So, for the record, I am not an English teacher and, neither I nor my husband is in the military. (Read statement above.)
But it gets a bit irritating to have almost everyone you meet assume that you are one of those two things. Even after they ask you why you are here and you tell them.And, it’s not just Koreans. In fact, it’s rarely Koreans who make this assumption.
I went with my “counselor” from the relocation agency to get my Korean driver’s license last week. While there, we ran into another American, a professor at a university in Seoul, who has been living in country for 10 years. (He says . . .)
He turned around to me, and asked, ‘Do you speak English? Can you tell me which of these is the right window for getting an international license?’
I do, of course, speak English, but had no idea which window was the correct one. My counselor, C, however, also speaks fluent English and Korean. (Which is why she was hired to help me out, and why she was sitting and standing next to me, and talking every where we went.) She leans in and tells him, in English, which is the right window. This, he completely ignores, following the advice of the Korean guy sitting next to him who was clearly misunderstanding what he was saying.
Anyway, we go downstairs to take my eye test and physical exam (consisting of following instructions to do one deep knee bend). When we return, the Professor has obviously had a great deal of trouble with the clerk behind the desk. We can hear him complaining across the room. He’s had to wait in two different lines… he already bought a stamp, now they want another …. blah, blah. And, I should point out that I know what he was saying because all of this is in English. Mind you, he is also now standing at the correct window. The one that C told him to go to the first time, which he ignored.
Finally, finishing his business, he comes back over to me for a chat.
“Are you North American?”
“Yes. I’m from the United States.”
“Oh, you’re an English teacher.”
“No, actually, I am here with my husband.”
“Oh, military.”
“No, actually, his compa–”
He cuts me off and goes on to bitch about how difficult an adjustment we’re going to have, how Koreans will lie to your face because they don’t have the same code of honor for foreigners that they do for Koreans. For example, he was told to go to the wrong window, and had to then find the right window just now. How I’m going to have to learn. But, my students will teach me…yadda.
All of this is in front of my counselor. Who, as I’ve mentioned, is fluent in English, and has been sitting next to me the whole time. And who very nicely tried to tell his dumb ass him to go to the right window to begin with.
Also, as I think I’ve mentioned, I. am. not. an. English. teacher! I don’t have students. If this is how well he listens in English, I can only imagine what kind of time the Koreans have had.
He then condescendingly proceeds to show me he’s going to buy the clerk a soda as an apology for “frustrating” her, then wishes me well and leaves. Never says one word to C who has been politely and silently taking this all in.
I realize that it was a hot day. That waiting in line at the DMV is no picnic in any country. But, dude, you have been here 10 years and still can’t figure out the Korean words for “international driver’s license?” Or, how to ask which one it is in Korean? David can already do that and he’s been here five months.
I wonder if most Koreans think Americans are all loud, self-important bombastic jerks who refuse to learn basic Hangul.
Somewhere in the United States, a Korean professor and a newly arrived grad student are talking. The professor rolls his eyes, ‘Oh, God, you’re going to have such a hard time here! These Americans . ..”
