Why the Metropolitician Takes the Bus

I just walked out of the subway and started writing this post. I'm fresh from the subway, which I took for the first time in probably months, because I'm a bus man. However, I had overslept on the bus back up from Yongin, which placed me at the last stop – the Kangbyeon Lottemart – which is really awkwardly placed right in the middle of the Green #2 Line and in an area far outside my bus ken.

So I'm watching Battlestar Galactica after realizing that it's the coolest TV I've seen in about a decade or more. I'm deep into the plotline at the very beginning of the miniseries, after the human colonies have been nuked into near-oblivion by the secretive and sexy (?!) Cylons, when I'm jolted out of my sci-fi reverie by a drunk-ass ajussi yelling at me. I'm standing at the door about to get off in two stops, so I turn up the sound, turn away, and turn my attention back to the pretty spectacular space spectacle on my little screen. I hadn't heard what he had said, which was all the better, which made it easier to refocus on those dastardly Cylons sending nukes screaming into the side of the Galactica. Damn those metal monsters!

But since I had to step out soon, I clicked over to "My Top Rated" playlist and got ready to jam on out. Unfortunately, when I switched out of video, the sound and video cuts off to let me explore the menu. So that's when I hear – even through my Shure, in-the-ear earbuds that cut out 80% of environmental sound – a slur of something about "my country" and "niggers" and other assorted things being yelled pretty loudly at me.

I look up and around to notice that the people in the car had kind of cleared our area, while I had been totally cut off from the fact that this guy had probably been yelling nonsense at me for a long time. Now I could hear it, and when someone calls you a "nigger" in any language – well, no matter how long you prepare for it – you wanna throw down, baby.

"Why he gotta go there?" I think to myself, pulse already racing. I'm rocking my sweet, banana-yellow tie in the 4-button, chocolate-brown suit with the tight, tan pinstripes, my favorite suit. I'm in a good mood, I look as good as I get, and my back didn't hurt, even though it was my heavy book day. And I had been watching Battlestar Galactica, man. "Why he gotta go there?!"

So I forcefully yank the buds out of my ears and yell, "What did you say?" in rude Korean. My rule is – you be rude, I be rude. I know I'm supposed to take the high ground and maintain my polite endings despite my anger, but I was taking a fast trip to the Ghetto Side of the Force™ after the "nigger" thing. Even though I was pretty certain of what I had heard – "nigger" = 깜둥이 = "껌댕이" in his country accent – I was still technically checking. So I shout, "Say what you said one more time," and didn't back away as he continued to slur nonsense through his alcohol-impaired tongue.

I saw the agassi still standing somewhere in our vicinity back away from the exit doors. Shit was on, mang! I now had to run through the decision list that men usually have to run through when publicly confronting another man. I was reminded of the old saying, "What do you call a black man in an Armani suit and a Mercedes? Nigger." So if and when the police came, I knew I'd be the one in trouble, and my visa's coming up for renewal soon. Didn't matter if I was wearing my tailored chocolate-brown suit; my caramel-brown skin meant that I'd be held responsible.

And in Korea, no one holds drunks responsible for their own actions (e.g. "Well, he was drunk, after all, what do you expect?"). The fact that I do hold drunks responsible for everything they say or do would be beside the point to the police. But I made the decision that I'd take whatever he said, as long as he didn't lay a hand on me; if he touched me, he was going on the ground, I was gonna be out the door. All this internal decision-making happened in the time it took to stand nose-to-nose with this idiot and ask him to repeat what he had just said.

Well, even through his drunken haze, and the smell of liquor breath, I think he also smelled the fact that I wasn't going to stand and take it, on top of the fact that he was surprised that was speaking in Korean and very not verbally defenseless. When the doors finally opened at my stop, I turned to him and said very loudly, "Watch what you say, motherfucker," and walked out. It was surreal and everything was kind of swimming, because I hadn't been that seethingly angry in a long time, not since late 2002, the last time some drunk ajussi messed with me on a subway; that was also the last time I violated my little rule of not taking the subway. See what happens? I was a bit surprised though, since I had never been harassed on any line higher than #2, and this was the pretty middle-class, office-worker heavy #5 line.

