South Korea | Q & A

Answers: Life + Clubs

@DealingWithIt

1. Have you experienced any discrimination or racism? Can you tell us about the experience?

When it comes to being a foreigner in Korea, you'll always be seen and treated differently. For the most part, I was treated kindly. However this isn't always the case and I consider myself quite lucky for the most part. The only obvious case of discrimination I faced was when I went to a pharmacist and asked for an allergy medication. He refused to help me—obviously because I'm a foreigner. It was disheartening but I went to a different one later who was very kind to me. Sometimes you'll get store clerks who are impatient with your lack of Korean language skill, but it was never enough to hurt me and didn't happen often.

Unfortunately, I did experience racism secondhand when I was walking with my friend/coworker in a subway station. She is a woman of colour and so obviously stood out more than I did with my dark hair and light skin. An old man yelled really offensive words to her in Korean, followed by, "get out of this country." I knew it was directed at her because of his previous comment but I really don't even want to type it. It was disgusting and in that moment I was so glad that she only new basic words like hello. I told him to be quiet and felt so angry for the rest of the night. Being a foreigner in Korea can be hard in general, but being one of colour can potentially be even more difficult. However, it's usually the old Korean demographic who are blatant racists. Young Koreans are typically very excited to see foreigners and especially those of the black community (since Korean pop culture in a way is very influenced by black culture in America).

2. Have you gone clubbing? If so what were the pros and cons?

Yes. I've never been much of a club person, only having gone out once in Canada and a few times in China. However, nightlife in Seoul is a big deal. I went out about 5 times throughout the year and for the most part had great experiences.

Pros: sometimes free admission, you can easily meet other foreigners, Koreans are less scared to talk to you when drunk, everyone is awake at night so it's never scary to walk around the streets, taxi fares are cheap for going home, some restaurants, cafes and all convenience stores stay open 24/7, Korean men were always good about leaving me alone if I made it clear I didn't want their company, many people stay in the clubs until 5AM so you're never alone

Cons: Korean men can be trashy at the club and usually hunt for foreign girls who will sleep with them, as with all clubs you always need to be careful with your drinks

I can go more into depth about clubs in the future if anyone has more specific questions!