i met Adam through Lunatic, a street dance crew in KAIST. in this post, he shares his experience of being in Korea. he would often share casually how he gets (im not sure if its unwanted heh) attention from strangers on the street or in cafes, something an Asian like me would probably never understand. maybe someday when i live long enough on the other side of the world. but here is his story.
Being english in Korea
In this post i want to describe what it is like being a white, english, ugly man in Korea. I will list the pros the cons the misconceptions and the sorry truth of it all starting with:
The British accent For any english person who has been to America the most common thing you have probably heard is 'i love your accent' or ' say water please' and while in america your accent is considered an aphrodisiac in Korea it is somewhat different.
1) No one understands you! Numerous times i have had to say things in an american accent so i could be understood while this is fun the first time it quickly gets embarrassing as the only american accent i can do is Keano reeves from bill and teds excellent adventure.
2)Only guys like your accent! For the 8 months i have been in Korea the only people who have positively commented on my accent are men. While it is nice to be complemented feeling like your friends are flirting with you is not cool.
3) Are you american? Most Koreans don't even know your British until you tell them.
British stereotype Gentlemen. Whatever great qualities you may think of you have. Koreans will only think one thing: British Gentleman. After which they will normally say sherlock homes... Yeah thats it they don't even think we love tea.
Are British attractive? Interestingly yes but the only people who think so are old men... Now if i thought my dad would go up to a young man and say handsome i would be mortified however i cant even count the number of 50+ men who have come up to me saying 'handsome', ' good looking' or even just shouting 'yeah' ... And yeah its kind of weird.
Am I treated different? To explain this i think i will share a story from the second week i was in Korea. I had taken a bus and had gotten off at the wrong stop and had no idea where i was. I panicked and went into the first building in sight which had a security man inside. He invited me in, tried as hard as he could to understand me and ordered me a taxi. Then what he did next amazed me. Having only been in Korea for a short time i had limited phrases and one was I'm hungry. So i thought i would say it to break the awkward silence. As soon as the words left my lips he looked shocked and ran into another room returning with what i assume was his packed lunch and he gave it to me. I couldn't believe it. It may have just been a half eaten sweet potato and a bit of bread but it was all he had and he chose to gave it to me.
So when im asked if i am treated different i say 'yes... But in the best possible way'.