Anyway, I have reaffirmed my rule of not taking the subway unless absolutely necessary. I take the bus, because for some reason, no one seems to mess with me on the bus. Maybe it's the sunlight, or being obove ground, with a greater sense that you are in a real place; when you're below ground, certain people just seem to lose their minds.

So, I have now been called "nigger" about four times by an adult in Korea, which isn't bad for a total of around 6 years in this country. I also realize that no matter how much you try to brace yourself, or prepare for the occasional inevitable, there's something about that word – no matter how it's translated – that just makes the blood boil. I can take "Yankee" or just about any kind of curse in Korean and have it bounce off me, but that word...grrrrrrrrrr.

Conclusion? Since I don't want to have to end up paying some idiotic drunkard money in a police station for a punch he very well deserves, or worse, end up in Korean prison, I'm going to avoid the subway. Buses are good, they go fast, and you can watch people passing by. You usually get a seat, get to know the geography of Seoul better, and don't have to smell the stench of a drunk ajussi talking trash – expressing the nature of his true self, which is what alcohol brings out in any person. So now, I'm recommitted to just sticking to my own rule of staying the fuck above ground in Seoul.

Thanks for listening. Vent over.

So how 'bout that Battlestar Galactica? Cylons be cool, dude. Watch it.

Comments

[maggie salinger]

You should taken your jacket off and let it fall slow motion to the floor. That would have made him piss his pants.

[The Metropolitician]

Call me dense, but....

I don't get what you mean...?

[Terence]

You think the mini-series is hot wait until you get to the tv series. The second season just ended here in the States with the usual cliff hanger finale.

[Betsy]

Funny--I've actually been attacked (verbally) on the bus but not in the subway (and just once so far). It is my theory that were I not young and female, it wouldn't have happened. But that wasn't so much racial as nationalistic/sexist. ("Yankee go home.")

[sungwon]

Battlestar Galactica is great! The 2nd season had some weak moments, but those were the exceptions to an otherwise stellar show.

"And in Korea, no one holds drunks responsible for their own actions." Indeed, Korea is conservative by day and transforms into an alcoholic sin city of debauchery by night! Alcohol is so ingrained (haha) into the culture, there is a kind of reverence for drink and the drunk. It is the lubricant that loosens tongues and blurs the uncomfortable line between an agassi's coy, play-resistance and rape. While I suppose there is something to be said for the freedom from responsibility that alcohol affords, it seems to cause rather a lot more problems than it solves.

I agree that people should be held responsible for their actions when they are drunk. It is not an excuse. In fact, it is likely one of the reasons they drink is to free themselves from accountability. And it turns out that being drunk is often more a state of mind rather than a physical impairment:

"A great deal of alcohol’s effect is actually the placebo effect. Victoria University in New Zealand convinced nearly 150 students that they were drinking vodka and tonic with limes, and watched the students partake and shows signs on intoxication, however, they would be hard-pressed to actually get inebriated on what they were really drinking: tonic with limes—no vodka." (http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=435#more-435)

[elle]

Hello...i linked to your blog as i searched the net for my research paper - Korean potters kidnapped to Japan. Interestingly there is virtually nothing in this subject, at least in english, sadly.

It's too bad that you had to experience "racism" in Korea. But whether Korea or anywhere else in this world there's gonna be racism. But is it really not racism if you have the sentiment internally but for whatever reason you keep it to yourself and act pc ("politically correct," whatever that means). Your observations while in Korea seem to be something all foreigners, including korean-americans, recognize and experience. I have also spent many years in Korea and felt and seen some of the same stuff you describe in your blog. It is unfortunate whether it happens in Korea or anywhere else in the world. And I am sure Korea is not distinct.

My theory is that, becasue Korea is such a small country, size of California, trends spread faster and it is much more apparent than say in the US. Because US is so big in size, trends move at a much slower pace. Backwardness and racism of the south are not as apparent in metropolitan cities such as NY or LA. But, let's be honest, they definitely do exist and I wouldn't be surprised if racist sentiments are not significantly different from those in rural south and metropolitan NY or LA. The only difference is that people in NY probably know better not to act out such feelings in the open, as there are laws against such acts and it is frowned upon and perhaps b/c there are large immigration population within such cities and possibly b/c there are immigrants in positions of power (such as city council, judges, etc.).

