[KS] anti-Americanism in ROK

[J.Scott Burgeson]

Really, it's all about the attitude of the individual
foreigner in the ROK. Just as, say, the wrong kind of
look from a white person directed towards an
African-American in the States could very well provoke
a hostile or even physical response (ie., "What you
lookin' at white boy? You got a problem?" etc. ), the
same kind of perceived lack of disrepect coming from
certain foreigners here is likely to provoke hostile
responses from certain locals. Often this kind of
behavior tends to come from American servicemen who
are simply being "rowdy" while out on the town and
having a good time, but this kind of loud, boisterous
behavior is generally frowned on here by locals and
can be misinterpreted by Koreans as a lack of respect,
arrogance, etc. And in a sense, such Koreans do have
some justification in their feelings about this,
because foreigners acting this way here (esp. these
days) are being rather insensitive about local ways of
acting in public and behaving with a sense of decorum.
In other words, it's all about street smarts, which is
not always that highly developed in the average
20-year-old GI from Kansas on a first-time tour of
duty here.
   As for me, I eat out every day here. Often Korean
ajosshi's eating/drinking near me will ask me where
I'm from, and I always just say in Korean that I'm
from America. I never have problems when saying this,
and am often offered a shot of soju as a gesture of
goodwill. Call it street smarts, call it nunch'i, but
definitely make sure you bring it with you when you
come over here, and things will be fine...
   --Scott Bug 

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