Comments on: Well, I Guess I’ll Be Using the Right Garbage Bag Next Time

By: dokdoforever

dokdoforever — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 06:19:08 +0000

OK, didn’t see the part about hitting - of course that’s always out of bounds.

By: pasha

pasha — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 05:15:05 +0000

Agree with #10

If you know you’re going to need multiple bags to handle all your trash and recyclables, why not open each of the necessary bags and fill them as you clean? Makes a lot more sense than randomly stuffing them with all your crap and then leaving them out in the street — where no one knows that you’re coming back to sort them later. While the situation did grow to an absurd level, the girls brought it on themselves by not thinking about their actions in advance. Sort it in advance and avoid the problem altogether!

By: hardyandtoiny

hardyandtoiny — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:44:54 +0000

“Why would the dumb bitches leave their garbage there so they can go and get more? Why not sort it out and then go get the rest?”

Yeah, I had the same thought.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 01:42:49 +0000

And I very much doubt that illegal Mexican immigrants expect Americans to speak to them in Spanish. The English teacher in the story shares some (not all of course) of the blame, but that’s not how she comes off in her rendition of the story.

One of the women was HIT. Spanish-speaking immigrants do not expect all Americans to speak to them in English (nor did the women in the story although all participants were frustrated by the language barrier), but they don’t expect to be HIT, either, for throwing away garbage improperly or committing some other minor infraction. If a man hit me for whatever reason, I’d be upset, too. A language barrier is a piss-poor excuse to get violent.

By: globalvillageidiot

globalvillageidiot — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:59:34 +0000

“But the sound of a foreigner talking foreigner-lish really seems to grate on a lot of these people.”

Excessive smiles, laughter, or other expressions of happiness by foreigners can sometimes have a similar result. (Oddly enough, I always remember feeling good whenever I saw recent arrivals to Canada enjoying life in my - and their newly adopted - country!)

By: Alejandro Marivosa

Alejandro Marivosa — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 00:47:05 +0000

The average expat excuse: “I don’t learn Korean ‘cos I don’t know how long I’ll be in Korea.” (Then after ten years: “I just never got around to it…”) But the locals are supposed to learn English, or explain things with a pantomime, or put up with the “ignorance of the law” defense whenever one of these people moves in next door? I don’t get that.
On the other hand, had a Korean done the same thing, the reaction would have been a lot less extreme. It’s like the shushing business. I have never seen a Korean shush another Korean on the bus or subway. No matter how loudly the other is shouting into his cell phone/pressing all the funny-sounding buttons on said instrument/cracking gum, etc. But the sound of a foreigner talking foreigner-lish really seems to grate on a lot of these people. I saw a pair of Mongolians shushed by an angry ajosshi on the subway when they were barely audible.

By: dokdoforever

dokdoforever — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 23:59:22 +0000

There are plenty of actual cases of racial and ethnic discrimination against non-Koreans in this country that deserve attention, but aside from the drunk ajussi here, this isn’t one of them. If the girl learns the basic trash system this doesn’t happen.

By: babotaengi

babotaengi — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:45:44 +0000

Ahhhh, Korea: one of the last frontiers. Bring your women and children at their peril, pilgrims.

By: Brian

Brian — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:50:27 +0000

I think the point of that blog entry was that the apartment guy and the neighbor flipped out and became violent, not that the garbage may or may not have been misplaced. Maybe you can make a case for the woman in the entry being careless, but misplacing trash—if she actually did that—hardly warrants a beat down. As “A Year in Mokpo” said, this is a fine example of many things: drunk, violent adjosshis; self-important officials (even if they are only in charge of the parking lot); worthless police; backassward rules and regulations arbitrarily enforced; and racist behavior.

I try to be good with my garbage, and I wish others would take the few seconds required to put garbage in the proper bin. But like the guy above said, it seems completely arbitrary most of the time. I buy the purple bags, but it looks like I’m one of the few in my building who do. I open the dumpster lid and there’s a wide variety of bags and products. Open up the bin for plastics and there’s all kind of bags, boxes, and glass. Hell, a good number of people just lob their trash from the balcony onto the hillside behind the apartment. In spite of the big “do not litter” sign the whole hill is covered in trash.

By: foflappy

foflappy — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:58:02 +0000

All you bitches complaining about not knowing the ‘language of garbage’ #4,7,8…go fuck yourselves. The garbage system here is quite arbitrary (Gu/Dong dependent). I’ve had many-a-stand offs with grammas and grandpas in dark allies when I was dropping off me garbage (properly colated by material).