So that said...I certainly don't approve of any type of racism but its human nature, we all have it to some degree, we generalize from our own experiences with certain ethnic persons and from experiences of our families and friends.

Anyhow...at times i wonder what the world would be like if roles between "black" and "white" were reversed so that people attach positive things to "black" and negative connotations to "white," including history of white slavery by the blacks and world domination by the "blacks."

People are always fascinated by the "negative" but there are "positives" we can emphasize and it would be nice to read some of that in your blog as well.

[Random visitor]

I totally feel you on the n-usuage! Even on a good day that is enough to cross the line, no matter how far from it you were previously. How ticked would you have been to have been punished for defending yourself against some jealous drunk!?!? All I can say is that you made the best of what could have been a very bad situtation for you. Keep ya head up and keep on representing! :) Hopefully next time he and everyone else who witnessed his stupidity and your well handled response will think twice about verbally assualting someone.

[GI Korea]

Those drunk ajushis are a real pain in the ass. I have had my run ins with them too. Sorry to hear that you had to listen to that garbage.

[betsy]

Just a response to elle...just because racism happens everywhere, and just cuz you're not a native of a country in which you happen to experience a racial attack, that doesn't mean that you can't get mad about it. I've damn well experienced racism in Boston as well as descrimination here, and the former doesn't make the latter any more okay or swallowable.

[elle]

Betsy...I understand, and I too am not saying that any type of racism or discrimination is acceptable but that it is only human nature to do so, whether externally apparent or internal (neither any better nor any worse). No matter where you experience it, it most definitely is not pleasant and most certainly not okay either. I just wanted to point out that Korea is not distinct, although that in itself is not an excuse or in any way a justification for the fact that it happened.

I wanted the readers to realize that we've all been there, at some point somewhere, although not everyone manages to write about it so eloquently and elaborately in one's blog (granted that they can if they wish to do so).

Moreover, although I too believe whether drunk or sober you are responsible for your actions, he was drunk (even law recognizes an insane murderer, really is that a legitimate excuse, well yes in that law says so). I feel bad for anyone, native or foreigner, who has experienced it, but it is not an everyday incident in Korea. Reiterating the point that someone who is completely in the darks about Korea would take such blogging to be what life in korea is, and certainly that is not true, right?!?

Let this blog be a lesson to the native Koreans out there...this is how foreigners perceive Korea.

Can we share some positive experiences in Korea...anyone...

[The Metropolitician]

Elle -

Did you see the reply I posted? I hoped this answered some of your questions. To reiterate what I said, I think it's not about merely "positive" or "negative" and I'm not concerned with whether the theoretical "person who doesn't know anything about Korea" will have a negative impression of the country. If they are truly interested in this place, 1) I think they will not be as naive as you think, running for the hills and refusing to ever, ever think about learning more about this place, and 2) they probably have found out through other kinds of places besides allegedly overwhelmingly negative foreigners' blogs, and 3) even and especially these blogs are inherently accurate portrayals of what a lot of foreigners go through when they're here. If you read a lot of the blogs, they are just places to talk about how peculiar life here is, the idiosyncrasies of the country, they're used as a place to vent the inevitable frustration you experience here coming from a Western country (most of the blogs are written by foreigners coming from Western countries who have the time, equipment, and relative privilege to blog).

In any case, I think you're too caught up chasing a straw man of the "innocent newbie" who will be so instantly shocked and dismayed by a potential "negative" portrayal that we should be careful what we say. I dare say that such an attitude would be truly useless and actually do that theoretical newbie a disservice. If you are a fresh college graduate who – and I don't think this person exists – wants to go to Korea but doesn't know anything about the place yet would have stumbled across these blogs yet still be in a position to run screaming for the hills after reading some things that were critical of Korea, I still think that many foreigners' blogs I see on Korea are indeed pretty accurate markers of what a fresh college graduate coming to Korea to work in a hagwon might very well experience. If *I* were that newbie, I would want to know about those things – good and bad.

