kept touching his knee. It could have ended badly but our Korean friend took the idiot away.
Of course we all know that the Korean wasn't gay so my friend had nothing to worry about. After all, as many Koreans have told me;
"There are no gay Koreans."
Or the even more mind boggling;
"There are no gay Koreans. It is a Western disease."
Mind you when Koreans say it a person isn't gay. He is a gay.
I remember when I first came to Korea there was a comedian who had come out of the closet, and made a lie of the above statements. He had to leave Korea due to death threats and no one wanting to hire him anymore. His mother supposedly made an impassioned plea in the media for him to return home to Korea and kill himself with her so they could restore their family honour.
I always thought part of teaching English in Korea-and teaching in general in a way-is making sure your charges don't get beaten up at worse. After that, not laughed at or derided. After that not immediately crossed off any applicant pool. After that...you're on your own, do well.
ReplyDeleteAs for the anti-gay stuff...he did go through the Korean army, right? Maybe it was a bit traumatic for him.
Asia is very big on cross-dressing comedians.
ReplyDeleteI tried getting the K-friend to tell her friend to watch what he says but he didn't take her advice. I guess you could say he reached the you're on your own stage.
ReplyDeleteThey like them in Korea ... as long as they are straight I guess.
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