Over at Marmot's Hole, regular commenter seoulmilk
asks:
not that people have implied it here, but i’ve seen in other blogs where people complain the shit out of korea. i know korea has its warts, but i also know what it offers. i think the pros outweigh the cons…for me. unless you’re a military guy, i’ve always wondered why people who’ve stayed here more than a year keep staying here despite korea being the source of their misery and general unhappiness. even people who have left keep checking on korean blogs. why are they so obsessed with korea, if korea was such a shitty country? i’ve asked this question before here and i remember people answering they can choose to live wherever they want. no shit. but why? why korea, if korea is the source of your misery?
Wow. That's a harsh indictment, but yeah, it describes some to a tee (but only some; I for one know many, many foreigners who, despite the occasional problem, don't kvetch and moan like the K-blog commentariat often does). And it really does make you wonder.
and i’ve read in other blogs people talking about how much japan is better than korea. that’s great. why not go there. you get the same adventure but better people, right? go.
Maybe the answer is that in Japan they
can't find a
place to live.
I've noticed these types of haters a lot on the Korea Times blogs/comments sections. They usually seem to be the same few bloggers on that site too. I also wondered why if they hated Korea and Koreans so much, why they would read The Korea Times everyday. My guess is that most of these are non-Koreans (usually men) who have lived or worked in Korea (or worked with Koreans) and they have a fetish for Korean women but have had bad luck with them (were dumped) and so are bitter towards Koreans. Sorry, if this sounds chauvinistic or heavily one-sided..but sometimes that can be the root of one's bitterness. I have to admit, I'm also ironic in that I used to bag on Japanese men (mainly for historical and social reasons) but I really miss living in Japan and wish I can go back someday. And no, I was never dumped by a Japanese girl in that way.
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