And what really makes you think that such "negative" experiences are not indeed everyday experiences? I'm a person of African descent living in Korea. My mother is Korean, so that makes me look a bit different from other African-Americans. Yet I still have been called "nigger" several times here. It's something that I expect to happen. For "full" African-Americans, this treatment is often worse. When African-American readers ask me what Korea is like – several who are looking into coming to Korea have emailed me and asked me for a more personal take on this place – I tell them like it is. My job isn't to lie and cover up for this place; the harsh fact is that if you are black and dealing with life in Korea, you will have extreme difficulty because you are black; most hagwons and schools and universities would rather not hire you, qualifications being equal or even yours being somewhat better than the rest of the group; MBC and a few other outlets have even done stories on this fact. You will eventually likely be called "nigger" in Korean and/or even perhaps be in danger of physical assault here. And although the Korean media never reports on this - EVER - foreign women are often the targets of sexual harassment (American/Western women are "easy" after all, is the common stereotype) and even sexual assualt. I tell people of color here that you have to watch yourself because of certain things that you DO NOT have to in the States, BECAUSE you are much much more of a minority here; even amongst foreigners, most of whom are "white," a black person or a Latino person is an extra special oddity. I tell a black person to expect to be stared out as if you were an alien from outer space; in the countryside, you simply ARE an alien from outer space. Is this "negative?" Should I not honestly inform a person who specfically wants to know – from a fellow black person – what life here is like for people like us? Honestly, life for a non-white person here is often not going to be nearly as "positive" as it tends to be for a white person who benefits from the white privilege that extends all the way here to this side of the world, too. You don't get the instant assumption that you're "smart" (because the assumption, among way too many people here, unfortunately, if you have black skin, is that you are dumber than the white people they know) that comes with white skin, you don't get the extra smiles, service, and preferential treatment that Koreans often give to whites; in fact, just because I have dark skin and am a bigger guy, Koreans' first impressions of me are often "무서워", despite the fact that I tend to smile and am an extremely friendly person, especially when directly introduced. This is the #1 impression that Koreans report back to me after I get to know them - that I had such a "scary" impression. And to Koreans who are, if nothing but often quite frank, often tell me that the #1 reason they might have a bad impression of black people is because their very skin color is "무서워." I say that black people are not inherently "scary" and that it's just media images, blah, blah, but the frank Korean people I've spoken to have told me that black people themselves are simply "scary" to them - period. Is this setting up a "false" or "negative" portrayal of Korea? If Hines Ward were not THE Hines Ward but a normal guy who had just come to Korea to work here and learn about the culture, I'd be forced to tell him, "Before your job interviews, don't send a picture, make sure your resume is in impeccable condition, talk to them on the phone first if possible, wear a sharp suit to your job interviews, and never, ever use a hint of ebonics when speaking, smile incessantly, do your best to charm them on your first impression." In short, let them know the fact that you are black after they have already developed a good impression of you. Is this bad to do? Should I simply tell a person who asks, "No, don't worry about anything. Koreans are all nice and friendly. Racism exists in the States, so it's the same here. Pack your bags and come." I think tht what you might not be thinking about is the fact that this is the stuff that black folks here have to think about every single day. For us, this is reality. for this reason Elle, I tend to think – and I know this is an assumption, but the way you have talked about this and the basis of this response warrants at least attempting to make one – that you are either white or a person of Korean descent, because you seem to making a lot of assumptions about the experience of a theoretical, monolithic foreigner "experience" that you seem to assume is going to be generally "positive" and we are misrepresenting something here. So I tend to think that you are either a Korean person who is imagining this theoretical "white" experience or are a white person with little or no actual experience living in Korea. Are my assumptions about your background correct? Of course, I don't know a lot about you, so I am just as likely to be totally wrong. But this is the feeling I get after reading your posts.

