OK. Chris in South Korea wrote about this, and I heard about it from @MikeonTBS’s Twitter feed.
CNNgo just published an embarrassing article dripping with white bias and loaded with outdated stereotypes about expats, Koreans, and life in Korea. You can read it here. Or just go there to leave a comment that the article’s off the mark. A lot. And even a little insulting. It’s titled 12 Rules for Expat Life in Korea, and it’s entering Jon Huer territory (Who’s Jon Huer? For those of you who are new, or have short memories…)
Here are the 12 rules from CNNgo’s article: (with subtexts in parenthesis)
1. Learn to drink like a fish. (because Koreans are alcoholics and will force you to drink)
2. Try not to get celebrified. (because Koreans are provincial tools who have never seen a white person before, and every reader of this article will be white)
3. Bring your own clothing. (because there’s “no big size” mart, dongdaemun is the only place to buy clothes here)
4. Learn to dance K-pop. (because that’s the only culture Korea has. bubblegum K-pop)
5. Put the gay away. (I’m not even going there on this one)
6. Buy good face cream. (wtf? THIS goes in the TOP twelve? Maybe in the top 100…)
7. Embrace your inner diva. (noraebang… meh. I’m OK with this one. Spell Norae-bang correctly kthx)
8. Don’t tip. (still probably true)
9. Don’t have a coffee addiction. (because Korean coffee culture hasn’t changed since 2002)
10. Take pictures of your food. (this is way more important than that list of online info resources I could have put in spot ten on the list. After all: the headline says this list is definitive)
11. Adjust your diet. (there’s a sleuth of international restaurants? Don’t you mean a slew?)
12. Strike an Asian pose. (because even though in rule 3 I told you not to try and DRESS like Koreans, you won’t look stupid when you try to ACT like Koreans. And all Koreans do Asian poses, btw. No exceptions.)
