Hit by a Motorbike and I'm the One at Fault?

[samedi]

Today (well, Thursday) was the last day of work this week before the onset of the Chuseok holiday. The timing of Chuseok is set by the lunar calender - the fifteenth day of the eighth lunar month - and as such it's precise date changes from year to year. This year it falls on 3 October, with the days before (Friday) and after (Sunday) marked as

Comments

[notte0]

That certainly reminds me of how some of the local chinese's English knowledge is restricted to those insults... and then think they're really cool spurting said insults out... which I just find funny. I mean... as far as insults (and foul words) go, it could be very colourful and not the one simple phrase said over and over again.

I'm sorry the not-so-happy incident happened, but hey, 1 bad incident came with 3 happy incidents! The nice people, the director, and the student!

:3

[storysinger81]

jesus, paul. What a jerk.

You handled the situation well, but next time, just pretend you don't know Korean. I know you do, but with guys like that, it really doesn't help to try to reason with them.

[samedi]

Yeah, ignorance probably would have been a good ploy to use in that situation. Another alternative that came to mind later that day was to ask if he was okay -- if the answer was 'yes' I could easily turn around and walk away. If his answer was 'no' that would be followed by taking a photo of his license plate, offering an apology, and then walking away. Like you said, that type of guy won't generally listen to reason.

[samedi]

I've had a student or two who thought it would be funny to use profanity in class. The one who made the biggest scene was also the one who hadn't perfected his pronunciation yet, so it sounded like he was saying "fork you" instead. In response, I drew a big fork on the board and asked him "A fork? For me? Oh, thank you!" -- and I notice he stopped using it after that.

Thanks, Kata. And you're right -- at least there were some positives to balance it out!

[shortbutfast]

oh wow, good thing you're ok. this could have turned out worse indeed, especially with a guy like that. maybe he doesn't like foreigners?

[samedi]

I suppose that's a possibility. Another thought is that he got angry over the fact that anyone would "dare" get in his way. If that's the case the situation probably would have been much worse were I a woman.

One of my coworkers made a good observation: I only had to put up with him for the five minutes or so we were together; imagine the hardships that his wife and children must go through, putting up with him on a daily basis.

Amanda here...

[anonymous]

Wow. I was feeling all homesick for Korea and all "when can we leave America, I'm tired of America, let's leave America"ing to Good Man.

Don't miss it so much.

If America has taught Good Man one thing, it's how to curse appropriately.

I am a bad influence.

Re: Amanda here...

[samedi]

Well, in more than two years of living in Korea I think this is the only time I've truly been furious about something. There are the occasional annoyances every now and again (smokers on subway platforms, people who crack their gum ...) but overall I don't have a lot to complain about.

I'm sure this experience could have been used by someone else to say "See, Koreans really are rude people, yadda yadda", but for me it stood out for the fact that it's so different from what I normally encounter. I hear other people complain about getting bumped into on the sidewalk; I've had 아줌마 apologize. All cars are apparently a menace and their drivers jerks; there have been several times bongo trucks and taxis have held up traffic to let me jaywalk here in Uijeongbu. Given that, this particular guy stands out in stark contrast and was worth blogging about.

Cursing is an area where I don't have much experience, but I've always believed that variety is the key to success!

Re: Amanda here...

[anonymous]

I had a few times where I was wicked pissed or shocked about something. My boss asking me if I slept with my boyfriend was one of those times. A man demanding to know why I was taking photos? Another time.

But it's not exactly what happened--it's the fact that motorbikes don't even know where to go. It's just sort of all of it. Takes off those rose-colored glasses!

Re: Amanda here...

[samedi]

Well, as I said above there are certainly times when I get annoyed with some of the things that I see around me. I see what you mean about motorbikes in general, and there are definitely aspects to living here that I would be happy to see change. As is probably the case with anywhere in the world, some parts are better while others are worse than life in the United States.

As for the rose-colored glasses, a part of it might come from where I live. I'll skip the details for now and just say that people here seem to be either more laid-back or have a bit more in the way of manners compared to folks in Seoul. Which is not to say that life is perfect -- especially when it comes to friends and (not) having a relationship -- but as a former anthropology student I figure it's easier to adapt to/ deal with life here than a lot of other places.

[anonymous]

That happening could also happen to me, a Korean. Perhaps I can explain you a bit more

[samedi]

Obviously there are rude people everywhere in the world and this was not a uniquely 'Korean' experience. However, the man's actions are so different from what I typically see that I did feel like writing about what happened.

Thank you, KOC, for the information about what would normally happen under a similar set of circumstances. Much appreciated.

from KOC

[anonymous]

There are many funny old sayings in Korea, like what you quoted as the title of this blog.

I can immediately think of 2 sayings that relate to this situation you encountered.

- 똥 묻은 놈이 겨 묻은 놈 나무란다

- 방귀 뀐 놈이 성낸다

Both depict that faulty guys raise their voices. Just think about how we have these old sayings or proverbs if it is not so common or usual.

Re: from KOC

[samedi]

Thanks for sharing those, KOC! I guess the fact that there are expressions to describe behavior like that (in many different languages) is proof that there will always be rude people around.