And this is not to say that I think the "white experience" – whatever that means – is overwhelmingly, unequivocally "positive." The one thing I hear from a lot of white folks here is about the experience of being a real minority – in terms of race and societal power - for the first time in their lives. And being treated as the constant outsider, the stranger, and now even racial Other is something that trips a lot of white folks out here, which results in a lot of blogging and commenting on life here. Any foreigner living here has their personal encounters with being the outsider/Other here, and we tend to talk about those things a lot on our blogs. I happen to think that whites enjoy the privilege of whiteness even (and especially) in Asia, but this is not to say that being white doesn't have its own unique challenges that I am not am not privy to as a person who is not white; I do think that the experience of being a real minority for the first time can be a mind-blowing one, especially if and when you are now treated as an exotic, foreign object and people's opinions about you are often now based on rigid and deeply-held stereotypes about people like you – white people don't eat certain things; Americans (read "white") are all liberal; are sexually promiscuous; if female, have the experience of being mistaken to be a "Russian prostitute" (several of my white female colleagues from Fulbright have related the experience of coming across this assumption again and again from strange Korean men on the street), whatever.

Now, I believe that no one is trying to say on these foreigner blogs that Korea is "good" or "bad" or any single adjective. I think that on blogs – especially personal blogs – people tend to simply tell it like it "is" to them. And to be honest, I think that the first year spent as a foreigner in Korea is a challenging experience. Even coming with eyes wide open, knowing the difficulties, it's often hard to get through the daily grind of being here, working here, and coming across certain frustrating things again and again.

Now, for a blog that is not just a personal blog about my life, but rather professes to actually say something smart about this place, I do agree that there is a certain higher level of responsibility to not be so singular in one's thinking about this place. This is not to say that I have to be non-critical, or have an artificial "balance" (one so-called "good" and happy post about Korea for each critical and "bad" one); but I do have to be fair to Korea, and take the time to judge it in terms that are reasonable and not grossly ethnocentric; I believe that such critiques are inherently constructive. It is because I believe this that I think Occidentalism.org to engaged in the opposite project that I am. We are both critical, but in the case of my blog, I have critical posts along with some that laud; many of my posts are about Korea, but I lay the same critical analyses upon Japan, foreigners living here (Korean American and non), and my own home culture of the United States.

So in regards to my blog, I encourage you to not just look at a couple of "negative" posts, but take the time to find out what this blog is really all about. I am a social critic – that's what academics often are – so I'm not going to wax on about how beautiful the palaces here are, how quaint and friendly all Koreans are to me, how fascinated I am by Insadong, how beautiful and mysterious I think Korean traditional arts to be. Not only is such stuff horribly clichéd, but most foreigners run through such ideas and their originating experiences in their first two months here, which is what leads me to my assumption that you have little or no experience living in Korea as an apparent foreigner (which would include the possibility that you are of Korean descent) or alternatively, if you are a foreigner living here, have not only an extraordinary amount of patience and endless understanding (a "good" thing), but also possess a very rosy and idealized picture of what life is like here and assume that your artificially positive experience is somehow the most "accurate" one to represent (umm, not so good of a thing).

What I am trying to say is that no one experience or representation of Korea is a "right" or "correct" one, and it seems as though you're trying to impose this on others; at the same time, you seem to think that it's our responsibility to somehow regulate an external image of Korea for outsiders to see. My question remains: if most of the people who read these blogs are foreigners, who exactly are we trying to fool here, especially given the fact that I think the vast majority of blogs here –which are personal ones – are inherently pretty accurate in reflecting the diverse range experiences, for better or for worse, that foreigners actually have here? Who are we trying to maintain the façade for, again?

Sorry to sound strident, but I do hope that you dig a bit further into this blog and see that I am not a knee-jerk basher of this place, nor do I think I have unfairly represented what it is like for a person like me to live here. I take Korea for what it is - good and bad - and am pretty realistic about it. If you get to know my posts, you'll begin to feel what is there but not stated, in terms of my actual overriding optimism about this place; if I really had come to hate this place, I would find it difficult to go on living here, dealing with Koreans' like the one I met on the subway, and continuing to have the patience to address comments such as these. These are conversations I've seemingly had a million times, but I don't want to jump down your throat and unfairly beat you up because of my built-up frustrations.

