Hello? Where are you prum!

This morning on my way down to the local Starbucks I was accosted by a group of elementary school students wanting to know where I was from, how old I was and then wanting to tell me how handsome and good I am. This is something I'm sure friends in Korea, China and elsewhere in the non-western world can relate and to and even appreciate. To be honest, when it's a group of kids I just act all smart ass to them, saying: "나는 북한 사람" (I am North Korean) and then asking them where they are from. Or "나는 영어 말를 할 수 없어요" (I don't speak English). This is met with howls of laughter and more "you are very good" comments. These moments actually can make me very happy to be a foreigner in Korea.

What I've come to appreciate less is when a clearly unwilling child is being forced in to talking to me by an overeager parent. This can happen (and has) on the Daegu and Seoul subway systems, on the Apsan cable car even at a restaurant. It's frustrating because:

a- the child is clearly very uncomfortable and may be struggling with English, so this conversation only serves to make them even more uncomfortable and even resentful towards me.

b - private lessons start at 40000 won a pop for people who can legally teach them (which is not me). Petition your government to change those labour laws and I'll give your kid a month of free lessons :)

c - I teach English as a job (I imagine dentists encounter an unusual number of people with teeth problems at parties, mechanics people with car problems, massage therapists people with back spasms etc etc etc.). It's not a hobby or something I do to kill time and I don't necessarily want to do it in my free time.

d - it almost never happens when I'm with a Korean person, leading me to believe that it is considered rude to bother someone in this way (a theory Koreans have supported).


My standard response is usually to be nice to the child (as I'm on their side in this one) but abrupt. If it continues, I say to the parent "나는 영어 멀을 할 수 없어: (deliberately leaving out the "요"). I'd recommend it to all foreigners in Korea as it usually staggers them long enough for you to make your escape (and the child will often smile at you and look very grateful).