"Waygoogin" means "foreigner" in Korean. If you come to Korea as a foreigner, you will know this as your first word of Korean even if you do not know a lick of Korean, even before "Anyonghaseyo," or "hello" in Korean. Its a stigma that has stuck to Korea's conscious for a long time. My friend James made a good point the other day: "we're not necessarily here to be just teachers, but we are mainly ambassadors." I like that assumption, because even though Korea is one of the most powerful nations economically, they still don't have a clue what diversity means. That's why were here, because Korea needs foreigners.
Yet also at the same time I too am Korean, but I'm a foreigner. Why? I can't speak the language, my skin is dark, and my Korean speech is horrible. I don't look Korean.
So, I walk into a dry cleaners the other day, the first time since arriving in the SK. I look at the lady, greet her, and I asked her to take my clothing. She asked my name. I showed her my name tag, which said: "Yeonsu Kodung Hakkyo (High School) - Mark Soni." She looks at me, then down at her list like she was blank in the head, and so I preceded to tell her how to spell my name in Korean (I studied Korean for one year).
She then rebuts in Korean, "its fine, I'll take care of it." She does not write my name down. I was confused because I thought she needed my name, but I assumed perhaps she'll just remember my forgettable face.
(Two days later)...I walk back into the dry cleaners, and she brings my dry cleaning. $10. Not bad for a whole suit, two shirts, and pants. I say thank you and I'm on my merry way, and I put my clothes away.
Next morning, I decide to wear my suit to school. As I precede to put on my suit, I find a stapled slip of paper on my suit, and it was written in Korean. I was like, "alright, it must be my name."
"외국인." "Waygoogin." I was shocked, then I started laughing: she didn't need my name. I'm just a "foreigner" to her! No "Mark P. Soni," or "Mr. Soni," but, "alien."
Even more funny was the fact that I showed my students today, and they had a good laugh because of the fact that the lady didn't want my name, but basically put me in the same category as an alien.
Yup, I'm an alien from Mars.
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