So I write this blog, I say challenging things, and I have learned to maintain a certain patience when addressing certain things that come up from time to time. It's only fair, I think – I put these thoughts out there to spark debate and thought; I would be an asshole and a fool to then simply blindly attack anyone who doesn't agree with me, because they don't agree with me. In the present case, I hope I've addressed your concerns as honestly and directly as possible, and that you'll take a bit of time to explore around and find out what I believe my site is about. I grant you that there's a lot of seeming "criticism" of Korea, but again, I'll say that I don't think this to be inherently bad, and that this is balanced by the fact that I use those critical faculties on places outside Korea as well.

Thanks for reading and I hope this might be an incentive to look around my blog a bit more. Again, there are some usful links here.

[michael]

Not to gang up on Elle, but about four S. Koreas could be fit into the state of California ;)

In the five years I've been in Korea I've had to disabuse many, many Koreans of stereotypes many, many times. You (Mr. Hurt) have explained the social constructs that underpin the xenophobia and race obssession in Korea very well before, giving me much verbal ammunition in discussions I get into here.

I'm very sorry you ran into someone with that kind of ugliness in them. You obviously know the score in Korea -- the drunk asshole somehow has more rights than everyone around him. But reading this blog, along with what I gather you impart as a teacher, I think Korea gets the better bargain for you being here.

[elle]

Your experiences and perspectives mold you as a person and your point of view itself is biased, as everyone else, including myself. And I only have a glimpse of what a dark-skinned person experiences, being that I am not dark-skinned. I am naturally more optimistic and take things from a positive perspective rather than in the negative. Nor do i judge a person to be smarter merely because of his/her skin color (I would think that an educated native korean would do the same), i form my opinion upon getting to know the person regardless of ethnic background. I am not suggesting that you sugar coat your experiences. But it sounds odd that anyone would continue to choose to live in a place where your physical safety is a major concern as you make it out to be. I am assuming you are there at your own choosing and have the option to do so. I can't imagine that any civilized metropolitan city anywhere is significantly different from another, in that wherever you are you take certain basic precautions but your blog reads as if you fear for your life everyday as if it is a combat zone of some sort there.

Moreover...americans, including myself, are generally known to be "high maintenance" and expect foreign nations to cater to their comfort zone or else complain and complain. But the american way of life is not the only way of living...perhaps (this is only a suggestion and not to stir anything up) we americans need to be more accepting to foreign cultures.

Whether I agree with your perspectives or not...i am sure it will in someway be of help towards some progress in issue of "racism"

Just on a side note...what does your mom say about your experiences in Korea?

[The Metropolitician]

Elle -

I don't think you're getting what I'm saying at all. You're so insistent on seeing this individualist, we're all just people, and saying things such as "our points of view are biased" that I really think you're missing the point here – there are structural patterns here that no matter how "positive" or "optimistic" I am, I cannot escape.

This argument really reminds of white folks in America who want so hard to stick to the idea that racism is nothing more than overcoming individual prejudice and that the most important thing is that "I'm not racist." The point is that, as a black person, I'm not racist either, but when the police pull me over for driving my economy car in a rich neighborhood – as when I tutored super-rich familes in SAT as a side job during grad school – I would often be tailed, scrutinized, and occasionally pulled over. In Berkeley and Oakland, my car has been pulled over several times and searched for drugs with no probable cause. Does me seeing the reality of life make me "negative?" No, it means I'm careful and have common sense. For white folks who can't imagine such situations, this may seem a "negative" view on life (reminds me of the oft-heard "why are rappers so ANGRY all the time? can't they be more happy?")

I didn't mean to imply that in Korea, I walk around in combat formation, hugging the walls and doing forward body rolls on the way home because I fear for my life; however, I am realistic enough about this place to know that if some black soldiers raped a Korean middle school girl in Korea, even Hines Ward better be watching his back. Many white folks in America and Korean folks in Korea always seem to be wondering why the minorities are so "negative." Why don't they just think on the individual level (like them) and allow everything to get better? Well, it's because many Korean people in Korea see me as a "foreigner" and white folks see me as a "black" that I keep my guard up. Members of the majority in their own societies have the privilege of being individuals; minorities often do not.

