Don't get me wrong, I love Korea. There is something so unique and welcoming about this country. But with many things, it's not perfect. Some of those things have to do with certain phrases people use all the time that absolutely drive me crazy.
Phrase 1: I'm sorry. Now, Korea is definitely not the country to use this phrase way too much, but since I've been living in Korea so long, I equate it with Koreans. I'm sorry is supposed to be used when we are really true sorry for something. But we misuse it, to the point that sometimes it becomes obsessive and tends to anger me. For example, when I lived in my first apartment in Korea, I had a crazy landlord who had access to my apartment at all times. It was a sticky situation I got out of fairly quickly. However, while I was trying to get out of it, he would enter, say I'm sorry, and then continue to do what I didn't want him to. He did it as if the sorry made it ok to do what he should not be doing. I, on more than occasion, became very angry because his sorry was completely misused. That is how Koreans tend to use I'm sorry. It angers me because if you are sorry for something you wouldn't do it again or continue doing it. Well, the I'm sorry is not just a Korean thing. An ex decided to talk to me in the past couple weeks and apologize for the way he has treated me. He apologized, then tried a couple of the same antics. Don't tell me you're sorry unless you mean it.
Phrase 2: Don't worry about it. So, at work there are many things they tell us last minute. There are many things they tell us we have to do, but don't give us details. If we ask questions about it, they give us the standard answer of don't worry about it. However, I feel as though I should worry about it. If I don't know what I'm doing, I don't feel prepared and I feel as though I am not doing my job correctly. I am also embarrassed because I feel as though I am losing face. If I do a bad job, I look bad. When Koreans tell me not to worry about things, I then start to worry all the more. Not ok. My job is relatively easy. My living here in Korea is relatively easy. When Koreans tell me Don't worry about it, I know it's a load of bull.
Phrase 3: You're pretty/ You're hot. This phrase is again not a Korean thing, but it applies mostly to my lving in Korea. I get it so many times from Koreans. I know when they're saying it in Korean all the time. I know when they say it in English. But really, what they're saying is you look different. I look pretty to you because I'm different than you. The Korean culture as a whole idolizes white. The whiter you are the better. And I am looking whiter than I ever have these days. I fit the Korean ideal. I have curves. however, compared to many Americans, I have no curves whatsoever. I just have more than Korean women. But these things do not make me pretty. The drunk foreign men at bars use the you're hot phrase too much as well. Just last night, a Korean man came up to me and said, "I'm very frank. I'm going to be frank with you. you're hot." No lies, exactly what he said. Another foreign man, wearing a toga (there was a toga fundraiser for the orphanage here), told me I had to stop being so cute because I was killing him. Seriously? Do these lines work on many women? I really do not know and I certainly hope not. Anyway, the overuse of these phrases have made me desensitized to hearing it. What used to be a compliment, might possible get a blush out of me and a Thank you gets very little response. I don't not respond because I agree, but because I've gotten to the point where I just don't believe it. It actually is used so much that I sometimes start to think the opposite is true. And no one should let other people make them feel that way about themselves.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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