Things Koreans do that irks us

People need to get a grip when it comes to pets. The whole thing is out of control, especially the emotional neediness. For goodness sakes, makes me want to join the Animal Liberation Front or something.

Dog piss everywhere on the streets. Pets in restaurants. Dogs in cramped little apartments. Dogs yapping all the time. Dogs on buses. Dogs on planes. People treating pets like some sort of right. People who can't spend a year in another country without having a pet because they have emotional loneliness issues. People stopping every half a block to pet a dog like its something magical. People who think pets are people. People who think their pets have the same emotional fragility as them.

Enough!

  i hate to say it but i'm in total agreement with demartino on this (rare) occasion.

People need to get a grip when it comes to pets. The whole thing is out of control, especially the emotional neediness. For goodness sakes, makes me want to join the Animal Liberation Front or something.

Dog piss everywhere on the streets. Pets in restaurants. Dogs in cramped little apartments. Dogs yapping all the time. Dogs on buses. Dogs on planes. People treating pets like some sort of right. People who can't spend a year in another country without having a pet because they have emotional loneliness issues. People stopping every half a block to pet a dog like its something magical. People who think pets are people. People who think their pets have the same emotional fragility as them.

Enough!

 
For the record, I have no problem with people getting whatever pet they want... ASSUMING, they handle the necessary responsibilities.

You have no business owning a dog if:

1 - You don't have a big yard.
2 - You don't have regular access to large field/park.
3 - You want to let unleash your dog to run around said park, which includes other people.
4 - When outside your home, you're unable to keep the dog out of people's personal and
     olfactory space.
5 - You don't have the income to provide proper nutrition and veterinary care
6 - You start fundraisers because your broke ass didn't anticipate that pets may
     need expensive emergency treatment.
7 - Your apartment isn't, at least, as big as Dr Frasier Crane's.
8 - You're always on the move
9 - You're not prepared to pay thousands of dollars to ship it home, at the end of your
     contract.
10 - A big motivation for getting a dog is to see how cute it will look in the little dog jersey
       you found... seriously, just die!

Especially this.  How selfish a person are you to use the company of a living creature but ditch it come the end of your contract?  Ridiculous.  I basically agree with Demartino on "People who can't spend a year in another country without having a pet because they have emotional loneliness issues."  I wouldn't commit to a pet unless I fully intended on taking it with me when I left.  I love animals but I haven't adopted one during my time here. 

9 - You're not prepared to pay thousands of dollars to ship it home, at the end of your
     contract.

Especially this.

Depending on the size of the animal, it only takes around 250,000 won to fly it from Korea to North America. I have a Dachshund, and we've made that flight several times already. No problemos.

I've seen a lot of people (2) outside walking their terrified-and-obviously-not-enjoying-themselves housecats on leashes recently.




I'm irked.

They can't afford dogs but don't want to be left out. Gotta keep up with the Kims.

9 - You're not prepared to pay thousands of dollars to ship it home, at the end of your
     contract.

Especially this.

Depending on the size of the animal, it only takes around 250,000 won to fly it from Korea to North America. I have a Dachshund, and we've made that flight several times already. No problemos.

Curious, what airline do you typically use?

Depending on the size of the animal, it only takes around 250,000 won to fly it from Korea to North America. I have a Dachshund, and we've made that flight several times already. No problemos.

Curious, what airline do you typically use?

United, usually, and Korean Air occationally. Whichever one is cheapest at the time :)

Most airlines have the policy that if your pet is under 5 kilos and in a soft case carrier that's under a specific size, it can come aboard as carry on. The fee is usually about 200,000 won, but can be slightly more depending on the airline.
   Also, be very careful about transfers: if you you switch airlines during a transfer you will need to pay the 200,000 pet fee again.

Also, in order for your pet to fly, it has to meet all the entry requirements for rabies, distemper etc of the *destination* country. Likewise when you return to Korea (Korea has a very strict rabies control programme, so definitely look into that kind of stuff 2 or 3 months before flying in order to get all the titer tests etc completed in time). They're not really expensive (about 40,000 to 60,000), just kinda bothersome.

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

People need to get a grip when it comes to pets. The whole thing is out of control, especially the emotional neediness. For goodness sakes, makes me want to join the Animal Liberation Front or something.