Elle, you say, "I am naturally more optimistic and take things from a positive perspective rather than in the negative. Nor do i judge a person to be smarter merely because of his/her skin color (I would think that an educated native korean would do the same), i form my opinion upon getting to know the person regardless of ethnic background."

Great, good for you - you're an enlightened person. But to truly see things in terms of other people's experiences, you need to realize that not everyone thinks like that. It would be nice if they did, but they don't. And it would also behoove you to realize that certain people don't have the PRIVILEGE to think like you do, since they do not receive that kind of treatment. I'm not saying "be racist" or whatever, just like a person has been racist to you; what I AM saying is that when you walk into a room full of white folks and you're the only black person, there's a reality there, as well as a history. This makes some black folks nervous, or even uncomfortable. When my dad used to drive (he didn't like to fly) through Connecticut or parts of New Hampshire to visit me at school, he often got nervous. In the old days, black folks would sometimes get harassed or worse when driving through white towns. And he was pulled over once by the highway patrol and asked "if he was lost." He didn't necessarily fear for his life, but the history of black people's treatment of white cops in all-white towns is something that never leaves your mind as a black person, even in 2006.

Same on the subway in Korea. I don't think I'm actually going to get jumped or killed in that particular moment. But I am acutely aware that my experience - and we're talking about the differences of experience that you yourself aknowledge exist - if I were to get into a fight on the subway with a drunk ajussi would be very different for me – a dark foreiger – than a korean or perhaps even a white person. Am I paranoid? "Negative?" No, just like the reason why I often see or hear lone Korean women on their way back to their apartment buildings go into a slight jog, or even actually run to their buildings if it's a short hop: they know that sexual harassment and assault are all too common occurences here and that even if a rape is reported, the woman's credibility and reputation would be questioned, even in the case of a clear attack-on-the-street case. It's why even close, platonic, Korean female friends are reluctant to hang out with me in my apartment - women here are just that much more careful here, to almost a fault; but I can't blame them, and totally understand their reasoning. I can't just say, "Hey, you know me, I'm an individual. Why you so paranoid? C'mon? Aren't you just stereotyping? You can trust me." Sure - these things are true. But it's also true that from her perspective, "better safe than sorry," as they say.

And please don't lecture me about "being more accepting" or being a "high-maintenance" American or being stuck to living an "american way of life." I know you're not trying to get me angry, but I think you're seeing something that's not there. You're confusing me with some other Ugly American who's here on a tourist visa teaching English for a few months who walks around cursing at how bad Koreanized western food is and wondering why the heck don't Koreans speak better English. I learned Korean from scratch, lived with two host families out of college and taight for 2 years in Korean middle schools in the boonies of Korea; I have made endless amounts of effort to improve my Korean and nearly all of my friends and acquaintences are Korean - almost all of my non-work life is spent speaking Korean, talking with Koreans, exchanging real ideas and friendship. I don't like such petty talk, but I haven't owned a bed for the last 4 years and enjoy my 온돌 floor immensely, and chow down on 청국장 with the best of 'em. I'm not trying to say I'm "more" or "less" Korean than anyone; I'm just saying that I've put in my time and have very little patience for being called an Ugly American. I'm probably a little more short-tempered than I should be with you, Elle, since I think you mean well with your comments; but I think you should know that a person such as myself, who lives, works, and engages in social criticism here in culture that is not my own does this, in the end, as a labor of love – not ignorance of the culture or vain American selfishness.

In any case, thanks for the comments and sorry for being so grumpy about this.

[Adam]

Sorry to interrupt the (fascinating) discussion on Korea, race and the correct time and place to discuss the two, but I've just discovered this blog and it's the best thing that's happened to me today. Informed yet open, opinionated yet understanding, wide-ranging yet penetrating.

I have no idea where I'll find the time to trawl through the old entries; I only know I shall. Thanks.

[The Metropolitician]

Hey, Adam -

Your comment is the best thing that happened to me today. Thanks for the compliments, guy!

