[Lily]

I work as an English teacher in South Korea. I have encountered some discrimination here. I have blond hair and blue eyes, while my husband has black hair and hazel eyes. We have noticed that I and my other blond colleagues generally have our pictures taken more often than my husband. When it comes to cell phones, we have to prepay rather than pay monthly. We had trouble with a cable company that refused to rent a cable box to us because we were foreigners. I've heard of people not being allowed into saunas and night clubs because of their race/physical appearance. (This is sometimes understandable since many of the foreigners here do not behave appropriately.) On the other hand, being a foreigner here comes with a lot of advantages. It is easier to get a job as a teacher and many people are very interested in us. (Korean-Americans actually encounter discrimination when looking for a job as English teachers.) As for Africans here, they are few and far between. I worked with one African American woman here and she did not report any outright racist behavior. However I have heard stories of others being discriminated against. In a fairly homogenous society, racial sensitivity is difficult to learn. It's interesting. On one hand many young people in the culture imitate African Americans in dress, music, hairstyle, and mannerisms. However, on the other hand the population sometimes seems to look down on it. I guess the same thing happens in the States.

User Detail :  

Name : Lily, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 26, City : Seoul, State : na Country : South Korea, Occupation : teacher, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class,