Dog piss everywhere on the streets. Pets in restaurants. Dogs in cramped little apartments. Dogs yapping all the time. Dogs on buses. Dogs on planes. People treating pets like some sort of right. People who can't spend a year in another country without having a pet because they have emotional loneliness issues. People stopping every half a block to pet a dog like its something magical. People who think pets are people. People who think their pets have the same emotional fragility as them.

Enough!

  i hate to say it but i'm in total agreement with demartino on this (rare) occasion.

Same. Except for the petting. I still do pet the dogs that come up to me, especially if they are the big floofy ones that are so rare in Korea. But I do find it sad when animals get passed from owner to owner or sent to the shelters because they go home.

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold...

Good job. Mine was a rescue as well. Found her in a trash pile covered in sores and too starved to run away. Considering how sought after dachshunds are here in Korea, I was really surprised to see somebody tossing one out like that!

3 years later and she's fine (except for some serious trash eating issues. Damn dog.).

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

Trust me, with all the judgments going on in here, many of which are fair, no one is judging you for rescuing a dog. Calm down.

Curious, what airline do you typically use?

United, usually, and Korean Air occationally. Whichever one is cheapest at the time :)

Welp, two airlines crossed off my list. United has tiny seats and treats you like crap but they allow dogs. Maybe they should boot off the dogs and charge more money to people who drag their pets along so we can get bigger seats in economy or have business class go back to being business class. Throw em in the cargo hold where they belong. Incredible, the only thing these airlines bend over backwards for is for carry-on animals. They treat animals better than their own damn customers. No wonder these airlines suck. Not surprised that people who think like this are running their airlines into the ground. Sad to see Korean Air give in to this madness. Probably the stupid princesses with their yapping rat dogs.

Meanwhile all the good airlines, like the Middle Eastern ones, ban most pets and give you decent legroom and service. They also have stricter cancellation policies and their higher fees help keep out the riff-raff. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for service dogs for the actual disabled. But you've got to be seriously messed up. None of this emotional support animal crap. If that's the case, throw em in the hold. Maybe the 13 hours away from each other can finally toughen you up and you'll get over your fear of flying or whatever. Unless you're a veteran or lost a leg when you were bombed while working for Doctors Without Borders. Anything goes for those types. If you have a service cobra, that's cool. Just do us a favor and have the cobra take out the yapping dog in seat C12. It's thin. It should be able to squeeze through the bars of the pet carrier.

=======================================================

I have been in Korea 2 months now, and only had really good experiences up until now. However, this weekend, I bought a bus ticket for my dog so I didn't have to hold her carrier in my lap the entire 4-hour trip from Seoul to Chungbuk, and a girl INSISTED on taking my dogs spot despite that there were 2 open seats elsewhere. She kind of stood in the aisle and just looked at me expectantly, and I showed her the 2 tickets I had bought, pointed to one ticket and at myself, then to the other ticket and to my dog in the other seat, and she still just stood there, waiting for me to move my dog. I was honestly, very pissed off. If it was a short bus ride, that's fine. But considering I paid 30,00 won for the bus fare so I could be comfortable instead of miserable for 4 hours straight, I was very upset. Then she has the audacity to close both the air vents completely, so I'm sweating my butt off the entire time. My dog got really antsy after about 3 hours, and started panting once she closed the vents, so I had to take her out of her crate and put her on my lap. Then, she had the audacity to look annoyed when my dog tried to get her attention and wagged her tail excitedly. I should have just stood my ground.

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

Uhm. Anyone notice anything wrong with this? I spot two glaring red flags. Five Sonnys to whoever gets it first.

Nice try. At least try telling the truth first.

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

You're a compassionate person, to animals at least. You're also learning why most people, despite feeling sorry for the animal, didn't take it home. Nature is merciless, feral cats and dogs needs to develop survival instincts and learn to fend for themselves. It's through hardships like this that the strongest feral animals overcome and live long enough to pass on their superior genes.
I never pet feral animals, no matter how needy they seem. Despite taking a very dangerous chance at contracting rabies or some nasty infection, you're also creating an association that humans are friendly... That's the last thing I want a stray animal to be thinking in this country.

There's a fine line between being compassionate and leaving nature alone. It's just my opinion, but if you're going to rob the animal of it's opportunity to pass nature's test and learn how to survive, you better be prepared to become it's provider.

A lot of things irk me but I'm supposed to understand them because I look like the natives.