[Zenas/Haeya]

Wow. Lots of response. I don't come here often, but everytime I do, I enjoy reading your posts. :) They give me a different perspective on Korea. Although my nine and a half years in America allow me to see things about Korea that other Korean kids can't, I think I'm still in the dark about a lot of things that go on in this country. I'm enlightened everytime I come here. Anyway, I'm sorry you had to meet that drunk ajussi. I think that the subway brings in a lot of crazy people, especially at night. I hope you don't miss your stop in the future. Besides the fact that you might come across a drunk racist bastard (excuse my language), it really sucks to waste more time having to travel back the way you came. Well gotta go write my essay on Athenian democracy now. :( By the way, it was nice meeting you at Yongin. :)

[Richard]

When I was a Peace Corps Volunteer, many decades ago, we had one African American in our group and his life was hell, though it should be noted that the rest of us "white folks" also suffered to a certain degree being called "monkey" and worse, but then that was our choice. We could leave anytime we wanted.
I guess my feeling was one of anger, only because we where there to "help" and I could not understand the animus.
It seems things have not changed.
Indeed, the last time I was in Korea was in 1997 and I was called "monkey" by a bunch of high school students in Cheongju, my old teaching site.
Though, most of my other experiences in 1997 where "positive'..Koreans still seem to get a kick out of foreigners speaking Korean.
By the way, I am also an avid photographer and enjoy your site very much.

[elle]

I understand your fears, sort of, to some extent. I may sound ignorant, but honestly, I have always wondered why african americans were always so angry and always managed to take things out of context and make it a racial issue even when none was intended and better yet was simply making an attempt to relate in some way (for instance if you start talking about AA celebrities, such as i love Denzel Washington something to that effect) with an AA they take offense to that (this i have confirmed with my AA friends). And i wondered why would they take offense, it's natural for people to take interest in people of their ethnic background. Upon talking to another AA friend, she felt the same way as me, that people are just trying to relate and make conversation with no other connotations. Which lead me to become extremely cautious with my african american friends because i didn't want to offend them in any way.

ALthough i have more theorities to counter argue your comments...i'll hold it for now...

I hope my reply will not get you down. I certainly don't intend to do that. Just think one more person out in this vast world you've managed to reach to share your ideals, whether i agree or not. Its a progress toward understanding each other.

Cherrios!!! Have a GREAT one!

[dogbert]

Could you kindly explain how "white privilege" extends to Russians in Korea?

TIA.

[Matt]

Its too bad that the use of the train system is off limits to you. Still, your reaction is a totally natural one. People tend to avoid areas where they have been troubled or attacked. I believe the same phenomenon can also be observed in other countries in big cities, like New York and Los Angeles.

[dogbert]

Michael, just curious: when you take the bus, do you usually sit in the front or the back?

[The Metropolitician]

In the back, where da Negroes go, and where drunk people fear to tread...

I'll assume you asked that with tongue-in-cheek? Hehe.

Seriously – perhaps drunk folks are also loathe to take the creaky, herky-jerky bus?

[sungwon]

elle -
The reasons why black people would get angry at you trying to "relate" to them by talking about black celebrities is that you are trying to relate to them through their ethnicity! What does Denzel Washington have to do with the average black person? Nothing. Except they're both black. They are not the ones who first made it a racial issue, you are. You are not trying to relate to them as individuals (as you implied you do in previous posts), but on the basis of their skin color. You are effectively saying "I cannot see beyond the fact that you are a black person. Boy, you people sure are good entertainers!" Do you see how that's offensive?

[Waygugin]

Not that you need my approval or that of anyone else, I mean I would feel arrogant paying you a compliment or judging you, but I just wanted to say that I have a lot of respect for you in being able to handle that situation as beautifully as you did. People like that need to be treated in that way when it is prudent.

You were also dead on about the shock for caucasions of being a visible minority in Korea for the first time, at least for me anyway. The thought would never have even occured to me back home, not that I doubt it really matters to anyone else on this board.

Anyway I look forward to your next posting.

Oh yeah... BSG kicks ass...wouldn't have even bothered to think about watching the show if that drunkard hadn't decided to be stupid to you.