Comments on: JSMP : 6 ways expats experience culture shock in Korea

By: Christine Kaaloa

Christine Kaaloa — Sun, 13 Oct 2013 09:59:24 +0000

In reply to DomHyo. @DomHyo: LMAO. At least you have a translator to lighten the mystery load. ;-)

By: DomHyo

DomHyo — Sat, 12 Oct 2013 04:13:07 +0000

Good post. I’m always tired as well, and can’t figure it out either. The shirt thing also gets to me as well. And yesterday I heard Jay Z’ “Ni@@s in Paris” played uncensored in a clothing shop. Good times Korea..good times.

By: Christine Kaaloa

Christine Kaaloa — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 20:37:33 +0000

In reply to cleinmari.

@cleinmari: I’m glad these posts help ease the loneliness a bit. You’d be surprised how a lot of Korean expats go through the same thing. I made a bunch of expat contacts turned friends through my EPIK program and during work, my Facebook news feed was a minefield of expat teachers ranting frustration. “Why can’t my co-teacher…?” yadda yadda. A common rant is hearing your name (or the slang: “waygook”) spoken in front of you in Korean. Drives a lot of us bzonkers!

I think Koreans just find it easier to speak to each other in Korean (because translating it in English is a chore) and I’m assuming, what they’re saying is incidental. Still doesn’t help with paranoia that you could be spoken about badly. 😉 You’ll learn to grow both, numb and frustrated by this. You could always ask why you keep hearing your name.

By: cleinmari

cleinmari — Fri, 04 Oct 2013 13:14:57 +0000

I feel exactly the same way. I am always tired! Ok, to be honest, at the moment, most of the time I am keeping busy here, in order to hopefully find some friends who make life liveable (I hate going everywhere on my own), but I did that back home too with hobbies and stuff like that. But here, at the end of the day, I feel like my brain was sucked out ouf my head and I just stumble dumbly in front of my laptop and then into bed.
And I don’t know if it is a cultural aspect or not but I always feel like it is kind of rude that all the koreans like co-workers and roommates just keep on talking in korean, whether you are in the room or not. The only times somebody i actually talking to me in english is when they want to ask me something. And then in the next moment I am asking myself: “Am I just being to sensitive and need to grow a thicker hide?” Sorry if I am rambling, but that just makes me feel so frustrated at times, because it always makes me feel left out and unable to participate.
Hope it is going better for you

By: Christine Ka'aloa

Christine Ka'aloa — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:03:56 +0000

In reply to Laura Cancun.

@Gray– Thanks, for the concern. I’ll try my best. Been pulling a lot of those get home from work & think I’ll just take a nap routines… only to find myself getting up the next day in time for work! I’m sure during those times I get my 8+ hours. It’s insane how tired I feel sometimes and I think my response lag to the comments are proof. Yes, the translating and interpreting part is exhausting though… it’s ongoing.
@Laura– yes, you totally know exactly how it feels. Sometimes its also asking a question, only to end up feeling like you’re teaching an English vocab or cultural lesson or if I ask my ct I get 1/3 of an answer before she drifts off into “i don’t know”. Its frustrating. & you learn to slide a lot.

By: Laura Cancun

Laura Cancun — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:15:59 +0000

I can relate a lot to what you said about just letting “lost translations” slide. I would get so tired and embarrassed asking the sam question 3 times without understanding the answer, that I would just kind of smile and nod haha. I missed a lot of important info this way!!

Matching outfits? Crazy.

By: Gray

Gray — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 14:55:05 +0000

I think you’re absolutely right about why you feel tired all the time. Having to constantly translate everything in your head and negotiated a completely different culture has got to be exhausting, especially on a long-term basis. And actually, 5-7 hours is less sleep than you should be getting at night anyway. Shoot for 8. Take care of yourself, Christine.