One specific thing that does irk me: "Your English is really good for a Korean."

I'm like, "What do you want to see: my passport, my Social Security card, my [expired] driver's license or my diploma from a New Jersey university nobody knows because it's not Princeton?" 

Curious, what airline do you typically use?

United, usually, and Korean Air occationally. Whichever one is cheapest at the time :)

Welp, two airlines crossed off my list. United has tiny seats and treats you like crap but they allow dogs. Maybe they should

Insofar as I know, all the carriers that have flights to NA allow carry on pets. Some just charge more than others, and have different weight/size limitations. Do you know of any major airlines that don't? Would be nice to know in advance!

And in my experience*, most dogs just sleep throughout the flight. Something to do with the changes in air pressure and engine noise/vibration.
*Your experiences may, of course, be different.

Incredible, the only thing these airlines bend over backwards for is for carry-on animals. They treat animals better than their own damn customers. No wonder these airlines suck. Not surprised that people who think like this are running their airlines into the ground.

Charging an additional 200,000 won for what is essentially just another carry-on seems like good business sense to me. 

Curious, what airline do you typically use?

United, usually, and Korean Air occationally. Whichever one is cheapest at the time :)

Welp, two airlines crossed off my list. United has tiny seats and treats you like crap but they allow dogs. Maybe they should

Insofar as I know, all the carriers that have flights to NA allow carry on pets. Some just charge more than others, and have different weight/size limitations. Do you know of any major airlines that don't? Would be nice to know in advance!

And in my experience*, most dogs just sleep throughout the flight. Something to do with the changes in air pressure and engine noise/vibration.


*Your experiences may, of course, be different.

https://www.bringfido.com/travel/airline_policies/

Middle Eastern airlines (consistently rated the best) don't allow them, except for falcons and the only people that have those are people with F U money. Those people are probably in those 1st class staterooms or whatever.

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold...

Good job. Mine was a rescue as well. Found her in a trash pile covered in sores and too starved to run away. Considering how sought after dachshunds are here in Korea, I was really surprised to see somebody tossing one out like that!

3 years later and she's fine (except for some serious trash eating issues. Damn dog.).

What a cutie! Glad you found her. I just don't understand the way animals are treated here. And the dog I found has serious food insecurity- she tries to eat anything and everything, including trash, bugs, bones, bird shit... anything she can find on the ground. I have to keep an eagle eye on her when she's outside pooping because she finds all kind of nasty stuff. She's ravenous, even if she's full... she doesn't even chew her food, so I have to feed her in small increments or else she'll eat it all in a couple seconds and throw it up. When I first found her I literally had to drop 1 or 2 one pieces of kibble at a time into her crate to slow her down. She's getting better about it, and I can keep my hand on her food bowl without her getting aggressive... but she growls and moves away if I put my hands near her bone or other chew treat. We're working on it :/

Middle Eastern airlines (consistently rated the best) don't allow them, except for falcons and the only people that have those are people with F U money. Those people are probably in those 1st class staterooms or whatever.

One day I too will have F U money (probably through shenanigans, considering my current profession and its pay). When that day arrives, i will buy a falcon specifically so that I can bring it along and let it fly about in the plane. Preferably this plane.

 A bird that is flying on a plane that is flying on a plane. Flightception.


Oh, and uh, things that irritate me here in the Land of Morning Calm are people who don't use their blinkers.
- Also folk who walk on bicycle paths.
- Bongo trucks. All of them.
- People who ask me about grammar/spelling/word-usage, and then decide to do it their way because that's how they (think they) learned it in school. 
- People who fill pastries with disappointment-bean paste. How *dare* you disguise this as chocolate?!
- Folk leaving the washrooms without actually washing their hands.
- People who read my name in Hangul, and then argue with me about how my name should be pronounced.
- Not flush their TP.
- Prevent anyone from swimming more than a few meters away from shore.
- Tint their vehicle windows (it's unsafe!).
- Glamping.
- Throw trash about in or near *my* apartment complex.
- Have strange ideas about what I eat, and then disagree with me when I tell them what I actually like.
- Spend too much time on makeup, styling, etc.
- Fear tiny dogs.
- Ask why Dokdo isn't on the map (because its a map of Asia for crying out loud! Your entire country barely shows up!).
- Pile so much ddok on me that I run out of pockets to conveniently hide them in until I can unload them on the next student that passes by ( :"Just one more: you snack on it later!"  :"Oh, thank you!).

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

You're a compassionate person, to animals at least. You're also learning why most people, despite feeling sorry for the animal, didn't take it home. Nature is merciless, feral cats and dogs needs to develop survival instincts and learn to fend for themselves. It's through hardships like this that the strongest feral animals overcome and live long enough to pass on their superior genes.
I never pet feral animals, no matter how needy they seem. Despite taking a very dangerous chance at contracting rabies or some nasty infection, you're also creating an association that humans are friendly... That's the last thing I want a stray animal to be thinking in this country.

There's a fine line between being compassionate and leaving nature alone. It's just my opinion, but if you're going to rob the animal of it's opportunity to pass nature's test and learn how to survive, you better be prepared to become it's provider.

Is it really leaving nature alone when those specific species of street dogs/cats only exist because of human intervention? A feral animal wouldn't let you pet it, as soon as you got close to a feral animal it would attack or run away. That's one of the main characteristics of being "feral". Just because an animal is on the streets doesn't mean it's feral. stray =/ feral Sure leave feral animals be (or neuter/release) but there's nothing wrong with rescuing a stray.

I feel so validated after reading all these other posts about Koreans being in the way. I was so grumpy yesterday in Dongdaemun partly because of all the people that kept bumping into me, cutting me off, or blocking the way. I kept wondering if Koreans have any concept of spatial awareness, or if it was just confirmation bias. I was trying to leave the subway, and a guy abruptly stopped at the top of the stairs to check his phone. Really guy? You couldn't have walked forward another few steps so people could get out? I was so annoyed I just pushed right past him. I hope it taught him a lesson, but I may have come off as just a rude foreigner. Oh well.

You didn't have that same problem in your country? People constantly do the same in the states. It just becomes more apparent when you're in a high population area.

Since no one got it...

I have been in Korea 2 months now, and only had really good experiences up until now. However, this weekend, I bought a bus ticket for my dog so I didn't have to hold her carrier in my lap the entire 4-hour trip from Seoul to Chungbuk, and a girl INSISTED on taking my dogs spot despite that there were 2 open seats elsewhere. She kind of stood in the aisle and just looked at me expectantly, and I showed her the 2 tickets I had bought, pointed to one ticket and at myself, then to the other ticket and to my dog in the other seat, and she still just stood there, waiting for me to move my dog. I was honestly, very pissed off. If it was a short bus ride, that's fine. But considering I paid 30,00 won for the bus fare so I could be comfortable instead of miserable for 4 hours straight, I was very upset. Then she has the audacity to close both the air vents completely, so I'm sweating my butt off the entire time. My dog got really antsy after about 3 hours, and started panting once she closed the vents, so I had to take her out of her crate and put her on my lap. Then, she had the audacity to look annoyed when my dog tried to get her attention and wagged her tail excitedly. I should have just stood my ground.

Wow, so much hostility and judgment. FOR THE RECORD:

My first week here, it was snowing and crazy windy. I found a tiny puppy, maybe a month or 2 old, IN THE SNOW. SHIVERING. It was skinny, and cold, and trying to keep out of the wind by cowering in a corner. Snot was crusted all over its nose and eyes. It was filthy. I did what any basic decent human being would do- I tucked it under my jacket, brought it home, and held it in my arms next to the space heater until it stopped shivering. Then, I gave it a bath. I didn't have any dog food, I didn't even know where to BUY dog food, so I fed it a hot dog. It has been a burden every day, I've never had a dog before, I had no idea what I was doing. BUT I'm pretty sure I saved it's life, and I've been trying desperately to find it a good home every day for the last 2 months. I've asked all my coworkers if they know anyone, when I bring her to events and go out of town I tell everyone who asks about her that she's up for adoption, I've been posting on animalrescuekorea.. . I'm even trying to find someone in the US to take her and I'll use my summer vacation to fly her to her new home. I live in Boeun, and I can't find any pet sitting services. It's a really tiny town. ON THE BUS, I had the dog in it's carrier, and the carrier was in the window seat, and I had the aisle. Finally, I would never choose to adopt a dog and then abandon it when I leave in a year. You know what they say about assuming, right? Anything else I need to defend myself against?

Here's a hint-

https://www.timeanddate.com/weather/south-korea/daejeon/historic?month=3&year=2017